The Official Microsoft Blog

The best in devices and services, together as Xbox One

Steve Wiens — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

The following is a post from Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications at Microsoft.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Watching the Xbox team put the new Xbox One through its paces, hearing the reaction in the room and on Twitter, seeing all the work that people put in come to life = just wow.

For some time now, we’ve been talking about Microsoft’s transformation to a devices and services company. Make no mistake, we’re still a software company at our core, but increasingly the value of that software is expressed through the devices and services we deliver to consumers and businesses.

That transformation came to 1080p HD life yesterday with our introduction of Xbox One. And it wasn’t just the fantastic device on center stage, it was the amazing content from our partners, the other Microsoft services lighting it up, and the other Microsoft devices making it work as one.

Devices. A new console with more than 5 billion (yes, billion) transistors and 8 gigabits of RAM, paired with a completely redesigned Kinect sensor that can process more than 2 gigabits of data per second and an updated controller with more than 40 design innovations. And devices that can work together through the magic of Xbox SmartGlass technology, which has more than 10 million downloads since its introduction last year.

Services. Let’s start with the reimagined Xbox Live service. More powerful. More personal. More intelligent. And a WHOLE lot more scalable. As Marc Whitten explained yesterday, when we first launched Xbox Live more than a decade ago, it was powered by 500 servers. Today, 15,000 servers housed in data centers power the service and later this year, when we begin selling Xbox One, we’ll have 300,000 servers delivering the service. That’s how you deliver a highly scalable, highly available service to tens of millions of simultaneous users, and provide the kind of split second switching between games, television and entertainment apps that we witnessed yesterday.

Then there’s Skype, our communications service that today connects hundreds of millions of family and friends, primarily via PC or phone. But as Yusuf Mehdi showed yesterday, we’ll be bringing Skype experiences to your TV in widescreen HD with the best living room camera available (thank you, Kinect), and only on Xbox One will you do group video calls on your TV. This is the service that’ll convince my Mom she needs an Xbox One in her living room.

Bing also is tightly integrated into the Xbox entertainment experience. When you search by voice for movies, TV shows or music, Bing is the service providing the instant responses. That experience is going to get a WHOLE lot better with Xbox One. I don’t know about you, but snap mode looked incredibly compelling to me. Now imagine you’re watching a movie on your new Xbox One and you want to find additional information about the cast. As Yusuf showed yesterday, just say, “Xbox, Snap Internet Explorer.” Now IE with Bing as my home page is running next to the movie I’m watching. Finding information about the cast is, yes, just a snap. Or, as Don Mattrick said in explaining the team’s mission to transform our entertainment experiences, “Simple. Instant. Complete.”

There was a LOT of substance and sizzle packed into yesterday’s 60-minute unveiling. So much to see and absorb. New games from EA Sports (FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, NBA Line 14 and EA Sports UFC), Forza Motorsport from 10 Studios, 15 exclusive games in the works from Microsoft Studios, amazing new content from Xbox Entertainment Studios, including a live-action Halo television series created in partnership with 343 Industries and Steven Spielberg, and of course our partnership with the NFL that will redefine our Sunday afternoon viewing experiences.

Over the next few days, I hope you’ll take advantage of the resources on xbox.com and news.xbox.com, join the conversation on Twitter, read more of the press coverage, including this compelling story from Wired, or even take the time to watch the entire event. And hey, in just 20 days it will be time for E3 in Los Angeles. Boom, and then boom.

A great family of devices. Great software. Great content and services. Working as One. Just wow.

Microsoft and the NFL kick off new interactive in-game and fantasy experiences for Xbox One

Jeffrey Meisner — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:41:00 GMT

Microsoft and the National Football League have changed the way you will watch the most popular sport in North America through a new multi-year partnership that will deliver interactive television experiences for the next-generation Xbox One.

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Microsoft unveils Xbox One

Jennifer J. Chen — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:34:00 GMT

A new vision for the future was revealed today when Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, an all-in-one gaming and entertainment system. The new system brings together games, TV, movies, music, sports and Skype. Use your voice to launch your personalized Xbox One Home screen, see what’s popular on TV or check out your friends’ latest gaming achievements.

“Xbox One is designed to deliver a whole new generation of blockbuster games, television and entertainment in a powerful, all-in-one device,” said Xbox exec Don Mattrick. “Our unique, modern architecture brings simplicity to the living room and, for the first time ever, the ability to instantly switch across your games and entertainment.”

Some other highlights from today’s announcement:

Use Snap to switch between live TV, a movie, talking with your friends on Skype, or playing a game.
OneGuide will help you find your favorite entertainment with ease. You can search by network, name or time – all with the sound of your voice.
An all-new world, an all-new cast of character and an all-new story for “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” which has next-gen technical innovations built to support incredible gameplay advancements, and features all-new downloadable content debuting first and exclusively on the Xbox platform.
Blur the line between gaming and TV with “Quantum Break,” from Remedy Entertainment, which integrates drama and gameplay into a seamless, immersive experience.
Steven Spielberg is executive producing a live-action “Halo” television series, in partnership with 343 Industries and Xbox Entertainment Studios
A multiyear, landmark partnership with the NFL, which will leverage Microsoft devices and services both in-game and on the sideline.

The new console is shaped in the 16:9 aspect ratio and employs a horizontal orientation optimized for its high-speed Blu-ray disc player. The Kinect is completely redesigned – it’s more precise, more responsive and more intuitive.

Xbox One will launch in markets around the world later this year.

Visit the Xbox Wire blog and read the press release for in-depth features on the new system, including photos and video.

Jennifer Chen
Microsoft News Center Staff

Weekend Reading: May 17th Edition–The Nokia Lumia 925 is a thing of beauty

Jeffrey Meisner — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:38:00 GMT

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on the new Nokia Lumia 925, Telefónica choosing Office 365 and Yammer for its 130,000 employees, an update on "Windows Blue" (now known as Windows 8.1) and a cross-company partnership with Paramount Pictures around the highly anticipated “Star Trek Into Darkness” film.

Something to behold: The Nokia Lumia 925. The folks at Nokia are not messing around. Less than a week after unveiling the Lumia 928 – the Windows Phone 8 device that became available on Verizon on Thursday – the Finnish phone maker on Tuesday lifted the curtain on the Lumia 925. The Lumia 925 makes its debut in June on Europe’s Vodafone network, then heads to China Mobile and China Unicom. It’s scheduled to launch on T-Mobile in the U.S. later this year, according to Nokia. The phone will cost around 469 euros before taxes and subsidies in Europe. Head on over to the Windows Phone Blog to get the rest of this story and to learn more about an update coming to Windows Phone 8 later this summer. Also, check out the video below that shows off some of the Lumia 925’s finer points. On the app front, we’d like to draw your attention to two new apps hit the Windows Phone Store this week - Angry Birds Rio and Zinio. Check ‘em out.

Telefónica chooses Office 365 and Yammer to connect 130,000 employees worldwide. Telefónica, a leading provider of integrated communication solutions, will deploy Microsoft Office 365 and Yammer across its operating businesses to employees worldwide. These technologies are part of a global IT transformation strategy led by Phil Jordan, group chief information officer at Telefónica, to drive greater simplification, agility and cost reductions, which will strengthen and enhance the company’s core digital capabilities and global footprint. With more than 130,000 employees in 24 countries, Telefónica is enabling and transforming the employee experience related to collaboration, providing a much faster, intuitive way with a seamless digital integrated experience. Head on over to the Microsoft News Center to get the full story.

Xbox 360 still no. 1 in the U.S. Xbox 360 maintained its position as the top console in the U.S. last month, selling more units than any other platform, according to new data from The NPD Group. April also marked the 28th consecutive month that the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the U.S. Read Thursday’s post on The Official Microsoft Blog to get the rest of this story. In other Xbox news this week, it was announced that two new apps are now available on Xbox LIVE – Machinima and Twitch. Machinima is one of the top entertainment destinations on YouTube, and with the Machinima Xbox LIVE app, users get a total access pass to episodic narrative series like the popular “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn,” gameplay vids, live streams, original content and exclusives only available on Xbox 360. That’s a screenshot of Machinima below. Twitch is one of the world’s largest platforms for the live streaming of games, with more than 800,000 people streaming gameplay and over 34 million people watching online at Twitch.tv. And, of course, you’ve probably heard that this Tuesday, May 21, Microsoft will host #XboxReveal, a special press event marking the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. To keep up on the latest news and developments on all things Xbox, check out the brand new blog Xbox Wire.

Free Windows 8.1 update will be unveiled June 26. The Windows 8 update formerly known as “Windows Blue” will be called Windows 8.1, and consumers will be able to get it as a free update to Windows from the Windows Store, Tami Reller said at the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in Boston on Tuesday. More details about Windows 8.1 will be announced soon, Brandon LeBlanc wrote in a follow-up post on Blogging Windows Tuesday, adding: “We will also be making a public preview of Windows 8.1 available starting on June 26, timed with the Build developer conference in San Francisco. The preview will be available for Windows 8 and Windows RT.”

Bing and Paramount Pictures bring Star Trek flair to a phone or computer near you. In anticipation of the upcoming release of "Star Trek Into Darkness" we have teamed with Paramount Pictures to help you get it in the Starfleet Spirit. On May 16, the next installment of Star Trek hit theaters and we’ve been hard at work on a set of fun Bing features to celebrate your inner-Trekker. Curious how to say "beam me up" in Klingon? Just in time for your next soiree (or interplanetary rumble), Microsoft added Klingon to the list of supported languages on the Bing Translator. A few simple clicks is all it takes to translate text from English (or any one of 41 supported languages) to Klingon and vice versa. The Star Trek-themed fun is available online and also as an update to Bing Translator for Windows Phone 8. Also, the Bing homepage now goes boldly where no homepage has gone before, writes Sage Kitamorn, Bing program manager. Fans can visit Bing and type in one of several secret phrases (hint: beam me --) for some Star Trek-themed fun.

Announcing Surface Pro release dates in Europe. As we recently announced, we are expanding the number of markets where Surface Pro and Surface RT will be available. We’re excited for more people to be able to get Surface on the following dates: May 17 (France), May 23 (United Kingdom), May 30 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) and May 31 (Germany). Head on over to the Surface Blog for more information and to learn about a great Surface RT promotion.

That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading!

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog

Xbox 360 continues its roll at the top of the U.S. console market

Jeffrey Meisner — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:23:00 GMT

Xbox 360 maintained its position as the top console in the U.S. last month, selling more units than any other platform, according to new data from The NPD Group.

April also marked the 28th consecutive month that the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the U.S.

April highlights from NPD include:

· Holding 42 percent share of current-generation console sales, Xbox 360 sold 130,000 units in April, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S.

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in April (hardware, software and accessories) reached $208 million, the most for any console in the U.S.

· During the month of April, Xbox 360 held six of the top 10 console game titles including: “NBA 2K13,” “Dead Island: Riptide,” “BioShock Infinite,” Defiance,” Injustice: Gods Among Us” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.”

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Silicon Valley’s technorati raise money for charity with Microsoft fashion hijinks

Jeffrey Meisner — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:48:00 GMT

The following is a post from Douglas Crets, Developer Evangelist, Strategic & Emerging Business Team, Microsoft.

More than 200 of San Francisco’s techies and startup founders put aside their work on mobile apps and the cloud last night and joined Microsoft, Bloomingdale’s and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship for an epic fashion party that raised thousands of dollars for a good cause. Below is a photo of Microsoft's Dr. Mark Drapeau, founder of Geek2Chic, speaking with Colleen Taylor, Silicon Valley reporter for TechCrunch TV.

A star-studded evening of catwalks, storm trooper masks and breakdancing started in the Bloomingdale’s on Market Street and continued on till the early hours at Bubble Lounge.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the #Geek2chic event tonight in San Francisco!
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) May 16, 2013

It was all for a good cause. And there was even a storm trooper. (That's Gary Wu of LucasFilm behind the mask.)

Microsoft’s Geek 2 Chic event is a charity fashion show series produced by Microsoft in collaboration with Bloomingdale’s that directly benefits NFTE and helps inspire at-risk high school-aged youth to stay in school, recognize business opportunities and launch startups.

One hundred percent of ticket sales and 10 percent of Bloomingdale's tracked sales the day of the event (save your receipts) go directly to NFTE.

Last night’s Silicon Valley event was the first time Microsoft had staged the event in San Francisco.

RT @briansolis: Photo: With @sarahaustin @themaria @heathermeeker before our catwalk #geek2chic (at Bloomingdale’s) tmblr.co/ZNsubyl4oOEi
— Microsoft BizSpark (@bizspark) May 16, 2013

The list of last night’s stars is long. The list included Brian Solis, author of “What’s the Future of Business”; Aaron Ginn, a Growth Hacker at StumbleUpon; Sara Austin, star of reality TV show “Silicon Valley: Startups,” and more.

The buzz was palpable. As the local stars strutted their Armani and other clothes donated by Bloomingdale’s, the capacity crowd sipped on their complimentary beverages and photographed the stars as they waltzed the catwalk, and tweeted the goings-on to the world.

The show also offered a chance to see some of the hidden talents of some of technology’s brighter workers, from a capella singing to the hint of a trapeze show. There was even breakdancing.

Another tweet from last night:

RT @sharonkoshy: Fashion + tech + an awesome cause cc @nfte Excited to be at #geek2chic! twitter.com/sharonkoshy/st…

— Microsoft BizSpark (@bizspark) May 16, 2013

Free Windows 8.1 update will be unveiled June 26

Steve Wiens — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:26:00 GMT

The following post was originally published on The Fire Hose.

The Windows 8 update formerly known as “Windows Blue” will be called Windows 8.1, and consumers will be able to get it as a free update to Windows from the Windows Store, Tami Reller said at the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in Boston today.

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Weekend Reading: May 10th Edition–YouTube and Foursquare apps for Windows Phone get major updates

Jeffrey Meisner — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:53:00 GMT

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on the YouTube and Foursquare apps for Windows Phone getting major updates, the release of the Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless customers, Microsoft naming corporate vice president Amy Hood the company’s chief financial officer and more.

Microsoft names Corporate Vice President Amy Hood as new Microsoft chief financial officer. Microsoft announced on Wednesday that Amy Hood was named Microsoft chief financial officer, succeeding outgoing CFO Peter Klein who will remain at Microsoft through the end of June to ensure a smooth transition. Hood becomes CFO effective immediately. Hood, 41, joined Microsoft in December 2002 and currently serves as CFO of MBD, overseeing all financial strategy, management and reporting for the $24.1 billion business. For the rest of this story, head on over to the Microsoft News Center.

YouTube and Foursquare apps for Windows Phone get major updates. Freshly enhanced versions of both Foursquare and YouTube arrived in the Windows Phone Store on Tuesday, bringing additional Windows Phone 8 features to the two popular apps. The updated YouTube app lets you pin channels, playlists and results directly to your Start Screen, redesigns the playlist experience as a touch-friendly filmstrip and allows you to limit what videos little ones can watch by pinning the app to Kid’s Corner and configuring your YouTube Safety Settings. Location-based social app Foursquare now incorporates voice commands, so you can use your voice to find and check-in at points of interest, and also brings notifications to your lock screen and lets you pin your favorite people and places on your Start screen. Below are screenshots from the updated YouTube app.

Now in the Store: Hulu Plus for Windows Phone 8. If you’re a fan of shows like “Modern Family,” “Family Guy” or “Community,” you’ll be happy to know that the Hulu Plus for Windows Phone 8 app is now available in the Windows Phone Store. The app is free, but as Windows Phone Blog Editor Michael Stroh noted in his blog post on Monday, “a Hulu Plus subscription will run you $8 a month.” Head on over to the Windows Phone Blog to find out what some of those nice Windows Phone design touches are. Also, check out this post on the Windows Phone Blog about a great Windows Phone 8 feature that enables you to save full-resolution backup copies of your pictures and videos on SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service.

More than 250 million people using SkyDrive. Since Windows 8 launched in October 2012, 50 million more people have started using SkyDrive, helping us reach an important milestone – more than 250 million people are now using SkyDrive as the new place to save their files. In just the past few months, we’ve made SkyDrive the default save location for the new Office, updated the SkyDrive app for iOS, and made substantial performance improvements to SkyDrive uploading. For the full story, head on over to the Inside SkyDrive Blog, which has a pretty cool infographic that captures SkyDrive’s major milestones.

Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless launches May 16. Verizon Wireless customers, your wait is just about over. Next Thursday, the Nokia Lumia 928 (pictured below) goes on sale. It is the first Windows Phone 8 exclusive for Verizon Wireless from the Finnish phone maker. Available in black or white, the phone will cost $99.99 (with $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract). Pick one up and for a limited time you’ll also get $25 to shop at the Windows Phone Store with 145,000 apps and games (read the fine print). The Windows Phone Blog has the full story. Also, see news from earlier this week about Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphone — the Huawei W1 — which is expected to go on sale at Walmart later this month.

Comment on and like stuff on Facebook directly from Bing. Following the introduction of the social sidebar last year, we’ve been exploring ways to make it even more useful. Now, you will see comments on a relevant Facebook post within sidebar, as well as the ability to add your own, all without having to leave Bing. You can also “Like” a post directly from Bing. Now you can see what your friends might know about what you’re searching for and engage with them directly without leaving the search page. To see how these new features work, read this post on the Bing Search Blog.

That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading! Thanks for stopping by The Official Microsoft Blog!

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog

Staying centered

Jeffrey Meisner — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:58:00 GMT

The following is a post from Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications at Microsoft.

There are many advantages to living in a world that is mostly connected. Feedback is immediate. Weak signals are easily amplified. Voices can be heard.

Of course, every benefit has a drawback.

In this world where everyone is a publisher, there is a trend to the extreme – where those who want to stand out opt for sensationalism and hyperbole over nuanced analysis. In this world where page views are currency, heat is often more valued than light. Stark black-and-white caricatures are sometimes more valued than shades-of-gray reality.

It’s been a week like that, from a couple of unlikely sources. :)

So let’s pause for a moment and consider the center. In the center, selling 100 million copies of a product is a good thing. In the center, listening to feedback and improving a product is a good thing. Heck, there was even a time when acknowledging that you were listening to feedback and acting on it was considered a good thing.

Windows 8 is a good product, and it’s getting better every day. Unlike a can of soda, a computer operating system offers different experiences to different customers to meet different needs, while still moving the entire industry toward an exciting future of touch, mobility, and seamless, cross-device experiences.

We are going to keep improving Windows 8, as we do with all our products, making what’s good even better. There will be new devices, new use cases, new data that makes us think, “Hey, we should do more of this, or less of that.” And we will. There will be people who agree, strongly. There will be those who disagree, equally strongly. All good, all expected.

So perhaps this week’s lesson is look less to the edges and more to the center. There’s more light there.

Microsoft names Amy Hood as new Microsoft chief financial officer

Microsoft blog editor — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:47:00 GMT

Microsoft today announced that Amy Hood, who currently serves as chief financial officer of the Microsoft Business Division, was named Microsoft chief financial officer, succeeding outgoing CFO Peter Klein, who will remain at Microsoft through the end of June to ensure a smooth transition. Hood becomes CFO effective immediately.

“Amy brings the right talents and experiences to the role as we continue to strengthen our focus on devices and services,” said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive officer. “She has been an instrumental leader in the Microsoft Business Division (MBD), helping lead the transition to services with Office 365 and delivering strong financial and operational management throughout her time on the business.”

For more information, read the press release.

Posted by Jennifer Chen
Microsoft News Center Staff