Entries tagged with pc - Channel 10

Search the “I’m A PC” User Videos

sarahintampa — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:55:00 GMT

I didn’t even know of the “I’m A PC” fan site until Steve Clayton recently mentioned it in a blog post, but wow! How cool. The site collects the submissions from Microsoft’s lifewithoutwalls.com site, which is a part of Microsoft’s new ad campaign that encourages PC owners to record that they are a PC, too. Those ads are then displayed randomly on a big screen in Times Square, NYC. On the fan-based “I’m a PC” site, however, you can search those submissions by username instead of using the video browser on the official homepage. You can then view the bio and video submitted by that user and even snag the embed code for sharing the video elsewhere on the net.

Wii on PC

Laura — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:43:00 GMT

The Microsoft Research Summit showed off some amazing new technology and also some REALLY fun games. The experts at the University of Central Florida have created multiple ways to incorporate the motion sensing device used with Nintendo's Wii, on the PC. Take a look at all the games...

Dell’s New Studio Hybrid PCs

sarahintampa — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:01:00 GMT

At long last, the new “green” PCs that have been under development at Dell have finally arrived. The Dell Studio Hybrid PC is 80% smaller than the conventional desktop mini-tower while also using 70% less power than typical desktop PCs. Their small form factor lets them fit almost anywhere and the optional wireless keyboard and mouse help kill the clutter. The PCs are Energy Star 4.0 compliant (of course!)and can be customized with 6 interchangeable color sleeves or even a sleeve made of environmentally- friendly bamboo. Despite their small size, the Studio Hybrid still finds room for a CD/DVD drive, analog and digital sound ports, a gigabit networking port, and HDMI and DVI ports. The PCs start at $499 and go up depending on your customizations like selecting a Blu-Ray drive, more memory, or a larger hard drive.

Peggle: From the makers of Bejeweled

Tina — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:13:00 GMT

Focus Multimedia and casual games pioneer, PopCap Games today announced a partnership that sees the long-awaited arrival of PopCap’s critically acclaimed masterpiece, Peggle, at retail.

From the makers of Bejeweled, Peggle combines elements of pinball, pachinko and pool to create a completely different kind of casual game. Players fire a silver ball from the top of the screen, relying on the laws of physics to propel the ball downwards while ricocheting off orange and blue ‘pegs’.

Using a mixture of luck and skill the goal is to clear all the orange pegs before running out of balls. A moving “bucket” at the bottom of the screen offers the chance of free balls, while green pegs give the player one of ten amazing power-ups to help them complete the level.

Since its web launch, Peggle has taken the industry by storm - and both casual and hardcore gamers by surprise. A feast of colour and fun - with rainbows and unicorns and an ‘Ode To Joy’ soundtrack - Peggle has proved an unlikely hardcore hero and is causing ‘Extreme Fever’ wherever - and whenever - it pops up.

Key features of Peggle include:
• Four different modes representing hundreds of levels:
1. Adventure Mode takes players through 55 unique hand-painted levels on a quest to become a Peggle Master
2. Duel Mode allows for head-to-head battles against friends or computer opponents
3. Challenge Mode features increasingly difficult goals across 75 levels
4. Quick Play mode lets players choose their favourite level and power-up combinations, or play a random set of levels and/or power-ups.
• Ten “Peggle Masters” – they teach you how to play but later serve as tricky opponents
• Stunning sound FX and themed music
• “Style Points” reward players for shots that display great skill or just incredible luck!

Peggle is available now for a suggested retail price of £9.99 including VAT, from all good retail outlets of PC software and direct from www.focusmm.co.uk.

Limited Galactic Edition announced for Spore

Tina — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:43:00 GMT

We don't get our hands on Spore until September but Maxis and EA today announced the limited Galactic Edition of the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims™. This special box will contain the 'Making of Spore' DVD, “How to Build a Better Being” DVD from the National Geographic Channel, (NGC) ‘The Art of Spore’ hardback minibook, a foldout Spore poster, and a premium 100 page Galactic Handbook.

“The Spore Galactic Edition is the ultimate backstage pass for the Spore universe,” said Patrick Buechner, vice president of marketing, Maxis. “The Spore Galactic Edition is an incredible collection of art, video and behind the scenes access to the development team for fans, along with some of the coolest, most collectable packaging in years. ”Spore gives players their own personal universe in a box".

Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe filled with creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs.

In North America, the MSRP for the Galactic Edition of Spore will be $79.99 while the regular edition is suggested at $49.99. Versions of Spore will ship for the PC, Mac, Nintendo DS™ and mobile phones on September 5, 2008 in Europe and September 7, 2008 in North America and Asia. “How to Build a Better Being” premieres Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 10 PM ET/PT on NGC and explores the science behind the theories of the game.

Fans can visit www.Spore.com to download a free version of the Spore Creature Creator, sign up for the Spore newsletter or check out allnew screenshots and video of the game.

If you get a chance check out Laura's interview with the man behind Spore Will Wright.

Use Any Object as a Controller With Cam-Trax

sarahintampa — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:39:00 GMT

Cam-Trax lets you play any PC game you want using almost any object you can find as a game controller - you just need to have a PC and a webcam to do so. The software uses the webcam to scan the object you’re holding and then the object can be used to control your game! (See it in action here). Crazy! What’s even crazier is that I just discovered that the Xbox 360 can do this, too, but not many people know about it. The Xbox can be paired with a camera and through XNA, casual game designers can experiment with their ideas. In fact, here are a couple of videos of people doing the machine vision thing with their Xbox: video 1, video 2. Want to give that a try yourself, this guy documented some of the techie details on how to access the elusive camera frame buffer. The documentation is available as a download here. Now, who’s got a machine vision system that works with XNA?

Cooler Master- Integrating Innovation into life

Laura — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:31:00 GMT

You can't just have a blazing fast PC anymore- it has to look COOL from the outside nowadays. We've shown you some of the sexiest laptops on display at CES this year, and now it's time to hear from Cooler Master about ramping up your case's "coolness". The company was originally established to provide the industry's best thermal solutions, but just recently they've branched out into custom PC case designs. And darn "cool" ones :)

Fashion meets Technology at CES 2008

Laura — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:36:00 GMT

The PC industry is paying more and more attention to the look of their products since we (the people) are more and more asking for stylish, unique PC's to accent our personal styles. Microsoft even had a full runway show to show off their new high fashion coutour PC's. Then- Microsoft asked three fashion industry leaders to pick their favorite PC designs. The three judges were Nigel Barker, top fashion photographer and a judge on the hit TV show, “America’s Next Top Model,” hip-hop trend setter and fashion innovator Tony Shellman and A-list fashion stylist and entrepreneur Misa Hylton. After considering 12 of the most stylish Windows-based PCs to hit the market in the last year, they each chose a favorite.

The next wave in remote monitoring: Better care, peace of mind

bcrounse — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:28:00 GMT

In previous Blog entries I've talked about the next wave in remote physiological monitoring. Mobile technologies, devices and web services will soon allow us to remotely monitor patients suffering from chronic diseases or elderly people living alone in their homes. The devices and technologies will be easy to use and ultimately quite affordable as the devices and services become commoditizied.

One of my colleagues on Microsoft's Channel 10, Laura Foy, recently produced a short video with David Bychkov, CEO of a company called Exmocare. Exmocare is the first of what will surely be a number of companies offering the kinds of devices and services I've been discussing on this Blog and elsewhere. Their Bluetooth enabled Exmocare watch can connect seamlessly with a Windows Mobile Smartphone, Pocket PC, home computer, Xbox, Media Center PC or other device.

It continuously records heart rate, heart rate variability, galvanic skin response, and movement. Using various algorithms it determines parameters of physical and emotional wellness and activity and reports these via Bluetooth to a Smartphone or other device linked to the Internet. Medical personnel or family members can log into a secure web site to receive reports on the person being monitored. The system can also be set to send out alerts to those monitoring someone via e-mail, IM, or text messaging should the watch detect physiological readings or activity levels that are out of range.

This is just the beginning of a new era of technologies that will help us extend care into the home and bring peace of mind to those of us concerned about aging parents who live far away. Unified Communication technologies will augment these services with on-demand video and multimedia conferencing from a Smartphone, notebook or desktop PC, Xbox, or digital television.

While the first devices to hit the market will be a bit bulky and expensive, they will be arguably less expensive than the cost of live-in helpers and caregivers while providing a sense of safety and connectedness for those being monitored.

Be on the lookout for many more devices and web services that will facilitate health and wellness programs in the home and connect us to medical professionals and other experts. As an aging baby boomer, I take a great deal of comfort in knowing these technologies will be ready for me and my family in the very near future. There is also a virtually unlimited potential for these devices and services to meet the healthcare needs of emerging and underserved markets around the world.

Bill Crounse, MD Worldwide Health Director Microsoft Corporation

The US Army and The Guildhall at SMU go to Battle!

Tina — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:34:00 GMT

America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) (SMU GH Map Pack) Launches Today

Today, the U.S. Army and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University announced their release of the America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) (SMU GH Map Pack) for download at the America's Army game website. The SMU GH Map Pack, provides America's Army players with four new missions created by students at Guildhall under collaborative partnership with the U.S. Army.

Since it was first released in July 2002 America's Army has consistently remained one of the top-ten action games played online, gathering a following of more than 8.1 million registered users within the United States and in over 60 different countries. These players have invested 200 million hours in the Game exploring Soldiering from Basic Training to operations in the Global War on Terrorism.

And the game is FREE. Come on people. Let's join the Army! :)

Flight Simulator X - Everything you want to know!

Tina — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:03:00 GMT

Microsoft Flight Simulator X is the latest installment of the highly acclaimed flight Simulator Series from Microsoft. I love flying so much I thought how can I not cover this game. Pilots use it and gamers play it. I talked to the crew who put it all together and here are their thoughts on the new title. I'm also including the system requirements because it's bringing some serious juice. Enjoy!

Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2 / Vista

PC with 1 GHz equivalent or higher processor

256 MB of system RAM for Windows XP SP2 / 512 MB Vista

14 GB available hard disk space

DVD-ROM drive

32 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card required

Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio

Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

56.6 Kbps or better modem for online play

Brave New World: Make your own movie, tv, or radio show

bcrounse — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:16:00 GMT

Next week I'm off to New York for the International Freddie Awards. If you don't know about the Freddie Awards; it is a celebration to honor excellence in medical and scientific film, documentaries, television, videos, Web sites, DVDs and CD-ROMs. Now in its 32nd year, the International Health and Medical Media Awards, the Freddies, have become the equivalent of the Academy Award for Film or the Emmy for television. At the awards ceremony next Friday, it will be my distinct honor to present one of the evening's highest honors; a founder's award that is named after famous heart surgeon and researcher, Dr. Michael E. DeBakey.

Why am I hanging out with this crowd? I haven't shared with readers of my Blog that a substantial portion of my career has been dedicated to medical broadcasting. For more than 20 years, I anchored medical programming for Lifetime Medical Television, ABC News, Medical News Network, Discovery and other outlets. I also served as medical editor for the ABC and CBS television affiliates in Seattle, appearing nightly on the evening news. In fact, my career in television news and entertainment programming started long before I became a physician. I was actually anchoring the evening TV news (on weekends) before I was old enough to vote. Trust me that would never be allowed today.

Back in the day, I needed a multimillion dollar broadcasting studio to do my work, along with complex and costly recording and editing equipment, camera people, sound people, and more. Today, any one of you could produce, host, and broadcast to the world from your desktop or laptop or iPod (that wireless will come in handy on the Zune). My point is this. There has never been more opportunity or more accessibility for everyone to be heard and seen. Broadcasting has become commoditized. While that makes it much harder to earn a living, it makes it much easier to break into the business. And as the founders of YouTube and others have learned, there is gold in them there hills if you can find it. (By the way, have you checked out MSN Soapbox yet?) There is also an opportunity to change the world; to educate, inform, entertain, and enrich the lives of people. Sometimes I think, "If only I had been born a few decades later". The possibilities today seem infinite.

So please continue to write those Blogs, produce those podcasts, and post those videos. And every time you do, thank your lucky stars you live in an era when the communications universe is at your fingertips. If you are looking for a list of people to thank, besides the usual names that come to mind, check out the Computer History Museum.

Bill Crounse, MD Healthcare Industry Director Microsoft

Sneak Peek: Guild Wars Nightfall

Laura — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 03:17:00 GMT

Coming your way Oct 27th. In Guild Wars Nightfall, the third campaign in the award-winning Guild Wars universe, you will never face danger alone. Not only can you group with any of millions of players worldwide, but now, for the first time ever, you'll be able to band together with customizable Heroes that will not only fight by your side, but level up with your character and follow your orders as you fight to hold back the night.

I skedaddled on over to the launch party where the scene was off the hook! Great venue, live belly dancers, tasty appetizers and of course- great gameplay. I got the chance to speak with a few key players on the production side of Guild Wars and then one "SuperFan". It brought me back to my days at BlizzCon *tears*...

How many of you have ever been to a launch party for your FAVORITE game? It must be like meeting Madonna....

Hellgate: London - I head to Flagship Studios for the scoop

Tina — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:45:00 GMT

So, one of my favorite things to do whether I'm working or not is to visit video game companies. A few of my favorites are Epic Games, Red Octane, and now Flagship Studios. Which is located just off the water in beautiful San Francisco. A few of my lady gaming friends work there and with a little begging and pleading they were kind enough to give me a sneak peek into Hellgate: London for the PC. I sat down with their Chief Visionary Officer David Brevik and if any of you are Diablo fans, he not only named the game but was one of the masterminds behind it. He also talks openly about his road to Flagship Studios. So what's the deal with HellGate: London. Besides the fact that it's real, real pretty...I'm gonna tell ya, or David is. :)