We know it’s late on a Friday, but really, you should watch this video before heading home for the weekend. Microsoft is suggesting just a few uses for Kinect on a PC, and it’s nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Surgeons will use Kinect to browse through X-rays, musicians will use Kinect to play virtual instruments and patients will use it to aid their physiotherapy. It’s inspiring stuff.

But more interesting than the grandiose suggestions within the Kinect Effect video is the hint that a more precise Kinect is on the way for PCs. Microsoft’s jumped-up webcam seems able to determine precise finger movements, which suggests it’ll also be capable of recognising facial movements and expressions.

Has it reignited your love for Kinect? Or are you simply left livid at Microsoft’s butchering of a Pixies classic for its soundtrack.

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For £2.49, the Sony Video Connector will let you splice separate video clips together, although it’s rather limited in that they all have to be of the same resolution. When paired with Sony’s recently released Video Trimmer Android app, you could start piecing together your own movies on the go.

Combined, they sort of make an iMovie rival, but it’s still a strange move for a company supposedly trying to stop departmental warfare and work in harmony. Why are there two apps (So you pay twice), and has Sony not noticed there’s a movie editor in Android Honeycomb (Which powers its tablet) and in Ice Cream Sandwich, which will presumably power its new smartphones now it’s bought out Ericsson?

Regardless, you can check out how it works in the video below, and hit the link at the bottom to download it if you’ve got an Android 2.1 device or up.

Today also sees the release of a Sony Photo Editor Android app, which for £1.99 lets you add silly stencils and other nonsense

Sony Video Connector Android app

Sony Photo Editor Android app

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OnLive, which uses server side rendering to allow even the shonkiest netbook to play 3D games, is giving away a free OnLive console with every purchase of Assassin’s Creed Revelations (£34.99) in the UK before Friday. Considering it costs £69.99 on its own, that’s a stinking deal.

The downside of course is that you can’t sell the game itself on when you’re done, since it lives in the cloud, but for £34.99, you’re getting a tiny set top box that plugs into your router, and a wireless controller, which can then stream all sorts of games to your telly. We’ve got the lowdown on how the technology works right here in our OnLive feature.

As for Assassin’s Creed Revelations itself? Our verdict on the game will be up this afternoon so stay tuned. Here’s a trailer in the meantime, and the purchase link is below.

Via OnLive

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The video shows YouTuber Blaues01 playing a song from Rhythm Heaven with an iai-sword. Weirdest way yet to play a games console? It’s got a chance.

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Sure, mobiles phones are advanced right now, but the Nokia Gem shows we’re still trapped in the confindes old fashioned design paradigms. Who says a phone has to have a screen? Why not make all of a phone the screen? That’s exactly what the stargazing ideas peeps at the Nokia Research Centre have cooked up: read on to see the video.

While the Nokia Lumia 800 is a beautiful phone, it still sticks to traditional touchscreen conventions: there’s one flat panel on which all of the prodding must take place. But a video released today shows off a concept even more intriguing than a malleable, bendable mobile: a Nokia Gem phone, where all of the surface area acts as a display.

Never mind screensavers and ringtones: senior design manager Jarkko Saunamäki says that the Nokia Gem would be the ultimate customisable phone. You could stick the shopping list on it, track controls wherever you like, even have it act as an auto-stereoscopic display.

“There is no default appearance. If you play a lot of games it will usually resemble a games pad, for example…It’s called Gem because polished precious stones have several sides. Also it’s a concept which is like a raw Gem, but it needs to be polished to become a real product.”

There in of course lies the problem: the Nokia Gem is no more than a mock-up in a Finnish laboratory right now. Back in the real world, we’re still trying to figure out how to stop scratching our regular screens with our house keys.

Still, it’s always intriguing to see ideas like this being cooked up by those with the R&D budgets to realise them. As Siri for the iPhone 4S has already started to show, touchscreen controls are just the start, not apex, of controlling your blower.

(Via Nokia Conversations)

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Siri on the iPhone 4S has got everyone jabbering about mobile voice search and control. Apple’s natural language interface may be the most intuitive we’ve seen so far, but Google’s voice search for Android is still mighty impressive: to prove the point, Google’s released a series of videos showing it working with thick accents in the unlikeliest of places – even under the ocean.

In a series of videos released this week, Aussie Google engineers are shown testing voice search on Android phones in the outback over a distance of 50 metres, and even underwater at the Great Barrier Reef. The search giant says the aim is to show Australians the power of voice search due to its unpopularity down under, though we don’t for a second imagine its timing so soon after the release of the iPhone 4S is a coincidence.

“Siri, can you do these stunts?”

(via Google Mobile Blog)

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Or rather, its door: when you open a door in a tight space, it pops out a padded rubber door edge protector in just 60ms that acts as a cushion between the door’s edge and any other object that might be in the way. Like, say, a really expensive BMW.

Of course, it won’t save you if you’re somehow parked at 45 degrees to the next car, but really, if you are, how ever did you pass your test? Makes you wonder why no-one ever thought of it before. Check it out in action in the video below.

Out January 2012 | £varies | Ford

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Zombie games are everywhere. From Dead Island to bonus missions in COD: Black Ops and the all-conquering Plants vs Zombies. But how about Runners vs Zombies? Here’s one that’s more exciting than any of the aforementioned moaning, groaning shuffle-a-thons put together, and it’s not even released yet.

Zombies, Run! is an iOS game which gets you out on the street, pounding the pavement and running real-life challenges to comple missions and battle zombies you can only hear through your headphones. It uses GPS to track your exercise, and hordes of the virtual undead to keep you moving. Sounds creepy, doesn’t it? And you can help make it a reality.

Zombies, Run! is looking for funding from fans, through Kickstarter. It’s already doubled its goal, and is on track for release in the first quarter of 2012. Check out the video below to see a player dodging fictional zombies around London’s Camden. Makes a change from barging past hoodied emo kids and hipsters in ironically uncomfortable clothing.

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Late yesterday, Microsoft whipped the covers off Windows 8. It’s still early days: We won’t get our hands on it, or see it on shelves, for around 12 months, but here are eight reasons Microsoft’s next OS is shaping up to be nothing short of awesome.

1. It’s one Windows to rule them all
Many tech pundits have claimed that Windows 8 is Microsoft’s attempt at beating the iPad. They’re wrong. With Windows 8, Microsoft is redefining computing on every platform. The reality is that the Windows 8 that runs on a tablet is exactly the same as the Windows 8 that runs on a desktop. At the moment, Microsoft’s keeping schtum about mobile phones, but it’s pretty obvious to us that Windows 8 will soon find a home there too.

Windows 8′s new Metro interface is a boon for touchscreen devices, but it’ll also work with a mouse and keyboard, as shown off in this great demo from ThisIsMyNext below.

2. Finally, Windows comes to ARM
ARM processors are by far the most popular in the mobile world. Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad run on variants of ARM’s architecture, and Microsoft’s decision to support ARM hardware with Windows 8 is a huge leap forward. It means manufacturers will be able to create low-power devices using ARM hardware that still run Windows 8. Windows 8 won’t let you run Intel apps on an ARM device, so it’s far from a seamless transition, but it’s a step in the right direction and Microsoft, along with developers, have a year to iron things out and make sure everything you’d need to work on an ARM device, works on an ARM device.

With ARM support confirmed, expect lots of Windows 8 tablets and, yes, smartphones. Apple and Google have a new competitor to worry about.

3. It’s fast. Really fast.
Windows 8 runs on very weak devices. According to Microsoft, it’ll cope with an Atom processor and 1GB of RAM, meaning even older netbooks can join in the fun. The upshot for beefier laptops and tablets, however, is that it’ll simply fly. Check out this video of Microsoft’s Windows 8 booting in just 8 seconds, and prepare to pick your jaw off the floor.

4. It redefines tablet multi-tasking
We love the iPad, but multitasking is still a chore. We’re sick of double clicking the home button every few minutes, just to check our e-mail. Windows 8 promises an end to that annoying feeling of running one app at a time, by letting you snap two into the screen at once. On a smaller device, it’s going to feel cramped, sure, but on larger tablets you’ll be able to surf the web, play games, and still keep an eye on an all-important twitter, e-mail or Facebook app while you’re doing so. Check it out in action below.

5. A better breed of app store
The Windows 8 app store might not be a new idea in itself, but there are lots of fresh goodies inside. Our favourite is the ability to trial any app, without paying for it first. It’s a feature already present in Windows Phone 7′s App Store, but on tablets and the desktop will change the way we buy apps. No more limited or ‘lite’ versions. Just full apps, and the ability to truly try before you buy.

6. Connected standby
While Apple’s iOS is limited to fairly simple push notifications and some background multitasking, Windows 8 boasts Connected Standby. It’s a system designed mostly for ARM-powered devices running Windows 8, and enables the OS to operate for long periods of time, but using very small amounts of power. Some apps will run while your Windows 8 tablet is effectively “asleep”, so when you fire it up, all your latest updates are waiting. E-mails will automatically download, as will attachments. What’s more, some apps can continue to function while you’re catching up on your beauty sleep.

It’s closer to Android’s functionality than iOS, actually, but with Windows 8 running desktop-class applications as well as mobile apps, there might actually be a few bits of software we’d want to leave running all day and all night.

7. A proper file system
We can’t overstate the importance of this one enough. If you’ve ever tried to copy files off an iPad, or been forced to go hunting through an Android device to find a file to add as an e-mail attachment, you’ll share our pain: Mobile computing has advanced at terriffic speed, but somehow our tried and tested file management systems got muddled up along the way.

Apple’s approach is incredibly simplistic, and while tablet newcomers will be reassured that they “can’t break anything” in Apple’s ecosystem, anyone used to using a desktop PC will fast become infuriated. Likewise, Android’s file system is better, but far from easy to use. Windows 8 looks likely to strike a happy medium at last.

For those using a more traditional desktop or laptop, the experience is being cleaned up too. Check it out in the video below.

8. It points us toward the future…
Microsoft has just given developers their first taste of Windows 8, but it’s far from finished. There’s no mention of support for some of Microsoft’s most exciting technologies yet: Kinect, voice recognition and facial recognition are all notable by their absences. Make no mistake though, Windows 8 will include all these goodies, and the countdown to a new age of interacting with our PCs has already begun.

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We don’t have the pleasure of seeing Conan O’Brien every night, not living in the US, but his take on the latest Apple happenings is legendary. Now he’s shown off a spoof ad calling for the safe return of Apple’s missing iPhone 5 prototype. As usual, it hits the mark dead on. Take a look after the break.

Oh, and ask yourself… do you know where the iPhone 5 is? If you do, you don’t know who you’re messing with…

Via TNW

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