Tech & Accessory News
Microsoft has announced that the Xbox One will be priced at $500 and is scheduled to be released on November 30. The so called "Day One Edition" Xbox One is available for pre-order starting today on Amazon, and it includes a limited edition controller, Kinect sensor and premium packaging.
Planning on saving money by buying used Xbox One games? Think again. If not being able to play your Xbox 360 games on the new Xbox One didn't infuriate you enough, Microsoft hasn't confirmed this yet, but there are strong rumors that selling and purchasing used Xbox One games will cost you more than you've bargained for. How much exactly? Any Xbox One user who has purchased a pre-owned game no matter how or from where, will have to pay the full retail cost of that certain game thru activation in order to play and download the game under that person's account. Each disc would have to be tied to a single Xbox Live account, restricting it from being used under a different owner.
Essentially what this means is that you'll always pay full retail price for new game titles, but games that were never used could still be purchased at any given price set by a retail store or an individual. How will rental services like Gamefly work around this if ever, is still a question left unasnwered, but we hope Microsoft has a game plan for rental services.
Microsoft seized today with its special unveiling event where the company announced its impressive next-generation gaming console, the Xbox One. A redesigned "all-in-one" living room entertainment console meets set-top box built from the ground up, packing a slot-loading blu-ray drive you'll only need to be using once to play games. The Xbox One downloads the game data automatically while you play onto its non-replaceable 500GB hard drive (expandable using external storage) the first time you insert a disc so it'll be playable without it from there on.
Powering it is an AMD and Microsoft developed 8-core processor with an on-board GPU chip and 8GB of RAM. The One's Windows operating system is a combination of three OSs engineered to respond intuitively and powerful enough to run apps alongside a game simultaneously without loss in performance. The Xbox One instantly powers up with a Windows 8-like home screen interface ladened with TV, movie, music and app integration with instant switching from one place to another.
Microsoft has also designed a new Kinect 2 motion sensor that'll accompany the new Xbox One which boasts a 1080p wide-angle camera with heart rate monitoring capability, gesture recognition and voice recognition so you can interact with it thru various voice commands like powering the console on just by saying "Xbox on", which will also turn on your TV. Voice commands are snappy to deliver instant results even when wanting to bring up a certain channel without having to use your TV remote.
Switching between inputs is a thing of the past now that the One features several USB 3.0 ports and HDMI pass-thru which enables you to watch live TV right on your Xbox while your TV, TV provider box and Xbox are interconnected. Built-in WiFi naturally of course. And yes you can game without being online.
With a new sleek console comes an improved wireless controller that utilizes Kinect to automatically recognize which individual has picked up the controller to bring up a personalized player experience on-screen. The new Xbox One controller sports a more ergonomic shape and is fitted with newly designed thumbstick shape and grip texture as well as vibrating impulse triggers with force feedback, and several more improvements - notably a built-in rechargeable battery. The new impulse triggers are perhaps the most impressive new feature to come with the new controller where you'll be able to feel the tightness of a car breaking and the vibration of a motor thru increasing throttle.
The best gaming controller just got better with over 40 technology innovations. New Impulse Triggers deliver precise fingertip feedback for more realistic experiences. We have streamlined the thumbsticks, D-pad, and contours for improved precision and comfort in your hands. Simply put, it is the best controller we've ever made.
The Xbox One runs four times quieter than its predecessor thanks to its redesigned cooling system. Microsoft confirmed that it will not run Xbox 360 game discs. 15 new game titles were also announced including an exclusive launch of Call Of Duty: Ghosts, Forza Motorsport 5, Fifa 12, NBA Live 14, Madden NFL 25, EA UFC and more.
Today Microsoft announced the availability of their Surface Windows 8 Pro (Really? This is the best name a $68 billion company can think of?). This will be the upgraded version of their Surface with Windows RT with the difference mainly being the ability to install third-party applications on the Pro version. If you’ve been dying to get your hands on this version, your wait is almost over. You will be able to purchase one starting Feb 9 at all the Microsoft stores, their online store, Staples, Best Buy and a number of locations in Canada.
The Surface Windows 8 Pro is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, comes in 64GB and 128GB versions and a Surface Pen, which is basically a fancy stylus. If you’re looking to get the entry level version of the Pro, be ready to fork over $899 (without the keyboard cover). The Surface Touch Covers go for $119 by the way so you’re looking at around $1,100 for the whole package. In addition to the availability of the Pro, the RT will be available in 13 new markets with a new standalone 64GB version available without the Cover for $599. Mark your calendars and empty your savings account, Microsoft is ready to double theirs come Feb 9th.
In other fun news, one of Microsoft's campus buildings in Mountain View California fell victim to thievery. The culprit neglected to sweep up any Micicrosoft branded products, and instead stole 5 iPads including the newest 4th generation iPad from three separate offices. Presumably the iPads were personally owned by the employees, and weren't dissected in order to develop Microsoft's Surface tablets. But in reality, we think these iPads were used by Microsoft's iOS app developers for testing Office for iOS and other Microsoft developed apps. We love a good story powered by irony.
In recent Nokia leaks over the weekend, evleaks's exclusive scoop is of Nokia's soon-to-be-announced, super sleek new Lumia 920, Lumia 820 and of its charging accessory companion what looks to be an inductive Charging Pad for wireless charging. Now that's what we call effortless charging. Nokia and Microsoft are expected to hold a Windows Phone press event this Wednesday, September 5.
According to an inside source who attended Microsoft's recent conference where talks surrounding the launch details of the much anticipated Surface tablet pointed towards a groundbreaking, and very much affordable $200 price point for Microsoft's 32GB Surface RT tablet, and an October 26 launch date. At that kind of low-balling price point, Microsoft's Surface tablet will directly compete against Google's and Amazon's Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire tablets, if not completely annihilating them altogether.
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