Categories
News Video Games

Microsoft to release the Xbox Kinect Accelerator; it registered the domains

Xbox Kinect

With the one year anniversary of the debut of the Kinect taking place earlier this month, a lot of news has been coming out on the motion sensing device for the Xbox 360.

One of the announcements is that the Kinect SDK for Windows, which enables developers to create new uses for the Kinect, will be available commercially in early 2012.

With all the activity and buzz, it also looks like other features for the Kinect will be available for developers called the “Xbox Kinect Accelerator”, according to two recent domain registrations by Microsoft.

On November 9th, the company registered XboxKinectAccelerator.com and XboxKinectAccelerator.net.

Nothing has been announced by Microsoft yet. 

It’s possible the Xbox Kinect Accelerator could be something similar to the Microsoft Research Accelerator which is used by programmers to help accelerate code execution. 

It could also be an accessory for the device or a Startup Camp to get developers up to speed on programming, but until Microsoft reveals more information, nothing will be known for sure.

[Update 2 November 18, 2011: Microsoft has officially launched the site.  “If you are a developer or existing team/startup focused on building a business that takes advantage of the Kinect and Natural User Interface technologies, then the Kinect Accelerator is where you need to be. Through this program, Microsoft is supporting entrepreneurs, engineers and innovators like you to bring to life a wide range of business ideas that leverage the limitless possibilities Kinect enables. Following a competitive screening process, ten finalists will be chosen for this unique three month incubation program running from March to May, 2012 in Seattle, WA. The Kinect Accelerator is “powered by TechStars” using the same mentor-driven methodology pioneered and proven in New York, Boulder, Seattle and Boston. Mentors for the Kinect Accelerator include a broad base of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the industry as well as executives from Microsoft Studios, XBOX, Microsoft Research and other Microsoft organizations.”  More here.]

[Update 1 November 15, 2011 at 3:17am EST:  Microsoft has now registered the domains KinectAccelerator.com, KinectAccelerator.net and KinectAccelerator.org.]

Discussion: Ubergizmo

(Photo of Kinect sensor as shown at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo via flickr)

Categories
Movies News

Lucasfilm registers handful of ‘Star Wars: Identities’ domain names [UPDATED]

Star Wars: Identities

This week, Lucasfilm registered a handful of domain names hinting at something new on the way for the Star Wars franchise called ‘Star Wars: Identities’.

Three domain names were registered on November 7th through Corporation Service Company, a brand protection service: StarWarsIdentities.com, StarWarsIdentites.com (typo) and sw-id.com.

No information has been released on ‘Star Wars: Identities’ by Lucasfilm as of yet.

Though it’s a stretch to speculate that ‘Star Wars: Identities’ could be a new film in a sequel trilogy, George Lucas has long denied plans of making Episodes VII, VIII and IX.

Could ‘Star Wars: Identities’ be slated for an animated series, DVD, or video game?

‘Star Wars: Identities’ sounds interesting, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see for Lucasfilm to comment.

Here’s a look at the WHOIS record for StarWarsIdentities.com.

Registrant:
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Host Master
P.O. Box 29901
San Francisco, CA 94129
US
Email:

Registrar Name….: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
Registrar Whois…: whois. corporatedomains.com
Registrar Homepage: www. cscprotectsbrands.com

Domain Name: starwarsidentities.com

Created on…………..: Mon, Nov 07, 2011
Expires on…………..: Thu, Nov 07, 2013
Record last updated on..: Mon, Nov 07, 2011

Administrative Contact:
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Host Master
P.O. Box 29901
San Francisco, CA 94129
US

[Updated on Nov. 21:. Star Wars Identities will be an exhibition.  The news was announced earlier today via Canada Newswire.  “For thirty-five years, audiences around the world have followed the adventures of Luke and Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi heroes of a galaxy far, far away. And now, a new exciting exhibition comes to our own galaxy with STAR WARSTM Identities, a redefined modern exhibition experience in which we will rediscover the unforgettable characters of Star Wars in a whole new way. From the team that brought you Indiana JonesTM and the Adventure of Archaeology, this new innovative exhibition, made possible by Lucasfilm Ltd. and produced by Montreal’s X3 Productions, will make use of an extensive collection from the Lucasfilm Archives to explore the sciences of identity through the characters of Star Wars. The world premiere of this exhibition will be held at the Montréal Science Centre, starting on April 19, 2012.”]

Talking about this story: IGN, io9, IFC, 411mania.com, Eurogamer.net, VG247, Product Reviews, The Sixth Axis, Computerandvideogames.com, Piki Geek, G4TV, PlayFrance, TheForce.net, gry-online.pl, /Film, Latino Review, Comic Book Movie and The Reel Bits

(Photo of Star Wars characters via Flickr)

Categories
News

Amazon to launch a new feed generator for its stores? Domains registered

Amazon HTML Feed generator

Several years ago, developer and Amazon Hacks author Paul Bausch created a tool to build RSS feeds which automatically searched Amazon for products which matched a specific set of keyword search terms.  The web app was even mentioned on the Amazon Web Services blog.

Despite its heavy usage, the app was eventually taken down from the web.

If you visit the app page today, a message on the site reads, “This page used to have a little web app that auto-generated RSS feeds of Amazon products. It’s gone for the foreseeable future, sorry about that.”

Well, it appears Amazon is working on its own feed generator, according to several new domain registrations.

On November 7, Amazon registered the following domain names: AmazonHTMLfeedgenerator.com, AmazonRandomHTMLgenerator.com, HTMLfeedgenerator.com, and RandomHTMLgenerator.com.

At the time of this story, Amazon has not made any announcements nor do any of the web addresses resolve to a web page. 

But with the holidays right around the corner, chances are the feed generator will be made available in the very near future for eager shoppers.

Categories
News Trademarks

Amazon spin-off still in the works? New trademarks filed for Fire under Seesaw

Seesaw 'Fire' trademark filing

Back in early October, I wrote about Amazon filing several trademark applications for the Kindle Fire and Amazon Silk with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  Only, instead of using its own company name, Amazon filed the trademarks using the name Seesaw LLC.

I speculated that perhaps Amazon had plans to spin-off its mobile products into a separate business. 

Though Amazon never officially commented on the article or the stories that followed, reactions from many said Seesaw was nothing more than a ‘trademark holding company’ strategy by Amazon.

While it seems more likely that Seesaw is nothing more than a trademark holding company for Amazon’s Fire and Silk trademarks, Amazon has nonetheless filed three more applications, this time for the word ‘Fire’ with the USPTO – Serial numbers 85462286, 85462262, and 85462244.

The latest filings cover a wide range of goods and services including:  Portable and handheld electronic devices, printed publications, retail store services, on-line retail store services, handheld unit for playing electronic games, social networking services and much more.

Discussion: Ubergizmo

Categories
News

Looks like Seth Weintraub of 9to5Mac, may launch 9to5Kindle [UPDATED]

9to5mac

It appears Seth Weintraub, owner of the popular tech news blogs 9to5Mac and 9to5Google, is branching out with a new site focused on Amazon and its Kindle devices and products.

With the release of the Kindle Fire just a week away, Seth Weintraub registered the domain name 9to5Kindle.comon November 7, 2011.

While it’s only speculation since a website isn’t online and no announcement has been made, given Seth’s blogging success and the massive buzz of the Kindle Fire, it’s safe to say the 9to5 franchise will be growing soon.

Seth’s 9to5Mac tech news blog is ranked number 12 as of today in Techmeme’s LeaderBoard, not far behind long standing news sites like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and CNET News.

I’ve reached out to Seth for comment and will update this post if I receive a response.

[Update 1 November 8, 2011 3:12pm EST: Seth replied by email saying, “We like to keep our options open.  We see Amazon and Facebook platforms emerging and think there may be a market for covering all four big future platforms.  We have no plans at the moment to start covering Amazon or Facebook except in relation to Apple and Google.”]

[Update 2 November 9, 5:26am EST: On the same day Seth registered 9to5Kindle.com, he also purchased 9to5FB.com.]