Microsoft

Xbox 360 HD DVD Price Cut, Free Movies Added

Today at Comic Con, Microsoft announced that their Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on would drop $20 to $179. We guess they mean “at all retailers” because we’ve seen that price before. In addition, buyers between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30 will be able to pick five free movies—though out of a collection of just 15…

Unconfirmed: Retailer Says Xbox 360 Getting Price Cut August 8

This is all unconfirmed for now, but a retailer is saying the Xbox 360 will get a $50 price cut come August 8. We haven’t seen any pricing rumors since E3, where everyone thought the 360 was going to lower its price to match the PS3’s “price cut,” but that didn’t happen. Peter Moore told…

Ten 300 Xbox 360s Given Away at Comic-Con

If you’re lucky enough to head down to Comic-Con tomorrow, you’ll get a chance to both see a special screening of 300 and enter in a giveaway to win your own 300-inspired Xbox 360. As you can see above, it’s matte black—which probably means it’s an Elite—and has Frank Miller-styled blood spatter and a profile…

Xbox 360 Sales Down an Unexpected 61% Thanks to Wii, PS3, Faulty Hardware

In the Microsoft Earnings statement last week, the Entertainment and Devices Division revealed that they had a loss of $1.16 billion thanks to flagging Xbox sales. Instead of shipping 1.8 million Xbox 360s like they did in the fourth quarter of 2006, they shipped 700,000, which is a dramatic fall-off this early into a console’s…

Microsoft Confirms Second-Gen Zune by Christmas, Sketchy on Details

Blog Whizbyte is claiming that Microsoft elves have told them that the next generation Zune will probably hit stores this holiday season. Clickity-click for all the alleged Ho! Ho! Ho!. We have seen the rumors floating around, but we haven’t announced specific dates or details for the next generation of the Zune devices or service.…

The Linux Lottery

Winners collect $25,000. As for the smug satisfaction of not being a pawn of Microsoft or Apple, no purchase necessary. [flickr]

Xbox 360 Messenger Kit, First Review

Gamespot just nabbed a review with the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit. It’s essentially a QWERTY keyboard add-on for the 360’s controllers, offering better support for Xbox Live’s MSN Messenger update. Here are their impressions of the product, in brief. https://gizmodo.com/xbox-360-chatpad-pricing-and-ship-date-revealed-276942 – “…snaps on with a satisfying click…” – “The keys provide adequate, clicky feedback and…

Windows 7, Microsoft’s Vista successor, will be out in three years. [seattlepi]

Microsoft Mobile, There’s a Mouse On My Phone

Microsoft has filed a patent for a device incorporating a cell phone and trackpad based control for your PC, via WiFi. The application reads: 1. A system that facilitates navigating on a display, comprising: a mouse engine component that detects a location; and an interface component that integrates the mouse engine into a handheld communication…

Microsoft Sells a Million Zunes!

Woooo! Woooooooooooooooooooooooo! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! FAAAAAART!! [Zune Insider]

Microsoft gets a second class action suit on Xbox 360 disc scratching, this time from California. [kotaku] http://kotaku.com/gaming/scratched/microsoft-gets-another-class-action-suit-280485.php

Microsoft Earnings Up 7% Based On Office, Despite XBox Warranty Fuss

Microsoft posted earnings for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year: Up 7%, based on Office products, and a fair PC market. net profit was $3.04 billion, or 31 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $2.83 billion, or 28 cents per diluted share, a year earlier. Sales rose 13 percent…

Latest Zune Arts Video From Fulltank Is a Real Ad

This latest edition to Zune Arts, Microsoft’s repository for community-made Zune videos, looks as good as anything from either Microsoft or Apple on TV. It looks more like a short film than an ad, which is something touched on in the interview with the creator and the agency that’s in charge of the whole effort.…

First Glimpse of Sexy Windows Home Server From Velocity Micro

Now that the Windows Home Server platform has been released to manufacturing, a lot of cool concepts are becoming sweet realities. We just scored some juicy details on Velocity Micro‘s design, destined to ship in the coming months, with external expansion upgrades in early 2008. https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-says-its-windows-home-server-software-has-bee-278802 Here’s what we can relate to you now: •…

Xbox 360 hack changes DVD key and game region. [Xbox-Scene]

CinemaNow Extends Video Download Service to Xbox 360s

Unsatisfied with the selection on Xbox 360’s Marketplace for movies? CinemaNow, the PC movie download and rental store, has updated their Media Manager software to allow rented or purchased movies to be viewed on the Xbox 360. Over 7,000 of them. Now when you buy or rent one a flick, your Vista or XP machine…

Pro-Zune iPod Haters Respond To Hide-A-Pod With Their Own Fake Product

Some people see the Hide-A-Pod fake Zune case for iPods—a totally fictitious product—and chuckle to themselves. A pocketful of Zune fanatics saw it and decided to invent their own fake rebuttal product, which they also called Hide-A-Pod. While the pro-iPod Hide-A-Pod is a protective shell, the anti-iPod pro-Zune Hide-A-Pod is a colorful gel. The gist…

Hide-a-Pod Keeps Your iPod Undesirable By Hiding it in a Zune

Now, this is just mean. Some Apple-loving pranksters have created the “Hide-a-Pod,” an anti-theft device for the iPod that disguises it in something no gadget thief would want: a Zune. Sure, the Zune might not be all that social, but somehow I think that the types of people who steal devices off you in the…

Microsoft says its Windows Home Server software has been released to manufacturing. Iomega and Fujitsu Siemens will join HP in making home-server products; various editions of the software will also be distributed a la carte. [Technet] https://gizmodo.com/windows-home-server-grope-and-gallery-plus-some-thing-255320

FairUse4WM – Strip DRM, Strip!

A new edition of FairUse4WM has been released, allowing for Zune Marketplace WMAs to be stripped of their DRM so you can have fair use rights your purchases—copying to other devices at will. Think of it as a Zune without the Zune…or better yet…iTunes DRM-free without the Mac vs. PC bickering. For XP and Vista.…