Microsoft debuted the Xbox One this afternoon live from a tent on its Redmond, WA. campus, putting to end months of speculation about the company’s next-generation video game console. Microsoft exec Don Mattrick called Xbox One out as an “all-in-one” box. The core strategy is “simple, instant, and complete.” It was debuted alongside a new gamepad as well as a new Kinect motion camera for Xbox One.
You’ve finally gone and bought a new PC. It has a boatload of memory, lots of cores, and a fast, modern graphics card. But now your old PC sits in a corner, and although you know it’s just a machine, it seems to be sulking like a puppy that missed its morning biscuit. It’s weird, but you feel guilty with the whole idea of throwing it out.
After all, it’s perfectly functional. When you first bought it, it was near state-of-the-art. If your new PC replaces one that’s really on its last legs, by all means, take it to a reputable electronics recycler. But it’s amazing how many users ditch perfectly good machines when they pick up a shiny new system.
You can do plenty of things with an old PC besides sending it to the recycling heap. Let’s take a look at a few ways you might put that old system to work.
You know what? There’s some pretty sweet gear at CES 2011: tablets galore, smart cameras, cool phones, audiophile pr0n. Woot! This little trade show might have a future! Check out some of our favorites.
This is it. Tonight, during an event that will likely set a new benchmark for dubstep and flashing green lights, we’ll finally get to see Microsoft’s next gaming console.
About time, right? Sony announced the PlayStation 4 in February, and now, just a few weeks before E3, we’re finally going to see the other major part of the next-next-next generation: the third Xbox.
Samsung will host a US$800,000 contest for developers that build apps for the Galaxy S4 using the company’s peer-to-peer software interface.
The South Korean company said Monday entrants in its “Smart App Challenge 2013″ must make use of the Samsung Chord SDK (software development kit). Chord is a software interface for creating wireless connections directly between Samsung smartphones, without the use of an online server or mobile phone network.
Back then, Microsoft was a clear underdog, hoping to cut into the leads held by rival consoles from Nintendo and Sony. The Xbox had a core following, to be sure. But it also had plenty of ground to make up.
When Microsoft reveals Xbox Reveal the details of the next Xbox Reveal on Tuesday, it will be sitting in a far more comfortable position. Just last week, NPD reported that 130,000 Xboxes were sold in April in the United States, making the Xbox the best-selling video game console in the country, the 28th consecutive month it’s been in that spot. Consumers spent $208 million on hardware, software, and accessories for the Xbox in April, more than any rival console.
Despite the breadth and diversity of life online, there are relatively few opportunities to make the kind of acquisitions that make the industry stop and take stock. Yahoo’s $1.1bn deal to buy Tumblr is one of those moments: a bold acquisition that says chief executive Marissa Meyer means business.
The Play Services system is the underlying Android component which all games will be able to tap into, allowing them to share a single notifications path, multiplayer gamer matching, leaderboards and achievements records, and more. Unsurprisingly, the multiplayer duties are shared with Google+, with the social network’s circles used to manage who can invite you to play a game, whose achievements you see, and who your own achievements are shared with.
Sony has reported an annual profit for the first time in five years, boosted by asset sales and a weakening yen.
Net profit was 43bn yen ($436m; £280m) in the year to 31 March, compared with a 457bn loss a year earlier.
Sony said the yen’s recent fall, which makes its goods cheaper for foreign buyers, boosted sales. A weak yen also lifts profits when firms repatriate their foreign earnings back home.