Category Archives: Israel

Xbox 360 will launch in Israel seven years after it was released in the US, Microsoft has announced. The console’s release was revealed during the firm’s Discovery conference in Tel Aviv yesterday. The console comes with local currency and Hebrew language support, and Xbox Live and Kinect will also be made available. Xbox 360 launches in Israel on November 21. Thanks, Eurogamer.

Playcast Media System is launching a large-scale pilot of its streaming game service today, which pulls audio and visual data from offsite computers in a way similar to OnLive and Gaikai. So, have the two big names been one-upped? Well, not exactly. See, Playcast’s service is only launching in Israel — for now.

The service promises “Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 quality games” using only a cable provider or Telco set-top box.

Fret not, however, if you’re itching to (potentially) stream some games this year. As of now, Playcast’s offering is set to launch in “major markets in the US, Europe and Asia” in 2009 and 2010. Exactly when and where, though, still remains a mystery.

Full release after the break.

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It’s finally been confirmed that Microsoft bought Israeli tech firm 3DV.

Israeli business daily Globes reports that Microsoft’s Moshe Lichtman mentioned 3DV in a press conference relating to Microsoft’s R&D centre in Israel.

“The R&D centre helped Microsoft in buying the intellectual property of 3DV Systems, and in the wake of that dozens of the company’s employees were recruited to work at the development centre,” Lichtman said.

Globes says the Antitrust Authority approved the deal “a few days” ago.

3DV’s tech has been long-rumoured as the basis for Natal, but Microsoft claimed at E3 that the 360 motion system was built in-house.

There’s more on Eurogamer.