Microsoft's Kinect 2 will be able to read lips and detect your mood

Microsoft’s second generation Kinect motion sensing device is said to be so accurate it can read lips. The accessory will also be able to interpret voice pitch and facial characteristics to determine what mood the player is in, sources have told EuroGamer.

To achieve such feats, the device will feature improved motion sensing and voice recognition capabilities. Kinect 2 will also connect to the Xbox in a different way that current generation hardware.

The original Kinect, innovative as it is, features a depth sensor set at 30 frames per second and a resolution of only 320 x 240. These limits were set in place because the USB interface it uses to connect to the Xbox also has to share bandwidth with other USB devices. As such, Kinect only uses around 15MB of bandwidth instead of the 35MB or so that the interface is capable of.

"It can be cabled straight through on any number of technologies that just take phenomenally high res data straight to the main processor and straight to the main RAM and ask, what do you want to do with it," one source told EuroGamer.

If true, Kinect 2 would likely have its own connection on the front or back of the new Xbox machine, bypassing any potential USB ports along the way.

We reported earlier this month that Microsoft could be preparing two new gaming consoles to replace the Xbox 360. A budget-friendly offering would be positioned as a set-top box and would be ideal for casual gaming and media streaming. A second system, rumored to feature a six-core CPU and AMD graphics, would be targeted to hardcore gamers.

Microsoft's MS-DOS turns 30 this week

Thirty years ago this week, Microsoft set in motion a series of events that would make them the largest name in personal computing and its founders some of the richest men on the planet.

On July 27, 1981, Microsoft finalized a deal to purchase what was then called QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) from Seattle Computer Products. QDOS was authored by Tim Paterson, a programmer for SCP that had written the operating system for use on in-house hardware.

Once purchased by Microsoft, the operating system was renamed MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) and was bundled with the IBM PC shortly after.

As the story goes, IBM came to Microsoft in 1981 and requested an operating system for their line of personal computers. IBM's original plan was to use Digital Research's CP/M-86 OS but the two were never able to iron out a deal. Instead, IBM went with Microsoft's 86-DOS and shipped it on IBM computers as PC-DOS. Microsoft paid a total of $75,000 for the eventual goldmine.

Paterson landed a job with Microsoft in May 1981 and eventually worked with the company on and off until 1998. He now runs Paterson Technology, a small company that develops unique hardware and software products near Seattle, Washington.

MS-DOS had a solid run and was updated several times since its debut.Its eventual demise would come in 1994, just a year before Microsoft released Windows 95. Microsoft has released several major revisions since WIndows 95, with current version Windows 7 being the fastest selling operating system in history.

Microsoft's answer to piracy

Zune Pass isn't something new, nor is it something that hasn't been widely covered online, but it really could be the first good attempt at the fight against piracy. Neowin tested out the music subscription to see how well it really works, and if it could actually have a shot at the big time iTunes.

"A few months ago, Microsoft released Windows Phone, a new contender in the mobile market and the software giant's new version of Zune. I was among the few that went out on Day 1 and got a device. A launch device. Sure, it's been a bumpy, unforgiving ride, but Microsoft has changed the game with Windows Phone, even if the critics disagree right now. The Zune desktop client that goes alongside Windows Phone / Zune hardware is stunning, really focuses on the music experience, and had us in love from day one."


"Shortly after getting a Windows Phone, signing into it and setting up the account I realized I'd set it up with a New Zealand-based Windows Live account. Over here, Microsoft hasn't launched Zune fully, and Zune Pass isn't available, but I kept hearing great things about it online. So I hard reset my phone and loaded in my old Windows Live ID from the U.S., then signed up for a 14 day trial of Zune Pass. This is where everything changed."