If you’ve bought workout videos to use with Xbox Fitness, better get those squats and lunges in now: Microsoft announced it’ll be phasing out the app over the next year, ticking off customers who paid for content in the process. [More]
kinect
Microsoft Also Ditching Mandatory Kinect Purchase For Xbox One
By 5.13.14
The Xbox-related news is pouring out today. First came the report that Xbox Live members may no longer need to upgrade to Gold subscriptions just to watch streaming videos. Now comes the announcement that the motion and voice-sensing Kinect is not so vital to the Xbox One as Microsoft had originally envisioned. [More]
Microsoft Promises That New Kinect Is Not (Always) A Crazy Spying Machine
By 11.1.13
With the new Xbox One console only weeks away from launch, Microsoft is doing its best to quell concerns that the new Kinect motion and voice sensor will be spying on users and storing important, sensitive information. [More]
Microsoft Eases Concerns (Slightly) About Being Spied On By Xbox One
By 5.28.13
Among the major concerns about the upcoming Xbox One gaming console is that the device’s new Kinect sensor is so thoroughly integrated into the the system that it will always be on and listening/watching what users are doing. In response to consumers who would rather not be monitored 24/7, Microsoft has issued a statement that quells some concerns while raising others. [More]
Kinect For Windows Doesn't Mean You'll Be Playing Dance Central 2 On Your PC
By 1.12.12
When Microsoft announced earlier this week that it would be selling Kinect for Windows starting in February, a number of people envisioned a near future where they would be moving the cells around on their Excel spreadsheet by waving their hands, or finally getting quality motion controls for PC games that have never been ported to the Xbox 360. But neither of these situations is really what Kinect for Windows is about. [More]
Microsoft Spreads The Holiday Spirit By Telling Me To Donate Extra Xbox At Their Expense
By 12.21.11
Timothy wasn’t sure what to do when an extra Xbox360 landed on his doorstep, along with the one he had ordered for his girlfriend for Christmas. He figured Microsoft would recognize their mistake soon enough and send a packing slip for its return. But instead, he says he’s amazed at their response. [More]
Mandatory Xbox 360 Update Breaks Some Consoles, Microsoft Claims 'Coincidence'
By 12.16.11
Last week’s exciting Kinect Dashboard update for Xbox 360 consoles didn’t just ask users to waive their right to sue and make customers pay to be advertised to. It also appears to have caused problems with a number of consoles. Nothing major: it just keeps them from reading any discs…no, wait, that is major. Microsoft representatives say that this is a coincidence, and that customers with freshly broken consoles need to send them in for repair for $100 or so. [More]
Microsoft Thinks You Actually Want To Use The Kinect To Shout At Interactive Ads
By 6.21.11
Since Microsoft launched the Xbox 360’s Kinect motion-sensing device last year, the company has hinted at the Kinect’s potential use for advertisers who want to create more interactive ads. Microsoft never asked consumers if they actually wanted this functionality, but that didn’t stop the company from demonstrating it earlier today. [More]
Wave Hello To Netflix Control Via Xbox's Kinect
By 4.15.11
Back in November, when Microsoft released Kinect — its motion and voice sensing Xbox 360 add-on — it lacked compatibility with the Netflix streaming app. Now Microsoft has finally gotten around to (sort of) correcting that shortcoming, releasing a free downloadable update that lets Kinect owners to yell and wave at their videos to get them to pause, play and rewind. [More]
Some Say Kinect Is Breaking Old Xboxes
By 1.6.11
Some Xbox 360 owners are complaining that the Kinect is driving their consoles into the grave, inflicting them with the Red Ring of Death. [More]
How Sears Drove Me Away To GameStop To Get Kinect
By 12.21.10
Bryan wanted to get his hands on the Kinect motion-sensor controller for the Xbox 360, and ordered it on Sears.com, expecting it to come well before Christmas. That was a week ago, and Bryan has a Kinect now, but no thanks to Sears, on which he gave up due to broken promises and poor customer service. [More]
No Sexy Sex Games For Kinect Arriving Any Time Soon
By 12.20.10
Start crying your salty, dirty tears now, gaming perverts — Microsoft has decided to block the release of a developer’s sex game for the Kinect. And by sex game, we of course mean a weird experience involving manhandling cartoon ladies. Classy! [More]
Burger King Kinect Codes Make Us See Double
By 11.12.10
Lonefilms and his friend ate at Burger King and peeled off their instant win codes on their cups, which gave them a chance to win Kinect, Microsoft’s motion and voice sensor. They received the exact same code, signifying that there’s little significance to the 6-character combos Burger King is cranking out. [More]
Kid Gets Kinect-Clocked In The Face
By 11.9.10
There’s a reason why the instructions on the Xbox Kinect, which allows you to play video games by sensing your gestures, tell you to clear the playing area and make sure you have plenty of elbow room, especially when you are playing with two people. The reason is this video. [More]
Who Is The First Moron To Break His TV With The Kinect?
By 11.5.10
All those shattered TVs and cut-up hands that resulted when the Nintendo Wii first came on the scene sorta made sense. People were flailing their limbs around holding a plastic controller with a flimsy strap. But the new Kinect motion-sensing system for the Xbox 360 should have cut down on at least some of the damage done by removing the controller completely. And yet, some moron in Arizona has already ruined a perfectly good TV with his recklessness. [More]
No, The Kinect Is Not Racist
By 11.4.10
Speaking of the Microsoft Kinect, you know those
rumors that it has trouble with, er, certain skin tones? Yeah, just
turn up the lights, OK?
Sorry, Best Buy Store Changed Their Minds, No Kinect For You At Midnight
By 11.4.10
Mike pre-ordered the Kinect, a new sensor thingy for the Xbox, from his local Best Buy. He expected the store to be open at midnight so he could be united with his new toy just after the official release. The store web site said that they’d be open at midnight, so why should he expect anything different? [More]
