Lego and Microsoft

We all know Lego, most of us have played with Lego in there younger years and spend most likely hours and hours constructing new idea's. As a matter of fact most of us, that will say people in tech, have never overgrown this age. Now we are playing with software blocks and putting them together to construct programs. However, not all of us tech people have left Lego behind… Some of us are still using it on a daily basis especially when Lego developed the robotic kit giving us the bricks and pieces and the software environment to develop robots quickly and easily.

Now Lego is taking the robotic kit to a next level with LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT. We already knew this is becoming a big hit in robot land not in the last place due to the way the new kit is put together. With the help of a group of 'top' enthusiasts, a good article about it was printed in wired magazine, 'Geeks in Toyland'.

Now Microsoft is stepping into the ride of robotics as Microsoft recently announced the launch of their new Microsoft Robotics Group and the first product release, a software program to help robotics developers. Using the new Microsoft Robotics Studio you will be able to develop intelligent robots.

"Microsoft, together with the upcoming LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT, will help further amplify the impact of robotics," said Søren Lund, director of LEGO MINDSTORMS at the LEGO Group. "The MINDSTORMS robotics toolset has enjoyed a strong community of users since 1998, and the launch of our next-generation platform includes many built-in features that further the community's ability to take MINDSTORMS programming out of the box. In combination with Microsoft Robotics Studio, PC users will have a sophisticated tool that will further extend the powerful NXT hardware and software to an even wider range of developers who wish to create advanced applications for their LEGO robots."