Amazon.com is showing a huge jump in sales of the Xbox 360, moving 600% more Premium consoles today than yesterday thanks to the price break. The 360 jumped from #28 in its category, Video Games, to #4, while Xbox 360 Elite sales jumped 477% to #9 from #52. The Core system had a decent jump, too, up 144% to #103 from 252. Still, the 360 is selling only as high as fourth, while the limited $499 PS3 is third and the Wii is #2.
One good thing: Speaking to the fact that the 360 has the biggest install base and the biggest sales of games per console (what Microsoft calls its “attach rate” of over 6), the number one seller is a 360 exclusive game, Forza Motorsport 2. Number six is a 360 exclusive, too, the pre-order of Halo 3 beating out every single Wii or PS3 game. In fact, Madden 08 on the 360 is #11, the first PS3 game is Madden on that system at #14, and the first Wii game* is Mario Strikers Charged a #19.
* - Wii Play is #12, but it is really a Wii remote with a $10 game.
Todd Bishop crunched the numbers from Microsoft’s annual report and came up with this chart showing how the number of people Microsoft employs in different categories has changed over the last 13 years:
Interesting how the focus doesn’t shift terribly, just changes the rate at it increases (and never decreases). The R&D flatline from 03-05 can’t have helped Vista get out the door, and the manufacturing line could be very much based on Xbox production cycles.
Microsoft confirmed the rumors and cut the price of the Xbox 360 today, dropping the price of the main system by $50 to $350. You can get the Premium at a price $100 more than the Nintendo Wii and $150-250 less than Sony’s PS3, while the Core drops twenty bucks to $279 (within thirty of the Wii) and the Elite drops thirty to $450, $50-150 less than the PS3. The Halo 3 Xbox 360, which has the Premium’s 20-gig hard drive, the Elite’s HDMI port and a Halo color scheme is $400.
The price drop moves the 360 Core closer to the Wii, improving comparisons, but not enough that the difference is a wash, while it keeps Microsoft far ahead of Sony ($250, if the stock isn’t replenished). You can buy an Elite and the HD-DVD drive for just $30 more than the PS3, or the 360 Premium and the Wii for the same prize as Sony’s console-with-no-games.
(via Todd Bishop)
Windows Live Messenger’s I’m Initiative, which allows Messenger users to add an icon directing a portion of advertising revenue to the charity of their choice, has contributed to the growth of Live Messenger. Over the four months of the program for which data is available, Messenger has been outpacing its rivals, enjoying growth of up to 8.7% a month, while Yahoo and AOL have combined for no more than 3.8% growth, according to ComScore numbers.
In the 5 months so far over $35,000 has been raised, which is a pretty good total considering that only users in the US are able to raise money. However as each of the ten charities is guaranteed to received $100,000 at the end of the first year, this potentially leaves Microsoft another $900,000 or so to meet (based on the current rates).
Microsoft’s HD Photo Format To Be Standardized As JPEG XR
First it was Windows Media Photo, then HD Photo. Now, Microsoft’s high powered image format is set to become an industry standard, literally the next JPEG, as the Joint Photographic Expert’s Group is working to to make it so under the new name, JPEG XR (eXtended Range). JPEG XR will become the next generation image format, available under an open license to everyone, allowing for a a ton more color information to be saved by the camera. It should prove a great alternative to camera RAW by actually being a standard (RAW is different from every camera manufacturer, sometimes every model).
Microsoft Blames The Family For Xbox Fire That Killed Baby
Microsoft issued its first response to a lawsuit that blames it in the death in fire of a baby. The family of the child is suing Microsoft, claiming that the power supply of the original Xbox overheated, sparked the wiring and started the fire at the house in Warsas, Illinois. Despite the fact that Microsoft recalled all Xbox 360 power adapters due to fire concerns, they are fighting, and said in their statement:
The losses “were the result of an open, obvious, and apparent condition which was known to and recognized by the plaintiff and/or others who, nevertheless, knowingly, willingly, intentionally, and voluntarily exposed themselves to said danger and assumed the risk of incident, injuries, losses, and damages,” Microsoft charges.
Considering the number of families misusing power strips, I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft has enough evidence to support its side. Still, considering the obvious fire problems the power supply had, as well as the fact that the family is just seeking damages in excess of $50,000, maybe it’d be easier to just pay them off?
Massachusetts Relents, Accepts Open XML
Massachusetts has backed off from its plans to become an OpenDocument-only user, accepting both ODF and Microsoft Office’s Open XML as acceptable file formats. The state had been moving its IT towards what it called standards, and did not consider Office, despite being the best-selling and most widespread file format, a standard, but Microsoft’s moves to get Open XML standardized have satisfied them, finally. Part of the push to keep using Office came from disability groups, which require Office’s disability features.
It was all well and good for Mass. to try and push standards in order to make government documents more accessible, but they got sidetracked with the ODF vs. Office thing early on as it turned into a political statement. It stopped being about accessibility and started being about hurting the “evil corporation”, Microsoft, and that’s a stupid way to run a business or a government. If someone wants to use ODF, use it if it is superior or if your constituents support it, not to make a statement and use a format no one else is using.
What’s strange is that it was originally linked via Microsoft’s link referral site, go.microsoft.com, meaning someone at Microsoft set up a permanent redirect to the video from Microsoft’s own website. According to The Register, they also linked to this:
Internet Explorer Named Most Influential Product
A CompTIA survey of IT professionals has named Microsoft’s Internet Explorer the most influential technology product of the last 25 years. Not only did Microsoft take the top spot, it won or tied all of the top four spots, with Microsoft Word in second, Windows 95 third, and Excel fourth (tied with Apple’s iPod). IE, Word and Excel certainly aren’t as sexy as a tiny music player, but their impact on the industry is undeniable, and this survey reflects that.
Catching up: I had a crazy week, with me and my wife going on a short wedding anniversary vacation, one of my best friends getting married, and my aunt and her family moving forever to another continent. There’s a lot of stuff filling up the queue, so we’re going to go through it double time
Craig Ferguson Pokes Fun At Zune
Craig Ferguson, host of the Late Late Show on CBS, makes fun of Microsoft’s attempts to counter the iPod and iPhone:
I love the way he pronounces Zune.
(via Apple Are)
Microsoft Developing Free Ad-Supported Works Suite
Mary Jo Foley broke the news that Microsoft is preparing the next version of Microsoft Works, Works 9.0, as a free ad-supported product. Works users will get the typical address book, calendar, database, dictionary, PowerPoint Viewer, basic version of Word, and templates, but pay nothing extra. In order for Microsoft to better compete with Google Documents, Works will be free and supported by advertising within the application windows.
Windows Live Search has finally got support for Sitemaps, the growing industry standard for websites to report their full and updated page listing to search engines. Live Search will now use your website’s Sitemap if you point to it in a robots.txt file. They do not support it in any sort of webmaster console, and they do not have a means for websites to ping them with updates. With Microsoft on board, the top four search engines (Google, Yahoo and Ask are the others) now all use Sitemaps.
Silverlight Release Candidate 1.0 Is Out
Microsoft released the first Release Candidate of Silverlight 1.0, moving towards final release. Hopefully, they’ll wrap up 1.0 quickly and be able to put all the resources behind 1.1, which is the version more people are talking about, since it contains many important features, like the mini .NET CLR. Click the link to get all the downloads.
Blue Screen Of Death Tattoo
I can’t imagine there are fans of the Blue Screen of Death, the screen you see when Windows crashes, so this must be some sort of counterculture thing. Witness this man’s tattoo of the famous screen (text only, not blue):
