Microsoft has bought video discovery service Videosurf to “evolve search and discovery of entertainment content” on Xbox 360. The press release sent out by Microsoft this morning in the US confirms the company will be integrated into Xbox 360 “ecosystem” in some form, noting that it’ll “evolve search and discovery of entertainment content” via Xbox Live. “This holiday we will launch voice search across our entertainment partners on Xbox Live. Over time, as we integrate VideoSurf’s technology into our system, we are excited about the potential to have content tagged in real time to increase the speed and relevance of the search results,” said Xbox Live director, Alex Gar

Next week, you’ll be able to use your Paypal account to purchase content on your Xbox 360 system. Microsoft reportedly plans to begin rolling out a new update to the Xbox 360 on May 19, and one of the biggest changes will be the addition of Paypal support directly from the console. The company began accepting Paypal payments through the Web-based Xbox Live site a while ago, but with the new update users will be able to add their Paypal account to their Xbox 360. The feature will allow users without a bank account or credit card to have the same instant access to on-demand movies, game downloads, and Xbox Live Gold subscription management that everyone else has. Paypal, which

Xbox 360 owners are getting a little update ahead of the next dashboard update. The next time you start up your console, Microsoft is pushing down an update that will add Kinect support for Netflix. The Kinect support for Netflix was talked about some time back, but no actual release timeframe was given when it would actually arrive. It appears that time is finally now. The additional Kinect support will allow Xbox 360 Netflix users to use the Kinect device to navigate the system interface as well as use voice control to play, pause, fast forward, or rewind streaming content. In addition, Kinect users will get a controller-free recommendation channel that is said to use a “sma

Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 will come this November. Microsoft has already sent out beta units to testers so that they can try out the Kinect hardware and the new software update with Kinect support which will drop this fall as a free update for all existing Xbox 360 owners. Folks involved in the beta program for the Kinect were kind enough to slip out some videos showing off the new Dashboard. Videos after the break. While the design is nowhere near as drastic a change as the last dashboard update for the Xbox 360, it’s still more than a slight nip and tuck, with only the overall concept of sliding tiles remaining. Everything else, from their perspective to the colours to

Microsoft will release a redesigned wireless controller for its Xbox 360 console which will feature a transforming directional pad. The silver controller includes a “transforming D-pad” that allows players to alter the way the directional pad is used. Players can use the standard plus format as they would with any Xbox 360 controller, or twist the D-pad into a disc format so it almost resembles a fatter thumbstick. In a statement, Microsoft says the disc format is ideal for “sweeping movements.” The controller will also include concave analog sticks and grey buttons on the face of the device. It hits stores November 9 for $64.99. For a closer look at the ne

Microsoft’s online store on Tuesday had a 150-dollar price tag on its upcoming Kinect controllers for Xbox 360 videogame consoles. The US technology colossus was taking pre-orders for Kinect, advising buyers that the device for adding gesture-sensing capabilities to Xbox 360 consoles would not be available until “on or after” November 4. “Kinect” is the name for the new game technology developed by Microsoft under the code name Project Natal. The potentially revolutionary device uses a 3-D camera and gesture recognition software to let people play videogames using natural body movements instead of hand-held controllers. Players can tell consoles what

There is a good chance that several websites may have spoiled the Microsoft Project Natal party on June 13. Several websites have come out and claimed connections to reliable sources that now say that Project Natal will cost $149, which is about 50% more than the rumored price so far. Also, a website claims to know the name of Project Natal and says it will ship with the name Wave. Microsoft may have sabotaged itself by releasing a brown Zune MP3 player and by naming its social cellphones Kin, but we have serious doubt that Microsoft will be naming the Natal device Wave.  There is already a website called Wave that is operated by Microsoft and that is used to “bring you the fres

Microsoft appears to be prepared to support third-party USB storage for saving and loading game data, according to a post by Joystiq on Thursday. The source, an alleged Microsoft engineering document, also states that the capability would be added to the Xbox 360 platform sometime this spring. Instead of providing flash-based storage cards, the new update would allow USB hard drives to be used as storage options. There’s a catch, though: although many USB hard drives ship with capacity points higher than 16 GB, Microsoft will only allow a partition of 16 Gbytes on size, with 512 Mbytes of that used for system data. Up to two USB devices may be used, for a total of 32 Gbyt