Microsoft Kinect Poised to Change the Way We Play Games

With the release of Microsoft's new Kinect gaming peripheral only a few weeks away, I wonder whether Microsoft has done enough to create hype among the masses and hardcore gamers alike.

Today, Microsoft announced it's line up of games available on the November 4th release date. From titles like Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, and Harry Potter, it's very clear what market Microsoft is trying to attract with this new approach and I don't blame them.Nintendo's Wii has been the clear leader in worldwide console sales totaling almost 75 million. At the time of release the Wii's infrared motion tracking peripheral was a clear evolution in the way users interface with games, but it still wasn't enough to get hardcore console gamers, who value their controllers, joysticks, and state of the art graphics, to jump ship.

Instead, the Wii has attracted a new market and created a new category of gamers that may not have purchased a gaming console before. While Sony's Move system simply copies what the Wii has created while maintaining it's market leading HD graphics, I believe Microsoft's new creation, the Kinect, could be the next big thing in the evolution of gaming.

The key difference between Nintendo and Sony's approach and Microsoft's is the need for a controller. With the Wii and Move, you interface with the console using a "wand" of sorts as a controller, tracking your movements through the manipulation of that object. With Kinect however, the amazing thing is that the only controller is you.

Kinect uses a combination of sensors and cameras to essentially create a virtual 3D map of the room and it's inhabitants. It uses real-time data from these components to track you and your friends as you move and reflects those changes on the screen. You can even cycle through menus in the soon to come Xbox Dashboard update a la Minority Report style. Pretty amazing stuff, really.

It will be interesting to see how the games and developer support changes over time with the aging of the new Kinect peripheral. I would like to see an active attempt to appeal to more hardcore console gamers like myself who value action/adventure and shooter games and have made the Xbox what it is today. Unfortunately, only time will tell.

New Look, New Mission

Hey all!

Long time no post! As the summer has come and almost gone, this blog has fallen to the wayside. Rest assured with the new school year and a completely new tech landscape (Apple vs. Android, Evos, 4G?) I will be updating at least once every week to keep you in the loop.

With that said, with the new look of the site you might also notice the new mission statement. Instead of keeping a studious, opinionated ere to the content, I have decided to provide a more objective perspective (with a few opinions thrown in occasionally) on the tech landscape that will hopefully open your mind as much as it will mine.

I hope that you like the new look, and I'm looking very much forward to providing new content for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks all! Look for updates soon!

Best,

Justin

Travelling Soon? Leave your Netbook and iPad in Your Bag

In some somewhat exciting news for frequent travelers, the TSA has announced on it's blog that any devices "smaller than the average laptop" can be left in your carry-on bag in the X-Ray.

I travel at least a few times a year so this is a huge advantage for anyone who travels with their devices, since you don't have to dig for your laptop and grab another bin to stick your 10 pound laptop in. This certainly creates new value for smaller devices, including any netbooks and of course, the iPad since it would be perfect for flight.

So next time you travel, keep your "smaller than a laptop" device in your bag and let me know how it goes.

Wow, What a Month!

Hey everyone!

 

Photo courtesy of cnet

I know it's been quite a while since I've provided any information on account of Spring Break and a few very, very hectic weeks of school.

Now that those are over, I thought I'd give a quick recap about what's gone on in the past few weeks that could have some major impact on the tech market.

The Apple iPad was released this past weekend (300k devices sold) to generally positive but mixed reviews. A lot of users were puzzled as to what devices they could actually replace with the device, saying that it's size impedes using it as a portable media device but the lack of complex multitasking made it difficult to justify replacing a device such as a laptop or netbook. Ultimately it seems, the device is fulfilling the role I expected to it to: entertainment. I think the hype for the device to "change the media landscape" created unrealistically high expectations for the iPad to be the one and only device a given user would need. While the tablet format may be useful in some applications, as noted by Josh Topolsky in the linked Engadget review above, the input of text and other business like functions fall short and are actually impeded by the device's large size.

There's also been exciting news that the iPhone may be ported to other carriers in late Summer/early Fall of this year. Verizon is said to be getting a different version of the device than AT&T but hey, it'll work for all of the Verizon users foaming at the mouth for an iPhone or AT&T subscribers looking to jump ship and onto the Verizon bandwagon. Gizmodo's Jason Chen was featured on G4's Attack of the Show last week adressing all of the rumors, and with word coming straight from the WSJ, the rumors might be more than just rumors. I'm sure there are many crossing their fingers on this one.

In Apple unrelated news, Sprint announced it's first Android 4G handset, the HTC EVO 4G. It looks to be a pretty exciting device, mimicking the general size of the just-released HD2 running Windows Mobile, but with Android 2.1 and an updated version of HTC's Sense user interface. The thing has an 8 megapixel camera capable of shooting 720p HD video, the same Snapdragon processor as Google's Nexus One running at 1 Ghz, and a full GB of memory for loads of apps. All this with Sprint/CLEAR's 4G network providing broadband speed to the device and this device could be the herald in a new era of mobile computing and devices.

That's all for now! I'm back and in business so look for new updates soon!