Microsoft to use AMD Fusion II in next gen Xbox

Information has surfaced showing that Microsoft's next generation Xbox will feature an AMD Fusion II CPU. The reports indicate that Microsoft is in the near final stages of soldifiying its hardware plans for the next version of its popular gaming platform, the Xbox.

According to Tweaktown.com, "It looks like the next-gen XBox will be based on technology from AMD based on production at Globalfoundaries on their 28nm 'high-k gate first' process. " Intel and nVidia angered Microsoft after the initial Xbox release, which is what drove them to use the IBM Xenon processor in the Xbox 360.

While it's not known why Microsoft is now moving to AMD, one can't forget all the troubles Microsoft had when trying to make the current Xbox 360 backwards compatible. Microsoft had to invest significant resources to make games backwards compatible to the new platform, something you think they would try to avoid this time around.

Microsoft first launched the Xbox in 2001 in a tough market against Sony and Nintendo. Many scoffed at Microsoft's attempt, stating that they were late to the game and that their new platform would never take off. Nearly a decade later, Microsoft is now the leader in online gaming and continues to have a devoted following.

Kinect beats Apple, becomes fastest selling device in gadget history

There is something to be said about having the fastest selling device in gadget history, it means you have a hot product. Apple managed to claim this title with its iPad after selling 2 million iPads in just 2 months.

According to Readwriteweb.com, Microsoft sold 2.5 million Kinect's in the first 25 days which means they are averaging 100,000 units a day. At this rate, Microsoft has taken the title of fastest selling gadget in history from Apple as it is selling twice as fast as the iPad.

Selling 100,000 units a day is an incredible number for Microsoft as the device must be attached to an Xbox 360. Microsoft clearly has a hit on its hands, and is adding valuable life to the aging Xbox 360. 

The Kinect brings new life to the Xbox 360. Its revolutionary controller free setup allows access to a new demographic of gamers. While the launch hasn't been without its flaws, and Kinect still could use a bit of refinement, Microsoft has hit a homerun with its latest offering.

Xbox 360 Surpasses 2.5 Million Kinect Sensors Sold

Microsoft today announced that strong demand over the Black Friday weekend has propelled retail sales of Kinect for Xbox 360 to more than 2.5 million units worldwide since it launched just 25 days ago.

“We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers this holiday.”

“Kinect on Xbox 360 was a top performer at Target this weekend,” said Nik Nayar, vice president, merchandising, Target. “We expect Kinect will be a must-have gift this holiday season, so Target will continue to receive consistent shipments of Kinect throughout December. The hands-free, active gaming experience that Kinect offers is something that everyone in the family can enjoy.”

Full story here

New Xbox.com design coming tomorrow

With the upcoming release of the Xbox 360 dashboard, already available to a select group of beta testers and everyone else later on this year, Xbox.com is also getting a redesign, which is scheduled to launch tomorrow.

Starting tomorrow at 5:00 AM ET / 2:00 AM PT / 9:00 AM GMT, Xbox.com and the Xbox forums will be unavailable for a short period of time, as both the site and forum prepare for a major overhaul.

Some of the features from the Xbox 360 dashboard will be available on Xbox.com, including:

• Browser based Avatar editor - You can customize, edit and style your Avatar from your browser. You will even be able to preview available items before you purchase clothes.
• Combined views of messages, friend and game requests.
• Improved notification of your account subscription.
• Family Safety improvements to better understand what your family is doing and how they are using Xbox LIVE.
• Play web-based games with your Xbox LIVE friends on your web browser or Windows Phone 7.
• Marketplace will be getting a better improved search and more intuitive ways to browse and filter your selections.

Xbox 360 Console Sounds for your Mobile Phone or PC

Xbox Live’s @MajorNelson has released two of the new Xbox 360 system sounds so that you can use them on your mobile phone as ring tones, system alerts, message indicators or even your computer to replace systems sounds.

Xbox 360 power  (.MP3)  (.M4R)  iPhone ringtone format

Xbox 360 tray     (.MP3)  (.M4R)  iPhone ringtone format

I think these would make perfect sounds to indicate a text message has been received as they are short and succinct.  I am not sure they would work well as a ringtone myself but you could give them a try and see what happens.

Download New Xbox 360 Wallpapers Pack

• Xbox 360 Wallpapers Pack  (1024×768)

• Xbox 360 Wallpapers Pack  (1280×1024)

ESPN brings HD sports to Xbox LIVE Gold members, for free

In a move that could push many over the edge on canceling their cable, Microsoft announced at their E3 media briefing that they are partnering with ESPN to bring live sports to all Gold subscribers. This joins Microsoft’s already hearty stable of non-gaming services including Netflix, Last.fm and others.

This “exclusive partnership” will allow all Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers to stream content including NBA, MLB, soccer, college basketball, college football and more at no extra cost. Microsoft and ESPN also mention that many of the 3,500 games available within the first year will be available in HD. While it is hard to complain about an announcement like this, the NFL and NHL are notably absent.

In addition to simply streaming games, the service will also provide a contextual interactive layer that allows viewers to vote on teams, answer trivia questions and more. If all of this isn’t enough, the service will support controller-free navigation though Kinect.

Microsoft has not announced details regarding the availability of this new content, but with announcements like this, they continue to increase the value proposition of the $50/year Live service.

Microsoft announces new Xbox 360 'Slim'

Today at E3, Microsoft announced the new Xbox 360 with a new smaller frame with a new shiny black casing.  Aside from the new look, the base model will also have built-in Wi-Fi 802.11N and a 250 GB HDD.

With the brand new Xbox 360 announcement, Microsoft also surprised everyone by saying the new console will begin shipping today in the U.S., and everyone attending the Microsoft E3 press announcement will have it shipped out today. For folks in the UK and Europe the new Xbox will be available on July 16.

The specifications are as follows:

• Touch sensitive buttons - turn the Xbox 360 on/off and eject a disc with the swipe of a finger
• Whisper quiet - all new much quieter Xbox 360
• Wi-fi - built in 802.11N for fast connection
• Hard drive - 250GB internal, swappable hard drive for even more storage
• Kinect ready - Custom Kinect port on the back of the console that directly hooks up to the Kinect sensor
• USB slots - Five USB ports, three on the back of the console and two in the front
• AV connections - AV cable, HDMI, optical audio
• Power supply - smaller and more efficient
• Internal changes - fan changed from two small fans to one larger fan. Chipset based on 45 nanometer and integrated CPU/GPU. Wi-fi inbuilt

Microsoft announced that the new Xbox 360 will be ultra-quiet.  Sadly, the new Xbox 360 will not support a Blu-Ray drive.  The new Xbox will have three USB ports on the back, ethernet, aux, component/composition adapter port, HDMI and optical audio out.  The aux port is a dedicated Kinect port for the new Xbox 360.  The front of the console includes a new location for the eject button, and possibly front USB ports.  The next version of the console will still require a power brick, but will be much smaller in comparison to the original.

The new Xbox 360 will sell for the same price as the original Xbox 360 for $299.

Official Xbox 360 Support On Twitter

Another way the Xbox Team supports the community is thru an official presence on Twitter.  The team is called “The Elite Tweet Fleet” and are tweeting from 9am – 9pm PST M-F & 12pm – 8pm Sat – Sun

Follow @Xboxsupport for the latest Xbox updates, sweepstakes, and technical support.  We are here to help!

The link to the twitter site is here

Microsoft: Xbox 360 hands-down leader in online gaming

Microsoft has responded to claims from market research firm TDG that the PlayStation 3 is the "most connected" console in the United States, stating that the research is misleading because it does not consider pricing or the way in which users use it.

Last week Neowin reported on the research from TDG which stated that just a five percent more PlayStation 3 owners had their consoles connected to the Internet than Xbox 360 owners - a pretty close result considering their respective pricing.

Speaking to Eurogamer a Microsoft spokesperson said "What's important to keep in mind is the level of activity over an online service, especially when comparing a no-cost service to a subscription-based service like Xbox Live." Citing NPD Group's Online Gaming 2010 Report, he continued, "When it comes to total entertainment experiences and value, Xbox 360 continues to lead the charge. Xbox 360 is the hands-down leader in online gaming, with 48 percent of all online gamers using Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to connect with friends, family and competitors."

Microsoft Releases Retro Video "Game Room" - Games for Windows Live & Xbox 360

Game Room — Remember pumping quarters into your favorite video games at the classic Arcade?  Nothing would beat the colorfully-decorated cabinets, the smell of popcorn and candy and best of all, the endless hours of competition with friends, trumping the top score, and mastering the machine.   (Thanks Kurt)

• Relive the glory days of the classic arcade:  Game Room replicates the old-school look, sound, and feel of a retro video game arcade.  At launch, Game Room brings you a library of 30 original arcade and console classics from Activision, Atari, Intellivision, Konami, Taito, and others, including Centipede, Asteroids Deluxe, and Super Cobra, shown in their original cabinets.  Create a brand new social environment, personalize your game room by arranging your cabinets, and decorate each room with themes and animated mascots. Invite your friends on Games for Windows — LIVE and Xbox LIVE to check out your games collection. With weekly new title releases, your arcade will be retro-fitted to perfection!

• Prove you're the arcade master:  Think you have what it takes? Challenge friends to beat your high score by sending custom challenges and taunts across platforms, earn Achievements, unlock levels, and climb your way to the top of universal leaderboards.  Compete in Parallel mode, in which you and your friend play the game at the same time, or Round Robin mode, in which you take turns playing a game.  Game Room also offers local couch play for up to two players - how will you duke it out for arcade supremacy?  Enjoy a seamless experience across your Windows PC and Xbox 360 as you share games, track your progress, and jump back into the game no matter what platform you're on.  You can even invite friends into your custom arcade to check out your collection!

• Buy Game Room titles once and play on both your Windows PC and Xbox 360:  Enjoy the freedom of buying Game Room titles once and playing on your platform of choice, whether it's Games for Windows — LIVE or Xbox LIVE. Purchase a classic arcade game you can enjoy on both your Windows PC and Xbox 360 platforms for less than the price of a movie ticket.  If you prefer to play on one platform, you can purchase individual games for either your Windows PC or Xbox 360 at a lower price, or even pay to play a single game, just like in the old arcades.  See how long you can last on a single token!

USB Memory Support for the Xbox 360 coming April 6th

On April 6th, we will be releasing a system update over Xbox LIVE for your Xbox 360 that will allow USB flash drives to be used for storing profiles, game saves, demos and more.  I’ve been testing this feature out for a few weeks, and I have to say it’s really great. Once you take the system update on April 6th, you’ll be able to connect your USB flash drives to your console and head over to the memory section to configure your new storage device. Once you do that, the system will conduct a one time performance and integrity check to confirm the drive is working properly. You will then be able to configure how much storage to use on the device, up to 16 GB. The remaining space on the flash drive will be accessible by your PC or Mac. USB Hard drives may work, but like flash memory, you’ll only be able to use up to 16GB of space. Since performance on flash based USB storage is usually better, I highly recommend using flash based instead of spinning media like a hard drive…it’s just going to give you a MUCH better experience.

We’ve also enhanced the memory management functions, so you’ll be able to have better control on what you want to copy or move between storage devices.

A couple of geeky points: 

• You can have 2 devices connected to the console at a time, enabling up to 32GB of simultaneous storage.
• The system won’t just configure the device once it is connected to the console. You’ll need to head to the memory area in system settings, select your USB Device, and choose from Configure Now (Format and Configure the Full Device), or Customize (you can choose how much memory you want configured for Xbox360 from the free space on the device.) 

While any flash drive can be used, we are partnering with SanDisk to release an Xbox 360 branded USB flash drive in May that comes pre-configured out of the box and ready to go. I’ll provide links to those drives once they’re available. Until then, starting April 6th (when we release the system update) you can pop any flash drive over 1GB into your Xbox 360 and configure it as storage.

I’ve posted a bunch of screen shots that show you what the experience is like with a USB flash drive, as well as a look at the new memory management screens.

Continue At Source: majornelson.com

Project Natal 'experience' to premiere at E3 on June 13th

Microsoft is bringing its full Project Natal setup to the E3 games show in LA this year, with a "world premiere" event on Sunday, June 13th, followed by a media briefing on Monday the 14th.

From the looks of our invite, which puts the name "Project Natal" in quotes, we're not convinced that's even the final name for the device, but we suppose we'll find out for sure in June. Microsoft promises this will be our "first look at the future of fun," and we imagine some near-final hardware and beta game experiences will be on display as well.

Continue at Source: www.engadget.com

Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update?

Documentation obtained by Joystiq – and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources – reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010.

Once the update occurs, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device. "USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title." That's right, you can also store disc-based games to the USB device; however, it will require the disc to be in the tray for authentication, identical to the current functionality.

Full Story at Source: www.joystiq.com

Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive Available

Just last week there were rumors of the Xbox 360 getting external USB hard drive support and now here we are a week later with the official release of a 250GB hard drive for the Xbox 360 console.

This drive more than doubles the current largest offering from Microsoft (120GB) for the Xbox 360 console and the price is only $129.99. Currently the 120GB hard drive from Microsoft sells on Amazon.com for $120.99 brand new. Double the storage for just $9 more!

Still expensive compared to the cost of stock hard drives but a deal none the less for an official drive.  This is a terrific deal to store all that downloadable content, games on demand, music and videos for your console.

Here is the official press release and the 250GB hard drive product page at Xbox.com

Xbox 360 gaining USB storage support in 2010 update?

Documentation obtained by Joystiq – and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources – reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010.

Once the update occurs, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device. "USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title." That's right, you can also store disc-based games to the USB device; however, it will require the disc to be in the tray for authentication, identical to the current functionality.

Full Story at Source: www.joystiq.com

USB mass storage coming to Xbox 360

Game blog Joystiq has screens of what it says is an upcoming build of the Xbox 360 system software that will allow USB mass storage devices to serve as memory units.

The feature, which Joystiq says is due out in the next few months as part of the spring system update, will turn any USB-based storage device--be it an external hard drive or a flash drive--into a memory source up to 16GB, which will work just as the Xbox 360 hard drive and memory units do. This includes allowing users to copy games to these devices, instead of having to spin up the 360's disc drive, as well as saving Live Arcade games, movies, and downloadable content.

Though according to Joystiq, users with a USB hub and a handful of cheap flash drives shouldn't get too excited, as the system limits the number of USB mass storage devices to just two. This means you can have two 16GB partitions handy, for a total of 32 extra gigabytes of storage on top of whatever hard drive you've got. This should still be welcome news for people with Xbox Arcade units, or launch systems with 20GB of storage, who do not feel like shelling out for Microsoft's pricey add-on hard drives.

As for what this means for Microsoft's Xbox 360 memory units, which use a proprietary plug and currently top out at 512MB, it would seem their time on this earth is numbered.

Microsoft reveals usage stats for Facebook, Last.fm

According to Microsoft, nearly two million Xbox Live users logged into Facebook through the console's new built-in social media applications. Based on a vague estimate provided by Microsoft, it appears that around ten percent of all Xbox Live Gold accounts used the application within its first week of availability; however, it's possible many of those users only logged in to see the new feature in action.

Microsoft also stated the addition of Last.fm -- a music streaming service currently only available for US and UK gamers -- prompted nearly one million new profile activations. In its first week, Last.fm users streamed "more than 120 million minutes" of music to their Xbox 360 consoles. If we've learned one thing from these numbers, it's that people love to click on shiny new boxes.

Datel sues Microsoft over Xbox mem unit ban

Datel has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft after the Xbox 360 platform holder's most recent dashboard update disabled support for third-party memory units.

The complaint, filed in San Francisco federal court by Datel's representatives Howard Rice, accuses Microsoft of "exclusionary, predatory, or anticompetitive acts".

It also dismisses the company's official explanation for the patch - that third-party memory units can be used to cheat on Xbox Live - as a "pretext" for establishing a monopoly on third-party accessories.

Just over a month ago, Microsoft announced it was banning third-party memory units and that anyone using one should buy an official alternative or they would lose access to their profile and saved games.

Datel founder Mike Connors has said that the third-party peripheral company has sold more than 50,000 such unofficial memory units, and that the only difference between its offerings and Microsoft's is that the official unit "offers only one-quarter the memory while listing for the same retail price".

"Microsoft has taken steps to render inoperable the competing Datel memory card for no visible purpose other than to have that market entirely to themselves," said Howard Rice director Marty Glick in a statement.

Datel sues Microsoft over mem unit ban News  Xbox 360  Eurogamer