Suppose a government wanted to monitor it’s citizens — for their own good, of course — at home. Suppose MS was required to put in a backdoor into its new Xbox’s software to allow access to the Kinect at all times to allow watching what’s happening and being said… Naw. That’s crazy, paranoid, 1984 talk.
Microsoft plans to release a next-generation Kinect device so accurate it can lip read, sources have told Eurogamer. Kinect 2 will come bundled with future Xbox consoles, we understand.
The intention is that Kinect 2 will offer improved motion sensing and voice recognition. One development source told Eurogamer that Kinect 2 will be so powerful it will enable games to lip read, detect when players are angry, and determine in which direction they are facing. Kinect 2 can track the pitch and volume of player voices and facial characteristics to measure different emotional states.
Start to worry when it can plug itself in.
No. No I don’t think we will need to worry any more once they can plug themselves in. It’ll all be over at that point.
I am sure my iPhone is filming me in the shower.
What?!? You can get a water-proof iPhone??? Where do I sign up?
They probably already do with webcams. We know they do it with telephones, web traffic, and library records. The supreme court may rule that gps spying by law enforcement is legal.
Lets try not to freak out about new tech when the ability to spy on us isn’t new.
You partly hit it on. We should freak out, now. However, not about the tech’ but about Government and legal system that allows the abuse and about ourselves many of whom are gullible to accept insane TOS just to use insignificant but fashionable devices.
Once customers rebel and refuse to buy the new iCrap without clear ownership and control of the device by the buyer we’ll be half way out of the hole. Next step is Constitutional amendment for the modern era – expanding search and seizure limits to all electronic communication. Latter won’t come if we don’t first freak out and demand full ownership of our devices from the manufacturers.
But, but, its from Apple and they wouldn’t be evil. 🙂
I neither nor want an i<insert name here> unless I can lock it up i my home/office at night, all alone…
Insignificant? You’ve obviously not played with it. It’s greatly significant. It’s a game device that gets kids off their duffs and makes them move around! Also, it’s easily unplugged when you don’t want it working. The only problem with it now is it’s not as good as it should be. I’m looking forward to the next generation device.
Oh, and it’s Microsoft, not Apple.
Just unplugged the webcam…….
Should I worry that the Kinect in the theater room that I visit literally about once a month downstairs and is always off could possibly be spying me? No.
Privacy is never a right. (That’s why they are releasing your colonoscopy medical info to the HMOs. If you’re sick, kiss your coverage goodbye. [That’s why the US medical system is a sick joke joke the world over. {What good is any therapy that you’ll never be able to afford?}])
Neither is free* speech, despite that supposed victory by that teenager to call her erected officious a vaginal irrigation sac.
You have the right to obey.
Like in ancient Rome, the speech still goes: Ave Ceasar. Morituri te salutant.
We, of the bottom 99%, might shout it to the top 1% but they are not the fresh organ buyers, the 12,400 really rich pricks.
The 1%ers still are beholding to the top 0.00413% of the people who own everything.
(I’m one of 0.833% of people who get MS so I know about being a minority.)
That’s what you have to live for…
*) Free just refers to what its worth. Its not libre.
Hit the nail right on the head—the REAL death panels are the ones at your insurance company that have the power to tell you you aren’t worth insuring. A little factoid the Republicans never mentioned in their scare campaign.
Face it. When you connect to the Internet, you relinquish your privacy. Try as you might, this can’t be circumvented by laws or through clever technology.
Besides, isn’t it more important to freely socialize online with strangers every 2 minutes than worry about the potential consequences?
Why do I need a Kinect?
Because it’s Really Fun!
I think we should see opportunities to this states.
With enough knowledge I’m sure we can turn the tables.
har har, -this is how they’ll get you to LOVE Orwellian tech.
no doubt, the next version will just scan your whole body.. so when you start mouthing off about how much Micro$oft sucks, (or the gubmint) -the next day a youtube clip of you having sex with a kid -or training at terror camp in Afghanistan will go viral and off ya go to the latest in “redumication camps” -indefinitely, of course. (compliments of mccain and levin)
It’s the next logical step to “perfect” the fascist amerika in which we live..
you can keep it.
-s
(I think an old 80’s movie called “Looker” has a slant on that..)
Albert Finney, James Coburn and Susan Dey. I had such a crush on Susan Dey back in the day. Added to my netflix cue. Thanks soundwash.
Netflix, available on Xbox 360.
I wonder if it will include a pepper spray nozzle for when a domestic fight breaks out. No need to send police. “They are all lying in the floor crying in front of the XBOX – 10-4”. We’ll keep an EYE on them !
OnStar already tracks everywhere I go. So does my ISP.
I’ll be sure to play my XBox in the nude from now on.
Be sure to eat a bag of cheetos when you do . . .
“i’m sorry dave, i’m afraid i cant do that”
” dusanmal says:You partly hit it on. We should freak out, now. However, not about the tech’ but about Government and legal system that allows the abuse and about ourselves many of whom are gullible to accept insane TOS just to use insignificant but fashionable devices.”
i freaked long time ago… so i switched to open source..it is my machine dammit!
fear the onstar, and gps enabled phone, etc…
Just cover the damn thing with a towel (another good use for one) when you aren’t using it.
BFD! Bet it doesn’t have a thermal lie detector…
How much “intelligence” can Big Brother gather from folks who think jumping around in front of their Tee Vee is a legit substitute for having a Real Life? People who can make a difference aren’t leaping around in their living rooms like a monkey.
Yes we are.
Yes, Im sure you’re leading by example, arguing over proper use of free time on an internet blog.
Microsoft spying on people? nah, I don’t buy it.
Their business model is entirely different from Google and Facebook.
They sell software for $$$, they don’t give it away for free and sell your data.
They’ve even refused to use targeted ads on Hotmail.
Besides, if they want to spy on people they certainly don’t need a Kinect to do it.
They’ve got Windows and that’s running on hundreds on millions of PCs worldwide
And if they did wanted to use Windows to spy on people they could at least catch the users of those pirated copies, but instead they provide them free critical updates!
Worry about iOS instead, that allows any app to freely see your Contacts on your iPhone including Facebook and any kids’ farth app, with no way to block it.
How ’bout that?
You don’t buy it? So what?
If anybody does, M$ will gladly sell it to them.
Yeah, give up your rights in exchange for new toys.
(Holds up giant foam finger.)
We’re Number Dumb! We’re Number Dumb!
No, you should be scared of M$ !!! And if you run WinBloze , you are ALREADY SCREWED !!!
Lip-Reading ??? As in “Open the Pod Bay Door, HAL” ???
DON’T DO IT !!!
Oh please. Don’t you know there’s been a camera and mic behind that little purple window on your cable box for years?
That’s the rumor that was started when the federal government began distributing vouchers in order to buy digital over-the-air TV tuners when the analog TV signals were phased out. Another rumor was that the digital tuner was also “two-way” so it could transmit the collected intelligence somewhere.
Research was conducted by the late 1990s by A. C. Nielsen Co. for a face recognition technology that would recognize TV viewers so that the viewers wouldn’t need to fill out logs.
Maybe they can build this Kinects 2 technology into a Robo-dog. That can detect facial and vocal characteristics, and react as a dog might. Why must it be only a game device? If it fits in an X-Box, it’ll fit into some eprom chips, in a mechanical pet.
If it has a microphone, why then does the Kinect 2 need a lip-reading capability?
Question: Doesn’t the current Kinect have a similar capability? The ability to scan a game player’s room and detect specific items, for instance?
It might be a little paranoid but I keep my webcam covered when I’m not actively using it.
I’m not so much worried about someone spying on me, I’m worried that I’ll accidentally turn it on when I’m not dressed.
It seems like an easy mistake to make.
The only people that need to fear the government are the ones that are alive.
Got a laptop or tablet? Does it have a camera facing your way? Does it have a mike? They may be recording everything you do not just the stuff you use a computer to do. They still have issues trying to sort through all that information.
You think I’m paranoid?
Lieberman among others says he wants the US government to be able to do the sort of things China does with its version of the internet.
Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean that these creeps aren’t out to gain all power for themselves.
Really Good, its dangerous
The Kinect will never catch on, it requires people to exercise.
That’s a funny comment. Because kinect broke the world record of electronic sales. At 10 million in 60 days. And another 8 million a few months after that.