Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Monday evening everyone. Kicking the week off is a press invitation from Google and the city of Austin, Texas, suggesting that the Google Fiber rumors are true. In addition, a couple screenshots have surfaced showing what is said to be Google Babel, and the search engine giant is also tipped to nab WhatsApp for $1 billion. Finally, in Google news, the latest Drive update for iPhone users just rolled out.

In non-Google news, Intel has announced the next generation Thunderbolt with 4k support and 20Gbps throughput, and has also started shipping its next generation Haswell chips. Word has it Facebook Home will be rolling out in Canada just a couple weeks after being launched in the United States, and the HTC One (check out the review here) will be arriving at T-Mobile on April 19. Businesses are being urged by Microsoft to upgrade from Windows XP, and rumor has it the company’s next Xbox console (rumored for May 21 unveiling] will require a constant Internet connection.

The USPTO has backtracked on its iPad mini trademark issue, Ebay is shelling out your data to marketers, Defiance is the first TV show to get its own video game, and a Formula One pit crew just achieved the fastest pit stop ever. Do you enjoy free comic books? Marvel brought back its free comic book promo, and on a completely unrelated note, HP has launched the Moonshot cloud server system.

In other car news, Toyota has rolled out an endurance racecar Prius, and California has banned the use of hands-on GPS while driving. It wasn’t such a good day for AppGratis, which Apple removed from the App Store. Ericsson purchased Mediaroom from Microsoft, and HTC saw its poorest quarter ever in light of One delays. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of the night folks!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: April 8, 2013 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft’s next Xbox, which could get an initial unveiling as early as next month, will use an AMD system-on-a-chip according to a new Bloomberg report. The new AMD SoC will mean that Microsoft is moving to an x86-based system architecture, which Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4 is also adopting. The change is great news for AMD, and for gamers, and bad news for AMD’s chief rival Intel.

The new Microsoft console will be running a “Jaguar” CPU, which is also what’s going into Sony’s PS4, alongside a Radeon graphics processor from ATI, an AMD subsidiary. The similarity between the two SoCs employed in each next-gen console should go a long way toward silencing complaints from developers that it’s too difficult and resource-intensive to develop for each type of console. A shared x86 architecture means that it’ll be much easier to port titles, both between consoles and from the PC.

For AMD, it means gaining access to a much bigger chunk of the console gaming industry, at a crucial juncture: the desktop and notebook PC market is shrinking, facing increasing encroachment from devices like the iPad, meaning there’s less room to vie with Intel for market share in a space where Intel already clearly dominates. The console industry hasn’t exactly been a shining beacon of growth itself, but with a hardware refresh imminent, AMD is in the best position to capitalize should consumer interest once again be caught by fancy new console devices.

The problem with Microsoft’s decision to reportedly change over to AMD is that it will likely render games made for the 360 incompatible with the next-generation platform. But long-term, the decision means it’s much easier for developers to work with, which should translate to an alleviation of financial pressures on game studios that are already facing revenue crunches which are forcing cost-cutting measures. The console exclusive might be more of a rarity, but gamers benefit, and we could also see shorter development cycles leading to more frequent game releases.

Another party left out of the fun might be the Wii U, which uses a PowerPC based processor under the hood. But overall this is very good news for gamers, since it could both free up resources for developers to spend on innovation and R&D, and suggests both consoles will behave much more like home entertainment PCs based around the TV.

The Xbox 360 successor may not support Xbox 360 game discs, according to a Bloomberg report. The issue arises from the as-yet-unannounced console’s chip, which allegedly comes from AMD and, like the PlayStation 4, uses x86 architecture (like a PC). Resultantly, backwards compatibility would have to be handled on a software level through emulation, as game discs won’t play (like with Microsof’t last console). Today’s report, which cites unidentified “people with knowledge of the matter,” reflects earlier rumors of the next Xbox — codenamed “Durango” and / or “Kryptos” — containing AMD’s “Jaguar” SoC. The chip design is intended for laptops and tablets, allowing the chipset to push the maximum amount of power without employing too much wattage.

Earlier this year, specs for the retail version of the next Xbox were said to be as follows: a 64-bit D3D11.x 800MHz GPU, an 8-core 1.6GHz 4MB L2 CPU, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB of on-board memory, USB 3.0, HDMI-out, and an optical drive for 50GB discs. It’s unclear if the reported specs have changed since then, but we’ll likely find out in the near future as Microsoft’s expected to detail its next game console ahead of this year’s E3 gaming conference in early June.

[Image credit: Kotaku]

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft, AMD

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Source: Bloomberg

Microsoft announced today via its blog that it will be selling its Mediaroom properties to Ericsson, in a deal that will see Ericsson become the dominant IPTV player in the industry with over 25 percent market share. Mediaroom operates as a pretty much separate company from Microsoft, with its own HQ in Mountain View and around 400 employees, and powers TV offerings like AT&T U-verse, as well as services from Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica and Telus. The deal clears the deck for Microsoft fo go all-in on Xbox as the focal point of its own TV efforts.

At Ericsson, Mediaroom will continue to operate essentially as per usual, with that company investing in growing the business, while at Microsoft, the sale allows Microsoft to dedicate “all TV resources to Xbox in a continued mission to make it the premium entertainment service that delivers all the games and entertainment consumers want,” Microsoft said in its blog post. The company also intends to partners with studios, labels, networks and operators to help accomplish that mission, and says it hopes to help usher in a future where TV becomes “more simple, tailored and intelligent.”

Microsoft built Mediaroom into the industry leader in IPTV after its introduction as Microsoft TV, which evolved into the Mediaroom platform in 2007. It’s the middleware that powers set-top boxes from a variety of manufacturers, and also has a home in the Xbox 360, which uses it to act as a set-top box for service from some IPTV operators, including AT&T and Telus.

Mediaroom is very much a behind-the-scenes tech, however, and doesn’t carry the power or branding of Xbox. Refocusing efforts on making that the central facet of their television strategy, instead of being distracted by middleware that arguably helps competitors position their own devices at the center of a living room TV experience makes sense at this stage for Microsoft.

This move also suggests we’ll see something exciting from Microsoft on the integrated TV front with the upcoming Xbox 360 successor, which is reportedly on track for a sneak preview towards the end of May. PlayStation may be doubling down on games and the gamer, but that means there’s even more opportunity for Microsoft to make an impression as the destination for all of a user’s entertainment needs.

Looks like all those sleepless nights cozied up next to the tender warmth only an Xbox can provide have finally paid off. For you, noble Xbox user, have officially been crowned the Sexy Time Champ. More »