Microsoft TV Studio Launched

SEPT. 18, 2012 • To date, Microsoft Entertainment has sourced most of its non-game content for Xbox Live from broadcast media sources. That’s changing though as the company has announced the launch of its own Microsoft TV production studio in Los Angeles. Tapped to lead the new facility is Nancy Tellem, who was president of the CBS Network Television Entertainment Group until 2009 where she oversaw program development, production, business affairs and oper.....

India Xbox 360 Prices Raised

AUG. 24, 2012 • Redington Ltd., the India Xbox 360 distributor, announced increases in street prices for the game system. The 4GB model now costs Rs 15,990 ($288) up from Rs 14,990 ($269), the 250GB system went from Rs 21,990 ($395) to Rs 24,990 ($449), and the 4GB with Kinect bundle saw an increase to Rs 26,990 ($485) from Rs 24,990 ($449). Redington did not provide a reason for the increases, but Indian retailers assumed the decreasing value of the Rupee was t.....

Xbox Kinect Now $40 Less

AUG. 22, 2012 • North and Latin America, plus the Asia Pacific markets saw the Microsoft Entertainment & Devices division shear $40 off the price of the Xbox Kinect motion sensor bundled with Kinect Sports. The new pricing will spread to Australia and New Zealand on Oct. 4. There are no plans for a similar drop in list price in Japan, Europe or the Middle East. Also arriving in October is the $80 The Essentials Pack bundle, which features a wireless Xbox 360.....

Barnes and Noble Spins Off Nook Tablet

APRIL 30, 2012 ● Barns & Noble plans to spinoff its Nook tablet business into a separate company in order to better compete with Amazon.com’s Kindle products. To that end, Microsoft Corp. is investing $300 million into the new company, and will own 17.6%. The partners hope to speed up of the launch of the Nook bookstore worldwide, as well as intoducing more Nook e-readers and tablets on a faster basis.  In related news, Target Stores.....

Drexel University Research Says Xbox 360 Credit Card Data Not Deleted

APRIL 1, 2012 ● According to a Drexel University study, resetting an Xbox 360 to original factory settings does not delete previously stored Xbox 360 credit card data from the hard drive. The research team purchased one of the consoles used, then applied generally available computer applications to search the hard drive for the consumer data. A Microsoft representative disputed the report, saying the Xbox 360 is not designed to save such credit .....

Xbox Live Adds AAA TV Content

MARCH 27, 2012 ● Xbox Live Gold members now have access to three new major content providers: HBO’s GO on demand service that can deliver the cable channel’s entire catalog, MLB.TV (Major League Baseball), and Comcast’s Xfinity on-demand content service. Impact: In the new DFC Intelligence report Consoles as Entertainment Hubs, we noted that in March 2012 Microsoft announced .....

Dave Cutler Assigned to Xbox Team

JAN. 18, 2012 • The San Francisco Chronicle reports that long-time Microsoft engineer, Dave Cutler, has been assigned to the Xbox team. Cutler has so far been instrumental in operating system design at the firm since Windows NT. The company says Cutler’s role is to transition the Xbox into, “a complete home entertainment device.”  Cutler most recently was assigned to Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. .....