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Free Xbox Music streaming to stop in December
The free music streaming feature for Xbox Music will be discontinued on December 1, Microsoft revealed on an Xbox Support page for the service. The company said it is "focusing Xbox Music to deliver the ultimate music purchase and subscription service experience for our customers" with Xbox Music Pass, its $10/month music streaming plan. Announced at E3 2012, Xbox Music arrived in October of that year as a Zune replacement and Spotify competitor. It took nearly a year before the service reached iOS and Android, just two months before Microsoft began closing down the Zune Marketplace. Those interested in trying out the paid music streaming service can sign up for a 30-day trial on Microsoft's site. [Image: Microsoft]
Windows Phone 8.1 leak reveals new messaging and storage settings, and more
Up until now, the most we'd heard about the next rumored update to Microsoft's Windows Phone OS centered on two features: Cortana, the company's Siri-like digital assistant, and Action Center, its native notification center. Today, however, we have a clearer idea of where Windows Phone 8.1 could be headed thanks to a Reddit user who's allegedly gained access to the new SDK as part of Microsoft's developer preview program.
Xbox multimedia exec steps down, cites Microsoft's new 'direction'
In the face of a CEO switch-up and massive internal reorganization at Microsoft, the Xbox business has seemed the closest thing to stable inside the company. But Redmond's entertainment wing is hardly immune; Variety reports that Blair Westlake, VP of Microsoft's Media and Entertainment Group, has just resigned. "It has become clear to me that the organization is moving in a direction that does not fit either my expertise or my skill sets," Westlake explained in a statement yesterday. He also added, "I truly believe that this move is in the best interest of all parties concerned." Since 2004, he's headed up both media partnerships and licensing agreements for Xbox, and it's largely to Westlake's credit that the Xbox platform expanded to include respectable music and video content in addition to a full library of games. Westlake's departure may cause some hiccups in the entertainment department, but original content is still on the agenda; expect to see a new series or two (including a live-action take on Halo) on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in the coming months.
Morning news roundup for January 9, 2014
Morning everyone! It's a happy day for most Americans as today is the day that sees the polar vortex beginning to leave the country. Average temps will heat up by 10 degrees. Here's your morning news roundup for January 9 to go with the thaw. The timing of Apple's next earning calls has upset many AAPL investors. Apple's earnings call is scheduled for January 27th, four days later than anticipated, leaving options traders taking heavy loses. The Xbox Music for iPhone app now allows for offline listening. One of the biggest complaints about Microsoft's Xbox Music app, released for the iPhone in September, was it didn't support offline listening. Microsoft has fixed that with the newest update. Yahoo busted for having employees write App Store reviews of its own apps. BuzzFeed has called Yahoo out for seemingly having its employees review its own apps in the App Store. As evidence, they point to the large percentage of positive reviews that appeared immediately after the launch of Yahoo's new Yahoo News Digest app. The 32-mile long underground Channel Tunnel that runs between England and France will get 3G and LTE service for UK travelers. This is great news for UK-based iPhone owners as previously they would need to subscribe to a French telecom to use their iPhone in the Chunnel.
Zune Marketplace to close its doors 'as early as' November 22
According to an email from Microsoft, the Zune Marketplace, precursor to Xbox Music, will no longer support rental, purchase or browsing of content "as early as" November 22, the same day as the Xbox One launch. Those looking to replace or transfer their content can look instead to Xbox Video, which allows for purchase or rental of content using local currency (as opposed to the recently retired Microsoft Points), or Xbox Music, which streams content. Both services will be available on the Xbox One. If you were previously a Zune user and log into Xbox Music with your Microsoft account, the service will display your local library as a virtual collection. Any video content previously purchased from Zune will likewise transfer over to Xbox Video. If you have any remaining Microsoft Points, you can convert them to your local currency by purchasing content or redeeming a code for Microsoft Points. Although the Zune Marketplace is on its way out, Zune hardware will remain usable. Microsoft PR confirmed to Joystiq that owners of Zune hardware will still be able to enjoy playback of previously-purchased content from their personal collection on their devices.
Xbox Music available now on iOS, Android
Xbox Music, Microsoft's tune-streaming replacement for Zune, is now available on iOS and Android. The free app allows users to listen to the service's available jams online, with offline playlist syncing arriving on mobile devices "in the coming months." Windows, iOS and Android users will also get "artist-based radio" features this fall. Streaming music to mobile devices requires an Xbox Music Pass, which is $9.99 per month/$99 per year for Xbox Live Gold users. Microsoft is offering a free month trial for the premium, ad-free tier as well.
Microsoft launches 'Xbox Music' streaming radio service for iPhone
Just weeks before Apple is expected to release its iTunes Radio streaming-music service, Microsoft has released Xbox Music for iPhone. Xbox Music was first unveiled last October and allows users to listen to ad-supported or ad-free music (depending on whether they have a paying subscription or not) on their Microsoft devices, such as Windows Phone, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. With today's launch on iPhone and Android phones, Microsoft appears to acknowledge that it thinks Apple's iTunes Radio could become a big player on the streaming-music front -- something it hopes to stave off with the expansion of Xbox Music. Today's release of the app offers users the following: Stream ad-free music from a catalog of tens of millions of songs. Add songs, albums and playlists to your Xbox Music collection and access them from other devices. Create playlists that sync across your phone, Xbox 360, PC, tablet and the web. Listen to music while using your iPhone. Listen to artist-based radio stations. Enjoy a rich visual experience for searching, viewing and playing back music. The company also says it will be releasing an update soon that will allow users to download music for offline listening. Though Xbox Music is a free download, mobile users will be required to have an Xbox Music Pass to listen to the service on their iPhone. Xbox Music Passes are available for a free 30-day trial, but cost US$9.99 a month after that.
Xbox Music update adds volume control, cloud syncing and performance boost
Several Windows 8 apps, including Calendar, Mail and People, received updates just yesterday, and today Microsoft's Xbox Music is getting a refresh of its own. The music app's update brings both performance improvements to Windows RT devices and some new functionality. Among the new features is a volume control that sets the app's volume independent of the system's volume. The update also brings the ability to automatically sync your music collection to the cloud and add songs from your collection to other devices running Xbox music. Finally, as you can see in the screen grab above, there's a new playing UI that displays all tracks from an album in addition to the song currently playing. You can check out the update yourself by clicking through to the Windows Store via the source link.
Windows 8 review
It's unusual, to say the least, for us to spend a year with a product before publishing our review. In the case of Windows 8, we've written thousands of words already, starting with our first hands-on in September of 2011, followed by deep dives on the Developer Preview, Consumer Preview, Release Preview and RTM build. Even our readers have had ample time to get acquainted with the OS -- it's been available as a public download since February. And yet, we've never tested a final version of the software running on brand new, made-for-Windows-8 hardware. With the OS now on sale (alongside dozens of new PCs), it's finally time for us to double back and revisit everything we've previously written in the form of a final, comprehensive review. And what a challenging assignment this was: it's hard enough to give an OS the full review treatment without burying the reader in minute details. It's even tougher when the software was built for so many different kinds of hardware. Combining a traditional desktop with Windows Phone-inspired Live Tiles, Windows 8 was designed to be equally at home on traditional PCs and more finger-friendly devices, like tablets and hybrids. In addition to walking you through the operating system's various gestures and built-in apps, then, we'll spend some time talking about which form factors are best suited to this redesigned version of Windows. Read on to see what we found out.
PSA: Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update rolling out today
Your chance to shout voice commands at Engadget is coming today, as Microsoft is rolling out its Fall Dashboard update to the Xbox 360 today, headlined by the inclusion of Internet Explorer. The update also adds a version of its popular "pinning" functionality, a variety of specialized sports apps (NBA, NHL, and Monday Night Football from ESPN), the ability to recommend and rate content, and some UI tweaks across all of the 360 Dashboard's categories. Xbox Music is also in there, as is SmartGlass support, though the latter won't have any functionality until October 26, according to Microsoft's Major Nelson. The update may not come immediately, as it's being rolled out gradually across various regions. 3 million folks get in this week, while others may not see it until a week or two from now, says Microsoft. We've got a full hands-on right here for you to read in the meantime, of course.
Microsoft's Xbox Music to challenge iTunes, others
Microsoft has announced Xbox Music, a digital music service designed to work initially with the 67 million Xbox gaming consoles that have been sold since 2005. With Xbox Music, Microsoft wants to challenge the dominance of Apple's iTunes and services like Pandora. The service debuts on the Xbox tomorrow, and will be expanded to Windows Surface and Windows 8 on October 26. Eventually, Microsoft plans to provide Xbox Music software for iOS and Android devices as well. Xbox Music features cloud music storage similar to Apple iTunes storage in iCloud and Amazon's Cloud Player. For fans of Spotify and Pandora, Xbox Music will provide an artist-based radio function. If you can put up with ads, Microsoft offers a free music streaming service; otherwise, you can pay $9.99 monthly for a subscription to ad-free streaming. Xbox Music will initially be available in 22 countries, and provides a download-to-own music store containing over 30 million songs -- more than the iTunes library of over 26 million songs. Xbox console owners also have exclusive access to more than 70,000 music videos. Microsoft is replacing the failed Zune device and service with Xbox Music after discovering that Xbox users were spending more than half of their time on entertainment services -- music and movies -- rather than gaming.
With the launch of Xbox Music, Zune is truly no more (update: Zune Pass users get 1,000 Microsoft point parting gift)
It's over, folks. Or at least nearly over. Write it down -- time of death: 12:01AM ET, October 16. That's when the Zune brand is officially no more, and "Xbox Music/Video" and its store replace the Zune Marketplace; the final, quiet end of a brand that's been waning for years. "Yes, the Zune brand is gone, and the Zune products are gone," Xbox Music GM Jerry Johnson told us in a meeting last week. While Zune devices will still work with Windows 7, and the Zune Pass simply becomes the Xbox Music Pass, the brand is effectively no more, joining the Kin and Microsoft Bob in the annals of MS history. Bizarrely, the branding will continue on for Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 users, with the Zune Marketplace mirroring Xbox Music's content. That's likely due to Xbox Music being exclusive to Windows 8 devices (which includes the Xbox 360, despite its age, and Windows Phone 8) -- Microsoft promises a continued focus on Xbox Music going forward, while Zune support drops out. In the end, though Zune was a failure for Microsoft, Johnson said it was a worthwhile learning experience for the company. "The Zune brand got associated with a device, and what we did with Xbox Music is actually turn around and say, 'Let's build something from the ground up, leveraging what we've learned from a lot of these different things.' But it's not gonna be device-centric, it's gonna be service-centric," he explained. In Johnson's eyes, the failure of Zune as a brand is directly tied to the failure of Zune as a device -- and having the highly successful Xbox brand tied to its media offerings, he's hoping to skirt previous negative perceptions and relaunch Microsoft's place in media delivery. Whether that'll happen remains to be seen, but either way, this is the final nail in the Zune's coffin -- not just as a device, but as a thing in the world. Update: Looks like Microsoft hasn't forgotten the loyalty of the diehards who stayed with Zune until the end, as Zune Music Pass users are getting 1,000 Microsoft Points for free along with the switch to Xbox Music.
Xbox: The new face of 'entertainment' at Microsoft, beyond just video games
The most striking takeaway from a recent meeting I had with Xbox Music GM Jerry Johnson wasn't the Spotify-like service he was in New York City to show off, but rather what he said about a much larger internal change at Microsoft. Having been relegated to the world of video games for the past decade, Microsoft is opening up its Xbox branding to a larger world of media. "'Xbox' is actually going from thinking about gaming in a device to being the entertainment face for all of Microsoft," Johnson said -- a major change from the Xbox name's place as a stand-in for "the Halo and Gears of War box," trotted out once or twice annually by lower level execs from the Washington-based software giant. "That's what the company -- all the way up to Steve Ballmer -- have gotten behind. That's why you're gonna see movies on Windows 8 slates, you're gonna see music, and it's gonna be branded as 'Xbox.'," he explained. This naming convention carries to Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 RT as well -- all post-Windows 7 Microsoft devices (and Xbox 360) will refer to music and video libraries as "Xbox Music" and "Xbox Video," respectively. But to many, that shift could be confusing. Isn't "Xbox" that thing in the living room? When "Xbox Music" shows up on Windows 8 devices later this month, will your average user understand that, no, they don't have to own an Xbox to listen to the music therein? Johnson's not worried about that potential reality. "The brand has continued to evolve," he argued. "I don't think it's left anything behind, I think it's broadened the number of people who engage in these type of experiences. And Microsoft as a company I think recognizes that, and it's more about Xbox meaning 'entertainment.'"%Gallery-168341%
Xbox Music plays tomorrow on 360, Windows 8 booked for launch
Xbox Music, Microsoft's Spotify-like replacement for Zune, debuts on Xbox 360 tomorrow. Engadget reports the service is available via an Xbox Music Pass (formerly Zune Pass) subscription, $9.99 per month/$99 per year for Xbox Live Gold users.Microsoft also confirmed Xbox Music is coming to Windows 8 PCs and tablets at launch on October 26, on which the service offers unlimited free streaming for the first six months. Xbox Music Pass subscribers don't suffer ads, and can store tracks for offline listening. After six months, streaming becomes time-limited without Xbox Music Pass. Another difference between the Windows 8 and Xbox Live versions is that the latter cannot be run in the background.The above video showcases some of Xbox Music's features, including unlimited skipping and Smart DJ, the latter creating radio stations based on a particular album, artist, or song you select. It launches tomorrow on Xbox 360 with 30 million global songs (18 million for the US), and users can try it out for zip, nada, and niente via a 30 day free trial. Xbox Music is also coming to Windows 8 phones (with the same model as on Xbox 360) "shortly after" Windows 8 launches and other unannounced platforms "at a later date."
Xbox Music heads to Xbox 360 first tomorrow, PC / tablets on Oct. 26, WP8 soon after; we go hands-on
When Xbox Music goes live tomorrow on the Xbox 360, console owners will be the first to access the Spotify-esque service from Microsoft. Well, some of them will at least -- existing Zune Pass subscribers (now an "Xbox Music Pass") and folks willing to pony up $9.99/month or $99.90/year who also have an Xbox Live Gold account gain access to Xbox Music's 30 million global song database via data stream (18 million songs for those of us in the US). Okay, okay, a free trial is available for 30 days. After that, though, 360 owners lose access unless they pay up. Then, on October 26, Windows 8 PC and tablet users get the service for free -- with or without the Xbox Music Pass -- albeit with ads laced in. Windows Phone 8 is in the same boat with Xbox folks: no song-specific streaming without an Xbox Music Pass. That won't arrive until some time "soon after" the PC/tablet version. Microsoft says the ad-supported free streaming is unlimited on PC and tablet, but that's only for the first six months, after which it becomes time limited. A bummer for sure, but Microsoft's banking on you digging the service enough to snag an Xbox Music Pass. But will you? Like with Spotify and Pandora, some basic artist info, album/song info, and images garnish playing tracks, though not all artists are created equal -- some artists had no images, while others had a detailed dossier. Microsoft says it's adding more all the time, though. Xbox Music Pass holders can hang on to tracks for offline listening as well, which show up in your library and can be added to playlists. And should you wish to listen to a "Smart" radio station based on an artist/song/album, you can employ the "Smart DJ" (previously "Smart Playlist") to create just such a station. The whole shebang is tied directly to your Microsoft login, mirroring settings and library data on all your devices (Xbox 360 included) across the cloud. That same concept applies to playback, as you can pause a song on one device and pick it up right where you left off on another. Songs can also be purchased through the streaming service with or without the Xbox Music Pass, should you really want to hold onto that Barry Manilow track.%Gallery-168341%
Windows 8 defaults direct cash payments for music and movies, puts Microsoft Points on backburner
Microsoft's real money to "Points" conversion has always been a point of contention among consumers, but that may all be about to change -- if the Windows 8 Zune Marketplace is any indicator, that is. Movies and music purchased via Windows 8 no longer default to the bizarre indirect system Microsoft set in place years ago with its Xbox Live platform, instead allowing actual currency for payment as well as MS Points (Windows 8 exclusively used the MS Point system for media purchases throughout beta). In fact, the system even automatically selects hard currency as the standard, reports The Verge. The MS Point system converts 80 MS Points to $1, and points much be purchased in a minimum of 400 point blocks -- a practice criticized as both deceptive and consumer hostile. Points were first implemented on Microsoft's Xbox 360 for purchase of games and associated content on Xbox Live Marketplace; the practice has since expanded to Microsoft's Zune music and movie platform, as well as Xbox.com. Direct payment is available as well, but only for select content, such as Games on Demand. As of this morning, the change hadn't affected the Xbox 360 Marketplace, though rumors earlier this year indicated that MS Points may be wholesale phased out by the end of 2012. Update: Microsoft offered us the following statement: "With Xbox expanding into new markets through Windows 8, we want to provide greater flexibility for you to purchase and access Xbox content by using your credit card. Local currency will be the primary method for making purchases in Windows 8. Current Xbox LIVE customers may also make a purchase using points. Microsoft Points continue to be the currency for purchasing content for the Xbox 360 console. We have nothing to announce regarding future plans."
Report: Xbox Music launches this month with free ad-supported streaming
Microsoft's Xbox Music service will reportedly launch alongside Windows 8 on October 26, according to anonymous sources speaking with Polygon.The service will supposedly provide both subscription-based and free ad-supported streaming music plans for Xbox 360, Windows 8 and Windows Phone users. Microsoft SkyDrive integration is also said to factor heavily into the service's functionality, allowing for synced playlists and music libraries across all supported devices.These claims match an earlier report from last June, in which Bloomberg claimed that Xbox Music would launch with Spotify-like streaming options and cloud storage capabilities. Microsoft did state shortly thereafter that reports of it "launching a new music service on Xbox this fall are inaccurate," only to discontinue certain Zune services the following month. Personally, all we care about is whether we'll be able to use this new service to watch Girls' Generation videos, regardless of when it actually comes out.
Microsoft announces updates for Windows 8 built-in apps, just in time for October 26th launch
All signs point toward the impending general availability of Windows 8, what with the upcoming OS launch event, the Surface RT finally hitting the FCC, and Paul Allen letting the world knows what he thinks of it. In light of this, the Redmond company has announced a final update push to the built-in apps you'll find in Windows 8. The Bing update will be first out the gate tomorrow -- it promises richer search results for local content -- with the rest rolling out through October 26th. Also of note is Music, which touts "expanded music services" as an update (Xbox Music, anyone?). If you're itching to know what built-in apps will be updated, you can get the full and extensive list after the break.
Microsoft reportedly set to launch Xbox Music on October 26th, ad-supported option on tap
We've known that it was coming for some time now, and today we have a report of an actual launch date for Microsoft's Xbox Music service. According to The Verge's sources, the rollout will coincide with the launch of Windows 8 on October 26th. What's more, the site is also reporting that the service will include a free, ad-supported option in addition to paid subscriptions -- rates for the latter leaked out last month. As expected, the service will be available on Windows Phone, Windows 8 and the Xbox 360 at launch, with iOS and Android apps said to be coming at a later date.
US pricing leaks for incoming Xbox Music service
Following those British-based leaks yesterday, a second mole has now offered us a glimpse at Xbox Music pricing across the Atlantic. It looks like the Zune successor will offer a longer 30-day free trial, alongside $10 per-month and $100 annual subscriptions. Surprise -- looks like Americans are getting a better deal.
