Not long after Pizza Hut bid for the gamer vote last week with its pizza-ordering app via Microsoft Xbox, Domino's has made a different kind of attempt to grab some idle time from online denizens who are also pizza fans.

The chain is testing a system it calls Domino's Live at one of its new "pizza-theater" stores in Salt Lake City. The platform will give customers a live, uncut glimpse of the making of Domino's pizza from start to finish, 12 hours a day, everyday, using five cameras installed around the store—in locations such as one that is poised just outside the oven exit.

CEO J. Patrick Doyle told brandchannel that Domino's Live is "a logical extension" of the chain's efforts to boost "transparency" even further. "We're proud of what we do in our stores, and the ingredients in our pizzas," he said.Continue reading...

When there are more than a billion people already using your products, it doesn’t seem like a natural time for a rebrand. But Microsoft is apparently sick of being portrayed as an old fuddy duddy to Apple’s hip, young counterpart. 

After all, “the consensus among analysts seems to be that Microsoft is a company in transition, experiencing growing pains and pockets of great promise as it moves from dominance in a world centered on Windows and PCs to becoming a company that delivers services and devices,” the Seattle Times reports.

That transition means some big changes for the way the company presents itself. According to Windows Phone design studio general manager Albert Shum and Wolff Olins creative director Todd Simmons, Microsoft is planning to rebrand Bing, Skype, Yammer and Xbox, Gizbot reports.

After all, Microsoft refreshed the visual identity for Windows and Office last year, and the company in the midst of a big plan to align all of its products across design and marketing.Continue reading...

Pizza and gaming are eventually likely to evolve into a single pursuit, like football and touchdown dances or movies and popcorn. Now, Pizza Hut is working with Microsoft Xbox to move the process along a little bit.

Today, Pizza Hut is debuting an app for Xbox Live that lets users order a pizza through their Xbox 360 with just the game controller, voice input or Kinect gestures—once they've chosen the nearest pizza parlor. Custom orders are also available.

"If you look at our audience, they love pizza," said Xbox's Larry Hryb, according to Mashable. "I mean, who doesn't? It has international appeal, and Pizza Hut is a recognized brand that matches up well with the Xbox brand."Continue reading...

Aereo TV streaming service from Barry Diller faces showdown with News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, who threatens to take FOX cable-only, as Intel cooks up its vision of future of TV.

Apple, which can now trademark iPad mini in U.S. and captured 74% of mobile app revenue in Q1, reportedly will release new iPhone 5S in "at least" two screen sizes.

Billabong in talks to sell out for $300 million.

Airbus juggles order book to meet record demand for A320neo Jet.

AT&T joins Boeing in backing U.S. cyber bill facing privacy fight.

Audi promotes in-vehicle Wi-Fi in new TV campaign.Continue reading...

You may soon need to be extra careful when you wave your hands around—and it’s not because you might hit somebody. You may be sending your computer and every other digital object you own a message of some sort or another thanks to the growing market for gesture controllers.

Nintendo’s Wii got the world swinging its body around to control images on their screens. Microsoft’s Kinect allowed users to control their Xboxes and PCs with hand gestures and now a new wave of controllers and interfaces are planned to hit the market this year.

In May, the Leap Motion 3D gesture controller, which allows users to control their PCs with hand gestures, will be found in Best Buys for $80. The company sees itself as different from Kinect because its controller can follow "all ten fingers up to 1/100th millimeter at up to 290 frames per second" and is "200 times more sensitive than existing motion-control technology," according to pcpro.com.

Thalmic Labs is releasing MYO, which goes around a person’s forearm and can sense their movements, allowing for control of actual devices rather than just computers. QZ.com has it that “this raises the stakes in the gestural interface game.” It’ll be on the market in late 2013 for $149. Continue reading...

Apparently, one way to get a job at Microsoft is to intelligently critique it.

Andrew Kim, a 22-year-old Los Angeles design student who still has a semester of school left, has had his phone ringing since last summer, when he posted a full redesign of Microsoft’s logo and look called “The Next Microsoft.” 

Kim, who dashed it off in three days, said the company needed a brand refresh to help it kick its image of being “slow,” “outdated,” “conservative,” and “corporate.” [Examples of Kim's suggested work above via FastCompany.]

Kim's alternate look for Microsoft was praised by Fast Company as "a preview of how a younger generation of designers will treat today's hot button issues."Continue reading...

2012 was a momentous year for Microsoft, building its devices and services foundation for the year to come. The company introduced the world to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, its family of Surface PCs, a new version of Microsoft Office and “Halo 4,” Microsoft celebrates "a steady rhythm of advancements across its most popular products for individuals and businesses" throughout 2012. See more in the video below and slideshow, and don't miss Bing's top searches of 2012.Continue reading...

It was only a matter of time before Korean pop phenom Psy's "Gangnam Style" dance craze, which has become the Macarena of our age thanks to its YouTube-busting popularity, came to Xbox Kinect's Dance Central. Naturally, Psy is in the running for TIME's Person of the Year 2012, with readers invited to weigh in.