Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft is poised to announce a significant shake-up across its business, with CEO Steve Ballmer tipped to rework the organization into the “devices and services company” he discussed as part of his “fundamental shift” shareholder letter in 2012. A wholesale reworking of how Microsoft is arranged is in the pipeline, AllThingsD‘s sources claim, including pushing several of its executives further into the public spotlight as the company capitalizes on its investments in entertainment, communications, and more.

Three executives are name-checked in particular: Servers and Tools division president Satya Nadella; Skype commis division president Tony Bates; and Interactive Entertainment division president Don Mattrick. However, they’re unlikely to be the only top-brass at Microsoft who will find themselves with more tasks on their respective plates.

Written last October, Ballmer’s letter to shareholders was seen at the time as a heavy-handed hint that more own-brand hardware was in the pipeline. Microsoft had not long revealed the Surface tablet, though the Windows 8 and Windows RT versions of the slate had yet to go on sale.

“Last year in this letter I said that over time, the full value of our software will be seen and felt in how people use devices and services at work and in their personal lives” Ballmer wrote. “This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves – as a devices and services company.”

“There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes,” Ballmer concluded, “as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface.”

That push for more own-brand hardware has already seen another high-profile device, with the Xbox One unveiled a few weeks ago. However, the exact way in which Microsoft might restructure itself is unknown.

One possibility is a simplification of the by-now convoluted management levels and business units, to take into greater account the modern interplay of software, hardware, and the cloud. Microsoft currently has five key divisions – the Windows Division, Server and Tools, Online Services Division, Microsoft Business Division, and Entertainment and Devices Division – which it could remix so as to echo the way platforms like Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox LIVE have become more interconnected with the cloud.

Exactly when the change might happen is unclear, and Microsoft has declined to comment on the rumors.

Microsoft re-org rumored as Ballmer considers division shake-up is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft talked about the television capabilities of the Xbox One during the console’s unveiling last week, and there weren’t that many games shown off, putting fear into many Xbox loyalists that Microsoft was focusing more television and home entertainment rather than the console’s main purpose. However, when the company discusses the Xbox One at E3, TV talk will be off the table.

Microsoft’s Xbox Live boss Larry Hyrb confirmed the news on Twitter, saying that the company’s press event at E3 “will have TV’s (or similar) on stage to show the games,” but “that should be the extent of TV talk in your #E3.” Hyrb confirms two things mostly: that there won’t be much TV talk, and games will be a big focus from the looks of it.

GTTV host Geoff Keighley also says that the E3 press events by both Microsoft and Sony will be filled with “lost of games and surprises.” He continues by saying that both press conferences by the two companies “will be the strongest in years.” This certainly makes sense, as this is the first E3 in years where Microsoft and Sony are showing off new gaming consoles.

During Microsoft’s reveal event for the Xbox One, the company talked a lot about new features that had nothing to do with gaming, such as watching TV and sports, thanks to that fancy NFL partnership. They also talked a lot about the Kinect and the different features that it has, most of which don’t even deal with gaming from what Microsoft showed off last week.

E3 starts next month, but seeing as it’s the last day in May, the gaming expo is just ten short days away. Apple’s WWDC is taking place the same week, with their keynote occurring during the same time as Microsoft’s press conference. Whether or not Apple is testing the loyalty of mobile game developers remains to be seen, but we can’t say that the overlapping events is a coincidence.

VIA: Kotaku

Xbox One E3 event won’t focus on TV is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Just as vocal as the enthusiasm around the new Xbox One reveal were those who thought the console looks like an old VCR; now, Microsoft is fighting back with an explanation as to why, exactly, the next-gen hardware is designed the way it is. Billed as “a new approach to design“, the process of crafting the Xbox One, the matching Kinect, and the wireless controller involved 200 gamepad models, over a hundred sensor-bar mock-ups, and “dozens and dozens” of console prototypes, before the so-called “liquid black” finished product was arrived at.

“Liquid black” sounds like marketing-speak at its finest, but Microsoft argues that it’s a legitimate color scheme strategy. Although the Xbox One has been accused of being slab-sided and drab – especially compared to the stealth-bomber aesthetic of its predecessor, the Xbox 360 – that aesthetic is actually intentional so that the hardware blends in and lets the gaming and entertainment experiences take the fore, Microsoft says.

“The console and Kinect sensor are liquid black so they melt into the background when being used, allowing the content on your TV to dominate the living room. The user interface is overlaid on the same shade of deep black so that the content tiles on the dashboard are more vivid and easier to navigate and interact with” Microsoft

It also echoes the squared-off and crisp-edged design of the Metro-influenced Xbox software, complete with the Live Tiles familiar from Windows 8 and Windows Phone. There, Microsoft’s team took the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio as its guiding light, making sure that buttons and graphics all “derive their size and shape from various fractions of a 16:9 space” just like the console itself has its own symmetry.

“The console is evenly divided between the matte and gloss –the front in particular clearly reflects this symmetry– and the top brings together two even rectangles, where the vent panel’s edge detail matches the appearance of a selected tile in the user interface” Microsoft

Some of the details may have to wait until the console is on the market to actually be appreciated fully. Microsoft is particularly proud of its injected-resin A/B/X/Y buttons, which have high-contrast colored material pumped into them to mark out their function.

This renewed focus on design borrowed some of the processes Microsoft had already used for its Surface tablet, including heavy use of 3D printing and rapid prototyping. In fact, Microsoft says, the design team was able to cook up a 3D model in the modeling shop and then send it next door, where the engineering team could give feedback on how practical it was.

Even with all Microsoft’s focus on how the hardware looks, it’s unlikely to satisfy all of the company’s critics. The discussion will only get louder when Sony finally shows off what the PlayStation 4 looks like. Still, whether gamers will end up noticing the hardware once they have everything plugged in and are getting to grips with shouting at their Xbox One, battering the control pad, and waving their arms around in front of the Kinect remains to be seen.

Microsoft defends Xbox One design is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Much-rumored EA game Mirror’s Edge 2 seems to have been prematurely given the official nod today, with a listing for the unannounced title spotted at EA’s help site. Swiftly pulled – though not before a screencap could be taken – the listing didn’t actually have any details of the game, but its existence alone is enough to seemingly confirm that it’s in the pipeline, potentially for the Xbox One among other consoles.

The EA help page blunder isn’t the only Mirror’s Edge 2 tidbit we’ve seen lately. Listings for the game showed up briefly on both Amazon Germany and Amazon Italy, Eurogamer reports; one page suggested it was for the Xbox 360, while the other used a mock-up of the Xbox One box-style.

EA is playing it coy, meanwhile. “We appreciate fan enthusiasm for Mirror’s Edge, especially fans throughout the retail channel” the company told IGN UK in reference to the Amazon pages. “This is not official EA material. We have nothing to announce at this time.”

Microsoft has already said that it will have fifteen titles to discuss for the new Xbox One at E3 next month, with at least one from EA (FIFA 2014). Mirror’s Edge 2 would seem like a good addition to that line-up, having been hotly anticipated over the past few years.

If the game is real and indeed fast-incoming – and all signs point to “yes!” – then EA will likely detail it properly at its EA 2013 press conference. That’s due to take place on June 10, leaving plenty of time for more inadvertent leaks and listings.

VIA: Joystiq; NeoGAF

Mirror’s Edge 2 leaks again: Tipped for Xbox One E3 2013 reveal is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft reports its Xbox One controller will last for 10 or more years of your button-mashing abuse.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo.