Today, Microsoft has released the first beta of Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit. The SDK, also described as the “starter kit” is available for download in both 32-bit an 64-bit versions and includes Kinect drivers for Windows, sample codes and APIs. Microsoft wants to encourage development and creation of new academic and entertainment experiences by researchers and enthusiasts using the Xbox 360‘s motion sensor on the Windows platform. A commercial Kinect for Windows SDK is also in the pipeline, says a Microsoft representative.  Read more...

Permalink: Download Kinect For Windows SDK (32Bit / 64bit) Starter Kit Now!

Yet another overhaul to the Xbox LIVE UI is going to drop in the fall of 2011 and this time, its going to be based on the same Metro UI as seen in Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and the upcoming Windows 8, consisting of live interactive tiles. The new UI will also include a live TV option along, an integrated Bing search and a fully Kinect controlled dashboard which would allow users to make a voice search, both systemwide and online.  Read more...

Permalink: New Xbox LIVE Metro UI With Bing Integration Demo! [VIDEO]

Today in Taiwan, Microsoft showed off it’s newest Operating System, Windows 8. Microsoft demoed it’s newest OS to hardware vendors who would be building the new hardware to support Microsoft’s new project.  Read more...

Permalink: Microsoft Shows off Windows 8 at Computex

Acer has just joined the Windows Phone 7 handset market by unveiling its first WP7 phone called “W4″. The handset which is expected to be released later in 2011, is shown off running WP Mango OS. The phone sports a 5-MegaPixel autofocus camera and 8GB of on board storage. The device was showcased at Computex after Microsoft announced Acer as its new “hardware parter” for Windows Phone Mango devices during an event held last week.  Read more...

Permalink: Acer W4 Windows Phone Running WP7 Mango OS Revealed [SPECIFICATIONS]

Some very interesting features which will be added in the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Mango update have been demonstrated at a recent “Mango event” held in Germany. These features were not revealed in previous WP7 Mango events held in NewYork and London. One of these new features is the “custom ringtones”, which are listed separate from the default ringtones. A new “battery saving” option has also been demoed in which the phone automatically disables multitasking, email, data and WiFi services to put the handset into battery saving mode, once a certain battery level is reached.  Read more...

Permalink: Windows Phone 7 Custom Ringtones, Video Uploads & More! [VIDEO]

Microsoft has released a toolkit for iOS developers to use in order to utilize Microsoft’s Cloud Based storage solution for developers to use to host and build applications. The toolkit is obviously also available for the Windows Phone platform, and Microsoft says that an Android version will be out next month. The iOS toolkit allows the creation of apps for iPhone and iPad using Objective-C and XCode, with Microsoft stating that they want to make it easier for developers to use their platforms.  Read more...

Permalink: Microsoft Releases Azure Tookit for iOS

It was about a year and a half ago that  new concept product called the Courier was leaked from Microsoft. It was the perfect tablet, but sadly, it was cancelled.  It was a dual touchscreen tablet that folded in half like a book.  It was pre iPad and before the big tablet boom unfortunately.  However, two developers have made Microsoft’s vision a reality with the iPad.  They have created a program called Taposé that brings the dual touchscreen functionality to the iPad.  Don’t go thinking they will make it fold in half either.  Read more...

Permalink: Courier Functionality coming to iPad thanks to Taposé!

Even though the next big update to Microsoft’s Windows OS codenamed “8″ is scheduled for release in late 2012 or early 2013, it seems these dates would need re-adjustment keeping in view the rate which all these builds are leaking out. Just over a weak ago, build 7955 of Windows 8 was leaked and today build 7959 is floating all over the web. This build which is reported to be extremely buggy, is the first 64-bit M3 (Milestone 3) build of server type that has been leaked. The download size for the build is roughly 2.87GB.  Read more...

Permalink: Windows 8 Enterprise M3 6.2.7959 Leaked, Available For Download!

As much as I’ve liked Microsoft’s marketing campaign for Windows Phone 7 so far, there’s no doubt that it’s a bit misleading on many ends. A new video posted on Microsoft’s Student Partners YouTube channel proves exactly that. What happens in the video is that Windows Phone 7 is pitted up against an iPhone 4 in a very selective list of tasks that play to a few advantages that Windows Phone 7 has: built in Facebook integration and Bing search.  Read more...

Permalink: Surprise! Biased Video Shows Windows Phone 7 Is Faster In Certain Tasks Than iPhone 4

Microsoft has created a tool called the iOS to Windows Phone 7 API Mapping Tool to make it easy for iOS developers to port their apps over to the Windows Phone 7 platform.  This would allow developers the tools to make that happen, and help both the developer and Microsoft in the end.  Microsoft adds more apps to it’s store, which is expected to pass up Blackberry’s App World within a year, and give developers more presence as well.  Read more...

Permalink: Microsoft creates a tool that allows your iOS app to be ported to Windows Phone 7