Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘Microsoft’

6
Oct

Plex brings it media streaming magic to Xbox


Plex has more than its share of fans thanks to its powerful and versatile streaming media capabilities. If you’ve got a video file (regardless of how you obtained it) there’s a good chance Plex can play it. And play it anywhere — on your Roku, on your tablet, you smartphone, and now on your Xbox. Starting tomorrow Plex Pass subscribers will be able to pull up their Plex library on their Xbox One. And soon enough Xbox 360 compatibility will be added as well. If you’re not a subscriber you’ll be able to buy the Xbox apps for a one time fee (how much remains to be seen, but probably around $4.99) after the preview period ends. This is also the first time that Plex has been available on a game console, at least as a native app. You could pull in video to your Xbox over DLNA, but this is much easier and cleaner. And yes, you can control your library with voice controls or gestures thanks to Kinect support.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Source: Plex

.CPlase_panel display:none;

6
Oct

Microsoft Research packs stylus with sensors for grip-based tools


Believe it or not, there has been limited research into the way we hold a pen for different writing tasks. A team at Microsoft Research has taken aim at those fine motor skills with a prototype stylus and tablet combo. The duo packs in inertial sensors to track the position of each while in use. A multi-touch grip sensor wraps the outside of the stylus that not only monitors how its held, but can also initiate tasks with a mere finger tap. Sure, button controls have long been built into styli, however this effort investigates the grip as a means of swapping between tasks. During the test, holding the pen-like peripheral a certain way accesses a specific tool set or keeps a resting palm from prohibiting movement with the other hand. On the tablet, the sensors can tell when the slate is being passed off to another user — swapping to that person’s fine-tuned presets automatically. Of course, all of this is still in the research phase, but enhanced touch recognition for stylus-driven devices like the Surface Pro 3 would certainly be a welcome boost.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Source: Microsoft

.CPlase_panel display:none;

6
Oct

Bing shows lyrics in search results to help you avoid karaoke disasters


Friends singing out at a club

Bing can not only help you do math homework or write history papers; thanks to its latest update, it can also keep you from having a Phoebe moment where you mishear a song verse. The Bing Team has just announced that the website now displays full song lyrics right on the results page whenever you search for a copy. You don’t even have to choose what link to click anymore — you’ll see the lyrics (a “good quality” one, the team promises) as a top result, along with a box that displays song and album details. So the next time a “friend” signs you up for a spot at an open mic or karaoke bar as a prank, you can easily check if Alicia Keys was really singing about concrete jungle wet dream tomatoes.

[Image credit: Getty/Paul Bradbury]

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Bing

.CPlase_panel display:none;

6
Oct

Microsoft’s RoomAlive turns your den into a video game level


Remember IllumiRoom? It’s the Microsoft Research project that pairs an Xbox Kinect with a projector to extend your TV onto a wall, with immersive (and hallucinogenic) effects. Redmond has just revealed that IllumiRoom 2.0 is now called RoomAlive and is a huge leap over what it was last year. The new system projects content throughout your entire room that you can interact with (or shoot), as shown in the insane video below. Instead of a single Kinect and projector, it uses multiple “procams” consisting of off-the-shelf projectors, Kinects and a smaller computer to control them. Microsoft claims that it’s completely auto-calibrating and self-locating, enabling it to calculate the entire 3D geometry of your room in minutes.

Once installed, RoomAlive can track multiple players and weapons, letting them hit or blow up creatures, whack-a-mole style. It can also project textures and cyber-critters onto your walls and furniture, transforming your den into a holodeck or a factory, for example. Another demo brought to mind the 3D game in the movie Her, with the players controlling a character that tries to avoid being killed by “robots” emerging from your walls and floor. Finally, there’s a game that requires you to physically dodge booby traps, with any failure resulting in a bloody wound projected virtually onto your body.

It looks amazing, but we were also excited by Illumiroom’s potential, and it’s still far from becoming an actual product you can buy. In any case, not too many folks could afford to rig up a room with multiple projectors and Kinects the way Microsoft did. Still, like Oculus, it’s not hard to see huge potential in the research. And unlike the Rift, it could one day transform games into something that actually gets you off the couch.

[Image credits: Microsoft Research]

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Microsoft

.CPlase_panel display:none;

4
Oct

Microsoft sues Samsung over the interest on billion-dollar patent payments


Microsoft had over a billion reasons (per year) to pursue a patent licensing deal with Samsung back in 2011 over the latter’s use of Android. That fact is laid bare by a lawsuit today over the interest on payments (based on the number of Android devices sold) that are supposed to flow from Korea to Redmond. Re/code posted the unsealed lawsuit this evening, showing how despite the existing deal, Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia last year lead to Samsung holding up its payment for the second fiscal year of the deal, and then refusing to pay interest on it. All of that is according to Microsoft, which also claims Samsung is threatening to hold off on paying its end for the third year of the seven-year deal. The documents reveal Microsoft’s patent licenses cover some 80 percent of the Android phones sold in the US (up from 70 percent in 2012), and that the deal includes provisions for Samsung to lower the amount owed by developing and marketing Windows phones and tablets, and for Microsoft’s use of Samsung patents. The amount in question? A paltry $6.9 million, although a decision on whether the deal will remain in force going forward is clearly worth more than that.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Source: Re/code, Microsoft

.CPlase_panel display:none;

3
Oct

VLC media player welcomes a new, cleaner look on Windows 8.1


No doubt, people love utilizing VLC’s applications to play their unconventional media files, but pairing nice looks with that great functionality can go a long way. Thankfully for Windows 8.1 users, VideoLAN, the maker of VLC, has just released a completely redesigned version of the app for Microsoft’s OS. The application now features a much brighter, cleaner and polished look than on previous iterations, making it look flatter and more in line with Windows 8’s Modern UI. As WinBeta points out, the revamped VLC player is designed only for the tile-based side of the platform, meaning it won’t work with that traditional Windows desktop you love so much.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Via: WinBeta

Source: Windows Store

.CPlase_panel display:none;

3
Oct

Microsoft’s Lumia 830 is now available in the UK


Lumia 830

Well, that didn’t take long. Just a day after it let Brits begin ordering the Lumia 735, Microsoft’s now making it’s more powerful sibling, the Lumia 830, available too. Billed as an “affordable flagship,” the Lumia 830 delivers PureView imaging thanks to its 10-megapixel camera, a 5-inch 720p display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 and a 2,200mAh battery. Oh, and it’s also running Windows Phone 8.1, which brings with it Cortana and lots of camera improvements. Microsoft says that EE, Vodafone, Dixons Carphone, Amazon and Tesco will range the device from today, although only Amazon (£327) is showing pricing for the handset. However, we’re told the device will be available from £24.99 on contract, once carriers begin adding it to their stores.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Amazon

.CPlase_panel display:none;

2
Oct

Microsoft’s Lumia 735 ‘selfie phone’ launches in the UK


We’re not sure whether we dare utter the word ‘Nokia’ now Microsoft’s dropped the name from any and all communications, so today we’ll just say the new Lumia 735 is now available in the UK. Touted as “the selfie phone” due its 5-megapixel front-facing camera, the Lumia 735 — an LTE-friendly brother of the Lumia 730 — is a mid-range device with a 4.7-inch 720p display, quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor and 6.7MP main camera. Only O2 seems keen on day one, offering the Lumia 735 for free on contracts of £21 per month and over, while Carphone Warehouse has a number of carrier options starting at £17 per month with the handset thrown in. MVNO Virgin is strangely on the ball, with the Lumia 735 free from £15 per month or £190 on pay-as-you-go. In terms of SIM-free, unlocked models, Clove is leading the pack with a £220 price tag, while other retailers are hovering around the £225 mark currently.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

.CPlase_panel display:none;

2
Oct

Engadget Daily: Windows 10 preview, the deal with vape modding and more!


Wondering what all the e-cig hullabaloo is about? Today, we take an in-depth look at the birth of vaporized nicotine and its growing, mod-addicted community. That’s not all we have on deck though — read on for our news highlights from the last 24 hours.

Filed under:

Comments

.CPlase_panel display:none;

2
Oct

Rumor calls out Windows 95 as the reason Microsoft skipped version 9


Still confused about why the new version of Windows is 10, instead of 9? Beyond the loosely defined numbering schemes that are all too common in tech (how many iPhones did it take to get to 6?), a note posted to Reddit could provide an answer. Reddit user cranbourne claims to be a Microsoft developer, and cites rumors that early testing with the name “Windows 9″ ran into problems with code used as a shortcut to detect when apps are running on Windows 95 or Windows 98. The problem, is that it was never written to actually check for the extra character. Whatever the real reason is, Microsoft isn’t saying, and it gave Gizmodo a vague non-answer about the new name so your conspiracy theory is as good as ours (we think they were avoiding a Tolkien nine rings of power reference, and we have evidence to prove it.)

cranbourne:

Microsoft dev here, the internal rumours are that early testing revealed just how many third party products that had code of the form:

if(version.StartsWith(“Windows 9″))

/* 95 and 98 */ else {

and that this was the pragmatic solution to avoid that.

It sounds bizarre, and other versions of Windows have had different names publicly and internally to avoid such issues (Windows 7 aka Windows 6.1). Still, it carries weight for a couple of reasons and developers we asked found the reasoning plausible. Programmer Jeff Atwood points out a similar issue that hit Windows 2000 and certain Pentium processors back in the day, while indie dev Christer Kaitila exposed exactly how much of the potentially offending code is out there with a simple search. If you have a better idea, let us know in the comments below.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Reddit

.CPlase_panel display:none;

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »