Splitfish FragFX Shark to surface for Xbox 360, make friends with wired controller

Splitfish is finally bringing its flagship PC and PS3 mouse controller to the Xbox, albeit packing an odd wireless caveat. Although the FragFx Shark 360 is billed as an identical twin to its PS3 counterpart, this half-gamepad and rodent combo, much like a XIM adapter, needs a wired Xbox 360 gamepad to act as an intermediary between itself and the console. That wired controller plugs into the Shark's wireless USB dongle; the macro-equipped "fragchuck" and mouse themselves are completely untethered. It sounds a little janky, but if your faith in mouse superiority is strong, you may be forgiving it for its faults come late August.

Splitfish

Microsoft's E3 briefing will air on Spike, Facebook and in HD VOD on Xbox Live

A few years ago we were happy just to get a few trailers in high definition from the E3 videogames conference on our Xbox 360s, but this year Microsoft and Spike TV have teamed up to bring the company's entire briefing in HD (via video on-demand) to the console. It will air live on Spike TV June 6th at 12:30 p.m. ET, with streams also available on GameTrailers.com (in high definition), Facebook, MTV.com, Spike.com and Xbox.com as well as being broadcast in Times Square. You can bet we'll be back to liveblog the proceedings yet again but if you want to get your own eyeful of Xbox 360: The Future Revealed (hint: Gears of War 3, Forza Motorsport 4 and Kinect) there will be plenty of ways to do it.

Joystiq

Spike

Microsoft shutters Pioneer Studios, we pour one out for J Allard

It's been about a year since he left Microsoft, but the J Allard era came to a more definitive close yesterday, with the shuttering of his brainchild, Pioneer Studios. Microsoft opened the incubation lab more than three years ago as an entrepreneurial space where designers could toy around with new consumer technologies. The tragically shelved Courier tablet was first developed within Pioneer's exposed brick walls, where Allard and his Alchemy Ventures team also worked on the Xbox, Zune and Windows Phone 7. Now, however, a Microsoft spokeswoman has confirmed that the downtown Seattle office is no longer occupied, telling CNET that many of the lab's employees have either left, or moved on to different positions within the company. Pioneer co-founder Georg Petschnigg left Microsoft in April to pursue an "undisclosed new venture," while fellow godfather Jonathan Harris is still at Redmond, where he serves as "principle experience director," according to their respective LinkedIn profiles. The spokeswoman didn't offer a specific reason for the decision, but in a now-ominous video posted to Microsoft's developer site back in October, Petschnigg acknowledged that the unit's innovative spirit would frequently lead to dead ends. "Often times our work just doesn't go anywhere," he explained, adding that Pioneer would only pursue projects expected to bring in more than $100 million a year. "That's one of the perils of being an entrepreneur." See the full video after the break.

PC World

CNET

Microsoft offers free Xbox 360 with back-to-school PC, professors shake their gray, uncool heads

With only the best interests of its younger customers at heart, Microsoft has a new back-to-school promotion: starting May 22, college students buying a new Windows 7 PC can also get a free Xbox 360 4GB console. That's right, free -- as long as your new computer cost at least $699 and came from Redmond or one of its partners, including HP and Dell. Online ordering will require a .edu email address, which even attendees of the School of Life know how to procure; if you'd rather shop at Best Buy or a Microsoft Store, you'll need an actual student ID. This isn't about convincing students they need more than a tablet computer, of course. It's about about giving them the opportunity to be popular. "Get ready to be the coolest kid on your dorm floor with a killer new Windows 7 PC and an Xbox 360 -- all you really need for college," the company says. Yes, being the coolest kid on your dorm floor: pretty much the definition of Higher Education.

The Windows Experience Blog Microsoft

Windows Phone 7 'Mango' to bring Office 365, Facebook Chat, more Xbox Live integration?

The Windows Phone Dev Podcast unearthed some seemingly legit Windows Phone 7 screenshots last week that revealed a few new features apparently headed to the mobile OS, and it's now back with another batch that show yet more additions said to be included with the so-called "Mango" update. That includes support for Facebook Chat and Office 365 (plus SkyDrive and SharePoint), as well as a revamped Games hub that suggests even more Xbox Live integration (including a rather interesting new "Automatic Sync" option). What's more, the lock screen will apparently now show the album art if there is a song currently playing, and it seems there will be some new group messaging options as well. Of course, all that's still unconfirmed by Microsoft, but you can judge all the screenshots for yourself at the link below.

WMPoweruser

Windows Phone Dev Podcast

Experience the real Gaming Fun with Microsoft Kinect

  Microsoft Kinect is  one the newest gadget that works with X box 360 in order to make the gaming experience for users unique and out of this world. Kinect allows users to communicate with avatar in the game with out using any external controls.

Kinect looks like a single piece of block but it supports various technologies like the CMOS sensor that  detects the infrared  light which is focused on to the game. Once this light is detected by the sensor it is reflected back and takes all the information to the console  also known as Grey scale image which that decides how our body reacts and moves in a 3D space. It also has the ability to detect your voice and recognize your facial features with the help of RGB camera. Kinect is light and looks sleek and stylish it truly intensify and makes the gaming experience unique for players.

Review : Halo 3 introduces amazing features

One of the latest editions to  X box 3 games includes the 3rd halo game which closely follows the 2nd halo. It has a great story line and and introduces amazing features which will force you to get rid of Halo 2. Halo 3 allows four players to operate and enjoy the game.
The use of weapons, grenades and melee attack provides a certain balance and is easy to use. Halo 3 also introduces new weapons like brute. A great example of this is the spiker gun which shoots at lightning speed destroying the enemy in no time. Some weapons are very large and also slow down the speed of the player and the best part about this is that you can get a view  of your cannons and missiles  with the help of a camera that provides a third persons perspective. The introduction of heavy vehicles in Halo 3 makes the game more interesting and fun to play. Halo 2 was also criticized for its stories but Halo 3 dose not face any of these issues which truly makes it a great buy,