belfiore
Latest
Microsoft Rally Ball demo shows Windows Phone 7, Kinect, Xbox Live living in perfect harmony (video)
Though it's billed strictly as a technology demo -- not something we'll necessarily see in any imminent over-the-air update -- Microsoft showed off a pretty cool demo of how Windows Phone 7's Xbox Live integration could take advantage of Kinect down the road at Steve Ballmer's MWC keynote today. How, you ask? Using the Rally Ball game, a Windows Phone user was shown tossing balls to an on-screen character that's controlled by someone else on an Xbox using a Kinect. Simple, yes -- but perhaps as interesting as the Kinect aspect is the viability of real-time cross-platform gaming that Microsoft seems to be throwing its support behind. Seems like a good way to torture your friends into working out from thousands of miles away, doesn't it? Update: We have a video of this in action after the break!
Microsoft shows off WP7's future with multitasking, Twitter integration, and IE9, all coming this year
We've just barely begun to get ready with Steve Ballmer's keynote at MWC 2011, yet the company's Twitter and press feeds just scooped its main man. It's confirmed that Windows Phone 7 is getting multitasking for third-party apps and a suite of other updates, including Twitter integration and IE9 Mobile. We're still waiting on details on the multitasking, but the company has confirmed a "new wave of multitasking applications" in this next release, though hopefully that means open to all. Twitter will be integrated into the People Hub, so you can get your real-time "what's for dinner" updates right there. And, of course, Microsoft confirmed IE9 is coming. It'll deliver a "dramatically enhanced web browser experience" thanks to graphics and hardware acceleration that'll make the most of what your handset has to offer. Sounds tasty to us. We're told to expect the update in "early March," which isn't that far away at all.
