T3's rendering of a Zune-Xbox portable gaming console.
(Credit: T3.com)The Zune rumor mill has been churning for a while, with leaks of an alleged ZuneHD and maybe even a Zune smartphone. The latest rumor gathering steam is sort a riff on previous rumors: Microsoft is developing a portable digital entertainment device that bridges the gap between the Zune and the Xbox 360.
Team Xbox, which ran a story back in January with a similar theme, is the site behind the gaming Zune rumor. Team Xbox's anonymous source had some juicy tidbits to throw out, saying the Microsoft handheld, which has been dubbed the xYz, will be "unlike anything on the market today" and that we should think in terms of a mashup between the Sony Mylo, the PSP, and the iPod Touch. The source, Team Xbox says, wanted to make clear that device "lacks access to a phone network."
The article goes on to note that the graphical interface found in the New Xbox Experience will make its way onto the handheld. "Buy a song, a movie, or a TV show on your Xbox, play the content later on the handheld or the other way around," the source said. "Play an Xbox Live Arcade game either on your Xbox or in this handheld." Sony's been trying to move toward a similar relationship between the PS3 and PSP but it remains a work in progress.
So, is the rumor legit? Will we see a new portable entertainment system from Microsoft this year?
We're willing to buy into this one--to a degree. Our second-hand sources confirm that the Team Xbox post is basically on the money and that Microsoft is indeed prepping a device that's designed to compete with the iPod Touch, not the iPhone. As we said, we've been hearing bits and pieces of this rumor before. For instance, some alleged ZuneHD specs that were circulating earlier referred to "3D gaming" capabilities for the device. So it makes sense that the Zune HD--or Zune xYz--will have some tie in to Xbox Live Arcade games. And hopefully, Microsoft will having something to say about it at E3 next month.
What do you guys think? If true, is this a PSP, iPod Touch, and Nintendo DSi killer all rolled into one device?
Updated 4:30 p.m. PST with latest Microsoft comment.
Some Xbox Live players are finding that winning has its drawbacks.
Microsoft said it is investigating reports that people are using malicious software to disrupt Xbox Live players' Internet connections in malicious attacks.
"In our continued effort to help provide a safer and more secure experience for our community of more than 17 million members, we are investigating reports of a malicious Web site that attempts to lure Xbox LIVE members into providing personal information," Microsoft said in a statement on Friday.
"Phishing is an unfortunate and common threat on the Internet, and this problem is not related to the Xbox LIVE service," the statement said. "We encourage people to only do business with trusted Web sites and never enter personal information on unfamiliar sites."
Malicious software is being used by attackers to do things like temporarily shut down a game player's console or even an entire game with a denial-of-service attack targeting the IP address, according to Chris Boyd, director of malware research at Facetime Communications, the BBC News reported on Friday.
Sophisticated hackers are selling their Xbox Live attack services to others via the Internet underground for as little as $20, the report said.
Visitors to the Xbox Live support page were offered the following message Wednesday.
(Credit: CNET News)An unplanned outage hit Microsoft's Xbox Live service starting Tuesday night, leaving online gamers unable to connect.
The outage started at 8:48 p.m. PDT Tuesday, according to Microsoft. It followed an earlier scheduled maintenance to both the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live services that ran through the night Sunday and into Monday.
Microsoft said the outage was due to an unexpected issue following the maintenance work. Visitors to Microsoft's Xbox Live support page have been offered the following status update.
"Users will not be able to connect or log into Xbox Live," Microsoft said. "We are aware of the problem and working to resolve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
At least for me, the Zune service appears to be working fine. I'll have more details on the Xbox outage once I get more from Microsoft.
Update, 3:05 PT: Microsoft said Wednesday afternoon that the service is back up. "Up and running," Microsoft said. "Users may experience intermittent issues posting TrueSkill statistics on Halo3. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
A Microsoft representative said that outages, at least intermittent ones, lasted until 1 p.m. PT (initially they said 2:30). Microsoft declined to offer any further information on the cause of the outage.
Microsoft offered up a few more details on Tuesday about its upcoming online video game marketplace for aspiring game developers.
Originally announced in February, Microsoft will allow user-generated games to be sold on its Xbox Live service this fall. On Tuesday, the company said it will let the developers keep up to 70 percent of the revenue generated by their games.
The scenario is similar to Apple's App Store, which sells applications for the iPhone created by developers that pay a fee to put their creations for sale in the online store.
Game developers will have to pay $99 a year to be part of the XNA Creator's Club, which will get them shelf space in the Xbox Live Marketplace. Any game created must past muster with their peers, however. Microsoft says there will be a peer-review system in place to establish some measure of quality. The games will be sold in the Community Games section for Microsoft points, which equate to $2.50, $5, or $10.
Microsoft says when the feature debuts this fall, it should double the number of games currently for sale on Xbox Live.
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