In a bid to cash in on some of the popularity of casual games sparked off by the Apple appstore and the plethora iOS devices, Microsoft has revealed plans to support live multiplayer gaming between its XBOX console and a Windows Phone 7 device.

Earlier this month Microsoft lifted the lid on its biggest mobile gaming push to date with confirmation of Xbox Live support for its new mobile OS Windows Phone 7.

Titles heading to MP7 devices include Flight Control, Splinter Cell, Jet Car Stunts, De Blob, Assassin’s Creed, THQ’s pair of Star Wars iPhone games, Mini Squadron, Glyder 2. Integrated XBL features include game demos, online leaderboards and multiplayer, Achievements, messaging and avatars.

To date no official word has been given on the exact nature of the promised multiplayer support, but Joystiq claims to have the full details.It claims a Canadian rep spilled the beans on the nature of the tie-up between the phone and the console in the Live network.

“We are working on real-time phone-to-console, likely initially through wi-fi – operator networks are sensitive to that,”

“That’s not on day one; day one will be turn-by-turn as well as companion-type gaming where you play a level on the phone and it may unlock a level or a weapon or some special achievement on the console game. But, uh yeah, absolutely working on phone-to-console real-time. That is something we’re working on and expect to have in the near future.”

The source also mentions the possibility of real-time multiplayer between the phones and PC players.

Chalk up another one to join the tablet frenzy sparked off by the runaway success of the iPad.

Tablets are going to be big this year. At least, so hopes Best Buy, which will be making slates a focus this holiday season, according to an interview with Forbes. We don’t know all that much about which tablets will actually make it to store shelves in time for the holiday rush, but SlashGear has unearthed some details about a couple of ViewSonic slates set to debut two weeks from now at the IFA trade show in Germany.

Features

• The first device will be a 7″ affair with dual cameras,
• a USB port,
• and a microSD card slot.
• This model will also be graced with Bluetooth,
• Wi-Fi, and 3G connectivity,
• and it will run Google’s Android OS.

A larger tablet with a 10″ screen is also, ahem, slated to be unveiled at the show. Few details are known about this variant, but it will reportedly dual-boot Android and an “unspecified Microsoft OS.”

SlashGear speculates that the secondary OS could very well be Windows Embedded Compact 7, which is coming to Asus’ Eee Pad EP1010TC early next year. Dual-booting two tablet-centric operating systems seems a little odd, though. With a larger form factor, ViewSonic’s 10″ slate could very well pack the hardware necessary to run a full-blown version of Windows 7, a la asus 12″ tablet.

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No doubt miffed that gadget blogs were inexplicably excited about Apple’s Magic Trackpad last month, the folks at Microsoft Hardware have posted a couple of tweets with teaser images revealing a mysterious upcoming product. Assembled together, the two images look like so:

The first tweet also provides one hint: “Don’t be so touchy…flat is where it’s at.”

Considering Microsoft Hardware is all about mice and keyboards, one would be tempted to think this upcoming product is some sort of multi-touch mouse. That certainly wouldn’t be the first hint; Microsoft demoed multi-touch mouse prototypes last year, and e-tail listings for a “Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse” quietly appeared last month. The pictured design doesn’t look very arc-like, but who knows… perhaps Microsoft has more than one multi-touch peripheral up its sleeve.

[via Engadget]

The Xbox 360′s new Kinect motion controller has all sorts of potential. Unfortunately, it also has some limitations, at least for now. Microsoft is still calibrating the system for seated play, and it hasn’t confirmed whether gamers will be forced to stand when the controller launches later this year.

At least Redmond has confirmed that Kinect’s “entertainment” controls, which are presumably based on simpler gestures confined to a user’s upper body, will work while lounging on the couch. Those entertainment controls are also coming to PCs and consumer electronics gear. PrimeSense, the company behind Kinect’s motion tracking, has revealed that the technology will make its way into home-theater PCs and set-top boxes next year. TVs are being targeted, as well, but no deals have been signed on that front yet.

PrimeSense is responsible for Kinect’s cameras and motion tracking, but the system’s voice recognition and tilt functionality belong to Microsoft, so they’ll remain exclusive to the Xbox controller. There are other ways to get voice recognition running on the PC, so that’s not much of a loss. Besides, simple gestures should be enough to control the majority of commonly used home-theater PC functions. A standard remote will likely be more efficient, but I quite like the idea of browsing program guides, photos, and other media with the flick of a wrist. Besides, it would be novel to bring new technology into my living room that could actually remove a remote rather than adding another one.

After the unveiling of the new Microsoft “kinect”(aka, project Natal) controller for the xbox 360 at the E3 conference recently, the pricing of the new device has been kept a secret, even though, an early autumn release is promised. Now, we see that the unit is available for pre-order on Microsoft’s own Online Store for $149.99. Walmart and GameStop have touted this price for some time now. The price includes the sensor device itself, a manual, a power supply cable and supposedly a Wifi extension cable (this is weird, as the device reportedly works via physical connection to the console).As no official notice of the MSRP has been made, this could be as official as it gets folks.

For all those out their not in the know, KINECT is Microsoft’s answer to the Wiimote by Nintendo, and the Sony Move for the PS3 (also unveiled at the E3). Whereas the other two use input devices held in the hand, and moved around like a wand to register motion on the screen, the KINECT has foregone controllers completely in favor of a gesture-based UI, that senses the users motions via a collection of cameras and audio recognition devices all neatly integrated on the KINECT’s bar like sensor.

After the recent announcement by Intel of its 32-nm Consumer-Ultra-Low-Voltage processors, the notebooks featuring the latest processor from Intel have shown up at COMPUTEX, this time at the MSI booth. The 13-inch X-Slim X360 had one of the CULV Core i5 processors, a sub-1″ profile, and purported battery life of up to 10 hours (all vintage Intel CULV features, only better now because of the new 32-nm process).

Keeping to the CULV formbook, the system looks sleek and feels both light and cool to the touch (though no specifics are available yet from MSI). Core i5 goodness in that kind of form factor does come at a price, though: we were told around $899 to $999. For those of us looking for this much portability and productivity without breaking the bank, MSI plans to offer different configurations of the X360 with CULV Core i3 chips and perhaps lighter specs, which should help keep the starting prices somewhat reasonable.

In addition to the 13.3″ X-Slim X360, MSI also showed 14″ and 16″ systems based on the same 32-nm CULV processors. The 16″ variant will have an optical drive, too—a rare feature among consumer ultraportables, even larger ones these days.

ASUS unveiled a 10″ Eee Pad at computex, a device that will go head to head with the Apple iPad. Although right now the device is still very much in the prototype stage, so web browsing doesn’t work, and hands-on time with the device was off the table as well. Still, the operating system and touch-screen interface seemed functional:

The demo by an ASUS staffer included lateral finger sliding to switch between icon sets on the home screen, just like you’d do on an iPhone or iPad. Included applications ranged from a web browser and photo viewer to a video player (with high-definition video support) and, interestingly enough, an iBooks-style e-book reader:

The 10″ Eee Pad EP101TC will have the much touted Nvidia Tegra system-on-a-chip inside, running on an ARM based design. It will run Windows Embedded Compact 7, which won’t support standard x86 Windows apps, but we’re told users will be able to fetch third-party software from an Asus-branded version of the Intel app store. Asus claims battery life will range from six to 10 hours, which would put this Eee Pad in the same league as the Apple iPad. Unlike the iPad, though, it will be able to play Flash videos.

With that mix of hardware and software, a half-inch profile, a weight of less than 1.5 lbs, and a $399-449 price tag, the Eee Pad EP101TC certainly seems like it could become a worthy competitor to the iPad. We weren’t particularly impressed with the prototype’s display—as you can see in the images above, the picture was somewhat dim, and the glossy finish made content difficult to read. Asus has plenty of time to iron out such kinks, though.

Microsoft has launched Microsoft Office Mobile Suite 2010 for its Windows 6.5 Platform. It has been launched on the same day as of Microsoft Office 2010 suite. This version of Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 would be totally different from the one that would be released for Windows 7.

Office Mobile 2010 includes

1. Word Mobile 2010

2. Excel Mobile 2010

3. PowerPoint Mobile 2010

4. OneNote Mobile 2010

5. SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010.

Outlook Mobile 2010 comes preinstalled on Windows phones 6.5 or later and is the default e-mail client.

Features of Office Mobile 2010 for Windows Mobile Phone

1. Experience an intuitive, touch-friendly user interface.

2. Stay connected from anywhere with SharePoint Workspace Mobile.

3. Use PowerPoint Mobile as a presentation aid.

4. View and edit your documents with confidence.

5. Distribute your files right from your Windows phone.

6. You won’t need a learning curve. Essential authoring capabilities. Built-in support for images.

7. Update your Excel data on the fly.

8. Stay organized and in sync with OneNote.

9. Outlook Mobile makes managing your e-mail a snap.

10. Seamlessly copy and paste across applications.

To get it on your phone, search for “Microsoft Office Mobile 2010″ on the Windows Marketplace and simply download it. You can view its demo here.

Office Mobile 2010 for Windows Mobile Screenshots

[Via Neowin]

The two cellphones recently revealed by Microsoft – Kin One and Kin Two which are dubbed as “Social Networking Phone” would be ready to shipped to consumer by this summer. The details were not officially unveiled by Microsoft, but instead some of their partner in Germany blew off their cover and now the specs have been leaked.

Microsoft Kin One Phone

The Kin One features a portrait sliding QWERTY keyboard, a 2.6-inch TFT QVGA (320 x 240) capacitive touchscreen, and it comes with a 5MP CMOS camera on the back with dual-LED flash. More news about it is that it comes with 256MB of RAM and 4GB of flash memory. It has also got Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, WiFi b/g, USB 2.0, GPS and an FM radio. The battery is apparently of the 1240 mAh variety.

So in a glance, it specs are:

Compact Keyboard for one handed texting.
Multitouch Screen
Bright Screen
5.0 megapixel Camera with flash. Great with low light and shoots SD video.
Mono Speaker
GPS and FM
4GB of inbuilt memory
Zune Media Player

Microsoft Kin Two Phone

The Kin Two features a full QWERTY keyboard. The screen is a capacitive touchscreen of 3.4-inch TFT HVGA (480 x 320). There’s also a 8MP HDR CMOS camera with auto-focus on the back and a Lumi LED flash. It has got 256MB of RAM and 8GB of flash memory. It also features Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, WiFi b/g, and USB 2.0, GPS and integrated FM Radio. The battery life is a bit bigger for the Kin Two, though, packing a 1390 mAh under the back plate.

Briefly, specs of Kin Two phone are:

Ample Keyboard for Two Handed Operation.
Multitouch Screen
Bright Screen to watch videos
8.0 megapixel Camera with flash. Great with low light and shoots HD video.
Stereo Speaker
8GB of inbuilt memory
Zune Media Player

[via unwired]

If you’re wondering what’s wrong with your Winodws phone because you’re unable to use Skype on it, then here‘s your answer. Skype has announced that they will be no longer supporting their app on Windows Mobile Devices.

We’ve chosen to withdraw Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile because we want to offer our new customers an improved mobile experience – much like the version that has proved so popular on the iPhone, and which is now available on Symbian phones.  Our focus is on providing a rich user experience that allows you to enjoy free Skype-to-Skype and low cost calls as easily on the move as you do at your desktop.

We felt that Skype Lite and Skype for Windows Mobile were not offering the best possible Skype experience.