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| Microsoft's Ballmer |
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.
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.
But Microsoft is in the hardware business, too, with Xbox, Surface, Windows Phone and Perceptive Pixel (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.
"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."
"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.
Ballmer called Xbox -- in which he played an instrumental role in shepherding -- 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.
Microsoft's first-generation Surface devices got mixed marks. The Redmondians ended up having to write down nearly $1 billion worth of Surface RT devices and component parts in 2013.
"We still need to upgrade and we still need to upgrade and improve, and that's part of the Nokia acquisition," Ballmer conceded.
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 $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia's mobile devices and services business. (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.)
Ballmer: 'We had areas of vulnerability in competing with Apple'
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.
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."
As expected, Microsoft's OEMs, some of whom said publicly they felt blind-sided by Microsoft's decision to make its own devices, were none too happy about the move. But Ballmer insisted Microsoft had no choice.
"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."
Ballmer said management's area of concern was in the high end of the device market.
"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.
"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.
"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.
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.
"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.
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.)
"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.
Via: ZDNet
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| 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 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| Xbox One |
Via: The Verge
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| 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 many, cash is king and the $100 price difference might well swing things in favor of the PlayStation 4.
Titles
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.
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.
Sensors
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.
Ecosystem and social
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.
Conclusion
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.
Source : ZDNet
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 firmInfoScout.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Source : VentureBeat
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 Xbox One and PlayStation 4 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.
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?
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) — well over a dozen more can be found in our supplement.
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.
Via: The Verge
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 Xbox One, 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 with Valve's Steam Controller as part of the package deal.
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.
Source : The Verge
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.
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.
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.
A recent Bloomberg article 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.
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 July report in Reuters. Wall Street commentators such as Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund routinely say Microsoft would be stronger if the Xbox were spun off. Reuters also reported in October that several major shareholders feel Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is blocking the radical changes the company must make-- further indication of the contentiousness that surrounds Microsoft's future tactics.
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.
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.
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 $111 billion by 2015, a 19% increase over this year, so if the Xbox One expands on the Xbox 360's reach, the spoils could be substantial.
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.
Source : InformationWeek
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