GadgetsDownunder

Engadget HD Podcast 268 - 10.04.2011

from engadget - 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Check your Bingo squares -- we have a full on geek rant this week. While DVBLink's Boxee extender engendered nothing but peaceful conversation, we couldn't help but dig into the next two topics. Rumors of Microsoft's efforts to integrate cable TV into a unified search with its other Xbox offerings continue to swirl, which left us wondering just who is standing in the way of innovation. Meanwhile, the cable companies and content providers are at odds over how to distribute their channels with little thought given to the end user's experience. Of course, we do have some happy news, with Star Trek: TNG coming to Blu-ray, bigger LCDs and 4K ...

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Zune is dead, long live Zune

from engadget - 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Like Zune's own Business Development Manager once said, all consumer electronics products have a lifespan, and today the (not so long) lineage of dedicated Zune hardware expires not with a roar, but with a promise to honor its warranties. Tucked away in the inner chambers of the Zune support site lies a page spelling out Microsoft's final words on the device, "Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy," it says, "we will no longer be producing Zune ...

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Kinect has no qualms about guessing a woman's age

from engadget - 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Did you know that Microsoft's Kinect can measure your bodily proportions in 3D and hence ontogenetically estimate your age? Well grandma, it can. Aside from being incredibly impolite, a recent patent application from Redmond also highlights a more beneficial function: to prevent kids from watching or playing age-restricted media. The proposed system could even shut down inappropriate material automatically when an offending minor steps in the room and then resume it when they leave. On the other hand, we give it five minutes before some scheming rugrat with a Read more ...

Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update video leaks, tours Metro in silence

from engadget - 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Last month, we sat down with Microsoft for a quick look at the Xbox's upcoming Dashboard update -- it was sleek, searchable, and extremely camera shy. A quick trip to Europe seems to have cured it of its bashful ways, however, and the budding update can now be seen in a slightly blurry piece of French cinema. This leaked video shows a Dashboard with a smidge more polish than the demo we saw in September, and silently plods on without so much as a bleep or bloop. Our mute host briefly peeks at the Xbox Live Marketplace, casually glances at the Bing search page and scrolls leisurely through the new Dash's very ...

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MadCatz now shipping Tritton Detonator headset, official Xbox 360 stereo sound for $80

from engadget - 4 months, 2 weeks ago