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Tag: xbox-live

  • Stephen Elop in an Interview About Nokia and Windows

    In an interview with people at The Verge, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, was extremely pleased regarding the company’s performance after the first year of strategic partnership with Microsoft.

    Being obviously aware of the negative consequences of the radical strategy change, of which the most important is workforce reduction, Stephen Elop said that Nokia is currently in the middle of transition. Regarding the transition to Microsoft, Nokia CEO said: “One year after making big decisions on the company, I’m surer than ever that I made the right decisions”.

    Nokia’s impact on the development of Windows Phone starts to be felt just now, and the Finnish company still wants to influence the direction of this platform. Given that Microsoft is centralizing the entire ecosystem around the Metro interface, examples being Windows Phone, Windows 8 or Xbox Live, Stephen Elop showed confidence in expanding the Nokia’s influence towards multi-platform horizons, but this influence is currently in an early stage, details still being premature.

    As expected, in what concerns the tablets, Elop has shown interested in the field but also the reluctance, trying to make the best decision in this crowded market.

    Asked about the amalgamation of smartphones launched at MWC 2012, including those under the Nokia brand, Stephen Elop gave a cold and calculated answer: “Which one do you remember?” Unfortunately, a lack of differentiation between terminals it only reflects in a lot of terminals that will not keep the headlines too much.

    Regarding the last star in MWC 2012 – Nokia 808 PureView – and the decision to boost it with Symbian OS, the CEO said that the technology had to come out, being the best method at this time.

    In what concerns the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign, Stephen Elop has also shown his appreciation and enthusiasm. He said such an aggressive campaign based on tests and usage scenarios, rather than tables of specifications, is exactly what the platform needed in order to win in growth.

    However, it remains to be seen what Nokia will be up to over the next year or if Nokia will still exist…

    Read the full interview at The Verge.

  • Xbox LIVE Video Kinect Brings Video Chat to Your Living Room

    Along with the announcement of Kinect for Xbox 360 (formally known as ‘Project Natal’), Microsoft yesterday unveiled Xbox LIVE Video Kinect that lets you chat with other Xbox 360 users.

    But the next year, Microsoft is going to link Video Kinect with Windows Live Messenger, allowing the Xbox LIVE community to have real-time video conversations with hundreds of millions of PC users around the world. The new service will also integrate custom news feeds, weather and videos from Bing.

    The Natal camera’s "Autozoom Focus" instantly finds and follows you when you move so you always stay in frame; no headset is required.

    No more details have been given except those given by Piero Sierra, Group Program Manager, Windows Live Messenger & Mail at Microsoft in his blog post: “When we told you earlier about what’s coming in the next version of Messenger, one of the things we discussed was how we’re improving the core instant messaging experience, and making big improvements to video chat and media sharing with built-in features like HD support, full-screen video chat, and more engaging ways to share photos and videos,” he wrote.

    And added: “If you’ve been following the E3 conference, you know that today Microsoft unveiled new details about the controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360, including how it enables Xbox LIVE users to have real-time video conversations with Windows Live Messenger users.

    This functionality will release in the next year, and we’re excited about how it helps make your communication experience even richer by bringing Messenger and your friends directly into your living room.”

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  • Microsoft Unveils Zune HD Details

    Microsoft announced today that the Zune HD, its long-awaited media player, is available now for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 15.

    The black 16 GB version will sell for $219.99, and the 32 GB "platinum" device for $289.99. Both 16GB and 32GB capacities will be available in five different colors with the option to customize the player with one of 10 new engravings designed by guest artists.

    Pre-order starting Thursday, Aug. 13 at https://www.zune.net/zunehd and purchase in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

    Those who want a sneak peek, can visit select stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., areas on Aug. 22 and 23.

    Zune HD features 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480 x 272 resolution) and have HD video output to allow video to be played on an HDTV.

    It comes also with built-in HD Radio receiver, an OLED touch screen interface, wi-fi, a multi-touch UI for Internet Explorer and has access to TV, movies and games through the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.