News Byte
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 2 at 10:43 am PT
The Verge is reporting that next week Microsoft is planning to sell subscriptions for the Xbox, similarly to how wireless carriers sell phones. Under the plan, the Xbox plus Kinect will cost $99 plus $15 a month for two years, including access to the Xbox Live Gold service and its streaming TV and music. Right now, the package appears to be cheaper than paying upfront for the console, though that doesn’t factor in any future price discounts for the aging hardware.
Ina Fried in Mobile on March 25 at 9:00 pm PT
The Maryland firm said it has modified the technology, already used in TVs and set-top boxes, to run on Android devices and Windows 8 tablets.
John Paczkowski in News on March 17 at 9:45 am PT
Microsoft confirmed today that it won’t be unveiling a new Xbox console at the E3 video game conference in June, and said consumers probably shouldn’t expect new hardware for quite a while.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 12 at 5:57 pm PT
Despite sales declines bringing down the overall game industry last year, Microsoft dominated the market, with the Xbox capturing nearly half of all consumer spending from physical sales.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 10 at 3:23 pm PT
Turns out the big consumer electronics highlight of Microsoft’s final CES keynote last night was its six-year-old Xbox, thanks in large part to the Kinect.
Ina Fried in News on January 9 at 6:30 pm PT
The company is making a strong argument for why it is probably best that this year’s Vegas appearance will be its last. Expect some theatrics, but very little news.
Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on December 21, 2011 at 6:04 pm PT
Important new products and services—including Ultrabooks, cloud computing and Android devices—raised questions and anticipation for the year ahead.
Arik Hesseldahl in News on December 8, 2011 at 8:59 pm PT
Tech prognosticator Mark Anderson is back in New York with his annual predictions for the world of tech in 2012.
