Microsoft Prices Kinect At USD 149.99

The new gaming device called “Kinect” now has a price tag. Redmond, Washington-headquartered Microsoft Corporation has announced that the Kinect will retail for USD 149.99. The product is scheduled to be launched in the market on November 4 this year.

Kinect is an add-on for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. It features an RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone. When running, the device captures full-body 3D motion in order to recognize gestures, and it also recognizes faces and voices. Because of these capabilities, users can interact with the Xbox 360 console without the conventional game controller, but instead use gestures and spoken commands to do so. For instance, when the console displays a ball, instead of pressing a button on the controller, the player has to simply gesture a kick. Alternatively, instead of pressing a button to browse through a music list appearing on the display, the user may simply wave their hand to flip through the list.

Kinect together with Xbox 360 is being offered by Microsoft at a price of USD 299. This includes the console, Kinect Sensor and a package of games called “Kinect Adventures”.

Read more about the latest device from Microsoft which is scheduled to hit the market later this year, here.

Netflix To Deploy Microsoft PlayReady Technology In Operations

Los Gatos, California-headquartered Netflix Inc has announced that it will deploy two of Microsoft’s technologies – PlayReady and PIFF (protected interoperable file format) in new Netflix-ready devices and applications. These devices will be launched in the market in the coming few months of 2010.

The advantage of this deployment is that subscribers of Netflix can watch Netflix streams over a still wider range of devices such as Internet TVs, Blu-ray disc players, home theater systems, video game consoles and the like.

PlayReady is Microsoft’s content protection technology that is flexible, reliable and scalable. Netflix has already been using this technology since 2007 when it had launched its ready-device program. Netflix has incorporated the DRM into its architecture from the very beginning, and the latest announcement apparently is another step that tightens the coupling.

PlayReady is especially useful for service providers, mobile and network operators and device manufacturers who are engaged in the business of providing digital entertainment services across devices and software applications, such as videos, games and images.

Read more about how the world’s largest subscription service for DVDs is making use of the world’s largest IT company’s technologies to further its marketing reach.

Microsoft Communicator Mobile For Nokia Devices Released

Redmond, Washington-headquartered Microsoft Corporation has released the Communicator Mobile software exclusively for Nokia’s mobile devices. The software is available for download from Nokia’s online Ovi Store. It is compatible with Nokia’s Symbian operating system, and has been designed around the architecture of most popular Nokia E-series mobile phones, especially the E72 and E52.

The application allows for collaborative communication between Nokia mobile users. The names and statuses of fellow users is embedded into the device’s contact database; and so whenever a colleague becomes available, their status is updated in the app. The application also suggests the best way to communicate with the colleague: instant messaging, phone call, or e-mail. The software is useful in an enterprise environment where fellow workers and colleagues are always on the move, by providing everybody with a common base to remain in touch.

Besides the Communicator Mobile, Nokia has also been using Microsoft technologies for its other functionality. For example, Nokia has deployed Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to optimize direct access to email and other personal information that a mobile user keys in on their device.

The Communicator Mobile will now be pre-installed on select Nokia devices, including the soon-to-be-launched E5.

 Read more about the outcome of the latest collaborative effort between Microsoft and Nokia, here.

Microsoft Launches Visual Studio 2010

The latest version of Microsoft’s IDE was launched worldwide in the week that went by. Visual Studio 2010 is here, along with a slew of related technologies that promise to make the life of the developer even better.

Along with VS 2010, the company has also launched .NET Framework 4 and Silverlight 4. All these products can be downloaded from Microsoft’s site.

The key improvements of VS 2010 over the earlier version are the integrated access to SharePoint functionality within the IDE, as also built-in support for Windows 7 multitouch and “ribbon” interfaces. Further, the IDE also has incorporated into it tools from Windows Azure that are required for building apps for the cloud domain. Web application development has been simplified with a Model-View-Controller architecture provided by ASP.NET. Another domain that has been targeted is the Windows Phone, and Windows Phone 7 developers have special design surfaces to work on in the IDE.

The .NET Framework 4 reduces the runtime size by over 80%, thus speeding up the launch and run of apps. Silverlight 4 provides out-of-browser capabilities, enhancements for enterprise app developers and new set of pre-written controls to increase developer throughput.

Read more about the launch of the latest version of Microsoft’s Software IDE, here.

Microsoft Launches KIN

Come the month of May 2010, and consumers will have a new phone to look forward to. Redmond, Washington-headquartered has unleashed a new device in the market that is likely to take on the biggies such as BlackBerry and iPhone headlong.

The new phone is called KIN. Besides calling up people, the KIN can be used to browse the internet, it has an inbuilt camera and it can also record video. The KIN device features a touch-screen and slide-out keyboard. There are two versions of KIN: KIN ONE is smaller and more compact and can be operated with one hand. Its camera works at 5 Mpixel. KIN TWO has a larger screen and keyboard, and this is the one where you can also record video. Its camera works at 8 Mpixel.

There are new terms that the KIN has brought into play. One is the “Loop”, which is what the home screen of KIN is called. The other term is “Spot”, which is a facility that lets the user share their content with the others. Finally there is the “Studio”, which is an admin manager that handles archival.

KIN incorporates Zune and the entire Zune experience.

The hardware for the device has been built by Sharp Corporation. In the US, KIN will be sold by Verizon Wireless, while in Europe, KIN will be handled by Vodafone.

Read more about the revolutionary new phone from Microsoft, here.

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