Microsoft encourages maths, science
Microsoft is teaming up with New York University and other US universities to launch an institute to research how gaming can be used to encourage middle-school students to take an interest in math and science, reports New York Times.
Microsoft chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie will unveil the Games for Learning Institute (G4LI), a joint effort between Microsoft Research, NYU, Columbia University, the City University of New York, Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Teachers College.
The G4LI initially will take a three-year, three-phased approach to its research using $1.5 million in funding from Microsoft and an additional $1.5 million from partners in the consortium to develop education software for middle-school children.
Xbox 360 Live reworked
Microsoft is reworking the interface for its Xbox Live service, the largest social network of its kind with 14 million members, the company revealed at the Tokyo Game Show, says Network World.
The Xbox 360's entire interface - from the dashboard, to gamer cards, to tracking friends, and themes - has been reworked to make a more seamless and convenient interface.
Xbox Live's Marketplace will also be made available on the Web, so that users who are not at their Xbox 360 can still browse through the Xbox Live Marketplace. These changes are scheduled to take place in the US on 19 November.
Visionman unveils water-cooled gaming rig
Visonman Computers, a manufacturer of servers, gaming systems and notebooks for small business and home users, has released its new water-cooled gaming system, says Trading Markets.
The Widow Gaming Red Blizzard gaming rig features a 2.5GHz Intel Dual Core E5200 CPU, 2GB of memory from Silicon Mountain and a 500GB Western Digital Hard Drive.
"Water-cooling has long been a high-priced feature reserved for the boutique gaming shops," says Tre' Cates, CEO of Visionman, "These new Widow models will provide gaming enthusiasts with a great platform, full of premium upgraded components at an incredible price."
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