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Microsoft drops internal Natal chip

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:34:02 GMT

GamesIndustry.biz has learned that Microsoft has dropped a chip from its forthcoming Natal motion control system as the platform holder eyes accessible price points in the build-up to release later this year.

Engadget: Samsung's 14-inch transparent OLED laptop (video) hands on

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:59:24 GMT

Engadget writes: "If you thought the XPERIA Pureness was wild with its meager 1.8-inch transparent screen, wait'll you get a hold of Samsung Mobile Display's prototype 14-inch notebook -- complete with what's being touted as the world's first and largest transparent OLED prototype. When the thing is off, the panel is up to 40 percent transparent (as opposed to the industry average of below twenty-five percent)."

Lead developer exposes Natal inner-workings

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:14:08 GMT

Natal's lead developer Alex Kipman has revealed that the upcoming peripheral will demand 10-15 per cent of the 360's CPU resources.

He added that the device can recognise any pose in just 10 milliseconds – quick enough to suggest that the final product won't suffer from lag issues.

And in under two-tenths of a second, says Kipman, Natal can recognise the body shape of a new user stepping in front of it.

"Natal has to work on the existing hardware without taking too much hardware processing away from the games developers," added Kipman in an interview with trade publication New Scientist.

The lead designer added that he and his team had collected "terabytes" of data of people making poses likely to appear during game play.

Pi calculated to 'record number' of digits

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:01:23 GMT

A computer scientist claims to have computed the mathematical constant pi to nearly 2.7 trillion digits, using a Desktop PC.

Pi is an irrantional number, meaning the number of digits is contains can in theory go on forever.

And now it appears a Desktop PC has has gone further than any supercomputer has gone before by putting 2.7 trillion numbers correctly in place after the first 6 numbers, 3.14159.....

Microsoft's CES Keynote Address Rundown

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:38:19 GMT

The release of Project Natal prior to the year's end was once again confirmed, along with the fact that it will work with all existing Xbox 360 consoles. Further discussing new ideas, an interesting proposition was mentioned in the fact that Microsoft is considering allowing gamers to purchase a game on Xbox 360, and play it on their PC. Would this fantastic suggestion ever come to light in the retail space, however, Electronic Theatre would be very surprised indeed.

CES: 3D Gaming To Hit PS3 This Summer?

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:42:26 GMT

NowGamer: Sony has announced it will launch 3DTVs this Summer, leading to speculation that the PlayStation 3 could unleash it's stereoscopic 3D capabilities then.

The big theme of this year's Consumer Electronics Show is stereoscopic 3D - numerous TVs have been announced by various manufacturer's, but significantly, Sony has also waded in with it's own 3D HDTV line. The LX900 range will arrive in the summer with sizes from 40 to 60-inch screens, and will do 1080p 3D via RealD's shutter glasses system.

Sony Expanding PSN ID Past PlayStation Brand for Video Content

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:17:59 GMT

Gamervision reports: "During Sony's keynote during this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PlayStation boss Kazuo Hirai spent a little time talking about the PlayStation Network. No, he didn't confirm a pay-service model, this isn't E3, but he did briefly talk about Sony's video on demand service. While he didn't go into many details, it was discussed that the PlayStation Network ID would soon be used on both PC and Blu-Ray players, sharing both content and wallets when it comes to downloading videos through the service."

CES 2010 - LIVE Blog of the Microsoft Press Conference

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:23:47 GMT

GamingShogun.com is running a LIVE blog of the Microsoft Press Conference from the 2010 CES in Las Vegas, NV.