Seattle: Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash this week with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the $65 billion a year global computer gaming industry.
But the small device faces some big competition from the PlayStation 4 by Sony Corp and the Wii U by Nintendo Co Ltd in a shifting market.
Gamers are gravitating to online play - suggesting the hey-day of console games are over - while Microsoft wants its sleek new toy to finally cross the bridge to the mainstream and become the family's entertainment center.
"Core gamers are very hungry for a new machine but the difference between 2005 and now is that the stakes are so much higher," said Ryan McCaffrey, executive editor at entertainment website IGN.com, harking back to Microsoft's last Xbox release. "The entire Xbox experiment from Microsoft was for it to be the center piece of your living room."...
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12:13 AM, May 19, 2013
San Francisco: Microsoft Corp will unveil its much-anticipated next-generation Xbox on May 21 following months of speculation the company is gearing up to announce a new video game console this summer. The company sent out media invitations on Wednesday, hinting it would be announcing the successor to its seven-year old Xbox 360. A new console from the software company will come on the heels of rival Sony's announcement in February...
01:16 PM, Apr 25, 2013
New York: Ericsson, the Swedish maker of telecommunications equipment, has agreed to buy Microsoft's Mediaroom business, which makes the software that powers AT&T's U-Verse TV service, the companies said Monday. Neither company said how much Ericsson is paying. Mediaroom gives phone companies a way to provide cable-like TV services over phone lines. It's used in 22 million set-top boxes in 11 million households, Microsoft said. U-Verse accounts for about 4.5...
08:47 AM, Apr 09, 2013
The long-running Xbox case has seen many twists and turns since it was filed in late 2010. ...
04:47 PM, Mar 23, 2013
Sony's PlayStation 4 event ended without it showing off the device or even mentioning anything about PS4's price. ...
06:55 AM, Feb 21, 2013
Sony's PlayStation 4 event ended without it showing off the device or even mentioning anything about PS4's price. ...
06:00 AM, Feb 21, 2013
Google filed a motion with the International Trade Commission, asking that two patents be withdrawn from the case. One patent remains. ...
06:34 AM, Jan 10, 2013
New Delhi: It appears that Microsoft is building up on its Surface line-up of tablets by introducing a 7-inch gaming tablet that is being dubbed the Xbox Surface, a report by The Verge states. Rumours of the Xbox Surface had first appeared in June, when the Microsoft Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets had not even been announced. The report by The Verge states that the Xbox Surface, in all...
11:03 AM, Nov 07, 2012
New Delhi: "Master Chief" springs back into action on Tuesday with the release of Microsoft Corp's Halo 4, the latest installment of the Xbox blockbuster that will compete with Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty franchise for holiday-season bragging rights. Published by Microsoft Studios, Halo 4 is a compelling fresh take on the fight between good and evil and will be available at retail stores across India on Tuesday, 6th November....
11:25 AM, Nov 06, 2012
San Francisco: Microsoft Corp on Monday announced that Xbox Music, a digital music service to vie with Apple Inc's iTunes and Amazon.com Inc's Cloud Player, will be available for its Xbox game consoles on Tuesday. The service will be expanded to Windows software-based computers and tablets, including the upcoming Surface tablet, from October 26, when Microsoft launches Windows 8. It will be expanded to phones shortly after that. The world's...
10:37 AM, Oct 15, 2012
New York: Kids burned more calories while playing dance and boxing video games than they did during a sedentary car racing game, in a new UK study. Researchers said it's not surprising children would get their body working harder while playing a game on Kinect for the Xbox 360 that requires being off the couch and jumping around. But it's still not clear whether that translates to real weight and...
06:21 PM, Sep 26, 2012
Tokyo: Nintendo Co will sell its latest game console, the Wii U, in Japan starting at 26,250 yen ($340) as the creator of Super Mario looks to regain the lead in gaming from Sony and Microsoft and fend of tablet and smartphone makers led by Apple Inc. In addition to the basic 8 gigabyte model Nintendo will sell a 32 GB version at 31,500 yen, both from December 8, Nintendo's...
03:23 PM, Sep 13, 2012
New Delhi: Popular games from Rovio Entertainment - "Angry Birds" and "Angry Birds Space" - will be available for Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 OS when it ships on October 26 this year. Besides, the company announced the first wave of Xbox games for its highly-awaited Windows 8 OS. The fruit-slicing game "Fruit Ninja" from Halfbrick Studios is another popular game that will be available at the time of the Windows...
02:46 PM, Sep 01, 2012
Los Angeles: Microsoft Corp took another step toward its goal of turning the Xbox into the nexus of household entertainment, unveiling software to let users view extra content, control games and surf the Internet from their tablets and smartphones. The software maker, whose market-leading Xbox already streams Netflix and ESPN and other channels, unveiled a "SmartGlass" application on Monday that links the console to mobile devices powered by Windows or...
08:37 AM, Jun 05, 2012
London: A man carried out a durability test on the new iPad by shooting at it, a media report said. The video of the Apple gadget being destroyed has become an online hit, The Sun reported. It shows Richard Ryan using different guns, including an assault rifle, on a range to shoot at the new iPad. "It didn't do as much as I'd hoped to it," said Ryan after the...
12:52 AM, Mar 21, 2012
Beijing: Dozens of workers assembling Xbox video game consoles climbed to a factory dormitory roof, and some threatened to jump to their deaths, in a dispute over job transfers that was defused but highlights growing labour unrest as China's economy slows. The dispute was set off after contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group announced it would close the assembly line for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 models at its plant in the...
11:42 AM, Jan 13, 2012
New Delhi: A new update to Microsoft's Xbox 360 will bring voice control to television entertainment. The update launching on December 6 will initially be available in English in the US, Canada and the UK for Zune video, Xbox LIVE Marketplace and select Microsoft content partners. Don Mattrick, president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft explains the new feature as "a single box that ties together all the content...
07:12 PM, Dec 05, 2011
San Francisco: Microsoft announced Wednesday that it will bring cable television content to its Xbox video game console over the upcoming holiday season, expanding the console into an entertainment hub. According to a company press release, nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers such as HBO, GO and BBC will stream their content through the Xbox Live service in more than 20 countries and regions. Users will be able to...
01:59 PM, Oct 06, 2011
New Delhi: Developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox, Gears of War 3, the dramatic, action-packed video game, has been released on Tuesday. With 20,000 launch locations, the release is the franchise biggest, stretching from New Zealand to Times Square, said a Microsoft press release. The story of the game revolves around a guy who has been in line for nearly a week in New...
03:48 PM, Sep 20, 2011
San Diego: The Force will be with the Xbox 360. Microsoft Corp. unveiled a limited edition Xbox 360 console at a Comic-Con panel on Thursday that will be modelled after the character R2-D2, with a wireless gold-coloured controller resembling his droid pal C-3PO. The console will make the character's signature beeping sounds when the white-and-blue console is turned on and the disc tray is opened. It will also feature a...
01:28 PM, Jul 22, 2011
