Author: Terren

Show of hands: how many of you bought an Xbox 360 in its first month or so of release, five long years ago? Alright, now how many of you still use that same Xbox regularly, with zero RRoDs getting in your way? Yeah, we thought so. The Xbox 360 has been an astounding success for Microsoft and for gamers, a particularly strong feat when you consider that it was Sony’s race to lose going into this console generation. Still, when you talk Xbox history, it’s hard not to see that huge red smudge on an otherwise stellar record. In hindsight, perhaps it was wise for Microsoft to do such a stellar job of taking the console online, beyond all the obvious reasons: the overheating hunk of plastic and silicon in our entertainment center didn’t really mean much anymore, sentiments-wise. Instead it was our Gamertags and Gamerscores and cutesy Avatars that really mattered, the true “heart” of our console.

We can’t even count how many Xboxes we churned through in the past five years, with only Microsoft’s most recent attempt finally solving some of the machine’s egregious noise issues, but most of us stuck with the Xbox all the way through because that’s where our friends were. Cute trick, Microsoft, but let’s pick a slightly less expensive way to fail for the next generation, alright? Oh, and happy birthday Xbox; we’ll meet you at 8pm with the pizza and the wine and the Black Ops… you just bring the sexy.

Want to re-live a bit of the launch day insanity? Check out this little trip down Engadget memory lane:

• Live Xbox 360 shot!
• Engadget’s live coverage of the Xbox 360 launch
• Xbox 360 hands-on preview
• Unpacking the Xbox 360
• Xbox 360 gutted!
• Engadget Podcast 053 – 11.22.2005
• Xbox 360 backward-compatibility list (1.0) released

Boy, didn’t we look young and naive back then? The world was our oyster. There were so many Halos yet to come.

The Xbox 360 turns five years old… in a purely theoretical sense originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Google's Chrome Operating System launch has been delayed, and the platform won't be available to launch on netbooks for at least the 'next few months'. Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed as much to reporters in a Q&A session at the Web 2.0 Summit Nov. 15, adding that the platform continues to be targeted for devices with a keyboard. Though he didn't provide a reason for the delay, he certainly shredded the rumor that there would be netbooks based on Google's Chrome Operating System launching this month."

The rumors of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie — without any input from Joss Whedon — are true. A press release says writer Whit Anderson has an exciting new take on the character. Be very scared. More »

Samsung says it’s sold 600,000 Galaxy Tabs worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love the awesomeness of Google Docs, with real-time collaboration and never worrying about your hard drive exploding, taking down all of your documents, but stuck using Microsoft Office? They just got together with Google Cloud Connect. More »

Many Saskatchewan Roughrider fans may be waking up with hoarse voices, including a few hundred who came to the Regina Airport on Sunday night to greet the new Western champs.

Gmail recently added the ability to make phone calls from your inbox, and they’ve recently (silently) rolled out the ability to record incoming calls as well. More »

Leaders from the 13 countries where tigers still live in the wild are meeting in Russia to discuss how to keep the species going.

The current cosmological consensus is that the universe began 13.7 billion years ago with the Big Bang. But a legendary physicist says he’s found the first evidence of an eternal, cyclic cosmos.

When word first reached Microsoft that the open-source community would hack the Kinect, the company’s response was pretty heavy-handed: “Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products,” a rep told CNET, pledging to “work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.” But now that Kinect mods blow our minds on a near-daily basis, Redmond has changed its tone. Microsoft’s Alex Kipman told NPR Science Daily listeners that as far as the company’s concerned, the Kinect hasn’t actually been hacked thus far, and that Microsoft actually left the camera’s USB connection unprotected “by design” to let the community take advantage. Though he and fellow Microsoftie Shannon Loftis wouldn’t commit to official PC software drivers for the device, he did say that the company would “partner sooner rather than later” with academic institutions to get the hardware doled out, and suggested that some universities started playing with Kinect even before its commercial launch. Read a transcript of the pertinent section of the podcast after the break, or listen for yourself at our source link starting at the 18:22 mark.

[Thanks, Fred T.]

Continue reading Microsoft: I’m a PC, and Kinect open-source drivers were my idea

Microsoft: I’m a PC, and Kinect open-source drivers were my idea originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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via @Jkottke via DamnYouAutoCorrect

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We were really digging this 10-inch Android tablet when we spotted it back in August, and now it’s shipping for a totally palatable $300 pricetag. It’s powerful enough to play 720p video, has a 1024 x 600 screen, HDMI out, 802.11n WiFi and even a front facing camera. Plus there’s even the somewhat comforting notion that this isn’t Archos’ first time to the Android tablet rodeo. Of course, the big drawback is the lack of Android Market, but there are always hacks to solve that, and Archos preloads some good apps to get you started. The tablet is shipping with Android 2.1, but Archos pinky swears it’ll be getting 2.2 by the end of the month. Can’t handle 10 whole inches of Android? Try the 7-incher Archos 70 on for size. You can’t say they aren’t trying.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Archos 101 now shipping, Android tablet game really heating up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The move to five-year drivers’ licences begins in Saskatchewan in 2011.

It’s almost daily routine that you run into someone parking in two spots, way too far over the line, or in a spot designed for a car half the size. You Park Like an Asshole helps you fight back. More »