The Kinect is out now to make your sitting room that little bit more active

Kinect

Microsoft’s Kinect is a revolutionary control system where you are the controller.

This slim, black sensor plugs into an Xbox 360 and contains a camera, audio sensors and motion-detecting technology. It can track 48 points of movement in the human body, registering this in games.

From release, there are already a slew of games implementing this unique controller. Dance games where you copy dance moves onscreen, adventure games where you jump and kick to dodge obstacles, sports games which let you re-enact your favourite sports in your sitting room – the possibilities are endless to make your sitting room more active.

Platform: Xbox 360

Where: Leading games stores

PlayStation Move

The PlayStation Move combines the PlayStation Eye camera and the PlayStation Move controller for motion-based gaming. With its unique design, it offers an accurate controller, allowing you to make more accurate movements in a game.

Many games are already available for the peripheral, offering more realistic motion gaming. You can use the controller to sword fight, to take care of your virtual pet, to aim at targets – and that’s just the start.

Platform: PlayStation 3

Where: Leading games stores

Nintendo Wii Remote Plus

The Wii Remote Plus offers an updated Wii Remote with built-in Wii MotionPlus hardware. This boosts the precision compared to the standard Wii Remote, providing a more accurate control system. With every shake, swing and twist, the new controller can replicate it better than ever before.

It has the same physical dimensions as the standard controller and all compatible peripherals can be plugged into it as before. The Wii Remote Plus is available in four colours – white, black, pink and blue.

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Where: Leading games stores

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Take on the role as Ezio, a master assassin, struggling against the powerful Templar Order. In order to defeat the tyranny, he must command an entire brotherhood. You can recruit young assassins and deploy them across the city or use them to aid your quests.

The latest in the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, the single-player mode lets you explore the enormous city of Rome and you can collaborate with real historical figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Caterina Sforza.

This game introduces a multiplayer layer to the series. Players can fight against each other globally, choosing from a wide range of characters, each with their own signature weapons and assassination techniques.

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Where: Gamestop.ie, and leading games stores

Fable III

The third instalment of the blockbuster franchise, Fable III is an action adventure, which lets you lead a revolution in order to seize the throne from the tyrant king Logan to take control of Albion.

You must fight with your people, become the ruler of Albion and experience love and loss as you defend your position. Your choices throughout the game will change your world, depending on how you play. Become a just ruler or a greater tyrant than the one before you? The choice is yours.

Platform: Xbox 360

Where: Gamestop.ie and leading games stores

Wii Party

Wii Party lets up to four players play more than 80 mini-games on the Nintendo Wii. Starring your own personal Mii character, you can compete and co-operate with other players in 13 game modes.

The game incorporates your home into the game in House Party mode. The Hide ‘n’ Hunt game, for example, has you searching through your house for the hidden Wii Remote before time runs out. The Wii Remote will make the occasional sound to give a clue as to where it is.

Wii Party also has Pair Games and Party Games modes for a variety of part-based challenges. Each copy comes with a white Wii Remote included to get the party started.

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Where: Leading games stores

Laura O’Brien

Gamestop.ie will have special offers for gaming goods every hour until midnight

From 8am to midnight, GameStop.ie will be offering a special offer, which will close when the hour is finished.

GameStop wants to bring this US post-Thanksgiving tradition to Ireland. According to its Black Friday section, it’s enthusiastic about providing this event to its customers.

Previous offers earlier today included Medal of Honor for €24.99, preowned Batman: Arkham Asylum for €14.99 and a 12-month Xbox Live Gold Subscription with Free Black Ops T-Shirt for €37.99.

The site will reveal more offers as the day goes on. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for any other Black Friday sales that have managed to creep into Irish shores throughout the day.

UPDATE: GameStop have now relaunched all their offers for customers who missed out this morning.

Laura O’Brien

Sony is hoping its library of content will be enough to satisfy e-book consumers

The book channel will offer books, primarily in Japanese, in time for the end-of-year rush and in time to synch it with its 5 and 6-inch screen Sony Reader e-book, which goes on sale 10 December, according to Reuters.

300,000 forecast sales

The company announced it would resume selling e-book readers in Japan for the first time since 2007 – hoping to win more than 50pc of the market share in digital publications with a forecast 300,000 sales in year one.

Sony and Panasonic had previously removed themselves from the e-book reader market due to a lack of content for the devices but by providing its own digital library of titles, Sony looks ready to re-launch its bid for e-book market success.

Shane Hulgraine

It’s Black Friday at Apple today and buyers can get discounts of around €101 for the MacBook Air

Black Friday is the traditional huge shopping day in the US on the day after Thanksgiving. The shopping day has managed to inch its way online with sites like Apple.com and Amazon.com turning the shopping day into an international phenomenon

For example, the entry-level iPad with Wi-Fi normally retails for €499 and will today cost €458 while its highest-end iPad with Wi-Fi, 3G and 64GB will be €758, down from €799.

The company has knocked €11 off the price of its 8GB iPod Nano, which today costs €148 and €21 off its 16GB version, which today costs €168.

The 8GB iPod touch is reduced €21 to €208, the 16GB version is down €31 to €268 and the 64GB version is down €41 to €358.

The heavier stuff

A 13-inch MacBook Pro with 2.4GHz processor is down €101 to €1,048 while the version with a 2.66GHz version is down €101 to €1,398.

The 13-inch MacBook Air with 128GB is down €101 to €1,198 and the 256GB version is down €101 to €1,498.

Buyers save on average €101 for all iMac devices, from the entry-level 21.5-inch with 3.06GHz processor, which today costs €1,128, up to the 27-inch quad core with 2.8GHz processor which costs €1,928 today only.

John Kennedy

The deal will enable YouTube to show more content in France

YouTube came to a deal with Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD), Société Civile des Auteurs Multimedia (SCAM) and Société des Auteurs dans les arts Graphiques et Plastiques (SAGP) – who represent a range of authors, creators, writers, directors, visual artists, architects and playwrights.

The deal will ensure that members of the three major groups will be paid when their productions are featured on YouTube and has been regarded as a breakthrough among the groups.

Breakthrough

“This breakthrough opens up significant new opportunities for our members, “said Pascal Rogard, CEO of the SACD.

“We are committed to supporting the French artistic creation. The partnerships we have created in recent months with the artists, authors and publishers illustrate this position,” said Carlo d’Asaro Biondo, vice-president of Google Europe, South and East, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Shane Hulgraine

The Samsung Omnia 7 is out now from free on bill pay from 3, Meteor and eMobile.

It’s the first Samsung phone to be released in Ireland that runs on Windows Phone 7.

The Samsung Omnia 7 has a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display and a 1GHz processor. It also features a 5-megapixel camera with HD recording capabilities.

It includes a “Now Hub,” offering news, weather and stocks powered by Reuters.

The Omnia 7 has quick photo-sharing capabilities to multiple social networking sites.

The phone has many of the standard features of Windows Phone 7, such as access to Xbox LIVE for gaming, Office for document management and Zune for media.

The Samsung Omnia 7 is out now from free on bill pay from 3, Meteor and eMobile.

Laura O’Brien

Israeli army officials used the social network to catch out draft dodgers

The Israel Defence Forces has been using Facebook to investigate women who lied about their religious backgrounds in order to avoid being drafted to the army, according to bbc.co.uk.

The women were caught out by their personal information which contradicted many of their claims that they could not be drafted to the army due to the fact they were Orthodox Jews – who are exempt from service.

The Israel Defence Forces used the social networking site to clarify if the women’s claims were true or not by tracking photos of them eating non-kosher foods and wearing immodest clothing.

Shane Hulgraine

The app includes the first-ever taste profiling feature that gives users the chance to discover which wine style best suits their palates

Pocket Wine, the Irish-developed app, has been created to help users navigate the wine universe with ease and offers them unique wine definitions.

It also includes the first-ever taste profiling feature that gives users the chance to discover which wine style best suits their palates.

“I am passionate about wine and believe that everyone should have the opportunity to go on their own personal wine adventure,” said Mike Finegan, CEO of Wine Paradigm.

“Pocket Wine has been designed to help people begin that adventure which can last a lifetime.”

All grape varieties

Developed by former director of the Wine Board, Finegan, the app is easy to follow and gives users access to all major grape varieties and regions and blends a simple task with each wine style that is easy to explore.

The developers of the app hope that this will encourage users to consider more when tasting a wine and prompts consideration of new styles and grape varieties.

Other features include food matching and a do’s and don’ts’. All grape varieties and blends also have their own individual food pairing advice, with examples given for each.

Pocket Wine can be purchased for €2.99 from the App Store.

Shane Hulgraine