Microsoft – Page 2

The Great Canadian Appathon runs this weekend

March 10, 2011March 11, 2011 Doug Groves contest, game jam, Great Canadian Appathon, KPMG, Microsoft, mobile gaming, National Post, Telus, Windows Phone 7, XMG Studio0 comment

This weekend marks the Great Canadian Appathon, a competition to code a mobile game from scratch to completion in 48 hours. XMG Studio and The National Post are sponsoring the mobile game coding marathon, which starts at 5pm on Friday March 11th. The competition is open to university and college students, working either solo or in teams of up to four people, with the goal to make the best Windows Phone 7 game possible from scratch. Teams will meet up at one of six different locations across the country to start the marathon coding…

Windows Phone 7 NoDo update delayed until late March

March 10, 2011 Doug Groves copy paste, Microsoft, NoDo, update, Windows Phone 71 Comment

The long awaited NoDo update for Windows Phone 7 has been delayed until late March. Originally rumoured to be coming out in January, Microsoft never mentioned a specific timeframe until Mobile World Congress, when Steve Ballmer said early March with an expectation that it would roll out March 8th.

Kinect sells over 10 million, celebrates with a Guinness

March 9, 2011September 26, 2012 Doug Groves Guinness, Kinect, Microsoft, sales, Xbox 3600 comment

According to a Microsoft press release, the Kinect for Xbox 360 has sold over 10 million units, and in its short 4 month history has also sold over 10 million standalone titles. It’s a pretty impressive feat, making it the Fastest-Selling Consumer Electronics Device according to Guinness (the Book of World Records, not the delicious stout).

Angry Birds everywhere

March 7, 2011September 26, 2012 Doug Groves 3DS, Angry Birds, facebook, Microsoft, mobile gaming, Nintendo, Rovio, Wii0 comment

It seems that Rovio’s fowl flinging game is aiming to be completely ubiquitous this year. The smash hit that took the iPhone by storm has since been ported to Android and a board game will be appearing soon on Windows Phone 7, Xbox LIVE arcade, and Nintendo’s Wii and 3DS. Beyond that, they are launching a Facebook version of the game in the coming weeks as well. The Finnish company has even announced a somewhat bizare deal with deal with Microsoft for Bing to be the ‘official decision engine‘ for…

Kinect for Windows getting official SDK

February 22, 2011September 26, 2012 Doug Groves Kinect, Kinect hacks, Microsoft, SDK, Windows1 Comment

Ever since its release in the fall, Microsoft’s Kinect has been a popular target for coders everywhere, putting the motion controller to use in applications far beyond the traitional use as a game controller. Now Microsoft has made it official, by announcing that it will be releasing an official Software Development Kit later this spring. This SDK will be for non-commercial use, and there’s no word when a commercial SDK will come out. The Kinect for Windows SDK is being developed and released by Microsoft Research (MSR) in collaboration with…

Zune HD coming to Canada

February 21, 2011September 26, 2012 Doug Groves Hardware, Microsoft, portable media player, x10, Zune HD2 Comments

Microsoft’s Zune HD portable media player, formerly only available in the US and UK, will be coming to Canada in the near future. Although first released in 2009, the hardware has never been available here. It’s curious that Microsoft would choose 2011 to bring their media player here, since they’ve been focusing on Windows Phone for their mobility solution as of late, including integrating many of the Zune features into their new phone platform. While the Zune software on PCs and the Xbox allows for both movie and TV rentals and purchases, it’s been noticably absent of music options here.

HTC HD7 now available on Bell

February 10, 2011February 14, 2011 Doug Groves Bell, HTC HD7, Microsoft, The Source, Windows Phone 7, Xbox Live1 Comment

While first announced a couple of months back, Bell has now launched the HTC HD7, including availabilty at The Source outlets, or at least the one I passed by when grabbing lunch. With the number of quality games that have already been released for the platform, the larger screen real estate makes for a great mobile gaming phone. The phone also comes bundled with Bell’s TV Remote PVR app, which allows Bell TV subscribers to manage their PVR away from home. Freatures include show search, schedule recording and remote control…

Canalys shows Android overtaking Nokia in the world

January 31, 2011September 26, 2012 Doug Groves Android, Apple, Blackberry, google, iOS, Microsoft, RIM, stats, Windows Phone 7, WP71 Comment

The latest US numbers from Canalys show that Android has now surpassed Nokia as the best selling smartphone OS in the world. Though it started off slow, Android grew from 8.7% of the market in Q4 2009 to a massive 32.9% in Q4 2010. The big drop was for Nokia, which plummeted from 44.4% to 30.6% in the same timespan. All other smartphones saw a drop as well, with Apple’s iOS dropping less than a percent, while RIM dropped almost 6%. Since Windows Phone 7 launched in the middle of…

Using Kinect and WiiMote to play Max Payne

January 12, 2011January 18, 2011 Doug Groves Kinect, Kinect hack, Max Payne, Microsoft, PC gaming, Wii, WiiMote, Xbox 360, YouTube0 comment

Kinect hacks have taken on many forms since the release of Microsoft’s motion sensor. From controlling Windows 7 to using it as a collision detection system for the AR Drone helicopter, the system is proving to be pretty versatile. Sure the term ‘hack’ may not be 100% accurate, since the device and its official software aren’t being hacked in any way, but that’s just semantics. Demize2010, who’s no stranger to making Kinect hack enabled games, has just released his latest example. This time, he’s got Max Payne being controlled with…

Dance Central – One Step At a Time

January 12, 2011January 31, 2011 Deborah Chantson Dance Central, DLC, harmonix, Kinect, Microsoft, music game, review, rhythym game, Xbox 3608 Comments

While the gyms are full and too many people are jiggling around in too little clothing, I’ve become a basement gamer. A dancing basement gamer.

Dance Central has only recently become a tool for fitness in my household. It started out as the coolest novelty, a well-intentioned weight loss method, then loads of fun as a party game. So ironically, hubby and I would just be watching everyone else sweat, while we sat and haphazardly reminded ourselves to play later.

We didn’t.

Acer Aspire Revo 3700 review

January 4, 2011January 13, 2011 Doug Groves Acer, Aspire, ASRock, Boxee Box, Microsoft, nettop, OTT TV, review, Revo, Revo 3700, Windows, Windows Media Center9 Comments

One of the recent computers to cross the desks here at RGB Filter Acer’s latest iteration of the Revo nettop line, the AR3700. Powered by the second generation dual core Atom processor and Nvidia’s ION 2 graphics chip, the low cost machine is a computer looking for a niche to fill. With Window 7 Home Premium, it’s certainly capable of handling light processing duties such as web surfing, email and document creation, and at about $350, including keyboard and mouse, it makes for a decent machine for someone looking for…

Microsoft Security Essentials 2 released – Your PC will thank you

December 23, 2010December 27, 2010 Doug Groves antivirus, download, malware, Microsoft, Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows 72 Comments

If you haven’t yet installed Microsoft Security Essentials on your PC yet, now is the time. Microsoft has released version 2 of their antivirus and malware protection software, and it’s probably the best solution out there for most people. Even better is that it’s free. I’ve always hated antivirus software, because of the bloat it adds to the system. Most commercial antivirus does a great job of delivering pop-ups for innocuous events, just to remind you that they’re still running, and to say “Hey, don’t you feel glad you bought me?”….