Xbox One's first major update split in two, launching in February and March

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPFnFW_EWiGFUJuCxdEpenlomzhpp_t7y7nufRKgrS0zMGyrBwoy7ti_i6CXyPD0ANNrWNl-zGtuWrEOtmI2Du80G8_3nkXDk0SnwMoN0g1_UF9xXJ9WQ2r_C8pwwULMEwFmsAuve6uY/s1600/home_2_4_2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPFnFW_EWiGFUJuCxdEpenlomzhpp_t7y7nufRKgrS0zMGyrBwoy7ti_i6CXyPD0ANNrWNl-zGtuWrEOtmI2Du80G8_3nkXDk0SnwMoN0g1_UF9xXJ9WQ2r_C8pwwULMEwFmsAuve6uY/s1600/home_2_4_2014.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Xbox One's</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">When the first component of </span><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/08/xbox-one-updates/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;">Xbox One's spring update</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> arrives on February 11th, it'll be a few weeks ahead of the first spring flowers sprouting. Like those flowers, much of what's contained in the February update is under the surface: Kinect voice recognition improvement, tools for developers and "stability and product updates to improve the customer experience" to name a few non-specific bulletpoints. What you'll actually care about is the stuff you'll see, which in this case is a battery meter for gamepads (visible on the dashboard) and a reorganized My Games & Apps section.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">That first component is self-explanatory, but the latter piece requires some detail. First, you can actually see how much space you've got left on that 500GB HDD -- helpful! Second, the applications are being broken out from games, and can be more incrementally managed. "Now you can pick the order in which you want your content to load and we've added a boot progress indicator so you can better track updates while they load," Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten says in a blog post detailing the update. Additionally, February's update adds USB keyboard support. Sure, why not? There should also be some other bells and whistles in there, which Microsoft says we'll find out more about soon (er, uh, </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">before next Tuesday</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">).</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Head below for more on the second half of the update, due in March.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The second piece of seasonal update arrives on March 4th, and it's got a fully revamped party system just in time for the launch of blockbuster game </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Titanfall</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> (a multiplayer-focused experience). What exactly does that mean? We'll have to wait to find out, as Whitten's only offering "a new party and multiplayer system" as detail. And what of promised Twitch.tv streaming ahead of E3 this year? Microsoft's staying mum for now, but we'd be shocked if it didn't show up in the first major system update to Xbox One.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Regardless of the spring update, small and continuous updates to the Xbox One will still occur as time goes on. Whitten also says we'll hear "many" more announcements regarding the upcoming update -- here's hoping next time we find out HBO Go and Spotify are part of the big spring refresh.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span class="via" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"></span><span class="source" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><strong style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Source:</strong><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><a href="http://news.xbox.com/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Xbox</a> Via :<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/05/xbox-one-spring-update-2014/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Engadget</a></span>

Xbox One's first major update split in two, launching in February and March

Xbox One's When the first component of  Xbox One's spring update  arrives on February 11th, it'll be a few weeks ahead of th...

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Xbox and PlayStation in short supply for Christmas

<div id="ie_dottop" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 11px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="xbox psd 4 hardware" border="0" height="348" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/131210140018-xbox-psd-4-hardware-620xa.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /></span><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Demand for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 video game consoles is outpacing supply.</span></div> </div> <div class="cnnm_sharebar" id="smt_main" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div> <h2 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trying to get that last-minute Xbox One or PlayStation 4 before Santa visits your chimney? Good luck.</span></h2> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new video game consoles are in short supply, as <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Microsoft</span> <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="inlink_chart" style="background-image: url(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/.element/img/5.0/buttons/assorted_icons.gif); background-position: -200px -160px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px 19px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">MSFT</span>, Fortune 500)</span>and <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sony</span>  <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="inlink_chart" style="background-image: url(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/.element/img/5.0/buttons/assorted_icons.gif); background-position: -200px -160px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 2px 19px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">SNE</span>)</span> can't seem to make the gadgets fast enough to meet consumer demand. Calls to several retailers revealed no or few Xboxes and PS4's in stock. The Microsoft Store in New York had one Xbox One left at 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Forced to wait in long lines or hunt around at multiple stores to find a console, many consumers have grown agitated. Some have even taken to social networks, claiming that the companies have purposefully limited supply to create artificial demand for their video game systems.Part of the reason behind the bare store shelves is that video game lovers have been waiting a long time for an update -- the Xbox 360 debuted in 2005 and the PlayStation 3 launched in 2006. Nintendo also released its first console update in six years in November 2012, but sales of the Wii U have been tepid at best.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/24/technology/xbox-playstation-supply-shortages/index.html">CNN</a></span></i></div>

Xbox and PlayStation in short supply for Christmas

Demand for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 video game consoles is outpacing supply. Trying to get that last-minute Xbox One or PlaySta...

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Xbox One already modded into 22-inch laptop ( Video)

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtfnESSlesQbUC3NGYfKQ8-VE68lffvXWf9XGYVlo3te8ZjKWIsz0Xl9vGJmo2VyF3lZ7WurX8rs7UeLy_KmPoQ8KBG5TPoh9Sw7KU7xGONLkEzkBW69N_B4wffWiZJ7-67OmPIzsiY5k/s1600/xboxonelaptop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xbox One on Laptop</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtfnESSlesQbUC3NGYfKQ8-VE68lffvXWf9XGYVlo3te8ZjKWIsz0Xl9vGJmo2VyF3lZ7WurX8rs7UeLy_KmPoQ8KBG5TPoh9Sw7KU7xGONLkEzkBW69N_B4wffWiZJ7-67OmPIzsiY5k/s1600/xboxonelaptop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last generation, modders took the PS3 and Xbox 360 and modified them in amazing ways. An impressive though somewhat popular way to modify the last-gen consoles were to make them portable. Once upon a time, Ben Heck took an Xbox 360 and <a href="http://www.geek.com/games/ben-heck-creates-quiet-xbox-360-slim-laptop-1289465/" style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">turned it into a laptop</a>. He also took a PS3 Slim and did the same. The PS4 and Xbox One haven’t been out very long yet — only a month or so — and despite their (slowly waning) difficulty to procure, someone who did manage to grab an Xbox One has already ripped out its insides and turned it into a laptop.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Modder James Terry, otherwise ominously known as DarkUncle, managed to stuff the innards of an Xbox One into a 22-inch laptop. However, rather than using an entirely new custom-made case, he repurposed the case of the Xbox One console itself, including the slot-loading disc drive.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="332" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P2dnRTX2xhY?wmode=transparent" style="border-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="590"></iframe></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unfortunately for those who want to game on the go, you’ll still have to stick to your phone, tablet, PS Vita, or Nintendo 3DS, as this laptop mod does not include a battery and will need to be tethered to a power outlet. The ports on the back of the unit have been preserved, but an audio-out port was added for audio flexibility. Not losing its branding, the Xbox One logo power light has been moved to the top of the laptop, so you can still see that the hardware is an Xbox One should you want to display it without actually using it.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px 20px 20px 0px; word-spacing: 2px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Via : <a href="http://www.geek.com/games/xbox-one-already-modded-into-22-inch-laptop-sold-1580536/">Geek.com</a></span></div>

Xbox One already modded into 22-inch laptop ( Video)

Xbox One on Laptop Last generation, modders took the PS3 and Xbox 360 and modified them in amazing ways. An impressive though somewha...

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Microsoft's Ballmer: Surface a 'tougher' bet than the Xbox

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5xV9o2j3HQoP-74Ddr_gXlzSw7DazkLqhnHts23gAR0Z9oTPgjxmDtFSgsxWl4X9MpoaAvd5Seeo-H_bg-9khaDdyBTVpjRynIDn2mlPLwkou6ocql66_YRk64m4_FWCdcjOHFkrCf0/s1600/ballmersurface-v1-200x191.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5xV9o2j3HQoP-74Ddr_gXlzSw7DazkLqhnHts23gAR0Z9oTPgjxmDtFSgsxWl4X9MpoaAvd5Seeo-H_bg-9khaDdyBTVpjRynIDn2mlPLwkou6ocql66_YRk64m4_FWCdcjOHFkrCf0/s1600/ballmersurface-v1-200x191.png" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Microsoft's Ballmer</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many Microsoft customers, partners and competitors would no doubt agree with this statement. But many also might be surprised to hear this admission comes from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I interviewed Ballmer at the end of November, 2013, in his office in Redmond, a lot of our conversation focused aroundhis role in overseeing Microsoft's software and services, past and present.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But Microsoft is in the hardware business, too, with Xbox, Surface, Windows Phone and <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-finalizes-perceptive-pixel-purchase-7000001811/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Perceptive Pixe</a>l (plus mice and keyboards). Its executives, from Ballmer on down, are increasingly playing up the reasons they believe Microsoft needs to stay in hardware to remain relevant -- in the face of calls by some company watchers for Microsoft to split off its Xbox and/or its consumer-hardware business.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"One of the things tech companies really do terribly is build new capability," Ballmer told me during our recent sit-down in Building 34. "Unfortunately, when the industry changes, if you haven't built any new capability, you can become less relevant because the thing you were good at becomes less relevant and you didn't built capability in a new area."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We've had to do it a couple of times, in fact, from platforms to apps, from now software to services, from OS (operating system) royalties, to OS royalties and devices," he said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ballmer called <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-xbox-whats-ballmer-got-to-do-with-it-7000024294/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Xbox  -- in which he played an instrumental role in shepherding</a> -- a "sort of a signature about building new capability in hardware and devices." Because of the Xbox, Microsoft had to build a custom-silicon team. Microsoft had to staff up a supply-chain team. And because of the existence of this body of knowledge, Microsoft was able to make the decision to get into device-manufacturing with its Surface tablet/PC line, Ballmer said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Microsoft's first-generation Surface devices got mixed marks. The Redmondians ended up having to <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-900-million-surface-rt-write-down-how-did-this-happen-7000018275/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">write down nearly $1 billion worth of Surface RT devices and component parts</a> in 2013.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We still need to upgrade and we still need to upgrade and improve, and that's part of the Nokia acquisition," Ballmer conceded.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Microsoft will be adding 30,000 or so Nokia employees, many of whom will bring with them hardware manufacturing and distribution know-how, as part of its <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-to-buy-nokia-devices-services-unit-7000020144/" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">$7.2 billion purchase of Nokia's mobile devices and services business</a>. (Ballmer noted that he was unable to talk specifically about Nokia because Microsoft's purchase still has yet to close. That's expected to happen by early 2014.)</span></div><h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ballmer: 'We had areas of vulnerability in competing with Apple'</span></h3><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ballmer characterized Microsoft's initial decision to build first-party tablets as "in a way... a tougher bet" than the decision to build the Xbox.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Surface "was less different (than Xbox), you could say," Ballmer noted. "But, I also knew that it would not be the simplest discussion to have with our partners, who(m) I wanted to stay our partners."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As expected, Microsoft's OEMs, some of whom said publicly they felt blind-sided by Microsoft's decision to make its own devices, were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/acers-ceo-warns-microsoft-to-think-twice-about-releasing-the-surface-tablet-2012-8" style="border: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">none too happy about the move</a>. But Ballmer insisted Microsoft had no choice.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "I was concerned that we had areas of vulnerability in competing with Apple and without any (first-party) capability, that we were not transacting that well just through our OEM partners."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ballmer said management's area of concern was in the high end of the device market.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"High end was an issue. There were just a lot of reasons to think Apple was going to be a tough competitor to deal with, just with our OEM model. It was a higher-end brand," Ballmer acknowledged.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Our OEMs were having a hard time investing in competing with the higher end brand. The (Microsoft retail) stores were (starting) to take off, but they hadn't taken off. It turns out that was also an issue, because now there's a different kind of a presence. And without a product to fit -- a product, a brand, a price point -- to really go head-to-head, it looked like an area of exposure," he continued.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"So I won't say we said 'Let's go do Apple compete.' We wanted to go do our own thing that was uniquely ours," he said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ballmer said Microsoft didn't set out to build a "classic 13-inch laptop or a $500 desktop." In those categories, "our OEMs do a great job," he maintained.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"On the other hand, there was an area of vulnerability," Ballmer said. "The vulnerability we have is not just on phones, where we're buying Nokia, but it's on tablets. And our OEMs do great work, but there are places their brands and investments don't travel. And so we wanted to supplement the work of our OEMs, hopefully make our OEMs stronger through the process, by making our overall competition with Apple" -- and more recently -- Samsung.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ballmer portrayed Microsoft's differentiator with its tablets and phones as "tools," specifically "tools that make people more productive, IT people, developers, and end users." (Given Microsoft's heritage as a development-tool maker, "tools" is an interesting word choice.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Are we a productivity company or are we a software company? Well, what we are is a company that knows how to create great software for productivity and serious fun, but the expression will be through services, and through devices increasingly. And maybe it always has been. Nobody ever buys Windows. They buy Windows PCs," Ballmer reflected.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Via: <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-ballmer-surface-a-tougher-bet-than-the-xbox-7000024408/">ZDNet</a></i></span></div>

Microsoft's Ballmer: Surface a 'tougher' bet than the Xbox

Microsoft's Ballmer Many Microsoft customers, partners and competitors would no doubt agree with this statement. But many also might be ...

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Xbox One, PS4 battle for gaming supremacy

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2DBgQg0V3LNxO_GOZB7Ui6ZTZpvjvEizVeuVyH0aIvnCqpvnYRTWP2MoDKoZD5OM014DImuinj3X9WZwAF1FbVWqgbVfAT7MGtn2EY4Xo0H-rlhye81CUaDannV6mtOMJf81oNsLpCoL/s1600/man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2DBgQg0V3LNxO_GOZB7Ui6ZTZpvjvEizVeuVyH0aIvnCqpvnYRTWP2MoDKoZD5OM014DImuinj3X9WZwAF1FbVWqgbVfAT7MGtn2EY4Xo0H-rlhye81CUaDannV6mtOMJf81oNsLpCoL/s1600/man.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Emanuel Jumatate, from Chicago, hugs his new Xbox One after he purchased it at a Best Buy in Evanston, Ill. Microsoft is billing the Xbox One, which includes an updated Kinect motion sensor, as an all-in-one entertainment system rather than just a gaming console. / AP<br /><br /></span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the first time since 2005, both Sony and Microsoft are introducing complete refreshes to their gaming consoles. For gamers, this is a big year and the start of the eighth generation of console gaming. For Sony and Microsoft, this means war.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both strive to be more than just your go-to piece of gaming hardware. This is the first time that both machines are almost identical on paper — specification-wise they are two beasts of the same breed. For generation eight, the winner will have to rely on software services and branding. Both companies are focused on finding an edge.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For Microsoft, this largely has come down to software services, which is hardly surprising considering Microsoft has made a fortune from its Windows software. Last generation, Microsoft gained an edge on Sony by relying on a similar tactic. Although Sony’s PS3 was built of superior hardware, Microsoft was able to outsell Sony by introducing consistent software updates and finer online services.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Microsoft also introduced the Kinect accessory in 2008 to add diversity to its offering. Microsoft again is taking a similar approach. Its next gen Xbox 360 successor, the Xbox One, will rely heavily on Kinect. In fact, both devices are now bundled together and central for gaming and navigation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With generation eight, Microsoft is looking to make Kinect input a staple feature — one that it believes Sony cannot match. The Xbox One is also an attempt to be much more than a gaming machine. TV integration is one of its biggest selling points, routing your cable box feed through the console and enabling sophisticated overlays, and the ability to receive game invites or even watch television while playing a game.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This feature previously has been attempted by Google for its Google TV boxes, with moderate success. So far, there is no clear indication that Microsoft has fared any better. This is not to say that it won’t work, simply that it may cause frustration. Still, it is a cool feature.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sony’s PS3 successor, the PS4, also will have many media features, albeit not as many as the Xbox One. From a mere face value perspective, Xbox One aims to be the “one and only” device needed for complete living room entertainment. In doing so, however, it has been criticized. After all, this is a gaming device, and since Xbox One was announced, gamers have made it clear that games are what matter most.</span><br /><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[[ <a href="http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20131216/LIFESTYLE/312160003?nclick_check=1">source </a>]]</span></i>

Xbox One, PS4 battle for gaming supremacy

Emanuel Jumatate, from Chicago, hugs his new Xbox One after he purchased it at a Best Buy in Evanston, Ill. Microsoft is billing the Xbox On...

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Xbox One owners warned to avoid 'backwards compatibility' prank that bricks consoles

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVwT8DLciXxNM-FjrjO_tYkh6hqV7mwt4CZ-_CS7srW2191s2z2NugMhHLd_F_LXDjvJ0IwD-DVo6vAZxIgSOidXToR9rrcIkk7qA7Gy92C-i8sc_9KTnTJ6Dp9V1rfr_4td7vS7OweA/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVwT8DLciXxNM-FjrjO_tYkh6hqV7mwt4CZ-_CS7srW2191s2z2NugMhHLd_F_LXDjvJ0IwD-DVo6vAZxIgSOidXToR9rrcIkk7qA7Gy92C-i8sc_9KTnTJ6Dp9V1rfr_4td7vS7OweA/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Xbox One</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">Every Xbox One console is </span>a developer unit,<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"> but an option to enable the dev kit mode is being used to prank gamers this week. An image (embedded below) has been making the rounds on forums and social networking sites promising Xbox 360 backwards compatibility through six steps on an Xbox One console. Instead of providing any type of backwards compatibility, the steps will render an Xbox One useless in a constant reboot cycle, effectively bricking the console.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">Microsoft’s Larry Hryb (Major Nelson) </span>took to Twitter<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"> on Friday to warn gamers to avoid the trick and reaffirm that there’s no backwards compatibility on the Xbox One. While it's surprising to see Microsoft leave such a powerful menu exposed in a consumer console, it's not the type of setting you'll easily stumble upon. It’s not clear how many have fallen for the trick, but given one British teenager </span>paid £450 ($735) for a picture of an Xbox One<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;">on eBay earlier this week we wouldn’t be surprised if some are gullible enough to try the steps. The Xbox One prank follows a similar image that </span>tricked some iPhone users<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"> into believing their handsets were waterproof following the release of iOS 7.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/7/5184914/xbox-one-backwards-compatibility-prank-image-warning">The Verge</a></span></i></span>

Xbox One owners warned to avoid 'backwards compatibility' prank that bricks consoles

Xbox One Every Xbox One console is  a developer unit,  but an option to enable the dev kit mode is being used to prank gamers this week. An ...

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Which is the best games console? Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4 " border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTn7ZrF8rT6rWr7RE1BNg3CXgY2EV68s0gDj5q2_ScyarO-7zbyT8QEfEKY39h5B7g_iG4cOaCs1lb9dUyG2CNF0A3y6GPstGbzXWBNCq6sAcvLfKk864KsV4z9Sg2pwKixYqJIk3QY8O/s1600/xbox+vs+ps4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4 </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTn7ZrF8rT6rWr7RE1BNg3CXgY2EV68s0gDj5q2_ScyarO-7zbyT8QEfEKY39h5B7g_iG4cOaCs1lb9dUyG2CNF0A3y6GPstGbzXWBNCq6sAcvLfKk864KsV4z9Sg2pwKixYqJIk3QY8O/s1600/xbox+vs+ps4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Price</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first variable is price. The PlayStation 4 is priced at $399, compared to $499 for the Xbox One. For many, cash is king and the $100 price difference might well swing things in favor of the PlayStation 4.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Titles</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Buying a console is just part of the equation, and it is nothing without games, and since neither are backward-compatible with older titles, you need to give some thought to what's on offer, especially exclusive titles that are only available for a single platform.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PlayStation 4 has three exclusives on offer, including "Killzone: Shadow Fall," while the Xbox One has nine, "Forza Motorsport 5," "Dead Rising 3" and "Killer Instinct." This will change over the course of 2014, but for now games are tight, and the changing landscape of titles might make you hold back on pulling the trigger on purchasing.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Sensors</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're interested in gesture and voice control, then the Kinect 2 is streets ahead of PlayStation Camera. If waving at your console like an ape doesn't appeal to you, then you can ignore this feature.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ecosystem and social</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you already own an Xbox 360 of PlayStation 3 then you might have a preference when it comes to Xbox Live versus PlayStation Plus. There's no right or wrong answer here, and if you're not committed to either then in real terms there's little difference between the two.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bottom line is that picking the best console is tough. Weighing up the options I'm tempted to say that the Xbox One is the better console, despite the price. That said, you're paying a top dollar price for a console where the game lineup is pretty limited no matter which one you go for.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #252525; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Source : <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/xbox-one-vs-playstation-4-which-is-the-best-games-console-7000024025/">ZDNet</a></i></span></div>

Which is the best games console? Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4

Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4  Price The first variable is price. The PlayStation 4 is priced at $399, compared to $499 for the Xbox One. For m...

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Black Friday : The winner is Microsoft’s Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurXLvkv4gMgqqLyB5A9qt_QKyvZxjbJconaCCfcv48wYSKJeHJ6AKRe9MFVIT2MU3tIUrKrbsfEFOWgb0xDev29D56NScJLmJCshK3RyE9ePJxcaeRbUawg9dL-lHsldFE93Wuucd0YS7/s1600/black-friday-console-sales.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurXLvkv4gMgqqLyB5A9qt_QKyvZxjbJconaCCfcv48wYSKJeHJ6AKRe9MFVIT2MU3tIUrKrbsfEFOWgb0xDev29D56NScJLmJCshK3RyE9ePJxcaeRbUawg9dL-lHsldFE93Wuucd0YS7/s1600/black-friday-console-sales.jpg" width="576" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; text-align: start;">Microsoft’s Xbox One was the most popular video game console on Black Friday, according to a survey of early shoppers by shopping market research firm</span><a href="http://blog.infoscout.co/black-friday-console-war/" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; outline: none medium; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">InfoScout</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; text-align: start;">.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One video game console dominated the rankings at Walmart and Target, coming in No. 1 with a 31 percent share even though it had the highest purchase price at $499. These rankings may not hold up, but they’re they earliest indicator in a console war that will go on for years to come.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The news isn’t entirely bad for Sony as sales were evidently constrained by limited availability of its new PlayStation 4, which launched on Nov. 15, one week ahead of the Xbox One. But it does suggest that Microsoft succeeded in preparing its supply chain for a torrent of sales.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At No. 2 was Microsoft’s older Xbox 360 console, which had a 30 percent share. The Xbox 360 sold for $180 at Target and at a door-buster price of $99 at Walmart. Meanwhile, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 tied for third with a 15 percent share each. The PS3 sold for $149 at Walmart and $199 at Target while the PS4 sold for $399 at both chains.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nintendo’s Wii U console came in a distant fifth place with 6 percent market share. It sold for $299 at Walmart and $275 at Target while Nintendo’s older Wii console was sixth at 1 percent market share, selling for $99 at Walmart and $129 at Target.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/30/microsofts-xbox-one-wins-early-sales-battle-on-black-friday/">VentureBeat</a></span></i></div><br />

Black Friday : The winner is Microsoft’s Xbox One

Microsoft’s Xbox One was the most popular video game console on Black Friday, according to a survey of early shoppers by shopping market res...

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Graphic content: do Xbox One and PS4 games really look better

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPrtT0YaNoBCrNlRYUs15aGApjRvb3Nv84KuQVu47D1kL11gAt0yXmqnItOG2Ym-82zB_cCZNKWju797kAFrk9urvLirH4jCJ1gqeJ4Yn2_2rmPnU06jrzI5cqA57y13qXKK2KqiePSo/s1600/cp.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPrtT0YaNoBCrNlRYUs15aGApjRvb3Nv84KuQVu47D1kL11gAt0yXmqnItOG2Ym-82zB_cCZNKWju797kAFrk9urvLirH4jCJ1gqeJ4Yn2_2rmPnU06jrzI5cqA57y13qXKK2KqiePSo/s1600/cp.PNG" /></span></a></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The words "next generation" have always held a lot of promise — and a lot of hype — in the world of video games. Consoles like the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/20/5117320/microsoft-xbox-one-review" style="color: #fb4834; text-decoration: none;">Xbox One</a> and <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/15/5107506/sony-ps4-review-video" style="color: #fb4834; text-decoration: none;">PlayStation 4</a> that herald the arrival of a new generation are said to offer stunning graphics that unlock gaming experiences like never before. That’s an exciting promise, and there’s good reason for the fascination with these black boxes: for the next several years, video gaming itself will likely be defined by these two consoles.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph4" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But now that delirium over the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is beginning to subside we must ask what, exactly, this next generation delivers to living rooms. When it comes to graphics — that jumble of polygons, sophisticated algorithms, and complex maps that create so much buzz — what do these systems offer that your dusty old Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 can't? And, as of today, have these consoles delivered on their promises?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph7" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To find out, we've carefully examined 10 different games across all four consoles — a grand total of 29 discs. As is common during transitional periods, almost all launch titles are offered on both new and old consoles. These multi-platform games offer a unique opportunity to compare these consoles head to head. For each, we have side-by-side comparisons of the same exact scene across the two generations to let you see the difference for yourself. A few of these comparisons are included in this article (you can slide the divider to compare on each) — <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5155726/next-gen-supplementary-piece" style="color: #fb4834; text-decoration: none;">well over a dozen more can be found in our supplement.</a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At first glance, these games may lack that next-gen “wow factor,” but we’ve identified some key improvements that make the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of these games stand out. And developers are just getting their feet wet with this hardware — these are the graphical improvements you can count on getting out of your new console, and they hint at what this latest generation could offer in the future.</span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 92.59259033203125%;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/29/5127344/do-next-gen-games-really-look-better">The Verge</a></span></i></div>

Graphic content: do Xbox One and PS4 games really look better

The words "next generation" have always held a lot of promise — and a lot of hype — in the world of video games. Consoles like the...

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iBuyPower's Steam Machine offers PC for Xbox

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl_HlqOs10rpF8S2tsWqOjYKn1mRBmMIPk1C96BPBuTkyQnHhYX-5lHxJfu523pBLhINazju_l26-LyIS3kAnC-ad7cqtWmYeMDYwybGUfsk-RMRNuZyfzpREcJqwKxoHjl7bm6BaMaG5/s1600/iwork.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl_HlqOs10rpF8S2tsWqOjYKn1mRBmMIPk1C96BPBuTkyQnHhYX-5lHxJfu523pBLhINazju_l26-LyIS3kAnC-ad7cqtWmYeMDYwybGUfsk-RMRNuZyfzpREcJqwKxoHjl7bm6BaMaG5/s640/iwork.PNG" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph0" style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This morning, iBuyPower revealed a prototype of its own upcoming Steam Machine, which will go on sale for just $499 next year. For the price of an <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/20/5117320/microsoft-xbox-one-review" style="text-decoration: none;">Xbox One</a>, the computer will offer a multicore AMD CPU and a discrete AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card — that's a $180 GPU all by itself — and come <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/4/5063760/we-try-the-steam-machine-valves-video-game-console-of-the-future" style="text-decoration: none;">with Valve's Steam Controller</a> as part of the package deal.</span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1" style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The company says the box is bigger than a PlayStation 4 but smaller than Microsoft's Xbox One, and comes standard with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 500GB hard drive. The glossy white case also has a fully customizable light bar running down the center channel, and an integrated power supply. You won't have to find room for a power brick on your home entertainment center shelves.</span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1" style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/25/5146398/ibuypower-steam-machine-499-radeon-r9-270">The Verge</a></span></i></div>

iBuyPower's Steam Machine offers PC for Xbox

This morning, iBuyPower revealed a prototype of its own upcoming Steam Machine, which will go on sale for just $499 next year. For the price...

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Xbox One Key To 'One Microsoft'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENzQbL5SsndoDBMS1VPaXkn-prA4tQo4U3sU9-Lnjv2hZk9Gd9fODbZ0zNOTOWVTHN7ckN1jWH9fogSBNcO9BFz-JdWzMEws5AgYkmYk42L0W48QaShZcHc20ysrdbknL-SiF9n8xGS5N/s1600/XboxOne_DayOne_Consle_Sensr_controllr_F_TransBG_RGB_2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENzQbL5SsndoDBMS1VPaXkn-prA4tQo4U3sU9-Lnjv2hZk9Gd9fODbZ0zNOTOWVTHN7ckN1jWH9fogSBNcO9BFz-JdWzMEws5AgYkmYk42L0W48QaShZcHc20ysrdbknL-SiF9n8xGS5N/s640/XboxOne_DayOne_Consle_Sensr_controllr_F_TransBG_RGB_2013.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Microsoft sold more than 1 million Xbox Ones within 24 hours of the console's Friday launch. Sony's PlayStation 4 sold at about the same rate when it debuted the week before.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The launch is auspicious, if not necessarily extraordinary. It's been seven years since Microsoft released the Xbox 360, after all; with so much pent-up demand, an early rush of sales was inevitable.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's what's more important than day-one sales: whether the Xbox One's performance remains strong enough to affirm the consumer-oriented aspects of retiring CEO Steve Ballmer's "One Microsoft" strategy.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A recent <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-08/microsoft-ceo-candidate-elop-said-to-mull-windows-shift.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Bloomberg article</a> spoke to this question, claiming that former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, widely perceived as a frontrunner for Ballmer's job, would consider jettisoning Xbox and Bing if he is selected to lead. The article cited unnamed sources close to Elop, but even if he is less trigger happy than implied, Microsoft's consumer efforts face scrutiny from others as well.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Influential hedge fund ValueAct, which owns around a 1 percent stake in Microsoft, opposes Microsoft's decision to manufacture devices, for example, according to a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/19/net-us-microsoft-valueact-idUSBRE96I14920130719" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">July report in Reuters</a>. Wall Street commentators such as Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund routinely <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/productivity-collaboration-apps/-xbox-one-key-to-one-microsoft/d/d-id/www.informationweek.com/applications/microsoft-ceo-ballmers-surprise-retirement/d/d-id/1111281" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">say Microsoft would be stronger if the Xbox were spun off</a>. Reuters also reported in October that several major shareholders feel Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/productivity-collaboration-apps/-xbox-one-key-to-one-microsoft/d/d-id/www.informationweek.com/windows-8/microsoft-investors-want-gates-out-reorg-at-risk/d/d-id/1111785" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">blocking the radical changes the company must make</a>-- further indication of the contentiousness that surrounds Microsoft's future tactics.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be sure, the $499 Xbox One brings a lot to the table, perhaps enough to justify its $100 premium over the PlayStation 4. Its headline features include a next-generation Kinect sensor that can not only identify individual users, but also track a gamer's heartbeat during fitness games. It supports not only cable television, but also a number of video services, including Netflix and Hulu; can connect to the Web via Internet Explorer; and even supports multi-tasking for, say, watching a basketball game on one side of the screen while viewing an app with your fantasy league statistics in the other.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's more. The Xbox One also obeys voice commands, has the cross-platform games you'd expect, and will boast a library of interactive titles once Microsoft finishes building them. Depending on your taste, you might also care about its exclusive games, such as Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Early reviews indicate the Xbox One doesn't get everything right, but as a grab at living room domination, it's as good as anything in the market -- which is to say, good enough to be intriguing, but not good enough to be an iPhone-level disruptive force. Research firm Gartner projects the video game market will be worth <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2614915" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">$111 billion by 2015</a>, a 19% increase over this year, so if the Xbox One expands on the Xbox 360's reach, the spoils could be substantial.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If Microsoft's plan plays out, those spoils will extend outside the pure video game market, however. The Xbox hooks into Microsoft's cloud services such as Skype and SkyDrive, and its interface looks more like Windows 8's Start screen than ever. Under "One Microsoft," this synergy is designed to turn Xbox sales into subscriptions for Microsoft's cloud services, or, better yet, higher adoption of Windows 8 devices. If it works, Ballmer's interest in consumers could be vindicated. But if the Xbox One can't appeal to more than a core gaming audience, incensed investors will start circling.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 1.38462em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/productivity-collaboration-apps/-xbox-one-key-to-one-microsoft/d/d-id/1112761">InformationWeek</a></span></i></div>

Xbox One Key To 'One Microsoft'

Microsoft sold more than 1 million Xbox Ones within 24 hours of the console's Friday launch. Sony's PlayStation 4 sold at about the ...

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Xbox One Matches PS4’s First-Day Console Sales

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2iFIpgfsjP8aFgfDDjw7YEDziSN5U0VIm5L_Szea_lx5dqRQK_jf-S0t9tHS_3UEL1OZllpWsBDAEZ_nGlC3rW3KjJoIVhjJDWIP8lskEV3k8rNCR6m2cM6GhlGJyNIkOxiHD-FQYn0/s1600/xbox-one-feature-380x285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk2iFIpgfsjP8aFgfDDjw7YEDziSN5U0VIm5L_Szea_lx5dqRQK_jf-S0t9tHS_3UEL1OZllpWsBDAEZ_nGlC3rW3KjJoIVhjJDWIP8lskEV3k8rNCR6m2cM6GhlGJyNIkOxiHD-FQYn0/s400/xbox-one-feature-380x285.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Starting Thursday night, a major tech company sold more than one million units of its next-gen gaming console, and since then has had to contend with scattered user reports of hardware defects.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was true of Sony <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131117/sony-sells-more-than-one-million-playstation-4s-on-first-day-but-some-are-defective/" style="color: #0087bb; text-decoration: none;">last week with the PlayStation 4</a>, and now it’s true of Microsoft this week with its rival Xbox One.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In an email, a Microsoft spokesperson called the one-million-plus debut the “biggest launch in Xbox history.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s worth pointing out, though, that the PS4 debuted in just two countries last week — the United States and Canada — while the Xbox One launched simultaneously in <a href="http://news.xbox.com/2013/09/xbox-one-launch" style="color: #0087bb; text-decoration: none;">13 markets</a>: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. The sales announcement did not break down which countries drove the most sales.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As for those defects: While Sony had to contend with reports of both connectivity issues and console overheating, Microsoft (at least so far) has just one hardware glitch on its plate. Within hours of the Xbox One’s debut, videos surfaced on YouTube of the console “eating discs,” clicking and refusing to recognize game discs inserted in its optical drive.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Both companies, of course, have pledged prompt support to customers via their normal customer service avenues, and anecdotal reports appearing online suggest Sony is promptly returning and exchanging defective PS4s. In an email yesterday, a Microsoft spokesperson said customer service reps could be reached over the phone, on the Xbox forums or via social media.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I asked the spokesperson if Microsoft knew how many Xbox One owners were affected by the disc-eating problem, but she said the company does not have an exact number. She emailed a corporate statement asserting that “the issue is affecting a very small number of Xbox One customers.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Via: <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131123/xbox-one-matches-ps4s-first-day-console-sales-and-reports-of-defects/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker">Yahoo News</a></i></div>

Xbox One Matches PS4’s First-Day Console Sales

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Starting Thursday night, a major tech company sold more than one million units of its next-gen gaming cons...

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The winner is … : PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY47WOFxMAb718c63nGnu3gccuTn17yGIIR4ifZApK_qVpe5NS6s4UTD1LYA-xxX5T8FptKDgt00iPIeFDOR5cXk8BMFHKlPKtDu2-8cY5jEJZPHqD_7YeYN2IhNE_pHyUN_7CA4ubyvX5/s1600/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY47WOFxMAb718c63nGnu3gccuTn17yGIIR4ifZApK_qVpe5NS6s4UTD1LYA-xxX5T8FptKDgt00iPIeFDOR5cXk8BMFHKlPKtDu2-8cY5jEJZPHqD_7YeYN2IhNE_pHyUN_7CA4ubyvX5/s320/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hitting retail a mere one week apart, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (out now) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (due out Friday) simply offer too many things for me to play right now. They’re giving me more entertainment options than I can reasonably consume in my waking hours. Heck, I even put 45 minutes into Zoo Tycoon, a game that was completely off my radar until a shiny new Xbox One slammed it in there. I know — poor me, right?</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I only have two hands and can only play on one system at a time. So where am I going to spend my hours? And which console would I end up recommending to a friend? I decided to break the two down and compare them in a few categories that matter the most to me.</span></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The games</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much of the launch libraries is coming from third-party publishers; you’ll see Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25, Assassin’s Creed IV, etc. lining up on both sides. Of course, each console also has some exclusives now (PS4: Killzone: Shadow Fall, XBO: Dead Rising 3), some hyped ones to look forward to (PS4: Uncharted, XBO: Titanfall), plus some you probably wouldn’t give a damn about if they weren’t “next-gen” (PS4: Knack, XBO: Ryse).</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So comparing the software lineups is almost futile since they almost mirror each other in quality. It doesn’t help that a lot of extra features for each game are similar, supported on second-screen applications (like Xbox’s SmartGlass or companion apps for PlayStation), further muddying things.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But no one wants to see a tie, so I’ll give the slight, slight edge to the PlayStation 4 here. I give Sony’s machine a little extra credit because, very generally speaking, indie developers seem to prefer making games for that company — citing a more supportive, friendlier infrastructure — despite Microsoft’s big, recent push in this arena. As a result, we have a better variety of indie games on the PS4 now, and that should continue into the near future. (Tiny Brains, Doki-Doki Universe, Hohokum — just a sampling of some cool stuff that you can find on PlayStation platforms either exclusively or before others.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: PlayStation 4</span></em></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The controllers/input devices</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the moment, I might be more intimately familiar with both next-gen controllers than anyone outside of Sony and Microsoft (thanks to <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/21/the-playstation-4-controller-what-couldve-been-part-1-exclusive/" style="color: #ef3320; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">these articles</a>and also <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/the-xbox-one-controller-projectors-smells-and-other-stuff-that-didnt-make-it-in-part-1-exclusive/" style="color: #ef3320; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">these over here</a>). I’ve studied both — a lot. And combining that with my own hands-on experience, my professional expert conclusion would be: They both kick ass.</span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_626022" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 558px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 - top view" class="size-large wp-image-626022" height="302" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/playstation-4-dualshock-4-top-view1.jpg?w=558&h=302" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: -6px; outline: none medium; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PS4′s DualShock 4 controller.</span></div></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PS4 controller is more revolutionary, simply because its touchpad and the light bar change the way you interact with games. I’m excited to see what developers do with both of them. And the controller as a whole is just a huge leap over its PS3 predecessor, feeling and functioning better in every conceivable way.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the Xbox One joypad is simply state of the art. The analog sticks and triggers feel so high quality and high end. It’s because of this controller that I decided that the Xbox One will be my shooter platform of choice (even though the PS4′s DualShock 4 is also excellent for that genre).</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As far as the Xbox One’s voice-activated Kinect camera goes — when it works, you feel like you’re commanding a futuristic control panel. I still get a kick out of saying “Xbox, watch Food Network” — or “Xbox, turn off” to power down not just the console but my television, cable box, and audio/visual receiver as well. I did this just last night, in fact, as I hit a new low in laziness and didn’t want to get out of bed to grab the remote control.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The new Kinect is a show-off-to-your-friends piece of cool tech. But it, like the Xbox 360 version, fails to recognize what I’m saying one out of 10 or 15 times, and that one time is enough to taint the experience for me. Why not just use the controller, which works <em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">100 percent</em> of the time?</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Note that the PlayStation Camera for the PS4 also offers some voice-recognition and face-recognition features, but it generally doesn’t do them as well, and that’s a separate purchase. Since I’m comparing the $400 PS4 to the $500 Xbox One, I’m not taking the PS Camera into consideration here.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like both controllers for different reasons, but the Kinect pushes this category over the edge for me. Outside of the games Battlefield 4 and Resogun, it’s next big thing between the two consoles that feels truly “next generation.”</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Xbox One</span></em></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_862702" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 558px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Kinect (Xbox One)" class="size-large wp-image-862702" height="193" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/kinect-xbox-one.jpg?w=558&h=193" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: -6px; outline: none medium; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One’s Kinect</span></div></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dashboards</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don’t know why I’m seemingly in the minority there, but I actually like Sony’s cross media bar (XMB). This linear menu of PlayStation 3 options (games, video, settings, etc.) is easy to understand and navigate.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, at least for now, this has taken a step back on the PlayStation 4: All of your games and apps are thrown into one long, unorganized list, and you can’t create folders or group any of them in any meaningful way — a nightmare for OCD neat freaks like me. (Sony tells me that folder functionality will come with an upcoming update.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One is barely better: Games and apps all go into one big pile in a messy, Windows 8-like fashion. But at least on Microsoft’s system, you can “pin” items to a separate section, so you can access your favorites more quickly. Now, the pins area will also end up looking rather disheveled when you fill it up, but it’s better than nothing.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also helping out Microsoft’s cause: A voice-activated Bing search can find anything you need in an instant. I particularly like it for hunting down movies. A quick ”movies with car chases” or ”movies starring Jim Varney” pulls up results that let you know what purchasing or rental options you have on your machine, whether that’s through Xbox Video or a service like Redbox, Netflix, or Hulu Plus.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Xbox One</span></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source : <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/20/ps4-vs-xbox-one-i-pick-a-winner-and-make-crazy-predictions/">VentureBeat</a></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Image : VentureBeat</em></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled" id="jp-post-flair" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"></div></div>

The winner is … : PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

Hitting retail a mere one week apart, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (out now) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (due out Friday) simply offer too many things ...

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EA’s new CEO welcomes the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCGlFd4oSDwPm7NTkyiV4YEvu1VOZOLXcocEFnUNfLwC4Diklnzu3EwzJEkVpn09t_orI_cuA9THI4hyW_laON5CK3VKiZWYQVapvh9lVXjIWI7g9Yy797Kty6cUtxadAxUzL3TG2q4Qe/s1600/ps-4-andrew-wilson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCGlFd4oSDwPm7NTkyiV4YEvu1VOZOLXcocEFnUNfLwC4Diklnzu3EwzJEkVpn09t_orI_cuA9THI4hyW_laON5CK3VKiZWYQVapvh9lVXjIWI7g9Yy797Kty6cUtxadAxUzL3TG2q4Qe/s400/ps-4-andrew-wilson.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Plain and simple, we haven’t gotten the kind of early feedback we had hoped for on this game,” Wilson said of NBA Live. “I do think we have built a strong foundation, so we’re accelerating a number of game updates to address your biggest issues, including improving the way the game teaches the new gameplay controls. We promised to get back to top form with NBA LIVE, and we’re committed to delivering on that.  We are in this for the long haul.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s the text of his remarks.</span></div><blockquote style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: url(http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/venturebeat2/images/quotes.png); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 0px 32px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’re only one week into a new era in gaming, and what a wild few days this has been. I’d almost forgotten how intense console transitions are … almost. The hardware hits shelves and anticipation turns to excitement; the reviews come in for the consoles and the games; our live service teams start working to optimize fan experiences; and we’re actively listening to the community for their feedback.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’ve launched our five next-gen titles in North America, but that’s like having just cleared the first mile marker in a marathon … there’s a long ways to go. Last week brought us the PlayStation 4, today we’re excited to welcome the arrival of the Xbox One, and then comes the PS4 in Europe next week.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The critics agree that we are in top form to start this race on next-gen consoles – we’ve got the highest-rated games for fans of racing, sports and shooters — which is great news. Lots of fans are playing, too — in the first five days, players logged five million online game sessions and 140 million minutes of gameplay across our next-gen titles on PS4. All of this is a testament to talented teams and their commitment to taking risks and pushing hard for new innovation. I’m proud of how we’re embracing the next generation.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But we’re not celebrating. In fact, we’re still working hard. We have had our challenges with stability issues on Battlefield 4, and the DICE team is 100 percent focused on understanding and resolving the problems that some players have been having. We won’t rest until we get things fixed, so here are two things we’re committed to doing while we work to get it right: 1) all players will get a Double XP bonus and a cool new piece of game content as a way of saying thanks for your patience, and 2) you’ll get open and transparent communication with updates from us around the clock via the Battlefield 4 Control Room.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A quick word here on NBA Live as well. Executive producer Sean O’Brien just posted a thoughtful piece to NBA gamers that I would love for you to check out. Plain and simple, we haven’t gotten the kind of early feedback we had hoped for on this game. I do think we have built a strong foundation, so we’re accelerating a number of game updates to address your biggest issues, including improving the way the game teaches the new gameplay controls. We promised to get back to top form with NBA Live, and we’re committed to delivering on that. We are in this for the long haul.</span></div></blockquote><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/22/eas-new-ceo-celebrates-the-next-generation-consoles/">VentureBeat </a></span></i>

EA’s new CEO welcomes the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

“Plain and simple, we haven’t gotten the kind of early feedback we had hoped for on this game,” Wilson said of NBA Live. “I do think we have...

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'Super Mario 3D World' is the best reason to own a Wii U

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBaxQgZ1bReBISs4AzTflHGyLa-D73-dr219yhT66VJjuCul70cCmcBzcRFQd5MLJ0-_X5OERvNpZ47LhEEH1st8OlKkC2x91ncOmPjsOyAfHdgZUVZ8SzjpD-EmbibaU56AzGIvCoX0/s1600/sm.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBaxQgZ1bReBISs4AzTflHGyLa-D73-dr219yhT66VJjuCul70cCmcBzcRFQd5MLJ0-_X5OERvNpZ47LhEEH1st8OlKkC2x91ncOmPjsOyAfHdgZUVZ8SzjpD-EmbibaU56AzGIvCoX0/s1600/sm.PNG" /></a></span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It’s been easy to forget about the Wii U lately, with this month's high-profile launches of the PlayStation 4 and <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/20/5117320/microsoft-xbox-one-review">Xbox One</a>. In fact, it’s been easy to forget about the Wii U in general; Nintendo's console has sold poorly since its release last November, and truly exciting software has been all but non-existent. Until now.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph4"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Super Mario 3D World</i> is the best game on the Wii U by far, and arguably the best game to come out this holiday season on any platform. It sees Nintendo finally firing on all cylinders again, at a time when it's needed the most. It's Nintendo at its creative, playful, unhinged best.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph7"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nintendo typically uses its 3D <i>Super Mario</i> titles as a showcase for new hardware, so the design of <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> could have been cause for concern. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, it draws most of its influence from 2011's <i>Super Mario 3D Land</i>, a fantastic 3DS title that took many by surprise. Both games share the same isometric perspective and simple eight-way directional control; by limiting camera and player movement, the two come off as an accessible hybrid between previous 2D and 3D <i>Super Mario</i> releases. While the formula is proven, some will certainly feel slightly disappointed that the Wii U isn't seeing an all-new blueprint.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="snippet-n"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><img alt="3" class="photo" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3614047/sm3dw2.jpg" /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br /><div class="snippet-n"><div class="g8-3"><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph9"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> blows that notion away within minutes of its opening sequence. Even if the overarching design is something we've seen before, almost every individual stage is bursting with invention. As with the head-spinning <i>Super Mario Galaxy</i> games, Nintendo is more than happy to introduce a completely new gameplay concept only to discard it after a single level, and it's this momentum that ensures <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> is never predictable and never boring. You’ll ride white-water rapids atop a friendly dinosaur, learn to match your jumps to shifting platforms that appear in time with a disco-funk soundtrack, and guide Mario around a <i>Super Mario Kart</i>-inspired track that plays like nothing as much as an early <i>Sonic the Hedgehog</i> game. And that’s without spoiling some of the crazier stages in store.</span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph10"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Tight controls and level design are a given with <i>Super Mario</i>, though; the series' most successful games are the ones that best apply new, recurring elements to the existing template. On that count, too, <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> is a resounding success. You play the game as one of four protagonists — Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad, harkening back to <i>Super Mario Bros. 2</i> on the NES. Each has subtle differences in control: Luigi has a slightly more powerful jump than Mario, and Peach's ability to hover in midair makes her perhaps the strongest character. But the quartet can be controlled by up to four people at once, bringing the <i>New Super Mario Bros.</i> games' riotous multiplayer into 3D for the first time.</span></span></div><div class="snippet-n float-right"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><q>Almost every individual stage is bursting with invention</q></span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph11"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The new power-ups are also instant classics. Cat Mario is both the cutest and one of the most powerful abilities the Italian plumber has ever attained, letting him scamper up the side of walls, claw away attacking Goombas, and scale the top of the level-ending flagpoles for maximum points. Double Mario, meanwhile, is a mind-bending addition that sends clones to run alongside your character and mirror their every action. It’s sometimes a boon, but often sent me into paroxysms of rage as I failed to wrap my head around controlling as many as five Marios at once.</span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph12"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nintendo has specifically designed certain levels to provoke that sort of reaction, and I found myself gently cursing Kyoto for bestowing this "power" upon me. Still, letting one of them die doesn’t count as a lost life, and it does feel more fair to take on the Hammer Bros. when there are two of you. The power-up is also a neat way to handle some of the levels that were designed for several characters; although <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> occasionally feels a little lonely for the solo player, I rarely felt that the level design suffered from Nintendo’s collaborative focus.</span></span></div><div class="pgh-paragraph" id="paragraph12"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Via: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5133098/super-mario-3d-world-review">The Verge </a></i></span></span></div></div></div>

'Super Mario 3D World' is the best reason to own a Wii U

It’s been easy to forget about the Wii U lately, with this month's high-profile launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One . In fact, i...

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Microsoft's Xbox One launch: Everything you need to know

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgypArdspg9l5IEvLIJNGZg8ZYAzZmonXtjVFswW3bunQ0uynAOy2IYYKRqvANbx2HEyvtxga5P0HEnTEcQ3Z-905ZjwYMNq5kXMJQ1h2KUXmxPZvitmfMJtnFr_nGZsG5j4ELynEk3E/s1600/xb.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgypArdspg9l5IEvLIJNGZg8ZYAzZmonXtjVFswW3bunQ0uynAOy2IYYKRqvANbx2HEyvtxga5P0HEnTEcQ3Z-905ZjwYMNq5kXMJQ1h2KUXmxPZvitmfMJtnFr_nGZsG5j4ELynEk3E/s400/xb.PNG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The console wars just got kicked up a notch with the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One, which launched today following the Xbox 360’s eight-year run.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One also comes just one week after Sony released its own next-gen console, <a href="http://www.techhive.com/article/2064513/playstation-4-review-sonys-best-console-yet-is-off-to-a-shaky-start.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #25a7d7; text-decoration: none;">the Playstation 4</a>. While Sony has focused primarily on gaming with the PS4, Microsoft sees the Xbox One as a grand entertainment hub.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Users can hook up their cable boxes to console, and it’ll display a program guide that users can navigate with voice or motion controls. A split-screen Snap view, similar to the one in<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048508/windows-8-1-review-the-great-compromise.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #25a7d7; text-decoration: none;">Windows 8</a>, lets users view an app or video in a narrow sidebar while playing games at the same time.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea shows a lot of promise, but it also needs some refinement. As TechHive’s Jason Cross noted in his Xbox One review, voice control isn’t flawless, the console can’t directly access your cable box’s DVR, and some apps that we’d like to see, such as HBO Go, are missing at launch. The console also isn’t as tightly integrated with Facebook and Twitter as the rival PS4.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still about the games</span></h2><br /><figure class=" large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden;"><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></figcaption></figure><br /><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, the Xbox One is still largely about gaming, and while there’s been a lot of debate about whether Microsoft’s console can keep up with the PS4, many of the finer distinctions won’t be known until later in the console cycle. For now it comes down to some games having a slightly higher resolution on Sony’s console, though you can still see 1080p, 60 frames per second graphics on display in Forza 5, Microsoft’s exclusive racing game.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other Microsoft exclusives include the brawler Ryse: Son of Rome, the zombie thriller Dead Rising 3 and the fighting game Killer Instinct. Check out TechHive's list of the best Xbox One and PS4 launch titles if you're trying to decide what games to buy <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">today</em>. IGN’s website has a convenient list of launch games and “launch window” games coming by March 2014.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One Microsoft</span></h2><br /><figure class=" large" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Xbox One SmartGlass app" border="0" height="326" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/11/xbox-one-smartglass-pc-100069042-large.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" width="580" /></span><small class="credit" style="background-image: url(http://zapt5.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/backgroundwhite70.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: block; float: left; font-size: 9px; margin-top: -16px; padding: 1px 3px 2px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">MICROSOFT</span></small><figcaption style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></figcaption></figure><br /><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One is also Microsoft’s attempt to make its game console part of the larger Windows-based ecosystem. Although the Xbox One is not a PC, it runs on x86 architecture, and the operating system is based on the Windows kernel. Some synergies are already apparent: You can access Microsoft services such as Skype, SkyDrive, and Xbox Music through the console, and the SmartGlass app for Windows (plus iOS and Android) lets you navigate the console with your nearest touch screen. But over time, the Windows kernel will also help developers create apps for all of Microsoft devices more easily.</span></div><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-top: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hiccups</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wouldn’t be a console launch without hiccups, and Microsoft is dealing with its fair share. Already there are reports of faulty disc drives and scratched cases. Sony has its own complaints of broken consoles to deal with, but hopefully we won’t see anything as widespread as the Red Ring of Death this time around.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One sells for $500, which is $100 more than the PS4, largely because of the included Kinect camera. But if you didn’t pre-order, you may have trouble getting the console anytime soon. It’s completely sold out on Microsoft’s Website, Amazon, Best Buy and GameStop.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2066205/microsofts-xbox-one-launch-everything-you-need-to-know.html">PCWold</a></span></i></div>

Microsoft's Xbox One launch: Everything you need to know

The console wars just got kicked up a notch with the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One, which launched today following the Xbox 360’s eight-yea...

Read more »