The two specific quotes from Don Mattrick on the Xbox Wire news blog were:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
• Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

So right there are the two major sticking points relating to the Xbox One that were changed to what most everyone in the community wanted to see. Microsoft said they were listening and appreciated the feedback and these changes are a result of that.

As everyone is at their desks dancing a happy dance because these requirements were relaxed here are a few things you should think about that will impact features some were looking forward to on the Xbox One console.

So lets take a look at two scenarios that are changing with these announcements by comparing what was previously published about the Xbox One and the update that Don Mattrick posted today.

Today’s announcement:

• The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

Previously announced:

• Access your entire games library from any Xbox One—no discs required: After signing in and installing, you can play any of your games from any Xbox One because a digital copy of your game is stored on your console and in the cloud.  So, for example, while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games.

So there will be no opportunity to share your games with anyone except by handing them the disc even if you previously installed the entire game to the console’s drive. Downloaded games that you buy instead of physical media can not be shared at all.

Today’s announcement:

• In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console — there will be no regional restrictions.

Previously announced:

• Buy the way you want—disc or digital—on the same day: You’ll be able to buy disc-based games at traditional retailers or online through Xbox Live, on day of release. Discs will continue to be a great way to install your games quickly.

So no regional issues with downloaded or disc based games and you can still download games on release day but they can not be shared with anyone. Digitally downloaded games also can not be resold, traded, etc.

That is just two quick examples of how this reversal will impact some of the innovation that was coming to the Xbox One but it seems like most everyone is happy with these changes based on the reaction of the tech community.

Of course for those who might have been looking forward to these features coming to their new console they get to look forward to the status quo when it comes to Xbox One since everything will work the way it does today on the Xbox 360.

Currently the Xbox Wire website is under a heavy load as apparently everyone on the internet wants to see this official statement themselves.

The usual sources of information relating to Xbox such as Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, and his website at www.majornelson.com  remain devoid of any information at the time of this posting.

As I am writing this post the Xbox Wire Q&A site has come up and it looks like this is in fact happening. The post is by Don Mattrick, President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business.

Here is the entry in its entirety:

Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.
You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

• Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console — there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.

Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.

Wow – anyone else shocked with this reversal?

• The current or immediately prior version of Internet Explorer; or the latest release of Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
• Any version of Microsoft Office in mainstream support. Connecting with Office clients in extended support is not recommended, but Microsoft Customer Support and Service will provide commercially reasonable assistance.
• Any supported Windows or MacOS operating system.

As part of the same service alert email they are also directing administrators to review new Office 365 Privacy information:

As part of your Office 365 service upgrade, we recommend that you review the new Office 365 Privacy Statement and Office 365 Advanced Privacy Options document. These documents include important privacy and administrative control information concerning the new features introduced with the Office 365 service upgrade, including the Facebook Contact Sync feature.

That updated privacy information is on the office 365 Community Wiki at http://community.office365.com/en-us/wikis/upgrade/updated-privacy-information-for-enterprise.aspx

At that time the PS4 was leading the Xbox One on all of those sites.

Well today I saw a tweet from The Verge’s Tom Warren that indicated the Xbox One had jumped back into first place on the US Amazon site.

As you can see below it is in fact leading the PS4 now on the Amazon US Best Sellers in Video Games list.

That in turn prompted me to re-visit all of the sites I looked at last week to see if anything had shifted there as well.

Here are the results of that check:

• Amazon.de (Germany) has the PS4 at #1 and the Xbox One at #5 (a two spot drop).
• Amazon.co.uk (Britain) has the PS4 at #2 (dropped one spot) and Xbox One at #4 (a one spot drop).
• Amazon.fr (France) has the PS4 at #3 (a one spot drop) and the Xbox One at #7 (a one spot drop).
• Amazon.it (Italy) has the PS4 at #3 (a two spot drop) and the Xbox One at #16 (an 11 spot drop).
• Amazon.es (Spain) has the PS4 at #3 (a two spot drop) and the Xbox One at #105 (a 100 spot drop).

These stats are by no means conclusive of overall sales of these two consoles because there are many other online retailers offering them for pre-orders. So take the data for what it is and nothing more – a barometer of pre-order sales in different countries/regions.

Xbox 360 Wireless Wheel

Entry is very straight forward and I am once again teaming up with the folks at @TWeetWins to handle the registration of all entries and the ultimate selection of the winner on 18 July 2013.

All you need to do is make sure you are following @WinObs on Twitter and then send out the following tweet:

Follow @WinObs and RT this for a chance to win a Xbox 360 Wireless Wheel http://tweetsw.in/2348/ #contest #giveaway

I will coordinate with the winner on/or about 18 July 2013 to arrange delivery/shipping of the wheel.

Remember it is US only folks as there are too many mailing, shipping and customs issues to ship elsewhere.

However, our giveaways to celebrate the 100th episode of the Observed Tech PODCAST will be electronic so no delivery issues then!

Thanks for you loyalty and participation.

According to Microsoft the NPD May report included:

• Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in May (hardware, software and accessories) reached $149.8 million, the most for any console in the U.S.
• During the month of May, Xbox 360 held seven of the top 10 console game titles including: “Dead Island: Riptide,” “Injustice: Gods Among Us,” “Metro: Last Light,” NBA 2K13,” Call of Duty: Black Ops II,” “BioShock Infinite” and “Halo 4.”

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, aka Larry Hryb, also provided some detail on his Twitter account that confirmed there were 114,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold in the US during May.

NeoWin reported that that is a drop in sales from year to year compared to May 2012 when 160,000 consoles were sold.

Fewer consoles being sold should not be a surprise for either the Xbox 360 or the PS4 since both have announced their next generation consoles that become available later this year.

Ryan Lowdermilk the host of the Windows Developer Show and a Technology Evangelist for Microsoft shared this offer on his website and via Twitter.

Here are some of the details from the brochure about the offer from the FAQ:

Q. What is the Surface RT in Education Limited Time Offer?
A. It is special pricing on Surface RT for a limited time from June 17, 2013 – August 31, 2013, direct from Microsoft to K12 and higher education institutions during the traditional Northern Hemisphere back-to-school time frame.

Q. Why is Microsoft making such an aggressive Surface RT offer to education now?
A. Microsoft has a long tradition of offering special pricing to education customers. Microsoft’s mission in education is to help schools, students and educators realize their full potential. We do this by investing in education institutions through software, hardware and services at affordable prices. We think Surface RT is a terrific tool for teaching and learning, and we want students and educators to have the best technology on the market today.

Q. How does Surface RT compare to iPad and Android?
A. There are many differences between Surface RT and iPad and Android. One of the most important differences to schools is Surface RT comes with a touch-optimized version of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT – Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote (an upcoming free Windows update will also provide an RT version of Outlook). Microsoft Office is among the most popular productivity software in schools and businesses. Its inclusion in Surface RT means that your students and teachers will be ready to get to work on Surface right away.

Surface RT also lets users multitask between applications, share the device between many users, provides USB and HD video out ports, optional keyboard covers, integration of Internet Explorer 10 to run Flash based websites, lots of storage and a file system, a high quality display, and excellent battery life.

Take a look at the Surface RT in Education Brochure to learn about how Surface RT is a great solution for your school or university.

Q. What is the difference between Windows 8 and Windows RT?
A. Windows 8 comes in three versions (Home, Pro and Enterprise) and runs on Intel x86 chipset. Windows RT comes in one version and runs on the ARM chipset. Windows RT devices are lightweight, have thin form factors, and better battery life. Windows 8 x86 devices can run legacy software and software requiring intense processing power as well as the new modern Windows 8 apps. Windows RT ARM devices can run applications like Microsoft Office 2013 RT and the new modern Windows 8 apps exclusively from the Windows Store. Windows 8 x86 devices running Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Enterprise have enterprise level security and manageability features.

Q. I’ve heard there are more apps on iOS and Android? What can I expect from Surface RT?
A. With over 20,000 educationally-relevant apps worldwide in the Windows Store from many of the biggest names in education – Khan Academy, Kno and leading publishers – there is an app for almost every subject. Microsoft has optimized the web browsing experience for HTML 5 and Flash, to ensure that the web works best with Windows.

Q. What countries will the Surface in Education Limited Time Offer be available in?
A. This offer is good in countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China (via Digital China), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Q. Is there a minimum order requirement?
A. No. Schools may buy any quantity of Surface RT for their institution. Pricing is only available until August 31st. We recommend that schools to get their orders in early to take advantage of the offer while supplies last.

Well today, thanks to a tip from my friend @Caprickah on Twitter, we now have job postings at the Microsoft Store Careers Site that confirms a Microsoft Store is definitely in the future for us in Jacksonville, Florida and the surrounding area.

Currently there are  7 positions listed on the site:

• Inventory Control Expert Job
• Technical Advisor Job
• Product Advisor Job
• Store Manager Job
• Community Development Specialist Job
• Teacher Job
• Assistant Store Manager Job

Previously we have not had any confirmation from Microsoft that this store was actually happening but I take the advertisement and recruitment of these positions for the store as being more than enough to confirm it is on its way.

Now it is just a matter of finding out when.

As we discussed back in March of this year that free period would begin the first time you logged into Xbox Music with your Microsoft Account.

So how exactly will Microsoft let you know that your free unlimited streaming period is over?

Here is a screenshot for you to see how it happens:

Once your free unlimited streaming period is over it means you will only get 10 hours of free streaming and that count will reset each month. It also does not accumulate either from month to month if you do not use all 10 hours.

Interestingly enough I first logged into Xbox Music with my Microsoft Account back right after General Availability in late October 2012.  By my calculation my free unlimited streaming should have ended two months ago.

Bonus time apparently.

That is just 13 days from now.

A lot has happened in the last 90 days as several companies have stepped up to try and fill that upcoming void.  Some have done it fairly well and others have had some growing pains but it seems everything is starting to click as that July deadline approaches.

One of the services that has been vying for Google Reader users is Feedly.

They have been connecting Google Reader users with their feeds from Google and using Google’s servers to deliver RSS items to users however, they are about to start the move to their own Feedly cloud to move off the Google services since they will be unavailable in less than two weeks.

According to a blog post today from Feedly the roll out begins today.

They break the move down into a few different stages.

• Preparing – make sure the latest version of Feedly is installed on your device/system. Current version that is ready for the transition is 16.0.512.
• Sync via the cloud – In the next 2-3 days all users should receive a green banner notice  that they are now on the Feedly cloud for their RSS feeds.
  • They will only migrate your last 1,000 shared items
  • All apps must be restarted to make sure your data is coming from the Feedly cloud on all devices/systems.
  • No history will be migrated so you start from a blank slate once you are on Feedly’s cloud.
  • Be patient because migrating this much data takes a while so there may be gaps as that completes.
• Logging In – Google Authentication will continue to be used to access the Feedly Cloud. Eventually Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and LinkedIn will be supported.
• When will I get upgraded – it is a rolling upgrade but expected to be completed by 21 June.

Feedly is doing a good job of setting expectations for the transition to their own service for users and that is good because you can be fairly confident that a migration of this magnitude will have its share of challenges.

It was 18 years ago Sunday that APOD published its first picture which garnered 14 page views however, APOD estimates they have now served over one billion views of space related images since then.

Today APOD is translated into 22 languages daily and has published some iconic photos that fire up the imagination.

That first APOD image on 16 June 1995 showed Earth as it might appear if it had the high density composition of a neutron star.

Since then thousands of images have been published to show space from our view on the Earth and beyond. Each of these pictures bring not only the beauty and reality of space to us but they also teach us about the cosmos in a straight forward and effective way.

Happy Birthday APOD and here is to wishing you many more great years of sharing the wonders of our universe.

Xbox Music redesign revealed alongside new Windows 8.1 apps – We are just nine days away from the expected release of the public preview of Windows 8.1, aka Windows Blue, and more details are hitting the Internet with each successive test build that is released. This story focuses on the apparent redesign of Xbox Music, which is anticipated by many, and also includes screenshots of the updated Windows Store and the built in apps.

A Peek into the Development of 6Sec the unofficial Windows Phone Vine App by Rudy Huyn – info like this can give you an entirely new appreciation for the efforts it takes to get a Windows Phone app working and tested.  The additional twist is that the app, 6Sec, is for a very popular service called Vine from Twitter and it gets even more attention because so many people on Windows Phone wants to be able to use the service.  Since I posted this last night the developer has already published two updates overnight to implement Live Tiles.

Major Nelson takes Xbox One questions, says banned users will ‘absolutely not’ lose games – As if there is not enough churn around the upcoming Xbox One next generation console from Microsoft this story popped up over the weekend. It all started with a tweet from @XboxSupport and quickly blossomed from there. I would hope more clarity will come out this week on this issue.

Have a great week whether your developing, consuming or testing!

Over the course of the last several days I have been watching the amazing development cycle of an unofficial app to give Windows Phone users access to Twitter’s Vine service.

The developer, Rudy Huyn (@RudyHuyn on Twitter), has been going at it and pushing out version after version since he started building 6Sec.

He just shared an update to wrap the weekend up and has graciously allowed me to share some of those stats here with you all just to show the time and effort that goes into something like this.

Numbers:

• 600 Vine videos uploaded since that feature was added earlier today
• 68 hours of development time so far
• Number of beta versions released – 11
• Number of beta testers – 900

He also added that another key number is the number of developers – ONE – himself.

I have watched him interact with folks on Twitter about the app listening to feedback and providing updates all the while coding away.

In the near future the 6Sec app will see these features added:

• Live Tile – will be up and ready tonight
• A protocol extension added tomorrow
• Adding a Lense feature
• Updated user interface

6Sec is currently in a private beta but Rudy has been very good about adding more Windows Phone users to the mix. Just be patient with him to get you added if you ask as he is not only doing this app development but also his regular day job in between!

Here are some screenshots of the current version of 6Sec (Version 2.1.1)

OK so that is a little bit special isn’t it?

This episode lets us put a lid on some other news items we have been tracking this week and still includes a little E3 stuff along with some Xbox One and Xbox 360 news.

There are a couple of tidbits about the upcoming Windows 8.1 update for Microsoft’s Windows 8 as well as Twitter’s move into another third party realm with their service, AT&T moving upgrades out to the 24 month window and the big Best Buy/Microsoft Store partnership that was announced today.

We wrap up with a reminder to not only maintain the operating system on your computer but also the inside of your case.

Truly short but sweet.

Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

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Date Produced: 13 June 2013

Length: 27:11

Format: MP3, 128KBPS

Size: 27.1MB

This PODCAST is a proud member of the TechPodcast Network.

All of this episodes show links are available at our WiKi – Show Links: Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 94

According to The Next Web this free access was discovered earlier this week:

The change was spotted by Christopher Penn, vice president of marketing technology at SHIFT Communications earlier this week, as well as Danny Olson, a digital strategist at Weber Shandwick. Users simply need to head to the Twitter Ads dashboard and click on the ‘Analytics’ tab at the top of the page to access the new features.

It is in fact very easy to access the analytics by logging into your Twitter account on the web and then clicking on the Settings gear on the right side of the screen and then clicking on Twitter Ads. Your Twitter account credentials will give you access to the ads portal.

Once you get to the ads site just look to the left hand side of the screen toolbar for the word Analytics and click on that and then Timeline activity to access the data. At the time of this posting the Followers link on that menu leads to a page that states there is not enough data at this time to provide analytics.

The current level of analytics that gets displayed about your Timeline provide you with a summary of your outgoing tweet Timeline for the last 30 days and the chart looks like this:

It provides the number of mentions, follows and unfollows each day and on the left side provides the 30 day count.

Below that chart is info on your recent tweets including how many times it has been favorited, retweeted or replied to:

There is also a download button to get this info in a CSV file for you to keep.

Now this is all good and handy information to have at a quick glance if you want to measure the reach of your tweets and there are a lot of companies out there that want to do just that.

In fact, there are a lot of third party companies out there providing that kind of data to other companies and many make a good living at it.

Reminds me of how many third part developers were making some great clients for accessing Twitter until it became so difficult to be successful at it due to Twitter imposed limitations such as those experienced by Tweetro last year.

Could this initial trickle of access to Twitter’s own analytic data be a signal that Twitter is going to move in that same direction when it comes to providing tracking data for your tweets?

Something to consider.

The video below gives you a marketing perspective of how those stores will appear.

In an interview with Brandon LeBlanc Chris Capossela, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer, a lot of details were given about how the store in a store would layout and operate.

When asked why Best Buy was the choice:

It’s more about being the best destination choice for consumers. Today, Best Buy is the No. 1 retailer of PCs in the world. We’re able to do some really unique things through this partnership to show the range of our products – from PCs, to notebooks, to Surface, to Windows Phone, to Xbox – and how they all work together. We’re creating a premium experience for customers at scale, and Best Buy has been an amazing partner as we’ve built this out. As we said earlier this year, retail is a priority, and this partnership with Best Buy is a prime example of our commitment to the customer experience in evaluating, experiencing and enjoying Microsoft devices, and the software and services that connect them.

Microsoft Store configuration inside of a Best Buy:

Looking at the store head-on, it will feature an innovation table in the front, highlighting the newest and best Windows technologies of the moment. There will be a dedicated Surface area and central showcase tables with the latest and greatest PCs, laptops, convertibles and more. The back wall will feature software and accessories. And there’s an ecosystem section with real-life scenarios across Windows devices. This ecosystem area is exciting, because it will show off stuff like Xbox SmartGlass and SkyDrive. Personally, I love how I can use SkyDrive on my PC and phone, and how it saves me time when sharing documents at work, and photos with friends and family. This is a chance to show our customers the same thing – to let them see how Microsoft technology can enhance their lives.

Partnering in other areas of the store:

It also means we will have a great Windows tablet table inside the Best Buy Tablet Department, Windows Phones in their Phone Department, and lots of space for Xbox in their Gaming and Home Theater Departments. So there will be a big Windows experience where we bring everything together, but we’ll also look great in the other departments where people go. And, of course, we also extend the partnership to Best Buy’s online experience.

According to other reports the employees that will work the Microsoft Store in the Best Buy will be trained by Microsoft but they will still be Best Buy employees.  This does cause me some concern because of my experience when the Microsoft Surface first showed up in Best Buy retail stores late last year.  It seems the Surface was an after thought and was just tucked anywhere it would fit on a shelf. Many times the accessories were two aisles away and in some locations the Surface did not have any power to it.

What happens if one of the specially trained Best Buy staff is not available for a shift. Will store managers just stick another person in there regardless of their background or training to cover things? I can not imagine that going very well as Best Buy employees do not seem to have any additional training on the technologies they are trying to sale.

When it comes to the Microsoft ecosystem it is so integrated and connected that understanding that is key to building confidence in a prospective customer.

I guess we will see what happens as this moves forward.

My hope is that it is at least better than the first time unique Microsoft devices entered the store.

Microsoft Surface on display at a local Best Buy

Sources:

Microsoft to Open Dedicated “Windows Stores” in Best Buy

Microsoft and Best Buy announce the Windows Store only at Best Buy

Talking Retail- The New Windows Store Only at Best Buy

A long time argument that was used to differentiate the Xbox 360 console from the PlayStation unit was that an annual subscription was required on Xbox Live Gold to access multiplayer options in games for the Xbox 360.

For those on the PlayStation side of the discussion they were always able to respond with the fact that multiplayer gaming was free on their console.

Well, Monday night during the Sony PS4 E3 announcements the playing field in this area was actually leveled but went fairly un-noticed and un-discussed.

Towards the end of the Sony PS4 E3 Announcement a slide was shown that discussed the PlayStation Plus Network and features that it gave subscribers.

Many of the features will sound very familiar to those enjoyed on Xbox Live Gold including now, on the PlayStation side, multiplayer gaming that will cost PlayStation gamers an annual subscription of about $60.

I am not sure if that subscription can be obtained with any kind of discounts but, as most Xbox 360 gamers know, there are always deals for the annual Xbox Live Gold subscription floating around. It can typically be purchased for less than $40 per year.

So maybe Xbox moves slightly ahead of PS4 on this one then.

Heat, Heat and more Heat.

The build up of heat can cause the computer boards, connections and other elements in your computer system to fail early.

That is why you see so much focus on good ventilation, not only as part of a computer case itself along with the fans to move air in and out, but also where you place your CPU case when setting up a new PC.

You want to make sure there is plenty of room for your case fans to draw in fresh air to blow over the electronics in your system.

Naturally, pulling air in and out of a case also allows dust particles to be drawn into it because none of our homes are clean rooms and dust is simply a fact of life for the majority of us.

That means you need to take the time every month or so and pull your case out of its dark and confined home and open it up to expel those trapped Dust Bunnies.

Dust Bunnies want to be free so you are actually doing them a favor by regularly clearing out your case.

To do this and not trash the area around your computer desk completely unhook the CPU case from all of your peripherals and connections and take it outside or in your garage with the door open. Remove both side covers with a screwdriver and then using an inexpensive can of compressed air blow out all the vents and the inside crevices of your case.

Once you have freed all the Dust Bunnies you can put the covers back on and take it back inside to plug all of the peripherals back in and start your computer back up.

If you do this process on a regular basis your PC will run much cooler and it will be less likely that your components will experience early failure due to heat build up.

These pictures show the inside of a computer case I recently worked on and what it looked like before and after I cleared out the dusty inhabitants.

That is four years worth of build up and you should have heard those Dust Bunnies squealing for joy as I let them out of the case!

I decided that with all of the news yesterday relating to E3 with the Xbox One and PS4 briefings to the gaming world as well as some interesting stuff out of Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote that we could fill an episode with just those topics.

Guess what? We filled it quite easily and it was great having Mauro on the show for the first time to talk all the different aspects of those events.

We kicked off the show with the Microsoft E3 Global Media Briefing for Xbox One and all of the new games, new Xbox Live features and the confirmed availability and price of the new console.

Following that we talked a little about Apple’s iOS7 announcement yesterday and how the reaction has been quite mixed on social media and also covered some similarities between iOS7 and a certain Windows Phone OS.

Finally, we discussed Sony’s PS4 E3 announcements that happened late in the day on Monday and how they differed from Microsoft’s approach earlier in the day.

We wrapped with how the pre-order battle is going on Amazon.com and some speculation on how things will transpire over the next few months as these consoles come to market.

I just want to add another word of thanks to Mauro for joining me on this special episode of Observed Tech and that I look forward to having him back on soon. You can reach Mauro at @PureInfoTech, www.pureinfotech.com and www.facebook.com/pureinfotech.

Until next time enjoy the show and thanks for listening!

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Date Produced: 11 June 2013

Length: 47:34

Format: MP3, 128KBPS

Size: 45.8MB

This PODCAST is a proud member of the TechPodcast Network.

All of this episodes show links are available at our WiKi – Show Links: Observed Tech PODCAST Episode 93 (Special Edition)

Of course, with Microsoft having held their global media briefing earlier in the day at E3, Sony had plenty of time to strategize their announcements and possibly make some tweaks to what they would tell the world about their new console.

Based on watching Twitter the areas they hit Microsoft hardest on was the used/shared games options, no need for a regular connection to the Internet and under cutting the announced price of the Xbox One by $100.

With the official announcements out of the way both consoles have gone up for pre-order at numerous online retailers and although not all of those stores list ranks in sales one does – Amazon.com.

According to the Amazon Top 100 in Video Games Sony’s PS4 has already jumped out in front of the Xbox One in pre-orders.

Now granted, as I mentioned earlier, these consoles are available on many other online stores and so this is not a definitive ranking of all pre-orders. However, Amazon is a huge retailer and this is certainly an indication of the public’s response to what Sony is offering in comparison to Microsoft.

Obviously there is more to see on this as things evolve now that both announcements are over and we are still a few months from availability but it looks like Round 1 goes to Sony and the PS4.

Update: Other Amazon markets are showing similar results.

• Amazon.de (Germany) has the PS4 at #1 and the Xbox One at #3. Thanks to @QueeeeenY on Twitter for the tip.
• Amazon.co.uk (Britain) has the PS4 at #1 and Xbox One at #3.
• Amazon.fr (France) has the PS4 at #2 and the Xbox One at #6.
• Amazon.it (Italy) has the PS4 at #1 and the Xbox One at #5.
• Amazon.es (Spain) has the PS4 at #1 and the Xbox One at #5