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Microsoft reportedly launching subsidized Xbox 360 bundle next week for $99 with a two-year subscription
Microsoft has long been pushing to get the Xbox 360 into as many living rooms as possible, and it looks like it could now be about to attempt a new tactic to further expand its reach. According to The Verge's sources, the company will launch a new bundle next week that will include both a 4GB Xbox 360 console and a Kinect sensor for just $99 -- the only catch being that you'll also have to sign a two-year contract at a rate of $15 a month. That will give you access to the Xbox Live Gold service, and potentially some additional streaming content, as well as a two-year warranty (there's also naturally an early termination fee for those that break the contract). From the sound of things, though, the new offering could be getting something of a soft launch -- the only outlet mentioned for the bundle so far is the rather limited number of Microsoft Stores in the US.
Microsoft offers free Xbox 360 with back-to-school PC, professors shake their gray, uncool heads
With only the best interests of its younger customers at heart, Microsoft has a new back-to-school promotion: starting May 22, college students buying a new Windows 7 PC can also get a free Xbox 360 4GB console. That's right, free -- as long as your new computer cost at least $699 and came from Redmond or one of its partners, including HP and Dell. Online ordering will require a .edu email address, which even attendees of the School of Life know how to procure; if you'd rather shop at Best Buy or a Microsoft Store, you'll need an actual student ID. This isn't about convincing students they need more than a tablet computer, of course. It's about giving them the opportunity to be popular. "Get ready to be the coolest kid on your dorm floor with a killer new Windows 7 PC and an Xbox 360 -- all you really need for college," the company says. Yes, being the coolest kid on your dorm floor: pretty much the definition of Higher Education.
Samsung X430 headed for Microsoft Stores with a crapware-free copy of Windows
We just got a quick look at a previously Korea-bound Samsung X430 laptop that Microsoft has tapped as a "Microsoft Store Exclusive." It's pretty good hardware, both inside and outside, for the price. Also, due to its Store-exclusive nature, Microsoft also put the promised "Microsoft Signature Image" on here, which means a copy of Windows 7 completely free of crapware and trialware, though Microsoft has put a good quantity of first party software that you'll probably want like Windows Live, Bing Maps 3D, and Microsoft Security Essentials. If you ask yourself "how would Steve Ballmer use this computer," the Signature Image is pretty much the answer. For $1,099 you get a Core i3 ULV processor, GeForce 310M graphics, a 500GB HDD, and a 14-inch WXGA screen. Our favorite part is probably just the premium feel of this device, and its no-nonsense look, at least when it's open and you're actually using it -- that faux carbon fiber lid on the outside is a little loud. %Gallery-104830%
Kinect now playable at Microsoft Stores nationwide -- all four of them
Not lucky enough to find yourself in front of a Kinect sensor at E3 last week? Then it looks like you might not have to wait until November after all -- Microsoft has just announced that you can now try it out at any Microsoft Store nationwide. That includes the San Diego store that just opened today and, well, all three others -- in Scottsdale, AZ, Mission Viejo, CA, and Lone Tree, CO. Interestingly, Microsoft is also reminding folks that they can pre-order Kinect at the Microsoft Store website, but that site now states that "official pricing has not yet been announced," and that "$149.99 is an estimate only and subject to change."
Microsoft confirms leaked retail store plans are legit
Those leaked Microsoft retail store plans certainly seemed like the real deal when Gizmodo got a hold of them last week, and Microsoft itself has now finally come out and confirmed that they are indeed legit. It's also quick to point out, however, that they're still far from finalized, noting that, "as a part of our process in briefing creative agencies, we shared some early prototypes and concepts of our retail store plans." Otherwise, company spokesman Frank Shaw would only go so far as to reiterate that "no final decisions have been made," and that Microsoft is still on track to open its first retail stores sometime this Fall. Update: Looks like the folks at Redmond have picked the first two retail locations for its stores, and according to CNET, those lucky locales are Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California -- yeah, not exactly the most exciting picks, but perhaps the local authorities were quicker to sign the leases. Unsurprisingly, the California store is in a mall where an Apple store also resides -- let's hope the two stores find themselves within earshot of one another.
Switched On: Walls for a "Life Without Walls"
Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In October of 2006, I wrote a Switched On column entitled "Rebooting Retail in Redmond" in which I noted how much Microsoft's consumer business had changed since the days of the original microsoftSF store in Sony's Metreon. This was a world before Windows XP, before Zune, before rich touch interfaces on Windows Mobile devices, before Media Center, and before the original Xbox. I concluded that column by noting: Microsoft's consumer lineup today is far more compelling, sophisticated, media-rich and, with a growing group of hardware products, tactile than it was back in the 20th Century. The marketing strategy of Windows Vista -- with its various usage scenarios -- presents a nearly perfect foundation from which to structure showcase environments. The entertainment products that Microsoft wants to bring into the consumer's home would benefit from a home of their own. That argument will be even more relevant in 2010 as Windows 7 begins to roll out and Microsoft takes its "Life Without Walls" campaign to the next level by highlighting the integration of the desktop, the mobile phone and the Web. We are already seeing a sneak peek at this via the MyPhone service that Microsoft is rolling out for Windows Mobile. Microsoft stores will be in a unique position versus nearly every other physical direct technology channel. For while Microsoft certainly has its own consumer products such as Zune, Xbox 360, keyboards, mice and boxed copies of Windows and other software, a key charge of these establishments will be to highlight the promise of the digital lifestyle as powered by Microsoft in products produced by its partners or developers..
