Xbox update reveals ambitious TV on demand strategy

Updated on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 4:00PM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Microsoft is dead set on making an impact on the home entertainment market with the latest XBox 360 update which is coming tomorrow November 6, that brings enhanced Kinect motion and voice control as well as a variety of streaming apps.

What is most interesting about the new Xbox Dashboard, aside from unifiying the look and feel of Xbox with the rest of Microsoft's user interfaces, is that it Xbox is now running apps in order to enable access to streaming content from 3rd party publishers. Seems like Microsoft made the transition from streaming device to app enabled set top box ahead of Apple which many believe will eventually run iOS apps.

News isn't too good for Canadian XBox TV  owners as we're missing out on most of the initial offerings coming to the US. This will hopefully change moving forward.  Still, there's something to look forward to if you're a fan of Rogers on Demand, Astral Media Disney, Crackle, MSN, Real Sports, UFC and TMZ which represent the rich cross section of content making its wat to Canadian Xbox devices by 2012.

Press release from Microsoft is below.

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Motion X GPS Drive goes on Sale, $9.99 for one year of voice guidance

Fullpower-MotionX, the most popular Navigation App for the iPhone and iPad now offers one year of real-time navigation with live voice guidance for just $9.99. This is a 60 percent discount compared to the regular price of $24.99.

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Duracell Toy Fund urges Canadians to support children’s hospital playrooms

Photo from http://theletter.co.uk/index/4521/cute+christmas+tree

Duracell is inviting Canadians to make this a season to truly remember by joining and sharing memorable moments on Duracell’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DuracellCanada. From November 1 to December 31, 2011, for every new “like" on Duracell Canada’s Facebook page, Duracell will donate $1CAD to the Duracell Toy Fund up to  a maximum amount of $25,000. All the money raised will be divided equally among thirteen participating Canadian paediatric hospitals across the country and will go toward buying or refurbishing children’s playroom toys.

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Review: Evolution Robotics Mint Plus floor cleaner

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Mint Plus ($299)  floor cleaner from Evolution Robotics is a neat surface cleaning robot that uses dry (for dust collection) and wet (for cleaning, scrubbing) paper wipes to clean most hard surfaces. It even has its own GPS unit that maps its path so it covers the entire area it needs to clean. 

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