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Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

news.xbox.com

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Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#181

Post by jevinskie »

mikelat wrote: post #141
amalcon wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The aftermarket part to disable the Kinect without breaking warranty is not very expensive: http://www.amazon.com/Post--3-Inches-Canary-Yellow-12-Pads/d... Though there are a number of reasons I don't like the Xbox One, the Kinect isn't one of them.

You could very well do that. You could also crack open the kinect as soon as you buy it and change it so you can disable it by a switch or something like that. Although permanent disconnection apparently isn't a good idea as saying "xbox on" will I hear be the only way you turn the device on. Really though I think it'd be easier for them to just give customers the option not to plug it in, but my guess is that they'r…

> "xbox on" will I hear be the only way you turn the device on.

Really? What about mute people? Microsoft can't be that accessibility-impaired!

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#182

Post by pandaman »

dragontamer wrote: post #149
WayneDB wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pay an annual fee for Netflix on top of what I pay Netflix? Never. Same here! Also, I'm a casual gamer and I go months...YEARS without playing video games. I do not want another subscription that I'm going to forget about. I had an Xbox 360, but I never paid for the Gold service - so the only online gaming in my house is done on my PC workstation. I will probably get a PS4 this time around.

Consider the WiiU. Netflix support and Video Chat, new games that neither system can do. WiiU + PC will probably get you more coverage than PS4 + PC. As far as I can tell anyway...

All consoles have exclusive games so every single one has "new games that neither system can do", however Wii U has the weakest third party support so it won't get most of the games either system can do. It's a current generation system so it will get some multi-plat still coming into this gen, otherwise it's pretty much Nintendo first party titles all the way.

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#183

Post by Ygg2 »

codeka wrote: post #173
ebbv wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so I was wrong on one of the 3. It still cannot be removed or turned off. It can be disabled by software which we have to trust is really disabling it.

Do people really not trust that it wouldn't actually be disabled if you disabled it? Can the paranoid not just put a piece of tape over the lens, or point it at a wall?

I don't know if tape covers all the spectrum of its camera (I assume it does, since its infrared only IIRC).

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#184

Post by kabdib »

mikelat wrote: post #85
alyx wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop spreading privacy FUD. Kinect can be controlled and disabled. http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/privacy

This page says it's disabled by software - not by hardware. So it really depends on how much you trust the software and the people making it. The software is closed source and the people making it also happened to be the first ones to sign onto PRISM.

Ex Kinect engineer here. I wrote a bunch of firmware in the original Kinect and a bunch of support stuff on the 360 console. I also did a lot of design on the new Kinect system before I left MS.

I won't reveal any secrets, but:

1) It should be very easy to determine if the Kinect is listening when it should not be, at least when the unit is off. So whatever MS claims the unit does should be verifiable.

2) I trust the Kinect team to do this right. They're dead serious about privacy issues.

You don't know me, so my trust in point #2 isn't necessarily transitive. But you should be able to look at signals and verify #1.

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#185

Post by nknighthb »

kabdib wrote: post #184
mikelat wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This page says it's disabled by software - not by hardware. So it really depends on how much you trust the software and the people making it. The software is closed source and the people making it also happened to be the first ones to sign onto PRISM.

Ex Kinect engineer here. I wrote a bunch of firmware in the original Kinect and a bunch of support stuff on the 360 console. I also did a lot of design on the new Kinect system before I left MS. I won't reveal any secrets, but: 1) It should be very easy to determine if the Kinect is listening when it should not be, at least when the unit is off. So whatever MS claims the unit does should be verifiable. 2) I trust the…

If they're that serious, why not do the obvious thing and provide a physical switch? Why make it dependent on code we all know is fallible?

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#186

Post by ricardobeat »

ecdavis wrote: post #169
rmrfrmrf wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "family sharing" aspect of Xbox One has been compared to iTunes Home Sharing. If that's the case, you wouldn't have been able to share games with your brother anyway -- Home Sharing only works for systems that are on the same Wi-Fi network. I don't think Microsoft's original idea was as cool as you think it was.

Microsoft's "family sharing" (terrible name) allowed you to share games in your library with up to 10 people, regardless of where they were in the world[1]. It didn't just extend to people in the same house. With this announcement we lose that feature. [1] 'I could name a friend that lives 3,000 miles away as one of my "family members" Mehdi said.' http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/06/microsoft-defends-the-...

Nothing prevents Microsoft from allowing sharing of digital copies just like they announced.

Converting a disc to a digital license is a bit more complicated, but not unsolvable.

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#187

Post by hobs »

bashinator wrote: post #178
LaurelCrowned wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible to have a software based microphone coded into whatever operating system. Speakers can also be used as a microphone. There is software out there that can record sound without any actual microphone.

I would really like more details about this software.

http://beyerdynamicheadphones.danielcadams.com/how-to-use-ea...

Not any speaker, but you can use some headphones as microphones very easily.

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#189

Post by GauntletWizard »

Ygg2 wrote: post #183
codeka wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people really not trust that it wouldn't actually be disabled if you disabled it? Can the paranoid not just put a piece of tape over the lens, or point it at a wall?

I don't know if tape covers all the spectrum of its camera (I assume it does, since its infrared only IIRC).

No, the demos for the new Kinect specifically show a visible spectrum camera feed, and I think the original had a standard camera too.

Re: Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One

#190

Post by Dylan16807 »

LaurelCrowned wrote: post #171
Dylan16807 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, to be clear I mostly meant removing the mic on a laptop. And it's pretty easy to open a laptop, just takes some screwdrivers. Or you can take a pin and stab the microphone until it no longer functions. No extreme difficulty here.

It's possible to have a software based microphone coded into whatever operating system. Speakers can also be used as a microphone. There is software out there that can record sound without any actual microphone.

How many actually have sound cards sophisticated enough to feed the speakers into the ADC?
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