Report: Kinect-powered Internet Explorer 9 coming to Xbox 360Microsoft's system would be the last to get an integrated Web browser.by Kyle Orland - May 10 2012, 4:11pm SAWST Console Gaming45Given that Microsoft is the only console maker that also develops a full-featured desktop Web browser, it's a bit odd that the Xbox 360 is the only current-generation game console that doesn't include a Web browser. That might be set to change soon, though, as The Verge reports that Microsoft is working on a Kinect-compatible version of Internet Explorer 9 for the Xbox 360.While Kinect reportedly won't be required to use the TV-based browser, the peripheral will allow users to perform voice searches and navigate using gestures. There's no word on when Microsoft plans to launch the new browser, but it does seem like the kind of thing the company would announce during its E3 festivities.The Verge cites unnamed sources for the Web browser information, but the site previously used similar sources in reporting the first details of a subsidized Xbox 360 with a monthly fee, a program Microsoft officially announced earlier this week.
Apple, Congressmen support Microsoft in battle to prevent Xbox banMotorola's hope to ban Xbox also offends Nokia, Intel, Cisco, and Activision.by Jon Brodkin - June 12 2012, 6:20pm SAWST Console Gaming Intellectual Property75With the US International Trade Commission set to decide whether to ban imports of Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console, a team of rivals including Apple, Nokia, Intel, Activision, HP, and Cisco have written to the ITC pleading that it not stop sales of the product. Numerous members of the US House of Representatives weighed in on Microsoft's behalf as well.An ITC administrative law judge recently recommended that the commission ban the 4GB and 250GB versions of the Xbox console, due to the violation of standards-essential, video-related patents held by Motorola Mobility, which is now a division of Google. With a final decision pending, an IP attorney representing Apple, Mark Davis, wrote to the commission on June 8, saying that Motorola committed to license patents under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND), but is circumventing FRAND requirements in suing Microsoft (as well as in suing Apple in similar cases)."Apple respectfully submits that any exclusion order directed against Microsoft would significantly undermine the standards-setting process and frustrate the purpose of FRAND," Davis wrote (Scribd link). More testimonials on the Xbox's behalf came from Activision, Nokia, HP, Cisco, and Intel, all saying the public interest outweighs the concerns of Motorola.Numerous members of the US House of Representatives filed letters opposing an Xbox ban as well. US Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), for example, wrote that an import ban would be inappropriate because it would be based on standards-essential patents, and harmful because it would exclude the only video game console created by a US company from the market. The letter, along with others from Reps. Dave Reichert (R-WA), Lamar Smith (R-TX), and Sue Myrick (R-NC), are date-stamped June 8 and were released on the ITC documents site today.Motorola won a ruling that Microsoft infringes four patents (links to the patents here), which relate to the H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 video coding standards, and the 802.11 WiFi standards. In its defense, Microsoft pointed out that in getting patented technology accepted into industry standards, Motorola "committed to the IEEE, ITU and ISO standards bodies that their essential patents are licensed on non-discriminatory bases offering fair and reasonable terms."Separately, Microsoft also won an ITC import ban ruling against Motorola Android devices that infringe Microsoft patents—but Microsoft asserted patents that hadn't been pledged to industry standards, and thus aren't encumbered by FRAND obligations.Members of the Illinois Congressional delegation (Motorola's home state) led by Danny Davis (D-IL) spoke out mildly in favor of an Xbox import ban in a letter to the ITC, not specifically naming the Xbox but saying that "we strongly support vigorous intellectual property right protection, including injunctive and exclusionary relief."The Federal Trade Commission also weighed in, as we reported last week, saying the ITC should not ban either Xboxes or iPhones. Although there seems to be no question that Microsoft infringed the patents, the majority of those filing opinions with the ITC oppose the import ban on the grounds that Motorola should never have sued with standards-essential patents in the first place.
Will there be multiple versions of the next Xbox?"Scalable" architecture patent points to systems with variable hardware power.by Kyle Orland - July 11 2012, 3:41pm SAWST Console Gaming Game Development67One of many possible processor-sharing configurations discussed in a Microsoft patent for a more flexible game system architectureUSPTOFor better or worse, one thing you can generally count on in the console gaming market is that a system you buy on launch day will have the same basic capabilities as the same system bought six years down the line. Even though numerous internal hardware revisions in that time might reduce the component size and lower the production costs, anything designed to work on one configuration of the console would have to work on all the earlier ones as well. But a patent application filed by Microsoft suggests that the company may be looking to release its next Xbox in multiple configurations, each with varying hardware power and capabilities. A patent like this usually wouldn't be so interesting on its own; Microsoft files patents all the time, and most never see the light of day. But this one includes details that are intriguingly similar to those included in the now famous "Xbox 720" leak that came to light last month.Microsoft's patent for a "Scalable Multimedia Computer System Architecture With QOS [Quality Of Service] Guarantees" describes a design for a game system that is capable of "allowing platform services to scale over time." Those "platform services" include pretty much everything the hardware does besides directly running games—everything from maintaining the basic operating system, handling network traffic, and interpreting inputs to potentially streaming content to nearby tablets or recording TV shows.A standard console configuration might explicitly devote one entire CPU/GPU combo to handling those basic platform functions, while other processors are dedicated to the game-playing "application" functions. But Microsoft's patent describes a new "communication fabric" framework that would let the system allocate computing resources more flexibly between platform and application tasks concurrently, while also ensuring that the game-playing portion doesn't dip below a certain quality threshold. So the operating system would be able to use as much processing power as it wants, as long as it doesn't interfere with the performance of a game that's running at the same time.That's important, because it would also let Microsoft design multiple hardware configurations of the same basic game system, all of which run the same games, but some of which allow for additional "platform" features that use the extra hardware power. The patent even hints at this kind of configuration diversity. While "lower cost embodiments" of the system might be forced to share a single GPU between the platform and application systems (theoretically limiting the power of the platform aspects), the patent suggests that subsequent versions of the hardware could provide "more platform services... due to hardware improvements." In other words, as computing standards increase, newer versions of the system would be equipped to provide additional functions, while still running games designed for earlier versions of the hardware.What might those extra "platform services" entail? How about converting your game console into a general purpose computer? The patent describes one "embodiment" of the design that could be equipped to run "a different general purpose operating system (e.g. Windows)" including "Internet access via a browser, word processing, productivity, content generation and audiovisual applications." In this configuration, the hardware would be able to easily switch between a game-playing mode and "general purpose computer mode," without requiring separate processors for each distinct part.But the added services don't have to be that elaborate. Other configurations discussed in the patent could be designed to "be operated as a participant in a larger network community" (read: act as a home server), handle basic audio/visual functions (like persistent on-screen chat or streaming music), or make use of a third CPU to speed up storage access times and process complex inputs (read: Kinect) faster and more accurately. Theoretically, the more advanced hardware could even improve the graphical rendering on games designed for earlier configurations.The "Xbox 720" document that we reported on last month discussed a potential system architecture that was "designed to be scalable in frequency/number of cores," and have a "modular design to facilitate SKU updates later in lifecycle." And while the leak was labeled as "for discussion purposes only," it's dated just a few months before the December 2010 patent filing (the patent application was only published online by the US Patent and Trademark Office late last month, and found by Internet sleuths earlier this week).Taken together, these documents present an interesting middle way to combine the PC world of constantly upgradeable hardware with the console world of standardized design. While developers would still have a set baseline "quality of service" configuration to aim for with their designs, the console would also be able to evolve to make use of new standards in computing power as time goes on. Combined with some sort of subsidized monthly fee model, which includes regular, cell-phone style upgrades, Microsoft could ensure that its players aren't using obsolete hardware even years after the system launches. With average console lifecycles continuing to increase, it might not be such a bad idea.
The good news... Halo 3 is now free for XBL Gold members (yay) The bad news... Halo 3 is now free for XBL Gold members...in the US ...amd here I was bigging up XBL for better online play, voice-chat implementation, etc and forgot about one of THE biggest 'gotchas' of the service... Yep, dat region lockout. What a way to be reminded. ...and I pay the same money as US subscribers eh... No more, no less. Yes...there are 'ways around this' but PSN+ subscribers don't have to deal with this bullshit.
