“What?!? An Xbox 360 for serious business use?”

Yep, that’s right, gentle readers: a Microsoft [MSFT] Xbox 360 with a properly configured Kinect sensor… for use by businesses.

While this may not be the disruptive change leader for 2010 (although, then again… maybe it is), this certainly is an attractive video conferencing option for business and at the least, it may be a disruptive game changer.

Problems for Home, Advantages for Business

While home use for Kinect may be problematic, especially for the hardcore gamers who have been wondering whether there will be any play (literally and figuratively) for them, some of those same issues seen by potential home users may be benefits to business users. Here are some reasons:

Space, Space, Space…

A big requirement for Kinect is the need for the sensor array to map out a sizable floor space grid. In many living rooms, this is a problem, particularly for potential users who live in apartments and small homes. This is not a matter of total floor space, but clear floor space.

But many businesses have meeting rooms that may be easily cleared to allow the Kinect sensors to properly calibrate itself.

What’s That Racket?

The audio requirements for Kinect may be problematic in noisy households. But, again, calibrating for businesses can easily be accomplished in a quiet conference room, or as is typical for many IT departments, performed overnight or after-hours when the majority of office workers are gone (and it makes additionally a convenient time to hop online to do some mega-multi-player deathmatches, since the Xbox 360 is sitting there anyway).

An early press image of the preliminary "Project Natal" form of the Kinect sensor. In the background is an earlier version of the Xbox 360 White console.

Motion Tracking and Presentations

This feature may or may not be as important for some businesses, but the ability for the Kinect sensor to pan somewhat may be quite favorable for many business purposes, especially for presentations and large gatherings. While privacy and convenience issues may arise for home/gaming uses (after all, who wants to see that naked roommate wandering around in the background as your buddy is chatting with you?), having the sensor track your business presenter and capture all of the nuances of his or her presentation skills and style may help your company successfully close a deal or effectively collaborate on team projects.

Cost: The BIG Deal

While it is up for debate whether $150 for a full motion tracking device accessory fits in a household’s affordability range, especially in these dire financial times, it is quite another matter for businesses, who have been confronted with expensive, videoconferencing “solutions” from various vendors. Contrast those multi-thousand-dollar options, sometimes requiring dealing with multiple vendors to get a “complete” solution, with a $400 USD package with a Xbox 360 console and a Kinect sensor from a well-known single manufacturer, with a simple do-it-yourself installation and configuration procedure. Taking these points into account, it is clear that provisioning several remote offices, or even allowing employees to video-commute from home or other locations, becomes several orders of magnitude more economical than other “strictly business” videoconferencing options.

Combining the use of Kinect technology for team-based videoconferencing with more personal or “quicky pickup” video conversations with Apple’s [AAPL] iChat AV and FaceTime technologies makes the potential for a fully distributed workplace even more realizable and cost-effective.

Hey, the gang's all here!

Remember when the note went out from Javamancy mini about the passing of the end of October without the critical update to Borderlands anywhere in sight?

Screenshot of the Gearbox notice for the Borderlands 1.41 update...

Yesterday, Gearbox announced on their site that the eagerly-awaited update (they call it Update 1.41) is now available across multiple platforms, including Xbox 360 and Windows.

Does this spell the end of Borderlands offerings? Hmm…

Oh, don't be so coy, Lilith... tell us you've got more Borderlands fun coming!

For those of you who are old enough to remember the monumental three-way product/platform wars between a variety of different players, as well as the various face-offs between heated contenders, you can often slot the threesters into that ol’ Good-Bad-Ugly trifecta.

Perhaps not this time, however.

Apple’s [AAPL] Snow Leopard OS release on August 28, 2009 has an opponent in the game console arena from none other than Microsoft [MSFT], in the form of a decent amount of price-slashing, which improves market/player share and reduces inventory nicely. This allows Microsoft to offset the later availability of their own OS replacement coming, Windows 7. And the same-day alert of price cutting on August 28, 2009 steals a lot of the thunder from Sony’s [SNE] own announcement earlier this month about the upcoming PlayStation 3 Slim, which is now announced for a September 1, 2009 North American release. Although the Xbox 360 Elite remains fundamentally the same, it is still a strong contender against the PS3 Slim, so the pricing and software libraries will ultimately decide this latest round in console supremacy.

Admittedly, this is a crooked kind of comparison, but there is a lot of convergence going on, primarily to set the stage for future products and services in the pipelines. It also opens up the possibility of niche players potentially making a play for a greater presence in the realms of gaming, general computing, and mobile computing and entertainment.

Remember when I just had to get an Xbox 360 Elite Edition to replace my first Xbox 360 that unfortunately suffered a RROD event?

Well, Microsoft [MSFT] has definitely come a long way since then, offering to correct their RROD warranty policies to reflect the wider impact of various hardware failure conditions.

Now, to really get more gamers onto the platform, as well as to allow hardcore gamers to replenish their gaming stacks once again, Microsoft has announced that, starting tomorrow (August 28, 2009), there will be price reductions in their more popular editions:

• The Xbox 360 Elite Edition will be $299 USD, down a whopping $100 in price;
• The Xbox 360 Pro Edition will be $249 USD, down $50 in price;
• The Xbox 360 Arcade Edition remains at $199 USD.

This is just in time for a very large group of blockbuster games headed to the Xbox 360 platform in the weeks to come, and it prepares the way for the upcoming winter holiday season, which presents a fantastic sales opportunity for Microsoft and the software studios and publishers and other content providers– not just through the standard retail channels, but also through online sales and subscriptions and ad-based retention mechanisms.

Larry posted the news earlier today about how the Halo 3: ODST “Transport” vehicle will be making the rounds at several Gamestop outlets, starting today. This gives some lucky folks the opportunity to try out some of the game, and possibly even win some prizes, while getting the word out about the new upcoming game in the Halo 3 line.

This is one of those Microsoft [MSFT] – Bungie – Gamestop [GME] dealies that helps to drum up excitement as the gaming schedule enters the autumn doldrums… Of course, this particular year will be jam-packed with several other sequel titles, so the need for the ODST Transport tour will be double-pronged: increase the general excitement for the Xbox 360 and its games, and differentiate Halo 3: ODST from the other hot titles coming soon.

If you recall my previous discussion about Microsoft’s [MSFT] positive about-face decision to honor E 74 Red-Ring-of-Death (RROD) hardware failures as covered under their extended three-year warranty, I mentioned that the company would be refunding people who had paid for the repairs prior to the announcement.

Yesterday, as I was browsing my credit card statements, I noticed that– YES!– there was a refund from Microsoft for my Xbox 360 Pro’s repair.

If you are/were in the same proverbial boat as myself (and my poor Xbox 360 console), you may also be subject to a refund. If you haven’t received your refund yet, I recommend that you contact the Xbox Technical Support folks on their site concerning the matter.

N.B.

Other related Javamancy posts (in reverse chronological order):

• E 74 RROD Now Included in Three-Year Xbox 360 Warranty Coverage
• Reign of the Xbox 360 Elite Edition
• Heartbreaking Agony of RROD

Other information of interest:

• Microsoft Help and Support: Your Xbox 360 console displays the error message E74
  • Xbox Support variant of the Knowledgebase (KB) article: Your Xbox 360 console displays the error message E74
• Xbox Support: Description of the E74 error message warranty extension

As I was playing Far Cry 2 on the Xbox 360 console and driving around (in the game, not in reality!), I had a sudden urge to have some coffee.

This is not an unusual event, in and of itself. After all, it’s nice to be sipping a favorite beverage (although if you happen to drink a lot of alcoholic beverages while playing networked games, you may have wondered why your reflexes continue to degrade throughout your session…) while engaging in some online games.

Wireless left-thumbed driving...

But here’s the thing: like many gamers, I have an area at home, a “comfort zone” where the Xb0x 360 console resides, with the TV and receivers and some comfortable furniture. (Sorry, gals, no bean bag chairs!) Usually, I just place my wireless controller down when I’m leaving the ‘zone and pick it up when I return.

Unconsciously, though, as I was headed toward the coffee station, I was still gripping the wireless controller and, more than that, I was still playing– driving the dune buggy around looking for more of the diamonds scattered about the game world. I did not realize I was still playing the game with the wireless controller, even as I had picked up a clean mug from the cupboard area and placed it down next to the coffee machine… I was actually steering one-handed using the left thumb stick. It wasn’t until I picked up the carafe to pour coffee into the mug that I had to set down the controller. Ah-ha!

Mug and controller in hand, I headed back to the ‘zone, drivin’ and sippin’ along the way.

Hmm… This could be the start of something new…

But, I wonder: how many Xbox 360 gamers are also doing a lot of walking, driving, and coffee-drinking?

Remember when I had that heart-wrenching Xbox 360 console failure that was a serious general hardware failure? It was definitely an E 74 error, and when I researched it, I realized that it was not covered by Microsoft’s [MSFT] three-year warranty for the Red Right of Death errors, because they were limiting that coverage to systems that were showing three flashing red lights.

Today, Microsoft has finally announced that they have reconsidered the E 74 hardware failures, and they will honor three-year warranty for E 74 errors. Additionally, they will refund customers who have suffered the E 74 failures and sent in their consoles for repair and paid the out-of-warranty repair fee. The refunds should be mailed to affected customers by July 1, 2009, so if you are one of the many people affected by this problem but did not receive your repair fee refund by this date, you will have to access the Xbox.com support site before November 1, 2009 to request your refund.

Well, it has been a bit more than just “a few days” since we last mentioned the upcoming arrival of Halo 3′s Mythic Map Pack, the one that allows for all of those extra Achievements (with attendant Achievement Points!) and new amounts of of multiplayer hilarity…

Fortunately, the Mythic Map Pack is now available, from Xbox LIVE Game Marketplace, for 800 MS Points.

The excitement for Xbox 360 gamers that has been building about the expected Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3 culminated  with an announcement seen on Xbox LIVE that the map pack will be released shortly: first, as a bonus for the people buying Bungie’s Halo Wars Limited Edition on March 3, 2009, and then a few days later, as a Xbox LIVE DLC.

So now, while you’re waiting for the Halo 3 ODST to show up, you can be marshaling your armies around in Halo Wars and taking a few breathers with the new maps from the Mythic Map Pack… and racking up more Achievement Points.