Microsoft has quietly updated its mid-range Xbox 360 Premium model with an HDMI output, making the game console compatible with high-definition televisions and receivers. The HDMI port had been a major selling point of the high-end Xbox 360 Elite, which costs $100 more and features a larger hard drive.Customers began noticing the HDMI port on the latest shipments of Xbox 360 units to retail stores, and Microsoft has confirmed it is phasing in the updated model. The Redmond company has not said whether the new Xbox 360 Premium features the rumored 65-nanometer chips that run cooler or quieter DVD drive, but it is likely. Xbox 360 Premium buyers can look for an HDMI logo on the box to ensure they receive the updated version.
Microsoft said Thursday that "Halo 3" has become the fastest selling pre-ordered game in history, with over 1 million copies already paid for by customers. Microsoft hopes to further that number by launching a number of Halo ad campaigns with Mountain Dew, 7-Eleven, Pontiac, Comcast and Burger King."Halo 3" officially goes on sale September 25, and retailers expect to be fully sold out by the time the game arrives at stores. Microsoft says this is the first time a game has created as much buzz as a blockbuster movie, and Mountain Dew is even creating a new drink -- called "Game Fuel" -- that is Halo-themed. The game will also be featured in television commercials from Pepsi and Pontiac.
Channel 8 actually joined Channel 9 and Channel 10 last month. But this week's Imagine Cup event, which brings together student developers, is the realistic launch of Channel 8.
Earlier today I knocked Windows Live branding and marketing. But Channel 8 is another example of Microsoft in transitionof getting its marketing messaging right.
Channel 9 has proved to be a hugely successful community site for Microsoft, particularly among developers. Channel 8 seeks to engage younger developers, and videos from Seoul are a great starting place. This year's Imagine Cup brings together 372 student developer finalists that have created projects in nine product categories designated by Microsoft.
Microsoft this week showed off several research technologies for photo manipulation at a major conference for computer graphics researchers, and also announced its first venture into licensing some of its technologies in the games and entertainment industries.
The technology demonstrations and papers were presented by members of the Microsoft Research division at SIGGRAPH 2007, the Association for Computing Machinerys 34th annual international conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, in San Diego.
Alongside Tuesday's $50 price cut in the United States, Canadian gamers are seeing cheaper Xbox 360 as well, finally bringing the console down to a reasonable price tag. Microsoft has lowered the cost by $100 CDN for all Xbox 360 versions. The Premium console will now cost $399.99 CDN, with the Core system priced at $299.99 CDN.Products sold in Canada are traditionally more expensive -- the Xbox 360 debuted with a price tag of $499.99 CDN -- due to exchange rates, but a falling U.S. dollar has put the Canadian dollar on nearly equal ground in recent months. The Xbox 360 Elite will now cost $499.99 CDN, while the Halo 3 Special Edition is slated to debut at $449.99 CDN in September.
Interest in software that enables companies to build marketplaces on the Web is not as keen as it used to be back in the early days of e-commerce. However, Microsoft made a commitment Wednesday to keep developing its offering in this space for at least the next three years.
Microsoft released roadmap information for Commerce Server, saying it would release the next major update of the product in mid-2010. The announcement put an end to speculation that the company was not interested in staying competitive in the e-commerce enablement market.
Microsoft doubled its spending on acquisitions in its recently completed fiscal year, to more than $1.3 billion, but a single deal accounted for a large portion of the increase.
And overall, Microsoft made fewer acquisitions -- 13, compared with 21 the prior year.
The company disclosed the figures late last week in its annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The numbers don't include Microsoft's acquisition of Seattle-based advertising company aQuantive Inc. That $6 billion agreement was announced last year, but the deal hasn't yet been completed.
The first major deployment of Microsoft's Silverlight technology went live Tuesday, with the Web site for Major League Baseball using version 1.0 of the browser for interactive video content.
MLB.com currently is using the technology to show video highlights of baseball games, integrating the Silverlight player with news stories and other content on the site. For example, a news story about New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez hitting his 500th home run includes a mini-Silverlight player users can click on to view a replay. Users also can e-mail the video clips directly to friends from within the Silverlight player.
Confirming earlier speculation, Microsoft on Tuesday announced price cuts on the Xbox 360 that will take effect tomorrow..As rumored in late July, pricing on the Xbox Premium will be lowered by $50, the Elite by $30, and the Core system by $20. The new pricing places the three consoles at a price of $349, $449, and $279 USD, respectively.
For the moment, the changes will reach United States consumers only. Microsoft says, "We will announce other regional price decreases at the appropriate time," but declined to provide further specifics.
Microsoft has quietly released pre-beta code to two forthcoming Windows service packs to testers in the past week, but the company continues to remain vague about when the final code for Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista SP1 will make it to end-users.
Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that it released preview code for both XP SP3 but still would not say directly when the updates to each OS will be released in their final versions.
While Microsoft said it will have a beta of Vista SP1 available "sometime this year," it won't commit to a more firm date or speculate when the final release will be available.