New Xbox 360 dashboard update starts rolling out today

Many of you have been involved in the 2012 Xbox LIVE Update Public Beta and have been busy getting an early look at the latest Xbox LIVE features. Today we’re starting to roll out the official release of the update to Xbox LIVE subscribers around the world. To ensure a stable release, this will be a gradual deployment across subscribers and regions over the course of the next week. Our initial deployment will reach approximately three million consoles worldwide, with additional users being updated over the course of a couple weeks. Don’t panic if you don’t see an immediate update, just keep checking back in.

In this update, you will see the following features.

• Refreshed Xbox 360 Dashboard. We’ve updated the UI with a few things, including an updated layout with more tiles, a combined TV & Movies channel and, in the US, a Sports destination.
• Internet Explorer for Xbox. With Internet Explorer on Xbox, you can easily find and view internet content on the biggest screen in the house, including HTML5 videos.
• Recommendations and Ratings. Recommendations will allow you to discover new favorites, generated based on a number of variables including the content you previously viewed, what your friends are consuming and what is most relevant and popular with our Xbox community. You can now rate content yourself and also see Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
• Pinning. Pinning lets you personalize the dashboard by saving your favorite movies, TV shows, games, music, videos and websites right to the home screen. It’s as easy as opening an app or a favorite movie and clicking “pin.”
• Xbox Video. Formerly called Zune Video Marketplace, Xbox Video offers hundreds of thousands of TV shows and movies for buying or renting in instant HD streaming.
• Recent. Previously called Quick Play, the Recent view gives you a list of movies, games, apps or other types of content that you most recently accessed on the console.
• Enhanced Search. The last Xbox LIVE update brought Bing voice search to Xbox so you could use voice to search for movies, TV shows, actors, directors and artists. This year we added genre search to the list, so now you can search for action, comedy, romance, drama or sci-fi. Bing voice search now includes results for video across the Web, including YouTube.
• International Expansion of Voice Search. We’ve expanded our Kinect voice search capabilities to 9 new countries – Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Ireland.

What about Xbox SmartGlass? That’s coming too, but not until Windows 8 launches on October 26th. When the Xbox SmartGlass app launches on tablets, PCs and smartphones, it will include key foundational experiences for interacting with your Xbox 360, such as dashboard and app navigation and Internet Explorer control, like text input, scrolling and pinch and zoom.

Yesterday, we shared all the details about Xbox Music, our brand new digital music service. Xbox Music begins rolling out today on Xbox 360, it will launch with free streaming on all Windows 8 PCs and tablets on October 26th and Windows Phone 8 as devices arrive in market. Xbox Music combines all the different ways people love to enjoy music, creating the ultimate all-in-one music service.

For all the details on Xbox Music, check out the Microsoft News Center.

The 2012 Xbox LIVE update is beginning its rollout today and we expect all Xbox LIVE subscribers to have access to the update in the coming days.

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Microsoft Surface RT Priced: 32GB For $499 Without Touch Cover, $599 With; 64GB For $699

Microsoft today detailed pricing for its Surface tablets, at least those running the scaled down RT version of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system designed for use on low-power processors. The Surface starts at $499 for an entry-level 32GB version without the Touch Cover with integrated touch-sensitive keyboard, while one with the cover runs $599. At the top of the line, a 64GB version with the touch cover included costs $699.

Microsoft had originally said that its Surface pricing would be roughly in line with the competition, with the RT devices matching tablets and the regular, more powerful Windows 8 varieties coming in at prices more comparable to other notebooks and ultrabooks out there. This pricing is in line with Apple’s iPad, which starts at $499 and ranges up to $699 for the Wi-Fi-only versions. Surface will be available beginning October 26, following a kick-off event for media October 25, and Microsoft looks to be ready to open pre-orders soon. The touch cover adds $119.99 to the price of the tablet when added as an accessory, and the type cover, with hardware keys, adds $129.99.

Earlier, the WSJ reported that Microsoft anticipated selling as many as 3 to 5 million of these tablets in Q4, which is ambitious, but at least they’re not overpriced for the category. It’s worth noting that in Microsoft’s own words, “Surface with Windows RT works exclusively with apps from the Windows Store,” meaning it’ll be like the iPad in more ways than form factor similarity. We’ll have to see whether users think there’s as much value there in Microsoft’s untested tablet as there is in Apple’s established lineup.

Update: The link appears to be broken now, with Microsoft maybe having lifted the curtain too soon. Below is a screenshot of how the site appeared this morning:

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From the lab: Lumia 920 image stabilization and 808 drop test at Nokia R&D (video)

Yesterday's lab installment gave us an opportunity to pit the Lumia 920 against competing smartphones in a low-light capture scenario, but Nokia's standard battery of tests is used to evaluate and improve far more than stills shooting. Several stops throughout the day brought us to a foam-filled sound chamber tasked with analyzing call quality in a variety of environments, a room with industrial freezers and ovens used to push the limits of operability, and a rig that can shoot with interchangeable sensors and apply image quality algorithms in real-time, without a handset in sight. Unfortunately, due to proprietary technologies and processes, we weren't permitted to photograph these first facilities, though we did manage to snap away at two other stations -- a platform that shifted up and down at adjustable speeds to test the Lumia 920's optical image stabilization, and a machine that drops smartphones against a block of concrete, used to simulate that all-too-frequent occurrence of handsets plunging towards pavement.

We've seen plenty examples of the 920's OIS capabilities this week, so we won't go into much more detail on that front, but specialized (and pricey) equipment enables engineers to introduce consistent processes -- this machine simulated hand shake at different speeds, and even with exaggerated movement, the benefits were clear. A separate building contained the drop test contraption, which releases devices from an adjustable height, letting them land directly on a block of polished concrete. We tested both the 808 PureView and a Samsung Galaxy S III in this manner (with roughly 100 Lumia prototypes currently available, Nokia wasn't quite willing to risk sending one to its death). Both smartphones remained in perfect working order following the drop, so it's likely that they'll be able to handle a similar fall during regular use as well (company reps offered to test our iPhone 5, but we declined handing it over). That wraps up our week at Nokia's facilities in Finland -- there will be plenty more to explore once we have a Lumia sample in hand, but you'll find the OIS test and concrete plunge videos ready right now, posted just after the break.

iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia 920 face off with image stabilization test (hands-on video)

Nokia's Lumia 920 packs the industry's best image stabilization -- there's no questioning that -- thanks to a camera module that pairs both sensor and lens-based optical IS. The iPhone 5 also offers a notable improvement over its Apple-made predecessor on the video front, but considering that its stabilization is of the digital variety, we wouldn't expect it to top Nokia's new flagship. We had an opportunity to test both smartphones in a head-to-head demo at Nokia's research and development facility in Tampere, Finland, about two hours north of the company's Espoo headquarters. In fact, we're told that this is the very first such comparison shoot in the world, considering that the iPhone made it to market just last week and the only opportunity to shoot with a Lumia 920 is currently in the European country where the device was born.

As expected, the Nokia phone was able to capture far smoother video than what we snapped with the iPhone, with both devices secured side-by-side in a homemade foam holster. Unlike our handheld interview shoot earlier today, we pushed the limits a bit further this time, running through Nokia's parking lot and turning every which way as well. It's important to note that the Lumia 920 we used was a prototype, but its performance was still quite solid. You'll find the side-by-side video just past the break -- the Lumia 920 is on the left, with the iPhone clip on the right.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

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Victoria Walker, 11, wins $20,000 to create anti-texting app

Bark. Bark.

Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark.

Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark.Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark.

That's the sound of Rode Dog, an app designed by sixth-grader Victoria Walker in collaboration with David Grau, a creative director and designer at WLDG, an interactive agency in Santa Ana.

All that barking is designed to get you to stop texting and driving.

And they just got $20,000 from AT&T to bring it to market.

Walker and Grau created Rode Dog at the "It Can Wait" Hackathon run by AT&T in Los Angeles. A total of 120 people came out for the initial two-day event held Sept. 7-8. Participants were asked to develop an app that discourages people from texting and driving. 

Walker and Grau's team took the top prize out of a pool of five semifinalists.

They are still working out the kinks on Rode Dog with a developer, but the basic idea is that users of the app can join a "pack" of friends and family members and then check to see if other members of their pack are using their phone to text while driving. If they are, then a pack member can send them an audible bark. The driver's phone will then bark incessantly until they acknowledge the bark and silence it.

Grau, who met Walker at the Hackathon, said the idea of the bark is not dissimilar to cars that ding at you until you put on your seat belt, causing frustration but ultimately compliance.

"It can get really annoying, that chime," he said.

The team also created a pet shop where you can purchase other animal sounds. So if you prefer, Rode Dog can cluck at you like a chicken or roar at you like a lion.

Walker, who is just 11 years old, said she conceived of this app after listening to her three dogs bark and thinking that the sound would be a good deterrent from doing just about anything.

She added that the app gives her agency over the driving habits of others.

"This app allows me to protect my parents if they are driving and texting," she said. 

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Apple iPhone 5 Vs Nokia Lumia 920 – Head-to-Head Comparison

Earlier, we brought you the ultimate battle of the two most popular smartphone vendors and their flagship devices. Having assessed the iPhone 5 of Apple and Samsung’s Galaxy S III, we found both to be technically advanced, and the differences between the two – such as screen and device size – are only important if one prefers a large display, or a smaller one.

To spice things up a little, we’re now going to pit the iPhone 5 up against another to-be-released beauty – Nokia Lumia 920. Announced last week, it offers a dual-core processor, Windows Phone 8 and a camera which – by the looks of things – will be the best smartphonesnapper available on the market.

Yes, it does look a great deal like its predecessor, the Lumia 900 but hey, doesn’t the iPhone 5 as well? Here, we run over the key tech specs, and if you’re in the market for a newsmartphone this fall, you’ll certainly want to check out these two:

As you can see, there is once again very little to choose between these very adequately-equipped smartphones. The iPhone 5 offers an Apple A6 processor, which is quite a bump from the Lumia’s dual-core Qualcomm composition, but with both the iPhone 4S and Lumia 900 as smooth as butter on iOS 5.x and Windows Phone 7.x respectively, such features shouldn’t make or break your choice.

Both pack in LTE, and the Lumia has the advantage of packing in NFC – something expected of the iPhone 5 right up until the last moment.

Nokia’s high-end devices have always packed in a decent camera (the N97′s snapper still looks rather good for a device five years of age), and with Apple having already shown us what the Sapphire-encrusted rear-camera can do, both will be perfect for those using Instagram or Flickr on a frequent basis.

Wireless charging offered by Lumia 920 is another plus over iPhone 5 if you are into that sort of thing.

The most decisive segment of the chart has to be the apps section, and for all the promise both Nokia and Windows Phone 8 offers, the success of the device and its platform will rest firmly on getting the developers’ backing. 100,000+ sounds like a lot, but with Apple almost at three quarters of a million now and counting, the Windows Phone Store needs filling up with Apps. Pronto.

In the end, it really comes down to the platform and ecosystem that you want to go with.

Still, of these two very solid devices, which is your winner? Share your sentiments via the comments section below.

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Nokia Releases An Infographic Of Their Own Explaining Why You Shouldn’t Get An iPhone 5

As you are almost certainly aware by now, the brand-new iPhone 5 is releasing tomorrow, and with consumers already queuing in their droves to be among the first to get their hands on the device, rivaling companies are queuing up to take a pop at Apple’s flagship.

The lengths companies have gone to makes it look like a touch of the Green-Eyed Monster,particularly with Apple’s shares in excess of $700 a pop, and with Samsung already having had its pound of flesh with an ad bashing the queuing Apple fanatics, Nokia has felt compelled to offer its own reasons why you shouldn’t buy an iPhone 5.

Rather than going down the direct advertising route, the Finnish company has decided to throw out an infographic, and as well as looking a tad bit desperate, it looks extremely rushed.

Clearly, Nokia was in such a hurry to release the illustration before the 21st that it forgot many of the key facts – mainly with regards to its own products. Yep, that’s right; although we’re used to companies erroneously pointing out flaws in rival’s device, Nokia cannot seem to differentiate between the Lumia 920 and 820.

The infographic, which you can see in its entirety below, is presented in a tiled-esque design, and – much like Windows’ new interface itself – has left some scratching their heads:

The Nokia Lumia 920 certainly looks impressive, and will attempt to do battle with the iPhone 5 when released at the end of next month, but this subjective, flawed graphic is unlikely to sway anybody. The Lumia 820 and 920 images have been swapped, and whilst we’d expect a Samsung or an HTC infographic to make such an error about Nokia, one wouldn’t expect the company itself to make such an embarrassing mistake.

Most of the categories are subjective, and if Nokia thinks all iPhone 5 fans are basing their purchases on it including the very best specs, then the company seems to be missing the point completely.

I am, like many techies, looking forward to seeing the Lumia 920 when it does hit the market, but it does appear the frustration on waiting for WP8 to release is taking its toll on Nokia.

The company is also pretty hacked off by HTC’s flagship 8X and mid-range 8S Windows devices, announced yesterday, blasting them as "tactical re-branding," and with so many interesting devices dropping over the next couple of months, we’ve an explosive Fall in store for tech fans.

(source Twitter)

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Windows Phone 8X by HTC: 4.3-inch 720p display, LTE, dual-core S4, available this November

Consider this Microsoft's ultimate blessing, or merely a way to guarantee household name recognition. Whatever the case, the company's next-gen Apollo OS is not only powering HTC's newest mobile movement, it's also the headliner. That's right, as clunky as it may initially seem, Windows Phone 8X is the official moniker of the OEM's brightly hued flagship series, an alphabetical denomination that puts it on premium standing with the One X line. And thanks to the loosened spec restraints made possible by WP8, this modern-minded, unibodied beaut reps a 4.3-inch 1280 x 720 Super LCD 2 display with Gorilla Glass 2 coating, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor buffered by 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, WiFi a/b/g/n, NFC and an integrated 1,800mAh Li-ion battery. There's also quadband radio support for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, HSPA/WCDMA (850, 900, 1900, 2100MHz) and, of course, LTE for stateside carriers.

Though the 8X may share the same boldly colored, polycarbonate construction of its live-tiled Lumia frenemies, it also stands apart with the inclusion of two HTC-specific features: Beats Audio, replete with a built-in amplifier, and ImageChip for continuous shooting. And speaking of optics, this device's dual camera setup packs the combined punch of a 2.1-megapixel front-facer with 88-degree ultra-wide-angle lens and an 8-megapixel rear module with an f/2.0 lens accompanied by a single LED flash -- both capable of 1080p video capture.

While the veil of mystery surrounding this latest tech industry collaboration may have just lifted, you'll still have to wait a bit before it heads to retail. After all, Microsoft's planning its own WP8 coming out party for late October -- a reveal that should finally give us a full look at the smartphone UI formerly known as Metro. With a ship date set for sometime this November, the 8X will be available in four distinct colors - California Blue, Graphite Black, Flame Red and Limelight Yellow -- on over 150 carriers worldwide. No word on final pricing as of yet. So, until then, sate yourself with this first taste.

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HTC announces Windows Phone 8S: a mid-range Microsoft handset for the fashion conscious

The Windows Phone 8 era is swinging into full effect. Nokia's big launch event was only a few short weeks ago, now HTC is enjoying its time in the spotlight with two handsets of its own. The Windows Phone 8S makes no mystery of its platform choice and, like the One S, indicates its midrange status with a simple alphabetic suffix. This four-inch phone will be shipping with HSPA on board. Unfortunately there's no word on an LTE edition of this rather handsome device. Spec-wise, the WVGA screen leaves us a little wanting, but we appreciate the combination of Super LCD and Gorilla Glass, which should make for a contrasty and scratch resistant panel. Under the hood is a dual-core S4 clocked at 1GHz, which is hardly a speed demon by todays standards, but should be enough to keep Microsoft's streamlined OS humming along nicely. The CPU is augmented by 512MB of RAM, which isn't any beefier than most Mango phones prepping for retirement.

A paltry 4GB of storage is baked in, but thankfully HTC saw fit to include a microSD slot for expansion. Those rather modest internals should help the handset make the most of the 1,700 mAh battery at least. Sadly, the Taiwanese manufacturer decided to skip a front-facing cam on its entry level device and the sensor around back is only 5MP and limited to 720p video capture. At 10.28mm thick the 8S isn't the sleekest handset, but the tapered edges make look quite a bit thinner than that measurement would indicate. There's no denying the appeal of the two-tone polycarbonate bodies, regardless of comparative girth, which feature soft touch finishes in veritable rainbow of options. Pricing has yet to be announced, but you can expect the 8S to hit shelves in early November on a number of carriers.

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Behind the Design: Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC

It’s a design that Wired calls “the Windows Phone to beat;” in fact, it’s like holding a live tile in right in your hand.  Over the past year, HTC and Microsoft engineers and designers have worked closely together to deliver a phone that looks and feels like no other – creating a new ‘signature line’ of Windows 8 phones made only by HTC.  Let’s look more closely at how the Windows Phone 8X and 8Swere born:

Of course, inside this design both the 8X and 8S deliver an incredible camera with HTC ImageSense and Beats Audio.

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Nokia teases cyan Lumia 920 for a split second in promo video

Nokia introduced its Lumia 920 handset earlier this month, but one color that was curiously absent was cyan. We asked the handset maker why there was no cyan version of the Lumia 920, and a spokesperson told us that we "might" see a cyan version of the 920 in the future without going into specifics. Now the Finnish firm has started teasing a cyan version of the Lumia 920 in a series of videos.

It started with a teaser in a Windows Phone video last week, spotted on a table with a Nokia worker. But that wasn't conclusive enough proof, after all it could have been a Lumia 900. Nokia has followed up with an even more obvious teaser as part of its World of Red Bull app promotion video. In it you can see a cyan Lumia 920 flash up on screen for less than a second, a clear subliminal message that a cyan Lumia 920 is on the way. You'll spot it at the 38 second mark in the video below.

Thanks, Matija!

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Nokia Joins Samsung In Mocking iPhone 5 With Their Own Genius Swipe

The iPhone 5 is a hotly anticipated device, with pre-orders hitting the 2 million mark in the first 24 hours of launch, it is all set to be the most sought-after device for this holiday season. Although the announcement of the iPhone 5 brought about quite a bit of criticism from certain people who wanted Apple to introduce an all-new design for the device, a company spokeswoman has already claimed that the interest in the new iPhone is “incredible”.

It seems not everyone shares the consumer’s enthusiasm about Apple’s new hardware, with Nokia joining Samsung in taking a sly little dig at the iPhone creators as part of their Twitter-based Switch to Lumia hashtag campaign. It was literally a couple of days ago that Samsungreleased a print ad that lists the features of the new iPhone 5 and their Galaxy S III device side-by-side, taking the opportunity to have a little bash at Apple by including the tagline “it doesn’t take a genius”.

Smartphone fans will already be aware that Nokia has recently held a joint media event with Microsoft to announce their fantastic new Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 powered device that is looking likely to be a strong competitor for the iPhone 5. The tweet from the official Nokia Twitter account first of all lists some of the more notable Lumia 920 features, such as wireless charging and the advanced camera that ships with the device, but then also goes on to recycle the “it doesn’t take a genius” tagline that was printed as part of the Samsung ad.

It’s difficult to work out whether or not Nokia is in actual fact taking aim at Apple and the iPhone 5 in the same way that Samsung has, or if they are taking a rather cheeky little dig at the Korean electronics giants with their tweet. Regardless of their intentions, the Lumia 920 is undoubtedly a fantastic little creation and the fact remains that Apple, Samsung and Nokia all have extremely powerful and capable devices available, which means that consumers will definitely benefit from the strong competition. The only decision to make is whether or not you want to go with iOS, Android or step away from the big two and give Windows Phone 8 a try.

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Windows 8 Launch Event To Be Held In NYC On October 25th

While the iPhone 5 remains one of the hottest news topic for almost the entirety of the technology blogosphere, Microsoft has silently sent out invites for the launch event of their upcoming desktop operating system Windows 8. As expected, the date is in the last few days of the month of October. Check out all the details after the jump.

The news comes from Mary Jo Foley – a renowned blogger focused on covering Microsoft – in the form of a short post in which she discusses the invite image she received from Microsoft.

The image in question, which we’ve posted below, invites the reader to celebrate Windows 8 by coming to New York City on Thursday, October 25th. There is no specific time or venue mentioned, which leaves us a little puzzled.

Obviously, Microsoft can’t hold a grand, city-wide Windows 8 festival, so expect them to announce specific venues and times as we head closer to the date.

New York City has been the chosen city for launch events for previous Windows versions like XP, Vista and the well-received 7.

Windows 8 is a very important release for Microsoft as it makes some very significant changes to the user-experience. The UI has shifted from a mouse-oriented one to a more streamlined, touchscreen-oriented one; something that can be seen in the way the Start Screen has changed and the way the Desktop as we all know is treated as an app. Most people who have used the preview version of Windows 8 have received the change negatively, but many others have found the change to be a positive one.

But the UI isn’t the only thing that has received an update. Microsoft has added a Windows Store for downloading and managing apps, Easy Backup / Restore / Refresh, cloud integration with SkyDrive, Xbox LIVE, Internet Explorer 10 and plenty of smaller, but still important changes and new features.

Of course, MSDN and TechNet subscribers have had access to the final version of Windows 8 (RTM) for more than a month now. If you are a subscriber, you can download Windows 8 RTMfor free.

Other folks will have to wait till October 25th for retail availability. XP, Vista and 7 users can upgrade direct to Windows 8 Pro with a $39.99 download; those who prefer physical copies will be able to get it for $69.99.

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