The next Xbox will not launch in 2012, Microsoft has gone on the record to say.

Cedrick Delmas, marketing director of Microsoft France, was asked by Lepoint.fr in a new interview (translated by Eurogamer's Oli Welsh): "Rumours indicate the presentation of a new Microsoft machine at E3 in June..."

His response:

"We're in an industry that talks a lot, that likes telling stories. I am not convinced that things will happen this year. The Xbox 360's cycle is not over at all. The proof is that we haven't price cut this year.

"Afterward, what will happen at E3, it's still too early to say. What's certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012. If we wanted to counter Nintendo, we would have to be in a position to release something immediately, and that is not at all the case.

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While many of you have been involved in the Xbox LIVE Preview Program and have been busy getting an early look at the next Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE features, I wanted to let you know that the official release for the update for all Xbox LIVE members will be Tuesday, December 6th. In this update, free to all console owners, you will see:

• New personal and social features including Cloud Storage for Game Saves and LIVE Profile
• Beacons and Facebook Sharing
• Enhanced Family Settings
• Integrated voice and gesture controls across the dashboard and in apps
• Bing voice search (Available this year in the US, UK and CA)

In addition to all these great dashboard features, starting on December 6^th and continuing on an ongoing basis through the holiday months, a wealth of new content will be coming to Xbox 360. New, customized applications for television, movies, internet videos, sports and music will begin rolling out from world-leading providers in more than 20 countries.

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At E3 we announced the new Xbox LIVE dashboard which will deliver intuitive navigation, increased responsiveness and improved engagement with Xbox experiences – all beginning this holiday. Now that our work on the dashboard is almost complete, we are announcing an open call for all Xbox LIVE members to register to participate in a preview program to help us test the system. This is an important program as we continually strive to ensure the reliability of a service that reaches tens of millions globally. We could not do so without the ongoing help of our great community.

Once this program is kicked off, an update will be pushed to your console that will contain select dashboard features, including:

• New design with integrated Kinect voice and gesture controls
• Beacons
• Facebook Sharing
• Cloud Storage for Game Saves and Xbox LIVE Profile

Other features and entertainment partner apps may come into view during the program period.

Note: A console in the program is expected to remain fully compatible with standard retail consoles not in the program. (e.g. party chat will function)

Click here for the initial register for the Public Preview.

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We are confirming that we will be bringing Xbox LIVE to the PC with Xbox LIVE on Windows. We are very excited about Xbox LIVE coming to Windows 8. Xbox LIVE brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy. At BUILD we are showing that it is easy for developers to create games for Windows 8 that take advantage of the power of Xbox LIVE. We have much more detail to share about the capabilities of Xbox LIVE on Windows and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future. 

   

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Hulu Plus is coming to Xbox LIVE tomorrow (April 29th.) To celebrate the debut of Hulu Plus on Xbox LIVE, Jack Link’s Beef Jerky is unlocking Hulu Plus on Xbox LIVE from April 29 – May 6. Through this sponsorship, all Xbox LIVE members (Free or Gold) will be able to enjoy Hulu Plus on Xbox LIVE, no Hulu Plus subscription or Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for an entire week.

 

Ever since the November launch of Kinect for Xbox 360, enthusiasts and academic researchers alike have expressed their excitement and intense interest in the possibilities created by the product’s ability to enable users to bring games and entertainment to life without using a controller.

Kinect for Xbox 360 and the potential seen within its core technology have captured the imaginations of the academic research and enthusiast communities. To encourage and support that creativity, on Feb. 21, Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, and Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, announced that the company plans to release a non-commercial Kinect for Windows software development kit (SDK) from Microsoft Research this spring.

“Microsoft’s investments in natural user interfaces are vital to our long-term vision of creating computers that are intuitive to use and able to do far more for us,” said Mundie. “The fruits of these research investments are manifesting across many of our products, Kinect for Xbox 360 among them.”

While Microsoft plans to release a commercial version at a later date, this SDK will be a starter kit to make it simpler for the academic research and enthusiast communities to create rich natural user interfaces using Kinect technology. The SDK will give users access to deep Kinect system information such as audio, system application-programming interfaces, and direct control of the Kinect sensor.

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It’s a brand new way for Xbox LIVE members* to earn Microsoft points for doing things they already do on Xbox LIVE. Sign up and start earning Microsoft Points by watching movies and sports, playing games and more. 

Plus, when you sign-up for Xbox LIVE Gold, or renew your membership you’ll earn even more. Sound good? We’re officially kicking off the program later today, but if you want to get in early hit the link below.

Get more details and join for free at Rewards.xbox.com via MajorNelson

Microsoft today announced that strong demand over the Black Friday weekend has propelled retail sales of Kinect for Xbox 360 to more than 2.5 million units worldwide since it launched just 25 days ago.

“We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers this holiday.”

“Kinect on Xbox 360 was a top performer at Target this weekend,” said Nik Nayar, vice president, merchandising, Target. “We expect Kinect will be a must-have gift this holiday season, so Target will continue to receive consistent shipments of Kinect throughout December. The hands-free, active gaming experience that Kinect offers is something that everyone in the family can enjoy.”

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Microsoft today announced it has sold 1 million Kinect for Xbox 360 units worldwide in 10 days and is on pace to hit 5 million by the end of the year. The announcement comes a week before the biggest selling day of the year, Black Friday, and in the wake of increasing momentum for Xbox 360, which led U.S. video game console sales for the past four months.1 “We are appreciative of the response we have seen from consumers that has culminated in sales of more than 1 million units in the first 10 days on the market for Kinect for Xbox 360,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “This is a great start to the holiday season, and we will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than 5 million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year.” Before the Kinect launch, Microsoft raised its worldwide sales forecast from 3 million to 5 million sensors sold by year-end. Kinect launched in North America on Nov. 4, followed by Europe on Nov. 10, and will land next in Asia (Nov. 18) and Japan (Nov. 20). By this holiday, controller-free games and entertainment will reach more than 60,000 retailers in 38 countries with up to 17 Kinect games available. Full Story At Source

On November 4th, you become the controller! Come to the event that will unveil Kinect to the world. Join us at Toys“R”Us in Times Square for an evening full of activities as we count down to launch!

· See exclusive performances!
· Play Kinect launch games before they are available!
· The Xbox prize patrol will be giving away commemorative gear and gifts to people in line!

IN ADDITION: The first 400 people (18 years+) to buy Kinect at Toys”R”Us Times Square will get to attend an exclusive after party with surprise appearances.

Kinect demos will be available all day at various locations in Times Square. Giveaways start at 9:00 p.m. on November 3rd at the Toys“R”Us in Times Square.

Get there early to secure your spot in line!

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Tomorrow, Xbox.com will be getting a massive facelift and I want to give you a preview of what you can expect.  In addition to support for the 9 new Xbox LIVE regions that will happen next month, Xbox.com will get a brand new look as well as some new features.

Here are some highlights:

Browser based Avatar editor: Edit your avatar and preview avatar items before purchase
Combined views for messages, friend and game requests
Improved notification of your account subscription
Leverage Family Reports to understand what your family is doing and how they are using LIVE
Play web games with your Xbox LIVE friends on the web or on Windows Phone 7
Marketplace: More powerful search and more intuitive ways to browse and filter

Those are just a few of the changes, starting tomorrow you’ll be able to explore the entire thing yourself. Until then, I’ve uploaded a few screen shots to get hold you over until then.

Note:In order to prepare for these changes, starting at 0500 ET/0200 PT/0900 GMT on October 20th (tomorrow) Xbox.com and the Xbox forums will be offline and unavailable for a short period of time. When it returns, you’ll see the new site.

The Xbox LIVE service is not affected by this upgrade and will remain available during this time.

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Tune in to see it on “The Oprah Show^®.” And find out what has Ellen DeGeneres moving and grooving. Even Geoffrey the Giraffe^® knows Kinect for Xbox 360 is sure to be the hottest gift this holiday. Today, the countdown to Kinect begins, as Microsoft Corp. announced the launch of a multiyear advertising campaign and revealed the complete lineup of 17 controller-free games that will transform living rooms around the world starting on Nov. 4.

With pre-orders rapidly selling out and thousands of retailers across the country opening at midnight on launch day, Kinect is set to fly off store shelves and get everyone off the couch and on their feet this holiday season.

“The very first time we saw Kinect, we knew it would be a ‘must have’ item for the holiday season,” said Richard Barry, vice president, general merchandise manager, Toys “R” Us^® Inc. “There is no better place in the world to introduce innovative new products than Toys “R” Us, and we are excited about the full day of activities planned in New York City, building up to the much anticipated sale of the first Kinect sensor at our flagship store in Times Square.”

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If you'd given up hope of using your 360 to watch AT&T U-Verse after over three years of waiting, we wouldn't think any less of you; but for those still holding on to the dream of one less set-top box under the TV, this latest tip says the wait is all but over. As you can see from the internal memo above, a so-called Wired Release will roll out to AT&T U-Verse customers next Sunday, and it'll bring the long awaited feature with it (though you'll have to wait until November 7th for that particular aspect). This means AT&T U-verse customer's Xbox 360 will have a Dashboard app, and when launched, it'll let it function exactly like any other U-verse set-top.

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The most anticipated entertainment event of the year is almost here. Starting at midnight tonight, millions of people around the world will embark on a mission of courage, sacrifice and valor in “Halo: Reach,” the thrilling prequel to the iconic “Halo” trilogy that became a global entertainment phenomenon and defined a generation of gamers over the past decade.

Not since the debut of “Star Wars: Episode I” have fans been so excited to revisit a beloved franchise. Recently dubbed “a pop culture phenomenon” by Variety magazine and hailed as the No. 1 game series of all time,¹ the “Halo” franchise will once again make history with the launch of “Halo: Reach,” which goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 14 in more than 25 countries.

To celebrate the launch, tens of thousands of retailers around the world are opening their doors at midnight exclusively to sell copies of “Halo: Reach,” as well as “Halo: Reach” Xbox 360 consoles and accessories. Special marquee launch events are taking place in major cities around the world, including New York, further adding to the fervor surrounding the highly anticipated video game, which is expected to top all previous entertainment launches this year.

“Halo” fans in New York will be treated to a special performance by hip-hop star Kid Cudi at the new Best Buy Theater in Times Square. The New York launch event will be broadcast live in HD on Spike TV beginning at 11:33 p.m. EDT, and it will also air live on the Times Square MTV billboard.

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Earlier today, Eurogamer Spain reported that the upcoming motion-sensing peripheral would not support Spanish-speaking users for its voice commands. According to Microsoft Spain's PR & Event Manager Lydia Pitzalis, the device's voice-recognition feature is only set to support users in the U.S., U.K., Mexico and Japan at launch. Other regions would see voice support added in Spring 2011.

Although Pitzalis also stated that Canadian users would be left without the feature, Microsoft has told Shacknews that this was a misunderstanding.

"In Canada, English voice controls for Kinect will be available on November 4, 2010, with French support available in Spring 2011," a Microsoft Canada representative told Shacknews.

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