Latest Gear Live Videos
Unboxing Live 066: Kinect for Xbox 360
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Microsoft, Video Games, Videocasts,
Microsoft has been hyping Kinect for Xbox 360 for about a year and a half now, and it's finally arrived. Our Kinect review is just about ready, but in the meantime, enjoy the unboxing video. We give you a look at the Kinect sensor, the pack-in title, and the differences between setting up Kinect with an original Xbbox 360, versus one of the new Xbox 3360 S models.
Big thanks to our sponsors - be sure and grab a free $5 credit from JackThreads now, and check out GoToMeeting, which makes online meetings super simple and collaborating remotely a breeze.
Advertisement
Kinect sensor unboxing gallery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Galleries, Microsoft, Video Games,
We got our hands on the Kinect sensor for Xbox 360 a day before launch, and we've been putting the motion gaming peripheral through its paces for the past five days now in preparation for our Kinect review. It'll be up later today, but in the meantime, we figured we'd share some unboxing shots of the Kinect unit. It's deceptively larger than it appears to be in product shots--it's a substantial piece of technology. It matches up perfectly with the redesigned Xbox 360 S model that was introduced back at E3 as well. Get a look at all the shots in our Kinect unboxing gallery.
Gallery:
Windows Phone 7 devices now available in the US
Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft,
Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's latest foray into the mobile space, is now available to all in the US. The company's primary partner is AT&T, and they have the Samsung Focus and HTC Surround (see our HTC Surround review and photo gallery) for $199 with a 2 years contract, with the LG Quantum launching in a few days. The phones are also available without a contract for $499. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has the HTC HD7 for $199, with the Dell Venue coming in later this year. Microsoft has stated that they will put $400 million towards advertising Windows Phone 7 as they hope to compete with the iPhone and Android phones this holiday season. Gartner predicts the company's share of the mobile space will climb above 5% by next year.
Read More 
| Microsoft
Microsoft Kinect NYC launch event
Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Microsoft, Video Games, Videos,
Microsoft launched their new Kinect motion sensor at midnight last night in New York City at the Toys R Us in Times Square, and the scene looked quite unreal. Streets were blocked off, long lines could be seen, and dancers wearing "You are the controller" t-shirts entertained the crowd. Overall, the launch appears to have gone smoothly and thousands of people are now discovering this new way to game on their Xbox 360 consoles. If you weren't part of the midnight crowd, you can still get yours for $149 at your local gaming store. For now, check out the video after the jump from one of the many who were outside in the mob.
Click to continue reading Microsoft Kinect NYC launch event
Read More | YouTube
Xbox Live Gold Family Pack now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
A couple of days ago, Microsoft raised the price of an annual Xbox Live Gold suscription by $10, to $59.99 per year. However, realizing that there are people out there with multiple accounts in a family setting, the company has finally incorporated an Xbox Live Family subscription into their offerings, and it's a great deal. For $99.99 per year--$20 less than the cost of two Xbox Live Gold subscriptions--you get a pack of four Xbox Live Gold accounts. Even cooler, though, is if you have young children, you get details on their activity and can set up preferences and allowances, and even get activity reports. Here's a look at the features that are exclusive fo the Family Pack:
- Family Center: It’s a single easy-to-use destination to manage your family’s memberships and online settings.
- Activity reports: Sign in to Xbox.com to view reports on your family’s activities on Xbox LIVE, and encourage discussions with your family about safer, healthier, and more balanced gaming.
- Microsoft Points Allowances: Parents and caregivers can purchase and gift Microsoft Points to their children.
- Family Pack Deal: Get exclusive discounts on family-friendly content.
You can convert over to the Family Pack from any existing Xbox Live account. If you're already a Gold member, then you get $5 towards the purchase of the Family Pack for each month of Gold that you have remaining on your account. Even better, if other accounts that you want to add to your Family Pack have time left on a Gold subscription, the entire family will get another month of Gold added for every two months remaining on each account.
The Xbox Live Gold Family Pack is available now, and you can set it up online, or from the Xbox 360 dashboard.
Read More | Xbox Live Family Pack FAQ
Microsoft Silverlight changes focus to Windows Phone 7
Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Internet, Microsoft, Software,
Silverlight has been Microsoft's "Flash killer" for many years now, and as a web-centric platform, it's had very little traction. Most sites stuck with Flash, and those who didn't, moved onto HTML5, not Silverlight. Now, after neglecting the platform for a while now, Microsoft officially said that the focus for Silverlight is shifting to other areas.
In the words of Microsoft's Bob Muglia “Silverlight is our development platform for Windows Phone.” The platform is indeed the way developers are making apps for the mobile platform, but for those developers who had been building web based apps based on the technology, it may come as a bit of a cold shower. Still, this seems like the right move, as it's clear the web is moving on to the open HTML5, and away from proprietary technologies like Silverlight.
Read More | TechCrunch
Mandatory Xbox Live update coming Nov 1st
Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
If you've been waiting for the Fall 2010 Xbox Live dashboard update to drop, tomorrow is the day, just in time for the launch of Kinect. This'll be a mandatory update, and anyone who refuses to get it will find themselves unable to connect to the service. According to the message Xbox Live users are receiving in their inboxes, the update will also add minor changes the Dashboard so that: "You will notice a change to the layout of the Xbox LIVE Dashboard, a new color scheme, and new fonts being used.
If you want a look at all the new features the update will bring to your Xbox 360, hit our video after the jump.
Click to continue reading Mandatory Xbox Live update coming Nov 1st
Win one of 300 Halo: Reach Honor the Code kits!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Microsoft, Video Games,
We're giving away one of just 300 Halo: Reach Honor the Code kits, created by Mountain Dew. The Honor the Code promotion allows consumers to enter codes from Mountain Dew and Doritos items for a chance to win a bunch of Xbox 360 and Halo: Reach gear. The Honor the Code kit includes:
- Six unique 20 ounce bottles of DEW, including the exclusive version of Mountain Dew White Out that is available only in this kit. Each bottle features different characters from the game
- Two bags of Doritos featuring “Halo: Reach” characters
Of course, the items each have codes you can enter at the Honor the Code website for a chance at all the goods, which include limited edition Xbox 360 bundles, games, and even a Mongoose ATV. So, you wanna win this thing or what? Here's how to enter:
- Follow the Gear Live Twitter account
- On Twitter, post this tweet about our contest: “Hey @gearlive I wanna Honor the Code! http://gear.lv/e-honorcode” (Click here to tweet this now)
That's it! We will pick a winner at the end of the day tomorrow, October 29th. You've gotta be in the US to win. We've got video of the Honor the Code kit after the break.
Gallery:
Xbox 360 Kinect Edition appears on store shelves early
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360,
Okay, so Kinect is the next big thing from the Xbox team over at Microsoft, and the launch is scheduled for November 4th here in the USA. You'd think that'd mean that you'd be unable to get your hands on one until then, but thanks to some slip-ups at select retail locations, you may very well be able to get ahold of Kinect starting today. As you see above, one store has mistakingly put out the 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect Special Edition on the sales floor. Now, we're not saying that it's time for you to start calling around or anything, but if you happen to be hearing to a WalMart or Target type of place, you may wanna give the video game section a glance.
Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Microsoft, Product Reviews, Software,
Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac ships tomorrow, and AppleInsider's got the scoop on how it performs. From their review:
If you’re an Office user already, the new Office 2011 is a no-brainer upgrade. It’s wildly faster, looks and feels much better, and delivers strong advancements in every app, particularly the vastly improved experience of the new Outlook over the pitiful Entourage.If you’re shopping around for a productivity suite on the Mac, the new Office 2011 delivers a much nicer experience than the rather quirky but free OpenOffice, and offers the advantages of a real desktop app over a web based suite like Google Docs.At around $120 retail for the Outlook-free individual version (you can install on one machine) or $150 for the family pack (which can be installed on up to three machines), the “Home and Student” Office 2001 for Mac suite is now affordable enough to compete against weaker free alternatives, and might attract some users eyeing Apple’s cheaper iWork package.However, Office 2011 for Mac—despite a sharp discount over previous editions—is still about the same price as Apple’s “Box Set” deal that includes a copy of Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife together with the full version of iWork.
Read More | AppleInsider
