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Banked Microsoft Points will convert to local currency at 'equal or greater' value
The Xbox ecosystem's conversion to local currency will be "equal or greater" than the existing Microsoft Point value currently banked on accounts. "When the transition takes place, the balance of Microsoft Points in an account will be retired and the customer will be given an amount in local currency that is equal or greater in Marketplace value," a Microsoft spokesperson informed Joystiq. "That value will be stored in your account and can be used similar to Microsoft Points to make purchases in the Xbox Live Marketplace." What that means in North America is that it will be 80 points (or less) to the dollar when the point exchange occurs. There is currently no official date for the conversion. [Thanks, Martin]
Super Angry Birds USB controller puts the sling back in your shot (video)
Yeah. We know. There are pretty much as many ways to play Angry Birds, as there are people who play it. That's a lot. However, the Super Angry Birds controller you see above speaks to us. Why? Because it's not just a sling shot, or a fudged use of existing technology. That wooden "sling" hides one of those motorized faders you see in big music studio desks. Using some coding magic (i.e. a force curve stored in a table), the creators were able to give it a realistic resistance feeling, sans elastic. The rest of the hardware is programmed in Max / MSP and Arduino, with a "Music and Motors" microcontroller. It's not just the sling part, either, with angle and special power triggering available from the same device. A pretty neat solution, we think. Now, we wonder if we could scale this thing up?
Rumor: Microsoft phasing out Microsoft Points
A rumor making the rounds today is Microsoft will phase out its Microsoft Points currency by year's end, in favor of real currency. According to InsideMobileApps, the change will affect Windows Phone, the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live.The site claims "a source" provided the information and notes that mobile developers with Microsoft publishing agreements are being told to plan their upcoming downloadable content and in-app purchases in accordance with the change. Finally, customers with Microsoft Point balances at the time of conversion will have it switched to the their local currency.Two developers we spoke to who are working on Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live content told us they hadn't heard anything about such a conversion. However, both noted that sometimes Microsoft doesn't tell them about major changes until it becomes need to know. They also hadn't heard whispers about the conversion until we contacted them.Checking in with Microsoft, a company spokesperson told us: "We do not comment on rumor or speculation."Update: Microsoft Switzerland has reportedly told Gbase.de that the rumor is not true. The Google translation is a bit confusing, but it roughly translates: "We can not confirm these rumors - we are currently satisfied with the current Xbox Live Business model."
Crazed turntablists transform sneakers into sound controllers, righteous beats result (video)
We're generally quite wary of any video meant to "go viral" and "sell a lot of shoes" (or sell a lot of whatever), but from time to time something comes along and cracks our jaded shell. Case in point: the new Japanese campaign for Nike's Free Run+ running shoes sees experimental musician / DJ Daito Manabe and co. bangin' out a tune with the company's newest. The kicks are outfitted with flex sensors (which change resistance when bent), allowing some impressive control of effects via Max/MSP and Ableton Max for Live. Have you ever wanted to hear a hip-hop version of Thus Spoke Zarathustra? How about one performed on running shoes? You're in luck -- we got it for you after the break.
Video: VIA EPIA-P720 Pico-ITX motherboard plays 1080p, doesn't sweat much
While NVIDIA's Ion has been getting all of the attention of late, VIA's been doing this 1080p thing for quite some time. We actually heard earlier this year that the company's EPIA-P710 Pico-ITXe board was capable of playing back glorious 1080p video clips, but now we've got video proof that the unit's successor truly can. According to VIA, this mobo is the first from it to come with the VX855 Media System Processor onboard, which is obviously the secret sauce involved in delivering the high-res graphics. Head on past the break for a peek at the demo, and good luck resisting the urge to build a new SFF HTPC over the weekend.
VIA's VX855 Media System Processor handles the 1080p
Big news, folks -- 1008p is about to hit the minuscule PC market, and VIA's making darn sure it doesn't miss the boat. Hot on the heels of HABEY's BIS-6550HD announcement, VIA has stepped in to formally introduce its VX855 Media System Processor, which aims to bring hardware-based 1080p decoding to VIA-based rigs. The highly integrated single chip package sucks down just 2.3 watts and provides hardware H.264 video acceleration when snapped in alongside a VIA Nano, C7 or Eden processor. Other specs include a 400 to 800MHz FSB speed, support for up to DDR2 800 memory (4GB maximum), six USB 2.0 ports and the company's own Chrome9 graphics set. There's no mention of when this bugger will find its way into shelf-bound rigs, but we're hoping Computex sheds some light on the situation.[Via HotHardware]
