Categories
Gaming Microsoft

Buy 250GB Internal Hard Drive For XBox 360 Online For $130

Those of you who got the Microsoft XBox 360 4GB version may have soon come to realize that the storage space is nothing to write home about. Compare the storage with the new version of XBox 360 that offers a huge 250GB storage space.

If you are one having second thoughts about retaining the 4GB model, and have a hundred odd bucks to spare, head over to the GameStop website and buy a 250GB internal hard drive for your XBox rightaway. This is a genuine part from Microsoft which GameStop, a third party retailer, has procured from the manufacturers. .

The price of the hard drive unit is $129.99 and apparently ships within 24 hours. But a caveat here – the unit is compatible exclusively with XBox 360 S consoles and presently ships only to American addresses.

Categories
Gaming Microsoft

Playing XBox 360 "Slim" 250GB With Backup Game CD Now Possible

Piracy is a huge concern for Microsoft as almost all the software that the company sells is easily pirated and sold for cheap. With Microsoft XBox 360 though, gamers not only look to burn their own game DVDs with an intention to pirate, but also to protect the original disc from damage.

Of course this is illegal. But that hasn’t stopped many users from creating backups for their game CDs. There are now reports that the latest 250GB version of Microsoft XBox 360 “slim” is hackable as well. A new video doing the rounds shows the console running a pirated CD. The hackers claim that a patch to help gamers enable this on their consoles shall be made available very soon.

Wondering when Microsoft shall ban these gamer tags.

Categories
Apple Gadgets Microsoft

Best OS For Tablets – Windows 7 Vs. iOS

Dissing out tablet OS platforms while comparing them with the iPad OS is a popular pastime among bloggers. But as this video comparison shows, Microsoft’s Windows 7 OS on a ‘Hanvon‘ slate actually seems to be doing a great job compared to the iOS on iPad. As you can see from the video embedded below, the response time to various actions, web page load times, video caching all appears to be much quicker on Windows 7.

Now this does not effectively mean that Windows 7 is the ideal platform. There are a few areas where the OS platform needs to be tuned to suit a touchscreen-based hardware better. You will notice that accessing the desktop version of Microsoft Outlook looks to be a tad more roundabout than accessing the Mail app on iPad.

Nevertheless, if there is one thing that needs to be understood, it is that there are some really good iPad alternatives out in the wild and that are in the pipeline. So, if you are actually planning to buy a tablet for yourself, hold back, make a much serious research on alternatives before you throw in your money in an Apple Store.

Categories
Gadgets Microsoft

How Microsoft Kinect Works

By now, almost all the secrets with respect to Microsoft’s Project Natal – now known as Kinect are out. Unlike the rival motion controllers from Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft Kinect works mainly using a software called PrimeSense that detects the user movements with the help of a webcam and projects the same onto the game to track character movements on the screen. JoyStiq had a nice article that describes how the motion controller works in an article back in June this year.

Now, if you are looking to hear directly from the folks who made the system, here is a patent application filed by Microsoft that describes this webcam based technology. In this patent application, that was made public only today, Redmond makes a great description of how the whole system works,

” According to one embodiment, the gestures may be received by, for example, a capture device. For example, the capture device may capture a depth image of a scene. In one embodiment, the capture device may determine whether one or more targets or objects in the scene corresponds to a human target such as the user. To determine whether a target or object in the scene corresponds a human target, each of the targets may be flood filled and compared to a pattern of a human body model. Each target or object that matches the human body model may then be scanned to generate a skeletal model associated therewith. The skeletal model may then be provided to the computing environment such that the computing environment may track the skeletal model, render an avatar associated with the skeletal model, and may determine which controls to perform in an application executing on the computer environment based on, for example, gestures of the user that have been recognized from the skeletal model. A gesture recognizer engine, the architecture of which is described more fully below, is used to determine when a particular gesture has been made by the user. “

Microsoft Kinect

Microsoft Kinect

The patent application is a great read for those of you eager to look deeper into the technology behind one of Microsoft’s most hyped products in recent times.

Update: Interestingly, Gizmodo has just posted an article that dives deeper into the mechanics of Kinect.

Categories
Microsoft Web

Calculate Cab Fare With Bing Maps

Microsoft may not have entirely succeeded in usurping the search engine market share from Google, but they sure have been bringing some really nifty applications to the Bing Maps application. The latest is a Bing app that will let users calculate cab fares between any two locations in a particular city.

The application has been developed by Ricky Brundritt as his submission for the King of Bing Maps competition. The app takes note of the starting point, destination, pick-up time besides factors like the shortest route before calculating the cab fare.

The King of Bing Maps competition has seen several innovative uses of Bing Maps being put to use. The final winner of this competition is likely to be announced on August 20 by a panel that includes CNET’s Josh Lowensohn, Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling and Directions’ Joe Francica.

The Cab Fare calculator is now accessible for users visiting the Bing Maps website.

Categories
Microsoft Mobile

Windows Phone 7 Launch Date In Europe & USA Announced

Microsoft is not new to the smartphone game at all. However, the company has been caught napping with the smartphone war now being predominantly fought only between Apple and Google. Redmond now has all its money on the upcoming version of its Mobile OS – the Windows Phone 7 Mobile operating system.

Microsoft is learned to be working with several handset manufacturers in the launch of new Windows Phone 7 powered smartphones later this year. The launch date has been tentatively fixed at “end of the year” as of now. However, in a recent statement, Kevin Turner – Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer – has hinted at a October launch in Europe followed by a launch in the USA ahead of the holiday season.

Now this is again only a tentative estimate since the exact launch dates of the smartphones are not yet announced. But an October launch in Europe along with a November launch in USA could mean that the company could be bracing itself up for aggressive competition from Android and Apple handsets during the holiday shopping season.

Can Microsoft pull this one off? Time will tell.

Categories
Microsoft Mobile

Eliminate Camera Shakes With New Microsoft Gyroscope Algorithm

No matter how much of a skilled pro you are at photography, you may always end up with blurry photographs thanks to that last minute inadvertent shake of the camera. There are several softwares available that help users to remove camera shake effects. However, a new research report from Microsoft offers some smart camera shake elimination techniques that make use of the accelerometer and gyroscope that many modern smartphones come equipped with.

According to the report, scientists at Microsoft Research have developed a new software algorithm that will use measurements from the gyroscope and accelerometer to detect camera shakes and will eliminate it by cancelling it out.

Microsoft Accelerometer Gyroscope camera

Of course, this technology is still in the testing phase and there are a few bugs that have to be removed. Also, we do not have a clue on when and where this might be employed – new DSLR cameras or smartphones. Nevertheless, you will agree that this is some innovative thinking that can help users capture better photographic shots.

Categories
Microsoft

Price Of MS Office 2011 For Mac Announced

Microsoft had recently begun sending out beta invites for its latest Mac-compatible Office 2011 suite. Now, the Redmond based company has officially announced the prices for its Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac software. As expected, the cost of the different editions are a tad lower than the 2008 MSRP. Microsoft is obviously trying to price the software aggressively in order to make the application much more ubiquitous in the Mac segment where Apple’s own software have ruled the roost so far.

So here are the prices of the various editions of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac

Single License
Student Edition :$119
Office for Mac Home & Business : $199
Academic Version : $99

Family License
Student Edition : $149
Office for Mac Home & Business : $279

The Student and Home editions will come with Word, Powerpoint, Excel along with Microsoft’s instant messaging app for Mac OS X. With the business edition, users may also get hold of Outlook for Mac that will include email, calendar and contacts integration. The MS Outlook for Mac shall replace Entourage as the communication application. The academic version will only be available to those who are enrolled or employed at academic institutions.

The new Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is expected to launch in October though customers who purchase the 2008 software starting today are eligible for a free upgrade later.

Categories
Gadgets Microsoft

Microsoft XBox 360 4GB Expandable Up to 250GB?

As you know, the new Microsoft XBox 360 4GB version shall be available in stores in the US starting August 3 at a price of $199.99. A few of our readers had complained that this could be a bad decision considering that 4GB literally amounts to nothing. Reader, Steve Mashuki had speculated

“I think they changed this way because a lot people are not buying games.”

Well, that is apparently so. And now, if rumors are true, it could also be that Microsoft is looking at extracting more money from gamers through the sale of hardware. A photo of an upcoming 4GB Xbox 360 posted on a gaming website  points out the possibility for users to separately purchase a 250GB hard drive that can be connected to the 4GB console for additional space. I should point out that this is a rumor at this point and has to be taken with a grain of salt. But then, we all realize that 4GB for a graphics-rich gaming console is meaningless without the ability to store more games and so such an option had to eventually be brought in, right?

Categories
Microsoft Mobile

Microsoft Employees To Build Windows Phone 7 Apps In Return For Free Phone

Microsoft had announced earlier in the week that the company would be offering free Windows Phone 7 handsets to all of their employees across the world. Well, the obvious take-away from this announcement was that the proliferation of these handsets in the wild will get the word-of-mouth marketing going that could eventually reap better rewards to the company. Looks like there is more caveat to the whole story.

TechFlash has published an internal memo circulated by Microsoft’s senior vice president of mobile communications that hints at using the company’s vast talent pool to develop apps for the new mobile platform. In his message, Andy Lees writes,

“Develop! With the help of the developer division, we just shipped the Final Beta of the Windows Phone Developer Tools. They absolutely rock, and you should download them now http://developer.windowsphone.com/. The package includes everything you need to start building apps. In addition, we’ve introduced a new employee developer program which makes it much easier for you to develop apps for Marketplace in your spare time. … And if you need some help jumpstarting your development, check out the Windows Phone Developer Training Kit. …”

To be fair, this does not seem to be an obligation and is only offered as a suggestion. But then, you never know.