Xbox 360 Sees Record Growth in 2009

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Marc Liron

Microsoft Corp. announced today that sales of Xbox 360 consoles have passed the 30 million mark globally, with its Xbox LIVE community swelling to more than 20 million active members. After the biggest year in its history in 2008, Xbox 360 achieved the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009, up 28 percent over the previous year.¹

The success of the platform can be measured across the business, with Xbox LIVE now considered the world’s largest global entertainment network. Increasing consumer desire to connect with friends, download and enjoy blockbuster movies and TV shows, and extend the life of their favorite games has been the primary driver behind the growth of Xbox LIVE membership and the reason Xbox continues to expand offerings on the platform.

“We’ve always been confident that Xbox 360 offers more entertainment value than any other console on the market, and these latest numbers show that consumers agree,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “We expect our growth to continue to accelerate. Our news at E3 next week will underscore our commitment to bringing blockbuster entertainment experiences to everyone and to growing the Xbox entertainment brand globally.”

Over the course of this console generation, U.S. consumers alone have spent $14.5 billion across all categories on Xbox 360 at retail.¹ This number reflects strong interest in a comprehensive entertainment offering that includes the ability to connect with others socially and to digitally download entertainment, be it games, TV shows or movies. To date, consumers have downloaded nearly 1 billion pieces of gaming and entertainment content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, including a broad array of premium high- and standard-definition movies and TV shows from top studios and networks around the world.²

In addition, Xbox 360 continues to be the platform of choice for the industry’s top games, generating $5.9 billion in sales to date at U.S. retail for third-party publishers, which is more than those of current-generation consoles combined.¹ Xbox 360 also leads current-generation consoles in game purchases, with consumers owning an average of 8.3 titles each.¹

Activity on Xbox LIVE, the industry-leading online gaming and entertainment service, surged following the launch of the New Xbox Experience in November 2008. Since that time, the community has recorded a 136 percent increase in new members, TV and movie downloads have more than doubled, and purchases of games, Game Add-ons and more on Xbox LIVE Arcade have increased by 70 percent.² Xbox LIVE reaches 26 countries worldwide and is now in more homes than any satellite television provider.² Before the end of the year, the number of Xbox LIVE members will surpass the number of subscribers to the largest cable provider.¹ Consumers can expect more exciting announcements from Microsoft next week as Xbox 360 kicks off the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the world’s premier trade show for computer and video games and related products, with its press briefing on Monday, June 1, in Los Angeles.

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is a premier video game and entertainment system. It is home to the best and broadest games plus more entertainment than any other device connected to the TV. The digital center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content, including personal pictures and music, with a unified online social network to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Xbox LIVE

Xbox LIVE is the most comprehensive gaming and entertainment network connected to your television, delivering the largest movie, TV music and gaming library on a single device, and instant access to select movies and TV shows.

With an active community of more than 20 million people across 26 countries, Xbox LIVE brings friends together — from the same living room or around the globe — to share the best in home entertainment. With an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership, enjoy exclusive benefits and premium access to movies, music, TV and games from the top studios and services, all in one place. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

¹ NPD Group Inc.

² Microsoft internal research

Windows Live Team on Twitter

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Marc Liron

The Windows Live team has been tweeting away from http://twitter.com/windowslive for a few months now, and would welcome you to follow them there.

They tweet out news and information that hopefully will help you get even more out of Windows Live. Sometimes they take informal polls and ask questions to see what’s on your mind. And unlike some corporate Twitterers, there’s some give and take to their twitter stream–they don’t just blast stuff out.

They try to follow those who follow them, and to respond to as many direct messages (“DMs” in twitterspeak) and @replies as they can.

US Army to Use Windows Vista

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Marc Liron

The US Army is in the process of migrating hundreds of thousands of computers to Windows Vista to improve Internet security and upgrade information systems.

The systems change, which includes swapping Office 2003 for Office 2007, is set to be completed by Dec. 31.

About half of the Army’s 744,000 desktop computers have already installed Office 2007, estimated Dr. Amy Harding, director of Enterprise Information Technology Services for the Army’s G-6. She said about 13 percent of the computers have migrated so far to VISTA.

The migration was mandated in a Fragmentary Order published Nov. 22, 2008. It was sent out Army-wide as FRAGO 2 to Department of the Army Executive Order 056-05.

“It’s for all desktop computers on the SIPR and NIPRNET,” Harding said, referring to both the classified and unclassified networks. She added that the only exemptions are standalone weapons systems.

First-time Vista users will discover added support for data encryption, a new Windows Explorer, upgraded icons and navigation structure. There are also graphical replications of clock, calendar, weather and Outlook mail functions.

The switch to Office 2007 actually began earlier than the Vista migration, Harding said.

The new Office suite provides more straightforward document security, according to reviews, which add there’s better integration throughout applications. But the new tools interface is not always intuitive and many reviews say there’s a steep learning curve.

In the continental United States, the Army has installed Vista so far in about 44,000 computers. Fort Campbell, Ky., is leading the charge with more than 5,350 computers migrated to Vista, according to G-6 data.

Fort Stewart, Ga., has about 3,800 computers installed with Vista. Fort Lewis, Wash., and Fort Drum, N.Y., both have more than 2,150 computers migrated.

Fort Jackson, S.C., has just over 1,000 of more than 7,500 computers converted to Vista. But Directorate of Information Management officials there say they are on track to meet the December deadline.

“The goal is to minimize the impact to the installation’s training mission,” said Marcus D. Good, chief of the Information Technology Systems Support Division at DOIM.

“We want to handle this migration in a way that makes sense to the organizations fielded.”

“As for the impact on Fort Jackson, the DOIM has been working with the installation’s IT professionals and Information Management Officers from many different organizations to test Vista in a controlled and limited deployment,” Good said.

Fort Jackson’s DOIM officials say the initiative will strengthen Army LandWarNet security by reducing opportunities for hackers to access and exploit government computer systems.

“The Army has been testing Vista since its release and has run it through the Army Golden Master program. The Army Golden Master program is responsible for the release of the Army standard baseline configurations for commonly used computing environments within the Army Enterprise Infrastructure, the team responsible for making sure applications that ran on XP will run on Vista,” Good said.

As with the implementation of any new technology, there will be challenges to overcome — not to mention this will be a change for users who have gotten comfortable with Windows XP and Office 2003. The new look and feel will take some time to adjust to, Good said.

The Soldier Support Institute staff was first to begin migrating to the new operating system at Fort Jackson.

Sharon Reed, chief of IT at the Soldier Support Institute said the division is providing several resources to facilitate the transition for its employees and customers.

“During this process, we are offering several in-house training sessions, helpful quick-tip handouts and free Army online training,” Reed said.

Reed added that because several of the division’s employees already use Vista and Office 2007 at their homes, it has shortened the learning curve for SSI overall.

The 171st Infantry Brigade started the Vista system last week, said Lashanda Howard, DOIM Vista migration project leader.

Howard said the roll-out is well planned and strategic. Classroom computers, dayroom and kiosk computers, new computers (such as life cycle replacement computers) and computers with minimal impact to mission readiness will be part of the initial implementation.