Finally got the editor to work!
Tonight at CES Microsoft held their yearly keynote speech, which unlike SOME companies ::coughSONYcough:: they actually showed off some XBOX related updates, especially for their new motion sensing product the Kinect. Now if you are a consumer whore like me you purchased this thing day one. As of right now it's only purpose is Dance Central but with Microsoft pumping $500 Million into advertising you knew more innovative support was coming for this thing. My biggest disappointment was the fact you couldnt use Netflix with the Kinect motion controls.
That all changes this spring as Netflix will be coming with full support for Kinect. Now all those pining to run through their queue with Minority Report level control can see their dreams come true. Also announced was the addition of Hulu's premium service to XBOX Live. I would imagine this service will be coming free with a Gold Subscription but don't quote me on that. Details of pricing if any for Hulu were not announced. Next on their agenda was new Kinect features for ESPN. It's all support for the ongoing College Bowl games allowing you to trash talk friends and make predictions.
The thing that shows the most promise for the device though, is Avatar Kinect. This feature is similar to the video chatting over XBOX Live except you are represented by your Avatar. Looks like you can have 4-8 people in a "room" which you choose what it looks like via different backgrounds. Now I know you are asking how the hell is this the most promising update? Well friends that is because for the motion tracking this bad boy does. For Avatar Kinect the camera is able to track full motion of your body including your finger tips. Up until now Kinect could track movement, arms and leg motions but nothing involving fingers. There is also full facial recognition so your Avatar will be matching lip movements to the words you speak.
Will I just Avatar Kinect? probably not, but its what will introduce a new wave of motion opportunities for developers and also shows just how much the Kinect can track and relay on screen. Microsoft also followed this news up with some gaming updates for Windows Phone 7. The biggest of which was a Fable 3 golf game entitled "Fable Coin Golf". All gold earned in this game can be transferred to your Fable 3 save. So overall it wasn't MUCH in the way of gaming news but CES usually isn't the hot spot for news. If anything else noteworthy drops this week you know I will bring it to you!
On a side note I just want to say how excited I am that we are close to 70 hits on the blog in about half a day. It's not setting the world on fire but I feel once I get a regular flow of content and multiple people contributing to the blog things will really be on a roll. Thanks for your early support, hope you like it, and spread the word to anyone who you think would enjoy the site!
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