Another rumor about the new system from http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/19639/...ment-Handheld/
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Microsoft Working on Digital Entertainment Handheld
By: César A. Berardini - "Cesar"
Share This ArticleMay. 14th, 2009 5:34 pm
When I got the first piece of information regarding a Microsoft digital entertainment handheld last year, I wanted to be sure it wasn’t just a wild gossip. In a time when people is afraid of losing their jobs because of the global recession, getting sources to comment on such unannounced product took weeks and I decided not to run such breaking story until I could verify the rumors with other sources and get the green light from the insiders.
It happened that between then and now, other publications have reported the existence of a Zune HD device and earlier this week, Mary Jo Foley reported the hardware specs of Microsoft’s Pink. Curiously, they all coincide with the scoop I got.
Let me remind you that what you’re about to read was written back in January, with information I had as early as August of 2008.
Microsoft Working on Digital Entertainment Handheld
Well placed sources have told TeamXbox.com that Microsoft is in the final design stages of a “digital entertainment handheld.”
According to sources in Redmond and Santa Clara, Microsoft is in the final design stages of a “digital entertainment handheld.”
One of the sources for this story—all of whom chose to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press—used the “xYz” moniker for the device [and I emphasize the “Y” in capitals to reflect the source’s highlighting of that letter out of the three] to explain to me that this “digital entertainment handheld” sits somewhere in-between the Xbox and Zune platforms, offering both gaming and media playback, as well as Internet-related services, all in a portable format.
When I asked if such nickname implied that Microsoft will use a brand starting with the “Y” letter for this handheld, the source said: “As far as I know, the name of the device has not been decided yet.” The purpose of using that moniker, the source said, is to emphasize that this device is a mix of the Zune and Xbox platforms and, at the same time, a unique platform on its own.
Another source consulted for this story confirmed the development of such mobile device, at least as of December of last year. This source defined the Microsoft handheld as “unlike anything on the market today,” and said that the only way to describe it is to “think of a mashup of the Sony Mylo, the PSP, and the iPhone… errr, the iPod Touch; [the MS handheld] doesn’t need access to a phone network.” That last sentence was one of the juiciest comments made, since the source wanted to emphasize this device lacks access to a phone network and that’s why he changed the iPhone example with the iPod Touch.
Even if several analysts and publications have reported that Microsoft is planning to market its own smartphone, this second source told me not to expect any business application or user interface (UI) that resembles a smartphone. Furthermore, the source stressed:
“Although the Microsoft handheld is definitely a converged device, this is not a Zune Phone.” The source added: “Microsoft won’t compete with its Windows Mobile customers.”
It’s the Software, Stupid!
Being a hardware geek, I would have preferred to learn everything about the handheld’s specs, but one source told me the most important aspect of this device lies is its software, services and the entertainment experience it offers.
Even so, this source did confirm that the handheld is primarily “a portable game console and a media player.” The “xYz” is supposed to have a large WVGA touchscreen display and “hardware features not found on any handheld on the market.” Since I was informed about this, I’ve been trying to come up with specs that are not found on any mobile device currently on sale (more on that later).
Once more, this source explained hardware is not the most important factor: “If it was up to the hardware, this device could launch sooner in time.”
According to this source, Microsoft is waiting for other pieces of the puzzle to come together:
Key Piece of the xYz Puzzle
“This is a Live Anywhere device” the source reiterated several times. “There will be a single online marketplace; the lines between the Zune, Xbox Live and Sky marketplaces will blur when the handheld launches.”
A quick search on the Internet revealed that Sky is the name of a yet-to-be-announced cloud computer service for mobile phones (similar to Apple’s App Store) that will host under its umbrella three services codenamed SkyBox, SkyLine and SkyMarket. It’s worth mentioning these comments regarding Sky were made to me in August of last year, well before the Sky codename would even appear on a Google search.
Live Anywhere
Buy a song, a movie or a TV show on your Xbox, play the content later on the handheld or the other way around. Play an Xbox Live Arcade game either on your Xbox or in this handheld.
The source explained that many things Microsoft has implemented in the past, such as attaching your Gamertag to a Windows Live ID, will show this handheld is just one step in a carefully planned strategy that involves several Live branding services.
The source also said that the graphical interface found in the New Xbox Experience will make its way onto the Microsoft handheld. The NXE user interface will be even easier to use on the handheld than on the Xbox 360, the source claimed. (Cover Flow-like navigation?)
“When this handheld arrives, people will say it is Microsoft’s response to the iPhone, the Nintendo DS, the PSP, and so on, but it will be pretty evident that this device, its software, and services have been in the works for a very long time,” the source added.
Killing Four Birds with One Stone
According to one source, Microsoft will address several competitors with this handheld: Apple, Sony, Nintendo…and Google? “Yes, Google,” the source said.
Is the device really that far-reaching that it can serve as a competitor to Google? This Microsoft mobile device will supposedly offer many Live Search services, such as Maps, News, Traffic and Video, and in this way, Microsoft would be counter-attacking the Google phones without competing with its Windows Mobile customers that manufacture mobile phones.
My Thoughts
There are things that cannot be explained in writing, because text cannot express tones, ambiguity and other aspects of an oral conversation. Employees providing such information of an unannounced product act like a sort of “Deep Throat,” being very cautious about every word spelled.
Although neither source mentioned such spec, I got a feeling by the comments they made that the handheld will feature WiMax connectivity in addition to the standard Wi-Fi radio currently found in most portable devices. First, WiMax is one of the few features I could think of that practically no handheld device currently in the market has and second, the way the source told me that the MS handheld “doesn’t need access to a phone network” sounded cocky and intriguing.
WiMax
WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a new wireless communication technology aimed to provide broadband access to the Internet without the need of cables. You might be thinking that’s exactly what Wi-Fi is, but that’s a common misconception. Most people tend to think that Wi-Fi is basically wireless internet, when it is in fact a technology for wireless access to a local area network—if that LAN has a router that allows devices on the network to, among other things, access the Internet, well that has nothing to do with the Wi-Fi technology. This possibility has lead people to believe Wi-Fi equals to wireless Internet.
On the contrary, WiMax is truly wireless broadband Internet and that’s why it has been touted as a 4G service to distinguish it from the existing communication technologies called 3G. Whether 3G networks are wide-area cellular telephone networks that evolved to incorporate high-speed Internet access and video telephony, WiMax was born from the beginning as a wireless data transmission technology that will treat voice and video simply as another type of digital data. (You can read more about WiMax in this Questions & Answers paper provided by the WiMax forum.)
The only WiMax handheld that I could find easily doing a Google search was this phone (can these communicators still be called phones?) from HTC (the manufacturer of the Google/T-Mobile G1 phone) called HTC MAX 4G. This “smartphone,” basically a WiMax version of the HTC Touch HD, is currently only offered for the Russian market, specifically for the Yota WiMax network. Available for 38,900 rubles ($1,000), the device is expected to eventually make its way to other markets. That will mostly depend on the rollout of WiMax networks.
In the United States, Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable and Google are investing $3.2 billion to combine Sprint Nextel and Clearwire into a single company that will build the first nationwide WiMax network. The service has already launched in Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. as initial test markets, with Boston, Philadelphia, and Dallas to follow before a nationwide rollout.
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And another Article from http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...softs-Handheld:
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Rumors: Meet the ZuneX, Microsoft's Handheld
John Funk posted on 19 May 2009 12:47 pm
Filed under: john funk, ds, handheld, iphone, microsoft, psp, rumors, zune, zunex
Photos have surfaced on the internet of Microsoft's alleged answer to the PSP, DS, and iProducts - the ZuneX.
It's no secret that handheld platforms are the real cash cows of the industry. Whether it's various incarnations of the DS selling a bajillion units, or the PSP selling slightly-less-than-a-bajillion-units-but-still-more-than-the-others, or the unparalleled success of games via the iPhone app store, one can hardly express surprise that Microsoft is eager to throw its hat into the ring along with its competitors.
So, when these leaked photos surfaced from what appears to be a demonstration of the new ZuneX - combining the Microsoft Zune media player with Xbox Live Arcade - it's hard to disbelieve them. Of course, they could be a really (really, really) elaborate hoax, so don't go counting your chickens before the fat lady sings, or something like that. Nothing is confirmed before an official announcement.
Let's assume these pictures are real, for the moment. If the specs are to be believed, the ZuneX will have a whopping 128MB of RAM and 32GB flash memory - rather unparalleled in the handheld space for the moment, beating out even the mighty iPhone. On the downside, it seems that there will only be one - optional - analog stick (Microsoft, have you learned nothing from the PSP?!), and the device seems to lack both the aesthetic sense of the PSP or iPhone, and the handy portability of the DS.
Back on the plus side, though... if the presentation is to believed, not only will the ZuneX be fully compatible with Xbox Live (mmm, are those some delicious Xbox Originals?) but it will reportedly be designed to work with OnLive. Yes, folks, you heard me - if the ZuneX does everything they want it to do, Crysis on a handheld isn't impossible. And then it will make you a grilled cheese sandwich, cut it diagonally, and remove the crusts just how you want it
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05-18-2009, 03:23 PM
Nice hunting.
Space Invaders
Asteroids
Rabbit Hunter
Japanese Baseball
Shape Game
Starship Legend
Smack the Rabbit
Parachute Panic
Mosquito Kill
Railway Line
Linear Mode
