220°

Microsoft: ‘The Three Most Important Consumer Devices’ – Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7 & Windows PC

During Microsoft’s CES keynote Press Conference during the early hours of this morning, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Steve Ballmer, made a bold statement. While discussing the progress made in 2010, Ballmer suggested that the, “Three most important consumer devices,” are the Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7 and the Windows PC.

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electronictheatre.co.uk
andron5287d ago

I think someone sniffed their deodorant again. LOL...

Anarki5287d ago

LMAO Windows is even getting more and more shittier. I've never even saw a windows 7 phone..., ever and the xbox 360 is decent but by far not the most important device, considering their rivals line up of content is far superior in every aspect.

zootang5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

Isn't it about time for the MS is doomed articles? The future is bleak for Microsoft.

darthv725287d ago

Considering MS doesnt make TV's or other types of consumer electronics. It is obvious that their 3 most important consumer areas would be the 360, the WP7 OS and the PC.

He is not saying those 3 as in general for everything. Just what relates to MS.

RedDragan5287d ago

Hell no, LOL, Maybe.

In order that they listed in the title.

norman295287d ago

I only have one of these so called 'Important Consumer Devices' and thats because it came as standard with my PC, and its not that important as can easily be swapped with Linux, now the other two i just have no interest in at all but please Steve Ballmer pray do tell what makes these the most important out of the millions of other devices out there? what tests have you gone through? what where your comparisons?

Shang-Long5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

Opinionated - since I'm a consumer and

My 3 are

1- my iPhone
2-my PS3
3- my mac

Arup025287d ago

"LMAO Windows is even getting more and more shittier" Why are you using a PC with windows?

NoBias5287d ago

In no specific order, my:

• Macbook Pro
• Canon 7D
• PS3
• 360

Those 4 are always my carry-ons when I fly.

Gawdl3y5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

1. I have a PS3
2. I usually use Ubuntu, not Windows (although I do have it in a separate partition, for when I want to use Steam without having to use Wine)
3. Android > Windows Phone 7

NoBias5287d ago

Oh yeah.. I guess I forgot my phone as well ha.

• Samsung Vibrant

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 5287d ago
nycredude5287d ago

I had a windows phone and it did nothing bu give me headaches, freezing all the time and there is nothing on the market. So I hacked the pohone to run Android and voila I love my phone now so I have to disagree.

I owned a xbox 360 for about a year or so and it didn't blow me away so I traded it in. Strike 2

Windows 7 is good to me on my laptop so 1 out of 3 is pretty decent, if you are playing baseball.

darthv725287d ago

considering the phone is just that...the phone. It could be loaded with whatever OS is supported by the hardware. MS doesnt make phones, just the OS. Sounds to me like the problem was how the OS had to deal with the hardware inside.

Just like a PC. Not every one will run the same OS the same way. Do you have samsung or HTC? I think...both are also available in android flavors which is why the Android OS would work as well.

If you can get the Android OS to load on your phone then I am wondering if anyone has tried to load the WP7 OS in a similar way to a current droid phone. Interoperability.....something Apple has a hard time adjusting to.

Blacktric5287d ago

It'd be better if he said "two of the most important consumer devices; Windows PC and Xbox 360." Windows Phone 7's are really new to be considered "most important". And we have yet to see killer applications for it.

Christopher5287d ago

Crap! What do I do with my iPhone and Kindle now?

nycredude5287d ago

Iphone, heck even Android runs rins around the Windows phone. MS is master of Hype.

GWAVE5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

That picture of Ballmer reminds me of Chris Farley's Bennett "air quotes" Brauer skit.

Maybe I'm not "camera friendly", I don't "wear clothes that fit me", I'm not a "heartbreaker", I haven't "had sex with a woman", I don't know "how that works".

http://www.hulu.com/watch/1...

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5287d ago
mrv3215287d ago

Well he's hardly going to say

PS3, Android and Linux now. I find it worrying him referring to it as WINDOWS PC, it's like the first stage before going Windows 8 which is a bad move, Windows 7 is fine, I dislike the 1GB OF RAM ON IDDLE. I know it sounds really trivial but that's a lot, remember when you could do the same as you do now with 512mb of RAM. My old machine which ran Ubuntu out of the box used 400-500, Xubuntu and Lubuntu far less.

I use it purely for gaming, if DirectX was more open and all my games supported Ubuntu I'd run Ubuntu without a question, simply because Ubuntu feels more like an OS. In Windows 7 when you click open on a PDF file which is common it download, then Acronbat open, takes a consderable amount longer. Under Ubuntu you'd click open and it'd open. The softwere, isn't running on the OS either, but in it. I can click update and the OS would go out and find updates to all my stuff, download and install it. In Windows most stuff have seperate stuff, this was like how old PC gaming was, now we have steam.

Ubuntu vs 7, if you don't run games atleast try and dual boot, after you set everything up which takes about 30 minutes you may find yourself not going back. I went from vista to Ubuntu and it was just so much better.

FrankMcSpank5287d ago

I would say the 3 most important consumer devices are:
iPhone
PC/MAC
The Matrix

Cherchez La Ghost5287d ago

iPhone?! Seriously?!

Andriod is running the show.

trevonn955287d ago

a fresh install of ubuntu for me only takes up 200MB on idle

Ducky5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

Aye, the moment (and if) Steam actually starts supporting Linux then I'll switch over in a heartbeat.

Although the Linux-side of the lawn isn't a rose garden either. Especially with the zealots that believe everything should be open and that if you aren't compiling the OS from source and hand-picking your modules then you're doing it wrong.
... but small radical portion of users asside, the actual software is amazing for everything... except gaming. =(

Masterchef20075287d ago

the minute games start running on Ubuntu i will be switching for sure Vista stinks

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koehler835287d ago

Half of one out of three ain't bad.

Well.. I mean.. it's a failure by just about any standard... but for Ballmer, it ain't bad.

showtimefolks5287d ago

the list has some right

windows is easy to use better than vista but XP was the best
Iphone for good reasons but not going with at&t no way i am paying that much for 3g
ps3/xbox360

both systems are great let's just put it like that some gamers have games that they like to play on xbox360 others are fine with ps3.

psn should add some features like party system/chat but other than that i use psn and its just fine could it improve yes. has it improved YEH so give it some time

to be quite honest windows phone doesn't seem all that good but i have yet to try to but from just the advertisement it ain't nothing special

Hellsvacancy5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

"Lol" isnt a big enough word 2 use right, NO-1 takes MS seriously these days anyway

Hell im STILL usin XP, not 4 much longer though, im gonna buy a Mac next week (or maybe 2moz)

Ducky5287d ago (Edited 5287d ago )

I'd consider MS the lesser of two evils there.

Something about that black turtle-neck just rubs me off the wrong way.

DeathMetal14745286d ago

paying double the price for half the performance. MAC has no games, no blu ray, no software.

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210°

Looming Xbox layoffs threaten Microsoft's reputation

Even as the company sets out to overhaul the very definition of Xbox, cuts at its studios risk creating a negative image reminiscent of EA's worst era

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gamesindustry.biz
Jingsing1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

I appreciate the article but this guy must be living in a delayed universe, The reputation was ruined 10+ years ago and hasn't recovered since. As such people have voted with their wallets and stopped buying Xbox products in large amounts.

1d 7h ago Replies(1)
isarai1d 3h ago

What reputation is this threatening exactly? 😂

Lightning771d ago

Rumors of Turn 10 being either shut down or hit with massive lay offs is on the horizon.

The issue is MS will do something right only to do something very, very wrong. And they do this what seems calculative at this point. Doesn't matter what they do the Investors and leadership want more and more money an endless bottomless pit of purr insatiable greed. A company that acts like it's broke or hurting is what really, really infuriates me. They've surpassed apple again well over 3 trillion who acts like they're a million dollar company is fk stupid. Pivots and changes for no reason and can't do things for more than a year with out a pivot or changing their metrics.

Christopher3h ago

That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest.

1Victor3h ago

@christopher: “ That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest”
The key word big can be ether good or bad 🤷🏿only time can tell

DarXyde1h ago

First Forza being generated entirely via AI?

If any company would do it, it'd be them.

4h agoReplies(2)
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660°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

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theverge.com
4d ago Replies(1)
4d ago Replies(1)
Obscure_Observer4d ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

4d ago
pwnmaster30004d ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

4d ago
Obscure_Observer4d ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger4d ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30004d ago (Edited 4d ago )

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole3d ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

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Tacoboto4d ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing694d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif4d ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing694d ago (Edited 4d ago )

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif4d ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4d ago
-Foxtrot4d ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast4d ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts4d ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto4d ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

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Profchaos4d ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo3d ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

TheExecutioner3d ago

Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.

Sonic18813d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Are you and Anast the same person?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 3d ago
4d ago
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260°

AMD CEO Shares Vision Behind Xbox Partnership and Next-Gen Chip Roadmap

AMD CEO Lisa Su talks about the Xbox AMD partnership, next-gen Ryzen + Radeon chips, and AI rendering tech coming to all Xbox devices.

Read Full Story >>
clouddosage.com
Obscure_Observer9d ago

AMD is really building hype around their unique partnership with Microsoft to help and build an advanced and seamless Xbox ecosystem across all Xbox consoles and devices.

I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimized chips" though? Seems ambitious.

Next year´s Xbox Showcase already looks promising and exciting. Here´s hoping they deliver.

InUrFoxHole8d ago

They had best show 3yrs in a row. Heading for another

VenomUK8d ago

Obscure_Observer said “I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimised chips" though? Seems ambitious.” To me, I interpret this to mean rather than having a couple of X/S products for launch and a handheld there is a longer term plan to release new products with higher specs at timed intervals. I’m speculating of course, but this could mean a spec bump every year or two, so that even if the PS6 or Steam Deck Home is released a year after ‘Xbox’ Microsoft can release an updated model that has a higher spec.

Agent758d ago

But Microsoft forgot the games.

KwietStorm_BLM8d ago

It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever.

Ganif8d ago

Correct.

"Sony's PlayStation 6 reportedly will feature an AMD semi-custom APU with a Zen 5 CPU and UDNA GPU, capable of 4K 120FPS and 8K 60FPS gaming. The console will include X3D cache and advanced AI upscaling technology."

https://www.tweaktown.com/n...

Obscure_Observer8d ago

"It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever."

I doubt that AMD´s CEO would waste her time making this huge and important partnership announcement over a tech that will be 7 years old by the those next gen consoles will be released.

Notellin8d ago

You should have just lead this comment with the fact that you have zero understanding of technology in the consoles and instead have a Toms Hardware online forum level of education.

Obscure_Observer5d ago

"It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever"

I´d told you were on some bs

https://www.pcgamesn.com/wp...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5d ago
Agent758d ago

But Microsoft forgot the games

Obscure_Observer8d ago

@VenomUK

"I’m speculating of course, but this could mean a spec bump every year or two, so that even if the PS6 or Steam Deck Home is released a year after ‘Xbox’ Microsoft can release an updated model that has a higher spec."

Very interesting theory. Still not sure how MS would actually make it work.

KwietStorm_BLM7d ago

"I doubt that AMD´s CEO would waste her time making this huge and important partnership announcement over a tech that will be 7 years old by the those next gen consoles will be released."

How old is the tech in consoles? It's not a huge announcement. It's marketing and you know it is.

Obscure_Observer7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

"How old is the tech in consoles? It's not a huge announcement. It's marketing and you know it is."

Dude, what I know for certain is that a tech as old as X3D chips which is actually *older* than both PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, is hardly the reason behind this new partnership between AMD and MS to build new *custom silicon* for next generation of consoles.

And yes it´s a huge announcement since AMD is working closely with MS to co-develop custom SoC which will allow backwards compatibility across all MS´s next gen devices allowing seamless integration between devices and full backwards compatibility across all generations of Xbox consoles.

I also know is that this announcement don´t have anything to do with Playstation and their strategy with AMD for the PS6, so stop comparing the two pretending that you know what´s going on, because you clearly don´t.

If Sony is working on something remotely similar, that´s remain to be seen.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
Fishy Fingers9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

Some odd, deliberate wording, no branding, not 'Xbox consoles, Xbox handhelds' specifically, feels and sounds like they're building towards hardware that anyone can be used or licensed to/by themselves and other manufacturers.

Multiplatform software and hardware 'Xbox/AMD APU'.

Obscure_Observer9d ago

I guess you missed Sarah Bond´s next generation Xbox announcement this week, were she clearly states:

"I´m thrilled to share that we´ve established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices, including, *our* next generation *Xbox consoles*."

But hey, I don´t think you´re entirely wrong, maybe MS will build their own Xbox consoles while licencing other manufactures to build and sell their own Xbox branded consoles. Who knows

BeHunted8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

I think you watched the wrong video. It's below the description, or you can watch it directly on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/kprpRvsOua...

HyperMoused9d ago

Shares vision....we provide chips for money, this deal will sell many chips, we will make lots of money...good vision

Christopher9d ago

The marketing behind this is so heavy that I worry about the actual outcome. Why are they just not showing us the product, why all this talking in market speak?

Lightning778d ago

Probably because the next xbox isn't ready to release yet?

The marketing and rumors seem to be heavy out of no where. The rumor was a 27 release but it maybe it could be 26 new console launch instead.

Who knows.

Eonjay8d ago

There PR is alrways super heavy handed. No one is acutally buying an Xbox as is.
Also it is very early to be talking so much about a next gen console.

Obscure_Observer8d ago

There´s a lot of people interested on Xbox Next and its ability to run games from major stores like Steam.

We know that the PS6 is just around the corner as well, but so far, no news on what it might improve over the PS5 or PS5 Pro.

However, Sony already made public that their priority and actual focus is the PS6. So its not "very early" to talk about next gen when the very console manufactures are talking about it.

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