Microsoft has issued a sorta-recall for the Xbox 360′s wireless racing wheel, saying that when plugged into the power supply it may overheat and release smoke. While they claim that there is no risk of fire, injury, or property damage, it represents another battle lost in the fight against overheating electronics, and another boulder on the pile of bad news for Microsoft hardware engineering.
Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should stop using the AC/DC power supply until they have obtained their retrofit. They may continue to operate the wheel using battery power.
Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should visit http://www.xbox.com/support or call Microsoft at (800) 4MY-XBOX (469-9269) to register for the free retrofit and protect against the potential hazard described above. Instructions, if necessary, will be provided with the retrofit. Microsoft is notifying and will be coordinating its response activities with the relevant regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. This may affect delivery dates.
Microsoft’s got this nice pro photography mini-site, complete with a download page that has some good stuff you might enjoy. It’s got downloads related to HD Photo (JPEG XR), photo metadata editing in Windows Explorer, file syncing, RAW image viewing in Windows, an advanced color control panel applet for Windows XP, and Photo Story 3.
(via Eric Richards)
This is cute: The Microsoft Hit Wizard, a “software” web page that helps you create a popular hit song by just filling out some parameters in a form. For example, upping the “Number of ‘Yeah-U-huh’:” from 20 per minute to 40, chaning “Steal melody from” from Knight Rider theme to Led Zeppelin, and The car from a Mercedes to a Rolls-Royce does… uh… absolutely nothing. Okay, it’s just silly.
Gamestop is running this ad, saying goodbye to Halo 2, and get ready for the next step:
I’ve been playing Halo 2 the last week, and I intend to finish it all the way to the end for the first time, as a way of getting ready to experience Halo 3 the way I never got to experience Halo 2. I know, it’s crazy, but I rarely actually get to finish any games, but the launch of Halo 3 is the huge event, so I’m prepping for it.
Gerson Lehrman Group is wondering if the timing of the Xbox 360 price cut was too early, or if the cut was even necessary. They reason that a cut is needed if your product has something to gain, but with Sony’s still-too-expensive console, Nintendo’s regardless of the industry sales, Halo 3 and the 360 Elite, Microsoft didn’t gain much at all.
I’d have to disagree. Sony’s had a bad year, possibly a terrible year. Sony’s price cut is probably the only reason they’re even still in this console war, and you don’t let a competitor improve without a response. The PS3 is improving, no doubt, and it would have been stupid to do nothing. Microsoft is doing what it needs to to keeps Sony down, and to keep its next-gen lead, and that’s why the price cut had to happen.
(via Digg)
