No stone has been left unturned in the quest to find something, anything, that the Xbox Kinect is good for, and it may have paid off: The Kinect seems pretty useful for investigating crime scenes. I can only guess that it wound up in this role after its prominent part in the case of how the PS4 murdered the Xbox One.

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"No, your console doesn't have more graphical power. Mine just has a lot of untapped potential. You'll see," the argument that is as old as gaming goes. Well, in the case of the Xbox One, it's actually kind of true. Now that Kinect is no longer mandatory, developers have some extra graphical power to work with that was previously sealed off.

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Doctor Who/Broadchurch/Gracepoint star David Tennant is lending his vocal talents to Kinect Sports Rivals, a game debuting next month on Xbox One. I don't care about sports but I do care about David Tennant and his wonderful voice. Hmm, torn. Either way, watch this video, he's adorable and you'll learn what the last video game he played was. Hint: His answer made me flail. Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

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Further proving British spies have their fingers firmly on the pulse of the technologically literate, new details in their probably incredibly useful Yahoo user spying program say that they were also eyeing Microsoft's Kinect as a way to spy on people. Is there no piece of technology we can trust? Luckily, who even uses Kinect?

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The Xbox One is bursting at the seams with knowledge! OK, maybe yours isn't, but Jake Roper's in his "Fact Surgery" series on Vsauce will help you learn all about your favorite (or least favorite, depending on which camp you're in) video game console, and this time he's gone the extra mile and brought you some Kinect facts, as well.

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For the Xbox One, Microsoft pulled out all the stops and developed an incredibly powerful version of the original Kinect, and pretty much no one cared, because they just want it to be $100 cheaper like the PlayStation 4. All that technology won't go to waste, though, because a South Korean programmer put it to work on the nation's border.

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This new video showing off the Xbox One doesn't focus much on games. Instead, it gives an in-depth look at the user experience, menus, and apps. We think that's a smart play, because as launch day for both systems approaches now's the time to show potential buyers how the system would fit into their lives beyond games.

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While Microsoft's Kinect is generally disliked as a video game peripheral, it certainly gets used for a number of zany tech ideas. Case in point-- a new software that uses a projector in tandem with the Kinect to create a touch screen out of any surface. Just another sign we're getting closer to "the future."

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Well, this was was only a matter of time since Microsoft reversed their DRM and used game policies for the upcoming Xbox One. The company now says the new console will also function without the motion-sensing Kinect peripheral -- and its attendant camera -- which had previously been announced as necessary for use.

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There've been a lot of jokes made about the box one since its reveal -- but now that Don Mattrick has left the company and all of its most controversial policies have been reversed, some are starting to change their minds. For those in that party, Major Nelson put out an unboxing video that shows you what you'll be getting if you buy the console at launch.

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Scientists at North Carolina State University have used an Xbox Kinect to automatically guide cockroaches along a set path. This isn't the first time someone's wired up a cockroach to get it to do their bidding, but as far as we know it's the first time someone's done it using an Xbox Kinect to get the roaches on autopilot. This sounds ridiculous, but Xbox-controlled cyborg cockroaches could actually help save lives.

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You know how critics of music-centric video games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Just Dance used to argue that such games gave you a false feeling of accomplishment because you were basically putting time and energy into simulating a skill (guitar playing, dancing, etc) that you weren't actually learning? Prepare to not be worried about that with the upcoming Fantasia: Music Evolved, because if this trailer is any indication of the actual gameplay, all you're going to be putting time and energy into is waving your arms around like Mickey Mouse does in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Which, granted, sounds pretty awesome. Who hasn't wished they could control the elements with a sweep of their hand? And by elements, I mean "dubstep beats."

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Well, the next-gen Xbox reveal event has come and gone. First things first: It's called the Xbox One. Also, Microsoft would very much like you to stop using every other device you have in your entertainment system. As made clear by the event, the Xbox One is definitely being marketed as The One Device to Rule Them All, but I'm not sure I buy into all the hype.

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There is a new batch of rumors about the successor to the Xbox Kinect that give the specifics on the updated device currently operating under the name "Durango". The rumors are detailed down to the specs of the 3D camera sensor, but nothing is official yet. The specs being reported seem pretty believable though -- most categories are getting a slight bump in specs, but nothing so crazy as to raise any doubt. Let's look at the numbers.

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You know those times when you're playing a video game and Murphy's law comes into effect, resulting in incessant cursing at the screen in the vain hope your swearing will cause some kind of positive change? Of course you do, and so does Dead Space 3 producer Steve Papoutsis. In a recent interview, he's said that the development team at Visceral Games has worked to integrate the Kinect's voice capabilities into the game, allowing players to trigger special commands when they let the swears fly. The only catch, however, is that we won't know what words to use until the right situations present themselves.

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"A Kinect hack allows my mom to send email for the first time since her stroke twelve years ago," writes Youtuber DadHoc, aka Chad Ruble. He made a visual keyboard for her, since she can't utilize a regular one, and with a few tech assists, voila! Mom can now check and see if her kids are taking care of themselves. Ruble admits he'd like to make a few changes and updates to his creation and hopes his mom will even be able to start her own blog. You can read more about it on Ruble's website but as a person who notices some technology is leaving those with different physical abilities behind, this is a breath of fresh air. (Dad Hoc via Kotaku)

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Early next month, the 2,000 pound Curiosity rover will finally touch down on the surface of Mars and just doing that will require one of the most ingenious and daring landings that NASA has yet attempted. Now, Earthlings can try their hand at conquering the "seven minutes of terror" with a new Kinect game for Xbox. Unlike the space program, this one is completely free!

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