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Microsoft shows off single game running on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox
Guess we don’t have to wait until MIX to have all our Windows Phone 7 Series questions answered! Microsoft’s Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up. Pretty impressive stuff, and while the words “Windows Phone 7 Series” weren’t spoken by Eric, the use of the prototype ASUS device and the clear emphasis that this would place on Xbox Live for making the magic happen make it obvious that this is the “wave of the future” for all three platforms — at least for casual gaming.
iriver introduces D1000 ‘e-dictionary’ for Korea
So-called “e-dictionaries” don’t often make the trip over here, but iriver broke that trend with its D5 clamshell device, which suggests that it just might also do the same with its new D1000 follow-up. Of course, like its predecessor, this device is quite a bit more than just a dictionary, with it packing a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 touch screen, 8GB or 16GB of storage, built-in WiFi, a DMB TV tuner, 720p video output, and a full range of media player features. Happen to live in Korea or planning a trip sometime soon?
Sexist computers: male voices are apparently harder to recognize than female ones
Researchers up at the University of Edinburgh have determined that the male voice is harder for voice recognition software to pick up and understand than its female counterpart. This conclusion was reached after telephone conversation recordings were run through a battery of tests, which revealed that men seem to say “umm” and “err” more often, while also identifying that the greatest difficulties arise with words that sound similar and can arise in the same context, such as “him” and “them.” Equally troubling is the first word in a sentence, as it comes without context and therefore doesn’t benefit from any predictive assistance.
EU launches preliminary antitrust probe against Google
Now that Microsoft’s browser selection story is all but settled, it looks like the European Union is gearing up for a new antitrust probe, with its crosshairs aimed generally in Google’s direction. According to the search giant’s Senior Competition Counsel Julia Holtz (via its European Public Policy Blog), complaints from three European internet companies — legal search group EJustice.fr , price comparison site Foundem.co.uk , and German-based Microsoft subsidiary Ciao.de — have prompted the European Commission to launch a preliminary, fact-finding probe. The charges?
Sigma trio espied at PMA, COO expresses interest in supporting ‘mirrorless camera systems’
Still no word on price, but Sigma’s recently-announced DP2s, DP1x, and SD15 cameras were on hand at PMA, just out of reach of our greasy hands. A shame, really, but at least we managed to at least stand in the trinity’s presence, right
Texas Instruments introduces ARM-based OMAP 4 SOC, Blaze development platform
Texas Instruments has just made its OMAP 4 system-on-chip official, and garnished the announcement with the first development platform for it, aggressively titled Blaze. We already caught a glimpse of it in prototype form earlier this month, and the thing is quite a whopper — you can see it on video after the break and we doubt you’ll accuse TI of placing form before function with this one. The company’s focus will be on promoting innovative new modes of interaction, with touchless gesturing (or “in the air” gesture recognition) figuring strongly in its vision of the future
