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PSA: Xbox One is not backwards compatible in dev mode
Enabling developer mode on your Xbox One can lead to bad news bears, so doing so is generally ill-advised. Dev mode also doesn't suddenly make your Xbox One backwards compatible, no matter what some picture you saw on the Internet tells you. An image that has been circulating around the Interwebz - which we've posted below the break - claims that by following six simple steps, your Xbox One will allow you to play Xbox 360 games. In reality, following these six simple steps is more likely to result in allowing your Xbox One to play the part of "paperweight" in your new one-man/woman play, "O! Technology." Should you follow the steps listed below, the Xbox One will get caught in an infinite boot cycle, thus rendering it inoperable.
Microsoft advises consumers against enabling dev mode on Xbox One
Though Microsoft has said every retail Xbox One can be used as a game development kit, the company is recommending against consumers enabling an early developer mode on their consoles through the settings menu. In a statement to Engadget, Microsoft says the sequence of buttons that unlocks additional menu options in retail consoles does not necessarily turn the Xbox One into a developer's console. "Changing the settings in this menu is only intended for developers for Xbox One, and this alone does not turn the console into a development kit. We strongly advise consumers against changing these settings as it could result in their Xbox One becoming unusable. Customers who have put their consoles into this developer setting can revert by restoring factory defaults under Settings / System, select Restore Factory Defaults." Microsoft has previously stated we'll see the first self-published Xbox One games, through the ID@Xbox program, sometime early next year. The ID@Xbox program will support any and all payment models available on Xbox One, including free-to-play, premium pricing and micro-transactions.
LG, Sharp and Philips to build developer's kit, create Smart TV app standard
A triumvirate of television titans -- LG, Sharp and Philips -- are joining forces to create a development kit, defining a common standard for their Smart TV apps. The power play addresses the problem of fragmentation, since developers will only need to make one version of an app for it to work across all three of the 'tubes operating systems. Based on open standards like HTML5, CE-HTML and HbbTV, developers should get their hands on a beta version by early October, with the finalized version due by the end of the year. The better question now is whether the Romanesque trio can drum up enough developer support to beat out competitors in an app-tastic coup d'etat, or if the likes of Vizio, Sony and Samsung will eventually join in. Needless to say, we'll be digging for more at CEDIA later this month.
Globalscale D2 Plug offers HD video, 3D graphics in little Linux / Android machine
So it's not going to replace your big-boy PC anytime soon, but Globalscale's latest plug computer, the D2 Plug, does deliver some decidedly desktop-like traits. The latest lilliputian Linux / Android kit touts Marvell's PXA510, a 1GHz ARMv7 processor that supports 1080p video playback and 3D graphics. According to its makers, the D2 Plug runs on two watts and features 1GB of DDR3 memory, 8GB of NAND flash, an SD card slot, eSATA port and multiple points of connectivity, including two USB 2.o ports, gigabit ethernet, HDMI, and VGA. It measures a mere 6.7 x 3.22 x 1.3 inches, and sports a $249 price tag -- not exactly a small price, but there are plenty of other mini PCs in the sea.
US Army developing Android-based smartphone framework and apps
The US Army is calling upon Android app developers to help make military life a little less stressful -- and, perhaps, a lot safer. Under a new Army framework known as the Mobile/Handheld Computing Environment (CE), third-party developers will be able to create and submit tactical Android apps, using the military's CE Product Developer's Kit. The framework, originally prototyped by the folks over at MITRE, represents the latest phase in the Army's ongoing campaign to incorporate smartphone technology on the battlefield. Any app operating under the CE system will be interoperable across all command systems, and, as you'd expect, will be tightly secured. The kit won't be released to developers until July, but the Army has already begun tinkering with its baseline suite of Mission Command apps, which includes tools designed to facilitate mapping, blue force tracking, and Tactical Ground Reporting. On the hardware side of the equation, the Army is planning to deploy a new handheld known as the Joint Battle Command-Platform, or JBC-P. The two-pound JBC-P is essentially a military-friendly smartphone designed to run on a variety of existing radio networks, while supporting the full suite of forthcoming apps. The JBC-P will be tested this October, and will likely be issued on a wider basis in 2013.
