Next X

[pari]

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/...TEwNDkyWj.html

The company has been quietly developing designs for a separate, simpler set-top device for streaming video and other entertainment options rather than sophisticated game software, people familiar with the matter say.

It remains unclear whether the company will actually introduce the additional product. But the set-top box design has gone through many iterations, including recent prototypes that worked with the company's Kinect motion-control technology, these people said. The Kinect, which debuted in 2010, allows customers to interact with their device with the wave of a hand or by speaking a command.

I have not used Kinect for command control and does it work well?

Microsoft's current videogame console, the Xbox 360, initially went on sale in 2005 for a starting price of $299. It currently starts at $199, or $99 price if buyers agree to subscribe for two years to the company's Xbox Live social gaming network. Set-top boxes traditionally cost less; Apple TV, for instance, costs $99 without an online subscription contract, while Roku has models that start at $49.

A Microsoft set-top box, if delivered, could present a less expensive route for customers to use resources such as Microsoft's Xbox Live social gaming network. On the other hand, the $99 Xbox offer could reduce the need for a set-top box, one of these people said.

360lite for streaming and playing 360 games?

Several people familiar with Microsoft's development efforts said the company has been telling its teams to write their programs using a set of coding standards it has recently developed. The idea, these people say, is to make it easier to write a program that can work on either an Xbox, a Windows PC or a smartphone running Microsoft's software.

Microsoft has been putting increased resources toward its Xbox group over the past few years, expanding cooperation with the rest of the company and rebranding entertainment services such as its music streaming offering for its PCs running Windows as "Xbox Music."

Without abstraction or virtualization write once and execute everywhere seems a distant dream and how would the games scale for different aspect ratio and input mechanism? Would MS dynamically generate the executable binary for each targeted devices? Google is trying to get there with the apps for Chrome...

Another 12 more days for the answer....

[pari]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/17/43...s-for-next-gen

Microsoft is preparing to update its Xbox 360 with another dashboard update. Sources familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans have revealed to The Verge that the dashboard update will enter into a public beta in late June or early July, with changes and updates in preparation for the next-generation Xbox. We're told that the user interface will be refreshed alongside smaller Live Tiles, similar to what Microsoft is preparing for Windows 8.1. Microsoft is also said to be tweaking the look of the Xbox dashboard, with the possibility of darker or lighter themes.

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Microsoft is holding a special event at its campus in Redmond on May 21st to unveil the next-generation Xbox. Sources have revealed to us that the event will include details of the new interactive TV features that the company is building into its next console. Microsoft is also expected to show off a smaller and denser Xbox console with newly designed controllers that are said to be "flattened" in appearance. Stay tuned to The Verge for our usual live blog coverage and a special edition Vergecast on May 21st.

Interesting that MS would be announcing a newer 360 model... I think MS would try to keep 360 much longer than the original xbox and it is going to be very interesting on Tuesday.

[curryking1]

Vine teaser (a la BF4) for Xbox Reveal on Tues of COD Ghosts: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/05/...ne-sneak-peak/