Microsoft is busy announcing a slew of upgrades to Xbox Live, and the biggest news so far is relaunch of the video service, now Zune-branded with 1080p instant-on streaming content in 18 countries. XBL is also now integrated with Facebook -- your Facebook account can be linked to your Gamertag, and games will support Facebook Connect for sharing content online. That's pretty huge -- but if that wasn't enough, you're also getting Twitter and Last.fm in the deal. Want more? Netflix users will now be able to browse the entire catalog instead of simply loading their queue, and Microsoft has also gotten its Party Watch system in order, so you'll be able to heckle videos with your online friends. Last but not least, there's now live TV streaming for UK and Ireland gamers, who'll get Premier League soccer live from Sky. All in all, a solid set of updates for XBL -- but we'll wait and see how that "1080p" video looks before we pronounce Blu-ray dead. PR blurb after the break.

US Americans, go ahead and enjoy your Netflix streaming over your Xbox 360, Brits are about to land a deal that'll put live football, TV, and films over Microsoft's broadband-enabled console -- a first live television service for Xbox 360 anywhere. Beginning in Autumn, Xbox Live subscribers in the UK and Ireland will gain access to Sky's Sky Player service that includes subscription-based live, on-demand, and pay-per-view access to your favorite shows without the need for an additional set-top-box or satellite dish. Unfortunately, specifics like prices and channel line-up have not been announced, though content is expected to be similar to the Sky Player service already available on Macs and PCs. Of interest, Xbox Live users will be able to watch sporting content together virtually and sling insults and taunts at one-another via avatars or virtual personas. Something that will lead to slurring songs in a fit of semi-social inebriation or fisticuffs, depending on the score.

[Via Gadgetoid]

Sounding too good to be true, the cats at Teamxbox have posted a lengthy piece quoting multiple sources from Redmond and Santa Clara who anonymously spill the beans on what the Zune HD is and isn't. The "digital entertainment handheld," dubbed unanimously as product "xYz" by said sources to emphasize its purpose of bridging the Xbox and Zune platforms, is not a phone (that's Project Pink) but a converged "mashup" of devices like the Sony Mylo, PSP, and iPod touch. The emphasis of the device is not the hardware but the software, services, and entertainment experience if offers while remaining primarily "a portable game console and media player." It's said to link into Microsoft's Skybox computing services for mobiles and blur the lines between Xbox Live and the Zune and Sky Marketplaces. Even the Xbox 360's NXE interface will be making its way onto the new Microsoft handheld. As Teamxbox summarizes:

Buy a song, a movie or a TV show on your Xbox, play the content later on the handheld or the other way around. Play an Xbox Live Arcade game either on your Xbox or in this handheld.

At the moment, we have no way to authenticate any of this beyond what we've brought to the table already. Honestly, having had our hopes crushed by a tepid reaction to market trends from Microsoft in the past makes it difficult to believe all these seemingly fanboi fantasy claims of specs and convergence. However, if true, if Microsoft finally breaks free from the rigid silos of its own making and delivers an integrated living room, gaming, and portable media experience along with a stable Windows 7 computing environment... well, wait this just can't be happening.

[Via wmpoweruser and SlashGear]

Sky has already successfully tested its 3D broadcasting capabilities, and hinted that the 2012 London Olympics could be comin' at ya like never before, but it now looks like the broadcaster could be set to roll out the service even sooner than many expected. According to Sky's Chief Engineer Chris Johns, Sky now has the "capability for homes to see 3D by year-end," although he unsurprisingly didn't offer any firm timeline for an actual rollout, or even a confirmation of the exact type of 3D system that'd be used, saying simply that they're continuing to test different systems and that he envisions it to be "glasses-based in some form." He also added that Sky is focused on building a content library "over the coming year," so that would seem to suggest that an actual launch would come very near the end of the year, if not later.

[Via Register Hardware, thanks SK]

We had no reason to believe that this thing wasn't actually coming, but now Pantech has gone and erased any lingering doubt. The Sky IM-S410 / IM-S410K is being hailed as the first cellphone in the "wind-recognizing" category, which may actually be useful in places unlike Chicago. It checks in at 11 millimeters thin and sports a microphone that can detect when you're deliberately pushing air through it; once you blow, the phone can then change images on the screen, as if to move through a gallery of photos or play games. Outside of that, Pantech also threw in a DMB TV tuner and an e-dictionary, and you'll even get to pick between white, black and red hues. Good luck not getting the stink-eye from fellow subway mates when huffing and puffing on your handset while within close proximity to other Earthlings, though.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Using our powers of huffing and puffing is nothing new when it comes to device interaction -- even our Wii remote has doubled as an ocarina at some point -- but Pantech's looking to take it a step further with the Korea-bound IM-S410K Sky Wind. Powered by Fantalog Interactive's Emotion Engine software, the device recognizes short and long blows via the microphone and uses it for switching wallpapers, adjusting screen brightness, and -- in a less gimmicky use -- snapping photos with a blast of air while stabilizing the phone with both hands. It also sports movement detection with the camera and relative motion control via accelerometer. Pantech's got a three-year exclusivity agreement on the engine, so expect to see wind recognition touted in more than a few upcoming phones.

Europe still isn't the place to be for limitless HD content, but London in particular could be a 3D extravaganza come 2012. The host city for the next Summer Olympics may be coming to your living room like never before, as Brian Lenz, head of product design and innovation at Sky, proclaimed that "there is a very good chance you'll see the London Olympics in 3D." The satcaster has already confessed to filming events in 3D, and given that the wide distribution of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in HD was all the rage, we suppose the third-dimension is the next logical step forward. Mirroring our own hopes and dreams, Lenz stated that what it really wanted was "glasses free technology." Here's hoping we inch closer to that at CES 2009.

[Thanks, Ben]

Remember that Ohio-based firm that planned on converting 300 or so Saturn Skys into all-electric roadsters? Advanced Mechanical Products ring a bell? At any rate, said outfit has just hosted up a video of its fourth test drive of a prototype, which is shown sporting an "Electric" badge on the front fender and a whole mess of batteries and wires underneath the hood. Oh, and then there's that unmistakable whizzing sound as it cruises on by. Check out the video after the jump.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

Among the wealth of Sony news coming out of Europe today are some more details on the previously announced PSP video download service, which is now officially known as the Go! Video Download Service. As we knew before, Britain's Sky Broadcasting is Sony's key partner here, with it providing a range of content from its own channels, as well as from some unspecified third-party channels and content owners it plans to work with. Apparently among the content set to be on offer are the "very latest premier movies and high profile sporting events," which will be available on a pay-per-view basis (no word if there'll be any freebies for other content). According to Sony, PSP users will be able to both download content directly using a WiFi connection, or transfer content they've downloaded using their PC. Look for the service to launch in "early 2008."

While PSP users in Japan will soon be able to use their preferred handheld to pick up some digital broadcast TV, those in Europe will apparently be getting some new video options of a different sort, with Sony today announcing a partnership with Sky that'll see the two form a new company to offer video on demand. Details are unfortunately still pretty light at the moment, but the service (offering "a wealth of video and film content") will apparently be available in the UK and Ireland initially, with talk of further expansion in Europe reportedly still "ongoing." According to GamesIndustry.biz, the two will have plenty more to say about it at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany on August 22nd.

Amidst the recent boom in home healthcare gizmos that are enabling the elderly to better care for themselves, it's no surprise to see a trial hit the UK which allows patients to book GP appointments via their TV. The system was devised by EMIS, and was initially available "through the Looking Local portal on the interactive menus on Sky, cable, and Freeview boxes with a modem or broadband connection." Additionally, users could access the menu via WAP-enabled mobile phones, and customers in participating areas were able to "access information from the doctor's receptionist along with a password which allowed them to log in to the system." Results from the pilot program included fewer missed appointments and less time spent chatting with the ill over the phone, but we don't foresee any of these productivity savings being passed along to the consumer in the form of pounds and pence.