The Microsoft Kinect's Impact and Future

 Microsoft's Kinect attachment for the Xbox 360 was a very anticipated gadget of the holiday season, that had a lot of money put into it. Microsoft had created extensive and enormous advertisements for the Kinect. Every since the demonstration of the Kinect at E3 there has been ample amount of hype put into it. Some critics believed that is was destined for failure and a waste of money. Others thought it was just another Wii. Personally I had no idea what to think. 

 Being a geek, the concept of full body motion tracking liberated excitement in me. Then a part of me could never imagine of playing a video game without a controller in my hand. Of course I had to test this out for myself. I walked into a Best buy later that week to see the Kinect in all of its makeup. 

I must say that the Kinect instantly immersed me with its simple but yet so intuitive user interface. Almost like they only got it right with the Xbox and not the PC. But that is a whole other topic.

Even though I was just playing their basic Kinect Adventures game, it still amazed me with the full body tracking concept. I was actually breaking a sweat in the game. The games were not very complicated, but did not have to be. I had water seeping in places that I was not use to and balls flying all over my body.

The Kinect had graphics that absolutely killed the Wii and overall game play that was ten times better than the PS3 Move.

As for the critics, they were absolutely amazed with what the Kinect was capable of. It only took a few weeks for developers to come out with custom software for their computer that the Kinect was attached to. This software did a variety of things like using it to direct the blind, flying a robot that could maneuver through obstacles, operate a moveable recliner chair that utilized the upper body for gestures.

The Kinect has proven to be much more than a simple accessory for the Xbox 360. The advanced technology built within the sensor itself can provide the grounds for many new dynamic innovations to come. Once the Kinect's SDK beta comes out May 16th, who knows what developers will do.

CES 2011 - What We are Expecting

With CES about to kick off in Vegas tomorrow, alot of people will be wondering what will be announced/shown off in the event, and that is what I'm going to talk about now very briefly.

First off we are expecting total "Tablet" domination at the event. Since the release of the Apple iPad last year many companies have been drawing up plans to compete with the product, hence Samsung's release of their Galaxy Tablet which is Android based. Also HP have started shipping their Windows 7 Tablet called the HP Slate.

As with 2010's CES conference I am also expecting 3D to be a big hitter at the event aswell. With talk of Nintendo 3DS (Which I very much doubt Nintendo will go public with the product at this event) being 3D glasses free, I would expect companies to bring other 3D products which do not require the usage of 3D glasses.

4G, the next installation to the mobile internet. This is almost certain to be introduced by various companies at this years CES. With various 4G devices already in the market today, I would not be suprised if even though its almost certain to be announced in the CES event that companies will keep this to a low aspect.

Ofcourse there are many many other products to be announced in the CES event.

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Microsoft Kinect Unboxing

Microsoft Kinect could easily be one of the biggest advances in video gaming in a long time. Kinect, made by Microsoft, is a sensor that you connect to your Xbox 360 and you become the controller. With Sony and Nintendo jumping into the motion gaming market, Microsoft had to do something. Microsoft definitely shocked the world with Kinect. Here's my unboxing. 

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Technology in 2011

What technology are we expecting in 2011? In this article I explain a few of the widely anticipated releases in the new year

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Tek Nation Episode 9: Kinect Hype

In today's episode we're discussing the hype of Microsoft's Kinect as the main headline. Kinect is for the Xbox 360 and eliminates the controller. You're the controller. Now you should know all of that unless you've been under a rock for the past two weeks. Find out more details on how it works in the video above. In other news, we talked the biggest entertainment launch in history Call of Duty Black Ops. It looks like a great time with the new multiplayer options, a new campaign, and the return of "Zombies" mode should pack a punch for this game. Also Apple is discontinuing the X-serve on January 31, 2011. The success of the product has been very minor, so I understand the discontinuation.

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