xbox - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Microsoft’s Xbox Live may have surpassed the 10m user milestone but this is no time for ebullient press releases from the Redmond-based giant. Since Christmas, playing Xbox Live online has been nothing short of a nightmare.

Microsoft has totally failed to manage user expectations, to accommodate new Xbox users, and to cater for the spikes that were bound to appear over the holiday period. It’s a pity, since the Xbox Live experience, when it works, is nothing short of sensational, and should get better and better.

The battle for the living room is hotting up, with Microsoft's plans to provide movies on-demand through Xbox Live.

The service is set to launch in the UK next week, with launch titles including The Matrix, Harry Potter, and Ocean's Eleven.

Xbox Live users can download movies for 250 Microsoft Points, which is equivalent to around £2 each, or pay more for high definition versions.

Microsoft plans to add a new social networking option to its Xbox Live platform, by allowing users of the service to connect with friends of friends.

The Dashboard Update will be introduced on December 4, to allow gamers to find friends, send messages and invites, and to compare games.

All of which prompts the question: Is Microsoft trying to become 'the new Facebook'?

Supemarket giant Tesco made a pricing cock-up on its website yesterday, offering an Xbox 360 bundle, normally priced at around £350, for just £33.

Quite the bargain, but rather weird when you consider that Virgin and Woolworths both replicated the exact same mistake...

The BBC is reportedly in talks with Microsoft over allowing the corporation's content to be downloadable via Xbox Live, as Microsoft looks to turn the console into an entertainment hub in people's living rooms.

In the US, Microsoft currently offers a video on demand service through content deals with Warner Bros, MTV and others. It apparently now plans to expand this service to Europe.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has overtaken the Wii as the most searched for games console in the US, according to figures from Hitwise.

The research group's Bill Tancer said the increase in searches was down to a combination of factors - hype about new games, rumours of a drop in prices, as well as 'red ring of death' issues.

James at GigaOm has written a post today in which he predicts that Microsoft's Xbox is doomed, mainly as a result of the Wii's success and the various 'red ring of death' issues which have affected many of the consoles.

However, we reckon James is being a little hasty in his judgement, and is not seeing the bigger picture.

While the failure rate of Xbox consoles - as much as 33% by some estimates - is hardly a great advert for the Xbox, it hasn't been enough to dent the console's popularity beyond repair, and Microsoft has built up an enviable position, both in terms of market share and in securing an installed base of millions for future multmedia plays.

Microsoft has responded to customer concerns and taken steps to deal with the many problems customers have been having with faulty Xbox 360 consoles.

The company has announced that it will be covering the costs of all repairs to the console, and has said that hardware failures will now be covered by a three-year warranty from the date of purchase.

We believe that the amount of noise in the blogosphere on this issue has to some degree forced Microsoft's hand.

Xbox Live, Microsoft’s killer online gaming platform, was down for maintenance yesterday for a lot longer than was anticipated by the Redmond giant, something which caused a predictable wave of panic among the gaming community.

Microsoft boss Bill Gates has outlined his vision for the next 'digital decade', announcing plans to add IPTV services to the next version of the Xbox.

Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Gates announced that Microsoft will combine the Xbox 360 gaming device with the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform, which he says should be available by the end of 2007.