Xbox Bets On Zune Media Tunes

Microsoft continues to seek ways in which to join the media delivery party. They have tried devices, mobile operating systems, apps, services and have had one notable success – the Xbox.

The Zune Media service was a flop and discontinued earlier this year along with the device. Microsoft then went on to help create Nook Media and before Nook has taken off, we now have the news that Xbox Music will be available on the Xbox 360 games console this week and available on Windows-based devices once Windows 8 is released later in the month.

With a database of some 30 million tracks, the Xbox Music catalogue claims to be larger than even that of Apple's iTunes, which only has a mere 26 million tracks. But is volume enough when we are talking of a greater depth of music than even the connoisseur would expect?

However, like Spotify before it, Zune Media will offer a free version of the service, enabling users to stream music, with adverts appearing every 15 minutes. This may not be what Xbox users expected but Microsoft have carried out research which claims that some 60% of Xbox owners time on their consoles is spent using entertainment services rather than playing video games. Does this therefore mean that the consoles could become a sort of media tablet or platform? After all if one has invested in the console why buy another device to do the same and if that is the case why not use Zune Media for music?

So the Xbox can support Netflix, BBC iPlayer and sports TV network ESPN and now Zune Media and the obvious question is how this fits with Nook Media and ebooks?

The challenge, maybe to not build on the Microsoft brand, but to redefine it cleanly around the Xbox itself. However, naming the new service after a 'dead duck' is not a good omen on a service which is clearly about collections that are meant to last even if they are on-demand. It also begs the strategy direction Microsoft aim to take with Nook Media?

Kinect Officially The Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device

What holds the record as the fastest selling consumer electronics device? Could it be the iPhone, Kindle, iPad , Playstation, xBox, or was it the good old Sony Walkman?

The answer is happening as we speak and is Microsoft’s Kinect sensor system, which since its launch on 4 November, has sold over 10 million units. Guinness World Records claim, that no other consumer electronics device has sold faster within a 60-day time span and has declared it, the fastest-selling consumer electronics device on record.

Kinect is an infrared camera addition for Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console that allows the system to track body movements. It's, like Parnav Mistry’s TED insight into the future, offers a cleaner and more sensible human interface with the machine. It uses four microphones, a dedicted processor plus a colour VGA motion camera that can track movements at 30FPS. Kinect is the first mass-produced device that controls a video game via motion and voice control and without the need to hold any controller.



Why do we still have to type in words, have one dimensional controls on our laptops and even tablets? It's just under a year since we wrote about the exciting world of Mistry and through Kinect it is here today. With natural human interfaces, will come huge changes that will fundamentally change how we do everything and interact with devices. This is no longer in the labs and the Kinect shows that people want it and if priced right, it flys off the shelf. Now if only someone would make that leap forward on a tablet.

'Rock Band' Book The Beatles

The Beatles music may still not be available for sale on iTunes but soon many will be able to experience them in their own room and live the dream of being part of the fab four.

The game "Rock Band" has announced a special gig. They are to produce a special edition of the game staring the perhaps greatest rock group of all time: The Beatles. The game will be made for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and will debut on 9th September, along with accompanying instruments for sale that have been modeled after the ones used by the band.

MTV Games said ‘As we moved through the creative process, it just seemed to make sense to clearly highlight the association between The Beatles game and the critically acclaimed "Rock Band" franchise’. The association continues with Giles Martin, son of Beatles producer George Martin, developing the game.