Microsoft Denies Report of Ad Data Being Harvested From Xbox One’s Kinect

Asa Mathat / AllThingsD.com

It’s still a month and a half away from launching, but Microsoft’s next-gen gaming console kicked up another messaging controversy over the weekend when Advertising Age reported that the Kinect camera, mandatorily bundled with the system, could be used to harvest marketing data about users.

But Microsoft is flat-out denying that report, saying it was based on a misinterpretation of marketing and strategy VP Yusuf Mehdi’s on-stage presentation at a marketing conference in Phoenix. The reporter did not interview Mehdi to confirm his interpretation of the speech, a company spokesperson said.

The original report quoted Mehdi (pictured, top) as saying Microsoft’s strategy with the new console is to bridge offline and online worlds: “It’s early days, but we’re starting to put that together in more of a unifying way, and hopefully at some point we can start to offer that to advertisers broadly.” However, the company says that line was in reference to content that can carry over from the Xbox One into platforms like the second-screen companion, SmartGlass.

“For example, just as Xbox SmartGlass allows companion mobile experiences that are synchronous to what is being watched on TV, advertisers could create new experiences unifying their content across devices,” the company said in an emailed statement. “The quote from Yusuf in Ad Age is not in relation to Kinect.”

This sounds plausible because just last week, Microsoft’s Director of Product Planning Albert Penello wrote in a forum Q&A that he was not aware of any Kinect-data-based advertising initiatives.

“[N]obody is working on that,” Penello wrote on NeoGAF. “… [I]f something like that ever happened, you can be sure it wouldn’t happen without the user having control over it. Period.”

Indeed, the company’s statements issued today reiterate that same point: “We have a long-standing commitment to your privacy and will not target ads to you based on any data Kinect collects unless you choose to allow us to do so.”

A spokesperson said Microsoft is “actively seeking a correction” to the original story.

By: Unknown On 2:47 PM

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Microsoft: “System processing” takes up 10 percent of Xbox One GPU time

Game developers will be able to use that GPU time in the future, though. 

by Kyle Orland

The Xbox One's ability to run up to four apps in the background (or on the side via Snap mode) during gameplay and to switch from a game to those apps almost instantaneously obviously comes at some cost to the system's maximum theoretical gaming performance. Now, thanks to an interview with Xbox technical fellow Andrew Goossen over at Digital Foundry we have some idea of the scale of that performance cost.

"Xbox One has a conservative 10 percent time-sliced reservation on the GPU for system processing," Goossen told the site. "This is used both for the GPGPU processing for Kinect and for the rendering of concurrent system content such as snap mode."

It's important to note that additional processing time for the next-generation Kinect sensor is included in that 10 percent number. Still, setting aside nearly a tenth of the GPU's processing time to support background execution of non-gaming apps is a bit surprising.

During a recent demonstration of the Xbox One interface, Microsoft Director of Product Planning Albert Penello showed me how running multiple apps on the side or behind a concurrent game didn't lead to any noticeable degradation in gaming performance. Indeed, setting aside a good chunk of GPU processing to explicitly handle nongaming apps ensures that gaming performance doesn't bounce up and down depending on what may or may not be running in the background.

The downside, of course, is that developers are unable to use that reserved chunk of processing power. Not to worry, though; Goossen says that Microsoft plans to open up this power to developers in the future in a way that doesn't impact the system's background functions.

"The GPU hardware scheduler is designed to maximize throughput and automatically fills 'holes' in the high-priority processing," Goossen said. "This can allow the system rendering to make use of the ROPs for fill, for example, while the title is simultaneously doing synchronous compute operations on the compute units."

Sony's PlayStation 4 also allows for non-gaming apps to run in the background while games are playing and for instant switching between these apps, but the company has not gone into detail about what kind of impact this functionality has on the system's processing load.

Digital Foundry also has more from a wide-ranging interview with Goossen and Xbox hardware architect Nick Baker, touching on everything from RAM bandwidth and pixel shading to compute units and clock speed. It's well worth a read for anyone looking for a deep dive into the raw hardware power of Microsoft's next system.

Courtesy: arstechnica

By: Unknown On 10:16 AM

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Image of first retail box for Xbox One teased online

Microsoft has teased a look at the very first retail-ready edition of their next-gen console, Xbox One

Microsoft's Director of Programming, Larry Hyrb, has tweeted out a picture showing the very first retail box of the next-generation console, Xbox One. Hyrb, also known for his Xbox Live gamer tag 'Major Nelson' posted the image above on Twitter stating "The very first #XboxOne off the assembly line." Earlier this month Hyrb revealed that Microsoft had prepared their first shipments ready to be sent to retailers. The news came alongside the official global launch date of November 22ndfor the next-gen console. Microsoft also revealed that "Xbox One pre-orders have sold out at many retailers, putting us on track for the biggest Xbox launch ever." The Xbox One will reach stores a week before Sony's PS4 in the UK but a week after North America stores who will receive the new Sony console on November 15th. Last month Microsoft unveiled the games due for release with the Xbox One console. Titles such as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Forza Motorsport 5, NBA Live 14, Ryse: Son of Rome and Watch Dogs can all be expected alongside a collection of others. Source: Game Informer Courtesy: T3

By: Unknown On 5:40 AM

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Survey on next-gen console purchases may spell trouble for Xbox One

26 percent of respondents plan to buy a PlayStation 4; 15 percent for the Xbox One.

by  Eric Bangeman

While many hardcore console gamers have already preordered a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, more casual gamers and eventual holiday shoppers are still making up their minds which next-generation console (if any) they'll buy. The two consoles will be released one week apart in November, and a poll commissioned by research firm Ipsos and Reuters is a bit of unwelcome news for Microsoft.

Just 15 percent of survey respondents said they were going to snap up an Xbox One, compared to the 26 percent who said they were planning to buy a PS4. And when it comes to the younger crowd, the news gets worse for Microsoft. Only 27 percent of survey respondents under the age of 40 anticipate getting an Xbox One, compared to the 41 percent planning to buy a PS4. Both consoles have seen strong preorder interest in the US since their unveiling.

Some of the diminished consumer enthusiasm for the Xbox One may be due to Microsoft's confused messaging in the months between its May unveiling and November 22 launch. During the Xbox One reveal, Microsoft spent a significant amount of time emphasizing its credentials as a living-room jack-of-all-trades as opposed to focusing on its gaming features. And some of the features it did show off irritated a significant chunk of Redmond's intended audience. Outcry from gamers in the weeks and months after its Xbox One reveal spurred Microsoft to abandon initial restrictions on used-game resale and a mandatory every-24-hour Internet check-in.

Since the PS4's unveiling (which failed show off the actual console), Sony has stayed on target with its messaging, emphasizing the PlayStation 4's bona fides as a gaming console. In contrast to the angst over some of the Xbox One design choices, the biggest technological controversy surrounding the PS4 has arguably been the question of whether or not it would support gameplay capture over HDMI.

Both consoles will be launching in mid-November with roughly the same number of launch titles (22 for the PS4 and 23 for the Xbox One). The PlayStation 4 bests the Xbox One when it comes to total announced games (79 vs. 55 as of late August) as well as price ($399 vs. $499). Those details, especially the cost, could be deciding factors for parents trying to discern which shiny new console should show up under the Christmas tree come December 25.

For many gamers, however, the choice has already been made. Diehard Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fans will almost certainly upgrade to their successor consoles. If and when they get around to it, platform loyalty will almost certainly trump other factors.

Courtesy: arstechnica

By: Unknown On 12:43 PM

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