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Microsoft to Enter Handheld Market?
eldavojohn wrote to mention that, via Joystiq, he read an article over at BusinessWeek that indicates Microsoft may be working on a portable media device. The article states that, if they are, they're not just going after the iPod. The plan would include a way to leverage a powerful part of the Microsoft empire: games. From the article: "Microsoft would probably use the Xbox brand to market the gadget. 'I think the brand is an opportunity,' Moore says. True, perhaps, but also risky. If the new device comes with the Xbox brand, most consumers will view it as a game player, like Sony's PlayStation Portable. That might limit its appeal, since the portable gaming market is much smaller than the one for digital media." A funny comment, considering the success of the DS.
XBox Portable. Only two cubic feet. Weighs less than twenty pounds. A whopping megabyte of RAM.
Note to mods: I'm probably being sarcastic.
...with the WinCE TBSOD (Tiny Blue Screen of Death).
I mean, it worked out so well for Sony. They'd be mad not to go for it.
1. Release desirable, powerful handheld games console.
2. Subsidize it up the bottom.
3. Fail to release any games other than pointless ports of console games I already own.
4. ???
5. FAIL TO PROFIT!!!
By the way, the '???' there was caused by my playing a spot of Mario Kart DS. I really should focus more when bleating at Slashdot.
At the same time the mp3 player market and video game market are completely different. While somebody who buys a portable game system might use built in mp3 player functionality, somebody looking for an mp3 player would not be interested in the overhead of a gaming system.
nothing
Not only will it be able to play games, music and movies, but like its larger sibling, it will also be a portable heater.
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
This was bound to happen. Microsoft jumped on the console badwagon, and now they jump on the handheld bandwagon. Much like most other handhelds that tryed to compete against Nintendo, this may fail...
42. 'Nuff said.
I'm pretty sure it's just going to be a laptop.
I never understood why Microsoft entered into the crowded, mature console market to begin with. I always thought it would have made more sense to go after Nintendo with their portable monopoly, back when the sub par GBA was the only game in town. Imagine what Microsoft could have done if they had launched a competing portable around the same time the Xbox came about. They would have crushed the GBA - no backlight, no FPU, only 2 face buttons. Instead they waited, and now they've got to face off against the GBA SP/Micro, the DS, AND the PSP. Why can't Microsoft pioneer something for once, instead of playing catchup?
It would appear that Steve's Reality Distortion field is effective even against the evil empire!.
Great, I can't wait to pay 300 bucks to buy a system, only to find out MS made Sony's mistake and only inculded 1 analog stick. And then, they will port Halo but they won't even adjust the controls, so you will have to rely on a stick that isn't there to aim. And after 10 minutes of shooting straight in front of me, the lack of a heat sink will burn my hands into oblivion.
42. 'Nuff said.
When their big push was portable music players a large percentage of their own employees used iPods. Even an executive said the iPod was better then what their hardware partners offered. If they can't get their own employees to use their portable products why would anyone else? Let's see if they repeat their last failure.
Developers: We can use your help.
For a company that has more money than most countries, I find them rather dull. Vista is boring, XBox 2 is blah, and this portable strikes me as dull. It just seems like MS has kinda faded in the background while newer more innovative companies have stolen the spotlight. When I hear MS, I just yawn.
http://religiousfreaks.com/What if Microsoft made a handheld gaming machine that only played games from Xbox Live Marketplace? What if they removed in-store purchasing of games alltogether?
They would use the same business model for the 360 (buy a card at Best Buy, enter the code and download games). They could offer demos of each (same as the 360) and have all of the same competitive high score/leaderboard functions.
The only way Microsoft would successfully enter the handheld market would be NOT to clone the PSP (which is a POS anyway).
Neeps to play MP3s and games. DS doesn't do that. PSP is too expensive.
The funny thing is, instead of employees all having iPods this time around they may find most employees stick with the DS over a portable Microsoft gaming console.
Foiled again!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It's not enough that they burned down a customer's house... now they are going to set a customer on fire directly! I guess this is just part of their secret strategy to scare people away from game consoles and back into PC gaming...
1) Make game console
2) ???
3) - profit!
I think that microsoft should try to narrow what it does instead of trying to do everything that it can. By narrowing it's views, the products it produces will be better.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Slap a derivative of Windows Mobile on it for the OS so you also have a PDA capable device. And make it look and feel like other OS products people know (windows and media center)
Give it a touchscreen to nudge in on the PDA market futher.
Enough storage capacity out of the box to be a small MP3 jukebox of viable portable drive.
Not to mention the ways to integrate it and tie it in as the device which moves between your media center, xbox, and windows machine.... Lots of possibilities to leverage work they've done in other areas.
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
But will it support ogg vorbis?
Someone had to ask.
Salut,
Jacques
Microsoft already has too much on it's plate (in order of ideal importance):
1) Windows XP SP3
2) Windows Vista
3) Getting a decent Xbox 360 library developed
4) Body Vests for staff that are specced to survive a Ballmer rant
5) Windows Blackcomb this decade.
If MS enters a new market, it's going to fall apart. MS is having to go all out to get Vista off this late, they'll have to push harder to get Blackcomb out this decade. And neither the Xbox 360 or Vista seem to be offering all that much as an incentive to upgrade. MS has too much other stuff they need to fix first.
If they could merge a PDA, with an improved media player, and a game system, I would be quite happy. Then again, my pocket PC already plays all of my music, has games available, and runs third party programs. So what's so special about those other hand helds?
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Rumors and speculation about a MS handheld were floating around at last years E3. I believe they may go for a 'media' device that will offer a sizeable internal HD and the ability to play games, music, video, productivity tools (email, 'office' type services etc.), internet browsing...
An 'all in one' device
Here are a few possible designs:
xbox
xbox
joke
xbox
And, a portable gamecube:
gamecube
Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
I believe that Microsoft will launch a mobile device that will serve as a mobile phone and a media device. They have the mobile OS, the media software. All they will need is a killer design and an Itunes like website.
I can't see them pissing off a whole bunch of media player mfgs who already have product on the market by going head to head with them. I can see them doing a reference design like they did with a cell phone.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
November 2nd, 2006
Microsoft Unveils New Portable Gaming Station
via Reuters
In the wake of the success of both Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Revolution and dwindling XBox 360 numbers, Microsoft has stepped up to the plate to challenge both companies in another gaming market: handhelds.
In an MTV2 event held yesterday, Micrsoft revealed their "XBox Z", the tentatively named portable gaming station. "We aim to do it all," a spokesman commented. "The XBox Z, known internally as the ZBox, will be a one-size-fits all handheld device, capable of playing anything, from video to music to games."
The unit, which is a bit smaller than a regular computer keyboard, weighs in at about two pounds. Controls are made up of four analog control sticks and six buttons, as well as three buttons on each shoulder. When asked about how gamers are supposed to use four analog sticks with only two thumbs, the spokesman replied "They'll think of something."
A 5" LCD screen sits in the middle and slightly up, amidst the controls. The unit takes regular sized CDs and will also support the new HD-DVD format, playing anything from XBox games to CDs to DVDs. Mentioned briefly was an attachment to play turntable-style records, to pull in the music enthusiast crowd.
Initial accessories were also announced at the unveiling. A small packpack, used to hold the system and its three required power sources, will be offered in various colors, as well as a clear mesh form. A utility-like belt will be used to hold various media to play in the device.
When asked about battery life and size, the Microsoft spokesman replied "I'll admit, right now it's a bit of a drainer, with a large size. We're working on the battery life, and expect to have it last two hours on 16 AA batteries. As for the large size, we're looking into shrinking it, but complete hard drives are hard to replace. Besides, gamers will be able to show their handheld with pride, belittling the other so called 'gaming handhelds'."
No release date was announced, though Microsoft plans to use "Bringing gaming to a new dimension" as their slogan.
More information is expected by the end of the month, as long as the Korean-Canadian war does not interfere with ongoing plans.
.. its gonna be a rough ride.
seriously though, i'll never write software for Microsoft, ever. i have all the hardware i need, and it all runs linux.
no thanks, Microsoft!
(GP2X rocks, yo!)
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
If they made it so that you could somehow rip your Xbox games onto it, that would be a killer device. Halo on a handheld with wifi. Killer app right there.
Man is the lowest-cost, 150-pound, nonlinear, all-purpose computer system which can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.
An easy solution to get it viewed as a game player and a iPod killer would be to have different bundles (which sounds like XBox 360). Different bundles would be sold in different parts of the store, one looking like an mp3/video player, other looking like a video game player. Let's hope they don't slaughter the idea though like they did with XBox 360 (which I think is taking advantage of the fact that $400 is too much, and selling a $300 version with much more then $100 worth of retail stuff stripped out). I can see them selling an mp3 player version for $300 that needs a $200 upgrade to play games, a game version for $300 that requires a $200 hardrive addon to store any siginificant amount of music, and a "mega version" that costs like $400 with the abilities of both. Also kind of like Creative's sound card variants for gamers and mp3 players.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
This same question came up in a forum I frequent, and just like I said there, I'd wonder if Microsoft really wants to fight a two front war in the console and handheld markets. I think they should focus on achieving profits with the XBox 360 before they create another potential money sink.
Of course, they could just say "Look how much of a success Sony has had in just over a year of entering the market!" Well, depending on whose numbers you trust, Sony's PSP could be a good example of a true challenger to the king of the handheld world. By some accounts Sony owns roughly 25% of the market. I think that 25% is only compared to the market it shares with the Nintendo DS, because I don't think the PSP owns 25% of the global handheld market when you consider all the people who still have the older Gameboy Advances, SPs, etc., which numbers in the tens of millions.
Also, there is still the Japanese market. As the last two Microsoft console launches there have shown, reception by the Japanese was lackluster at best. I think for a true challenger to Sony and Nintendo, a Microsoft handheld would really have to succeed in Japan. Sure, many people will say "But Europe and the Americas are Microsoft's main market," but I think this is a limited view. Microsoft does see Japan as a market it must penetrate successfully, which is why they began courting more Japanese companies to create games that cater more to the Japanese people.
Also, Japan is a significant market for games. Over there, the Nintendo DS sold 4 million units in 2005, twice that of the PSP for the same year. If you look at the sales charts for the past several months, every week was basically 6 - 7 DS games in the top 10 sales chart. On the other hand, it was incredibly rare to see a PSP game crack the top 10 of the chart.
And that is also something that Microsoft should learn from. The PSP sells well in the States and Europe probably because it is seen as cooler, more stylish, and it has more capabilities than the admittedly plain-jane DS. However, in my very humble opinion, its game selection is more limited than the DS's. Microsoft could really make an impact if they deliver with a steady stream of good, quality games and not rely on whatever other features their handheld would have (i.e. Sony's UMDs being more popular than the actual games).
Microsoft should also learn that having the most powerful parts does not make a system inherently better than another. At its core, the PSP is more powerful than the DS (dual MIPS 300 MHz processors (locked at 200 Mhz max), more powerful graphics engine), but the DS, at least in Japan, has sold more. Why? Even with a relatively weaker system, the games being developed for it are fun and appealing to more than just the 18-35 demographic. That's why games like the Brain Training games have been so successful and continue to stay on the charts.
Microsoft can make this work, but they might have to shift some of their views.
www.google.com
If they were smart, they would hold off a lot longer to learn more about the market. Sony supposedly did their homework before launching the PSP and look where that's gotten them. Sony at least had the benefit of being the #1 console system at the time of the PSP launch so it was the logical next step.
They should spend more time trying to sell XBox360's and the up-and coming XBox720 before they consider starting work on the XBrick.
Insert Sig Here
I can't see them pissing off a whole bunch of media player mfgs who already have product on the market by going head to head with them.
Microsoft will betray anybody.
Remember Sega?
Sega "teamed" with Microsoft to bring a Windows CE based console to market to replace Sega's inhouse development platform.
Now we have the Xbox and no Sega.
Remember SGI?
SGI "teamed" with Microsoft to bring a new display technology (Ferenheit) to replace SGI's OpenGL.
Now we have DirectX and no SGI.
Remember Digital?
Digital "temed" with Microsoft to bring NT to the Alpha - Microsoft pilfered Digitals employees and improved NT by copying Digital's operating system.
Now we have XP and no Digital.
Microsoft will use a "partner" to gain insight into a market, and then turn and crush them.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
I mean, both Nintendo and Sony have a handheld game platform, why not Microsoft?
Microsoft both has a Mobile version of Windows AND partnerships with mobile platform makers. To make a mobile Xbox platform simply means taking some existing PocketPC device and making it more gaming centric. They even ported DirectX to the mobile platform so there is at least a 3d graphics library to leverage.
Whether or not it will compete well against the dominant Nintendo remains to be seen. The PSP has been struggling to gain acceptance, but then again, Sony struggled to gain dominance over Nintendo's game consoles and succeeded. Microsoft may have learned how Sony failed with the PSP and NOT make those same mistakes.
Both Sony and MS has to realize though that the kinds of games that makes their console platforms popular (sports and multiplayer 3rd person shooters) don't make a handheld system popular. People that like Nintendo Gameboys like puzzle games, RPGs and platformers, as well as novelty games that feature touch screen or card readers, not sports or 3rd person shooters. To compete well against Nintendo means to recognize the types of games that make the Gameboys popular and catering to that audience, rather then simply porting successful game console titles to handheld versions.
It would be interesting to see what MS could come up with. Hopefully they might recognize the idea that by bringing gaming into their existing Pocket PC market, while maintaining PDA like functionality, they could both revamp the PDA industry (make boring PDA's entertaining) and offer something more then a simple time waster (bring functionality to handheld game platforms).
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Portable devices that do many things don't ever do very well in the marketplace. Look at the PDA or the market for the "universal remote control."
The jury is still out on whether or not a video iPod will be successful. That's about as close to multifunction as people will put up with. Please don't provide Apple's video downloads as proof of "success". Most people will try something a few times and it's tough to argue we've passed through the try-out stage yet.
I would love to hear from people in other parts of the world if all-in-one devices are more desirable than single purpose devices.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
I'd be highly skeptical of any Microsoft handheld... It's just going to be too DRM-laden to be interesting.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
It seems to me that if they could fit an iPod-sized hard drive into a portable game system, they could actually make some good innovations in gameplay as well. And if was interoperable with Xbox Live, so you could download games straight to the HD through an Xbox 360 or PC connector, it would be even cooler. Imagine a huge library of small, indy games available on the cheap for download to a portable system... not too shabby! And if you could download even your purchased games to the HD, it would save you from lugging around a bunch of little game carts with the system!
...of Xbox Live players being released into the wild.
Oh, the humanity!
IIRC Nintendo has sold a total of ~13Million DSes worldwide over the life of the product.
Apple sold over 14 Million iPods last quarter alone.
Do the math.
I'd prefer one of these.
Rather than leave it to third party hardware companies to do it for them?
If this comes to fruition, how much are they willing to lose per unit, like the XBox and the XBox 360?
The solution: Hello, x-Pod!
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Microsoft has already entered a market where they were outmatched by their competition in both quality of product and brand recognition (the PS2 may have been technically inferior but contained a far larger and more diverse library), entering into the handheld market (while still not being successful in the home market) would be a blunder on another level.
The main problems are that it would divert resources away from their main platform (the XBox 360 currently) and could damage the brand name if (more likely when) Nintendo runs them out of the market; suppose they name it something like the XBox GO if (when) it fails people will be saying how the XBox GO sucked, and that the XBox GO was too expensive (and this will hurt the XBox Brand). This is why Nintendo names every system differently, in particular why the Nintendo DS was the Nintendo DS rather than the Gameboy DS.
for example: Dell Axim X51v
With this thing strapped to my back
namely Sony, they figure, hey the first time they entered the console market with the original Xbox, it ended up killing Sega and their Dreamcast - so they figure, hey the hell why not again, this time maybe we'll get lucky and kill off Sony...
The thing is, Sega was/is hardware and games only, when Sony on the other hand, is damn near as big if not (dare I say it) bigger than the unholy Microsoft Empire. So what, MS has Windows, Xbox, and MS Office - Sony makes super high end TV's, computer hardware (such as the Vaio line, the world could be running on Linux - if a few of the distros would make it nice and shiny and more user friendly than even Windows or OS X), the Playstation line of consoles, and the fact that where as Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal, and Tristar used to be in the intro to damn near every movie made that Americans watched, now half the movies I see commercials/pre-views for are by Sony.
Point being: Sony aint goin away anytime soon, if MS killed any of the companies by releasing a handheld of their own, it would be Nintendo, which most closely resembles Sega before they took a dive...
Interesting, a few days ago Steve Jobs said that MS will have to make his own iPod version.
I think you need to better understand the differences between causality and correlation. It's a lot easier to blame Microsoft for one's failures than it is to blame one's self.
Lat time I looked, both Sega and SGI were still open for business.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
1.)Multimedia Cellphones that play video, music and games.
2.)Ipod and other mp3 players play video and music.
3.)Handheld Videogame systems-Gameboy, DS, PSP. PSP plays videos and music.
4.)PDAs-plays videos, music and games.
The race has already been won as far as music goes for the iPod. Why should I buy any new product when the iPod is already out, and proven its popularity and has thousands of cool accessories(not that I really care, but think about the mainstream populace, especially females). Especially the iTunes store. As more and more people buy songs from iTunes, it basically eliminates possibility of competing products. I've probably spent at least $200 in iTunes, do you think I'm going to throw all that away to jump ships to the Microsoft camp? No way.
Aside from the gee-whiz thats cool feature factor that may appeal to some tech nuts out there, I can hardly forsee any new feature that Microsoft could come up with to improve upon the existing devices.
The way I see it, the portable device market is already way too saturated with cool gadgets that are expensive and ultimately don't do much. I think the trend these days is going toward simplicity in tech rather than all these crazy features. People get tired of learning how to use all these crazy things and spending lots of money on them.
So tell me what device they could possibly come up with that would trump the iPod or the current lineup of PocketPCs?
Microsoft XPort
"I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
Finally some real competition for the PSP. I only hope they have a better battery life. I am confident it will be as good if not better than the PSP as the Xbox was the most powerful of its generation.
I'd say Microsoft's biggest worry should be the Xbox 360 as it is the first of the Next gen consoles. PS3 just might steal the show. As for the revolution.... well that just seems like a big joke to me and i refuse to waste my money on it.
I'm all for competition, but this is ridiculous. Did they not learn from Sony's mistake that there is no beating nintendo when it comes to portable gaming. I realise that it is also going to be an "ipod killer" or so they wish but that makes things even worse since devices that are marketed as a swiss army knife fail because people see them as a jack of all trades but master of none.
Not to mention their track record of faulty devices...... Dying Xblock hdd, xblock that ate discs, overheating power supplies etc etc
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
- Winston Churchill
But it isn't a powerful part of the MS empire, in fact MS itself makes few games (Solitaire, Minesweeper, Flight Simulator, Pinball, not much else).
they're not just going after the iPod
How will they even be able to touch the iPod? The device will just end up like the PSP... Not too great in any category, and too fragile to really be portable.
This just seems like a weird plan all in all.
... but seriously, didn't one very large successful company just announce defeat in the handheld game market? For those who missed it, I'm not surprised ... it was a Quite Death :-)
What makes MS think that they can succeed?
Perhaps the hardware will be a variant of the Dell Axim X51v?
OS X, Linux, Tivo, Amiga, my fascination with cult-like technologies would intrigue any psychiatrist.
I suspect they have it wrong. Microsoft is working on a product codenamed PlayTable. It looks like those old barroom videogames where you look down into a glass table video game. The difference is all of the spinning mirrors. Can you say 3D? TI did this years ago for prototype Air Traffic Control. Interesting to see it recycled. Yes it is real. I've seen the prototypes.
I really don't agree with most examples you gave, but I think I should add IBM and the OS/2 && Win95 case to this list.
Alexandre Moreira. (Too lazy to register)
Apple is moving towards selling their software on commodity hardware, and MS is becoming a hardware vendor.
Just like Apple's little video player, except Microsoft's has a Blue Screen
"My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." --Senator Carl Schurz (1872)
The xPod.
And if their introduction to the console market is any indication, it'll be the size of a bible on paper-back, as heavy as an 32" woofer driver magnet, and occasionally burst into flames.
It'll be "portable" in the academic sense (i.e. it'll have a strap).
-dZ.
Carol vs. Ghost
My PDA has an 'X'! It's a Dell Axim :) It's only 400mhz, but it does have 32k color, 7 buttons, a flipper and a direction pad. :)
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Remember, build a man a fire and he is warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he is warm for the rest of his life!
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt = [citation required]
How about a music player comparable to a 5G iPod? Then have it drop into a cradle that ads the functionality of a gaming system. Then they could sell the system as a mp3 player with video/pic functionality with an option to upgrade to a full gaming system complete with wifi.... Just a thought.
An article comes out about Microsoft making a new handheld device, and all you can say is "xPod" and "MGage". Isn't it possible that Microsoft will innovate, making a completely new and revolutionary.. *snicker*... device that redefines... *snrk*... the industry and... and... Bwaaahahahahahahaha! Aha- aha- aha- aahahaha.
Oh, oh man, there was NO way I could make it through that. *wipes tears away*
The Sony PSP pushed the nintendo DS to number two. Maybe Sony will totally outpace ninshito in the handheld market. I have a feeling this will push ninshito to number 3 in the portable market as well. If they are number 3 in both the home and portable game markets they will eventually suffer a total financial collapse, and totally get out of the hardware market. Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't Ninshito state once that if they had to pull out of the hardware market, they would also pull out of the software market?
Considering the Bill Gates dream, wouldn't that be a TabletPC?
So what would the dual-head version be called? The Xboy DS?
... in the handheld market, I think they should do what they do best : buy the competition. ;)
The major problem I see with a XBox portable is that MIcrosoft would insist on syncing it with Windows via Active Sync.
With the added sync responsibilities for saved game data I can just imagine the kinds of new trouble active sync could get into.
You go to restart Halo 4: The Mobile Campaigns and you get "Halo 4 is damaged, would you like to play a nice game of Chess instead?"
Or perhaps "I am sorry but you have been deauthorized to play that title."
I still believe that manufacturers ship Active Sync with their Windows Mobile products to increase profits from non-warranty covered repairs... If Microsoft gets into a mobile device they could reap the rewards directly.
The Xbox portable...