Xbox One: Watch the new Kinect detect a heart rate from across the room

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Microsoft has significantly upgraded the sensing capabilities of the second-generation Kinect sensor that will ship with the newly announced Xbox One game console. One example: The Kinect can detect a user’s heart rate optically. See the video above for a demonstration of the capability during a tour of the Microsoft Xbox campus today. The idea… Read More…

Official word: Xbox One requires Internet connection, but not ‘always on’

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Remember all that controversy over the reports of a required “always on” Internet connection in the new Xbox? First, reports surfaced that Microsoft would require a persistent Internet connection, then the word was that it wouldn’t. Here’s the official word from a newly published FAQ from Microsoft. Does Xbox One require an “always on” Internet… Read More…

Xbox One: Here is the official video from Microsoft

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Microsoft unveiled the new “Xbox One” console in Redmond today, with highlights including souped-up hardware, live TV integration, Skype functionality, an upgraded (and bundled) Kinect sensor, a “snap view” for multitasking, and an operating system that bridges the worlds of Xbox and Windows. The company also announced partnerships with the NFL and EA Sports, and… Read More…

Sorry, but Xbox 360 games won’t play on Xbox One

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Microsoft executives are on stage right now here in Redmond giving the rundown on the major technological changes in the new Xbox One console, unveiled by the company today. In fact, the changes are big enough that Xbox One won’t be backward compatible with Xbox 360 games, company executives are acknowledging to reporters. That means that Xbox… Read More…

Xbox One: Live from Microsoft’s new console unveiling in Redmond

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The doors are about to open here in Redmond for the much-anticipated unveiling of Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox. I’m here along with hundreds of others for the day. Follow along here as the news unfolds, and stay tuned for updates throughout the day. See this post by Xbox Live’s Major Nelson for information about watching the… Read More…

Customer satisfaction with Microsoft software declines slightly after Windows 8

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New data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows satisfaction with Microsoft software declining slightly this year, falling 1.3 points to a score of 74 on a scale of 100. The result follows the release of Windows 8 last fall, with a new interface that creates a learning curve for many longtime Windows users. David VanAmburg,… Read More…

Here’s what Microsoft is paying its new CFO Amy Hood

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Microsoft’s newly appointed chief financial officer, Amy Hood, will start at an annual base salary of $570,000, along with Microsoft stock valued around $6.5 million based on today’s share price, according to regulatory filings from the company today and last week. That’s in addition to a potential cash bonus based on future performance. Hood was… Read More…

Study: The biggest social collaboration tool inside big companies is … Facebook?

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Salesforce.com, Microsoft, IBM and many smaller companies are competing aggressively in the market for enterprise social collaboration, offering advanced tools specifically designed to help workers communicate and share insights. But it turns out the dominate social collaboration tool inside big companies is plain old Facebook, followed by Twitter. That’s one of the takeaways from a… Read More…

Take a picture with your voice? Microsoft wants a patent on it

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Tired of using a timer to snap a picture? Microsoft has a solution for you. Well, it’s not a particularly original solution, at least not at this point. But the company is hoping to patent the approach. A newly surfaced patent application, first reported by Patent Bolt, describes a method for “voice-controlled camera operations,” in… Read More…