Hackers make Xbox One’s Kinect work on a PC
Microsoft famously said the Xbox One Kinect wouldn’t work on a PC, but hackers have already done the trick mere days after the release of the Kinect for Windows v2.0 SDK. As shown in the video below, they managed to rewire a USB 3.0 cable to pair it with a laptop, giving them access to the depth sensor. The pair work at Hyperkin (which happens to sell gaming accessories), and plan to make a retail version of the cable available. Kinect for Windows 2.0 is already up for pre-order, but such a cable could be handy if you can’t wait to get one, or don’t want to splurge for a redundant Kinect. The Xbox 360′s sensor was hacked in a similar way, but the Kinect 2′s hardware is far more powerful. On a PC, it could function as a motion capture device or map a 3D environment, to name just a few examples — far more interesting applications than Just Dance.
Filed under: Cameras, Gaming, Microsoft
Via: Kotaku
Source: Chris Gallizzi (YouTube)
Engadget Daily: Microsoft layoffs, Tesla sales and more!
Microsoft announced the largest layoffs in company history, Tesla can’t sell cars in most of the United States, Xbox Entertainment Studios is set to close and HTC has an executive exodus problem. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Microsoft cuts 18,000 jobs as part of its largest layoff ever
Microsoft announced the biggest round of layoffs in company history, giving 18,000 workers their walking papers. CEO Satya Nadella explained that the company’s new strategy is designed to make it “more agile” moving forward.
Why Tesla Motors can’t sell cars in most of the United States
Why is it so hard to buy a Tesla? It’s a combination of archaic laws and a stubborn automotive industry.
Microsoft closing Xbox Entertainment Studios
As part of the biggest layoffs in company history, Microsoft is closing Xbox Entertainment Studios, the wing dedicated to producing original video content for the Xbox platform.
In and out: a look at HTC’s two-year executive exodus
Despite making some highly acclaimed smartphones, HTC has struggled to keep high-level employees from leaving the company. Over the last two years, 22 members of its senior management team have left. Is it bad luck or is something else happening?
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Microsoft cuts 18,000 jobs as part of its largest layoff ever
Microsoft today announced that it’s cutting 18,000 jobs, the biggest round of layoffs in its history, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts. In a release, the company says that Nokia’s Devices and Services business, which it acquired for $5 billion last year, will be most affected, with 12,500 “professional and factory positions” expected to go by the end of the year. In an email to employees, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explains that the company’s new strategy is designed to make it “more agile” moving forward, allowing teams to work more freely.
Nadella also hinted that Microsoft could end development of Nokia’s Android-powered X smartphones by shifting “select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows.” As for the Xbox and Surface divisions, they’ll see “limited change,” as the company intends to continue building on plans it implemented earlier in the year. Nadella believes today’s cuts will go some way towards helping Microsoft realign itself, allowing it to pursue its goal of innovating both in mobile and the cloud.
Source: Microsoft
Microsoft will abandon Nokia’s Android smartphone project
It’s a day of upheaval over at Microsoft as the company has announced that it’ll cut 18,000 jobs in the near future. At the same time, however, Satya Nadella has cast doubt on the long-term future of Nokia’s X series of Android-powered smartphones. In an email, the Microsoft CEO says that the company will refashion “select” Nokia X designs as Lumia smartphones that run Windows Phone. There’s no word on if the other handsets in the range will continue, but it seems unlikely given that the phones run Android, Microsoft’s biggest rival in the mobile space. If you’re still on the hunt for one of these devices, don’t worry, as Stephen Elop has added that the company will continue to support and sell the existing range of X series devices.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia
Microsoft closing Xbox Entertainment Studios
As part of its massive round of layoffs, Microsoft is closing Xbox Entertainment Studios (XES), the wing dedicated to producing original video content for the Xbox platform. All is not lost however, as Halo: Nightfall, the Spielberg-produced Halo TV series and Signal to Noise (whose first episode chronicles Atari’s rise and fall) will all still continue as planned. We were also told that the studio’s Nancy Tellem along with Jordan Levin and “some” of the XES team will remain on staff and working on the aforementioned in-production programming. In an email today (pasted in full after the break) Xbox head Phil Spencer notes that change is never easy, but he believes the studio closure will help the company “better align with longterm goals.” We’ve reached out to the affected studios about what this means for them and will update this post should we hear back.
Recode’s sources paint a different picture, however, saying that the studio was disorganized and lacked a fully established business model. Both of which turned off any studio partners and thusly complicating securing any more premium content.
“I hope you have had a chance to read today’s mails from Satya. I wanted to take a moment to share a few thoughts on what this means for our team and some of the changes we are making as a result.
In last week’s mail outlining some of the steps towards creating the culture and organization to bring our ambitions to life, Satya called out the strategic importance of Xbox as a strong consumer brand, a creative center for gaming and a leader in bold innovation. Every member of Team Xbox should be incredibly proud of the impact and reach your work has within the walls of Microsoft, with our developer community and most importantly, with consumers.
Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for a mobile-first and cloud-first world, and games are the single biggest digital life category in a mobile-first world. Success in this category, by growing a robust Xbox business, brings additional value to Microsoft. I have stated this before, but for Xbox to be successful, we must remain committed to being a consumer-driven organization with the mission of meeting the high expectations of a passionate fan base, to create the best games and to drive technical innovation.
As part of the planned reduction to our overall workforce announced today and in light of our organization’s mission, we plan to streamline a handful of portfolio and engineering development efforts across Xbox. One such plan is that, in the coming months, we expect to close Xbox Entertainment Studios. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the accomplishments from the entire team in XES. They have built an impressive slate of original programming and pioneered interactive entertainment on Xbox, such as the innovative reality series ‘Every Street United’ that succeeded in uniting audiences around the globe during the recent World Cup.
I am pleased that Nancy, Jordan and members of the XES team remain committed to new, original programming already in production like the upcoming documentary series ‘Signal to Noise’ whose first installment takes on the rise and fall of gaming icon Atari and of course, the upcoming game franchise series ‘Halo: Nightfall,’ and the ‘Halo’ Television series which will continue as planned with 343 Industries. Xbox will continue to support and deliver interactive sports content like ‘NFL on Xbox,’ and we will continue toenhance our entertainment offering on console by innovating the TV experience through the monthly console updates. Additionally, our app partnerships with world-class content providers bringing entertainment, sports and TV content to Xbox customers around the world are not impacted by this organizational change in any way and remain an important component of our Xbox strategy.
Change is never easy, but I believe the changes announced today help us better align with our long-term goals. We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us to define what the next generation of gaming looks like for the growing Xbox community. I have a great deal of confidence in this team and know that with clarity of focus on our mission and our customers we can accomplish great things together. We already have.
Thank you again for all you do for Xbox.
Phil
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Via: Recode
Xbox Live and PlayStation Network are both having issues, but Nintendo Network is fine
Excited to play the Destiny on PlayStation Network? You’re not the only one, and demand as the game’s beta opened its doors today seems to have the service stumbling. A message on the PlayStation Knowledge Center says PSN access is “Intermittently available” so if it’s working, great but don’t be surprised if you notice some odd behavior. Xbox fans shouldn’t be too quick to point fingers though, since besides waiting another week to try out an early version of Bungie’s next big game you may also experience issues with Xbox Live. The Xbox Live Dashboard points out problems for some users signing in or accessing the Video and Music services, but says there is a team working on it and promises another updated within the half hour. Since Nintendo Network appears to be running just fine, we can only assume which culprit is behind this.
Update: The PlayStation Network status has been upgraded to “online” so go forth and beta test freely.
Having Xbox Live connectivity issues on the Xbox One? The proper teams are on it! More updates being posted here: http://t.co/99xfLNeme4 ^AC
– Xbox Support (1-5) (@XboxSupport) July 17, 2014
If you are having issues connecting to PSN, please try again later. Thanks for your patience as we look into it.
– Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) July 17, 2014
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony, Microsoft
Via: Joystiq (1), (2)
PlayStation 4 still best-selling console, six months running
It looks like Sony still has bragging rights that the PlayStation 4 is the top-selling console. Not to be outdone by the latest NPD report, the PlayStation Twitter account announced that the Sony’s new console is still outselling the Xbox One, for the sixth month in a row. Yesterday, Microsoft said that following the Xbox One’s $100 price drop it’d seen a “strong spike in interest” and sales of the console jumped by “more than double” the previous month. It’s worth noting however, that Redmond didn’t release specific sales numbers for May and, to be fair, neither did Sony. The latest report from the NPD Group plays it a bit vague, too, but says that combined sales of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were higher than combined totals for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. What’s more, compared to last June, hardware sales saw a 106 percent increase overall. Sales of home consoles combined represented a 200 percent jump compared to last year, which is likely due to the two new consoles being available.
In terms of software, the reason most people buy new consoles in the first place, six of the same games from last month’s top ten remain the same. including Mario Kart 8, Wolfenstein: The New Order and Watch Dogs. However, overall software sales for June dipped some 67 percent compared to last year, which the NPD group attributes to last June’s launches of The Last of Us on PS3, Animal Crossing: New Leaf on Nintendo’s 3DS handheld and the disc-based version of Minecraft for the Xbox 360. It seems like the summer drought is a bit drier this year than last, but hey, at least we’ve got the Destiny beta now, right?
Breaking news: PS4 is #1 top-selling US next-gen console in June, 6th month in a row. Thanks for your support! ❤ pic.twitter.com/r5bTKg4wYf
– PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 17, 2014
Ok, #NPD time: Hardware sales still jumping (up 106% to $292.7M) while game sales fall again (down 5% to $298.2M). Accessories were up 1%
– Ian Sherr (@iansherr) July 17, 2014
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
Source: PlayStation (Twitter), Xbox Wire
Almost 40 Windows Phone games get updates to work with newer devices
Microsoft made a big fuss over Windows Phone’s gaming abilities right from the start, but it’s hard to appreciate that if you’re a newcomer; many classic titles never made the leap to Windows Phone 8, or were never tuned for budget devices. Not all of those releases will be consigned to the history books, however. In a sudden revival, nearly 40 older games (according to WPCentral) have been updated to either run on Windows Phone 8 in the first place or else support devices with a modest 512MB of memory, like the Lumia 630. You may know some of the upgraded games off-hand. Microsoft’s relatively recent Halo: Spartan Assault is the highlight, but we’ve also spotted earlier gems like Hexic, ilomilo and even Minesweeper. This renaissance probably won’t lead to any Windows Phone converts, but it should give first-timers a warmer welcome — and veterans a trip down memory lane.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: WPCentral
Bing and Cortana will make it easier to research your school papers
Microsoft might just give you a little help finishing your next term paper. The company is integrating academic data into Bing and services that use it, like Cortana in Windows Phone 8.1. When the upgrade hits in the fall, you should have an easier time tracking down articles on given subjects, finding an author’s other works or following news from a conference. Importantly, you won’t have to visit a separate page to see academic info front and center, as you do with Google Scholar. If all goes well, you’ll have the luxury of starting research on a big report from your Windows Phone; just don’t expect Cortana to bail you out hours before the due date.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Inside Microsoft Research
Some new Windows Phones won’t let you change your web search provider
If you’re picking up a shiny new Lumia 630 or 930 in the near future, you may be in for an unwelcome surprise. The Verge has discovered that at least some unlocked versions of either Windows Phone won’t let you switch Internet Explorer’s default search provider to Google; it’s either Bing or nothing. Some European models of the same phones do let you change the provider, though, so this clearly isn’t a platform-wide policy. We’ve asked Microsoft if it can share more about what’s going on, and we’ll let you know if it has more to add. The move likely won’t cause that much consternation given that many Windows Phone users are inclined to use Bing, but it’s bad news if you like to use Google services on Microsoft platforms.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia, Google
Source: The Verge
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