Here are three stories that we saw this week and wanted to make sure you were aware of them as well.
August NPD – Xbox 360 Hits 32 Consecutive Months as #1 console in the U.S. (Xbox Wire) – so it has now been since January of 2011 since any other console maker has sold more units in the US than Microsoft has with their venerable Xbox 360. In August, according to NPD, there were 96,000 360’s sold and $213 million dollars spent on hardware, software and accessories for the soon to be replaced console. Xbox 360 game titles also held 6 of the top 10 slots for game sales last month. Oh by the way, on 22 November the Xbox One will become available and the question will then be which console ends up on top of the monthly sales then. The next generation consoles becoming available may actually be the only way the Xbox 360 gets knocked off the top of the pile. I guess we will find out soon enough however, we still have September and October to count units sold in and my prediction is the streak for Xbox 360 continues through at least those two months.
Trade in your iPad, Get a min. $200 gift card (Microsoft Store) – Looks like Microsoft wants to buy your gently used iPad 2, 3 or 4. In return they will give you a minimum of $200 in a gift card for the Microsoft Store. It looks like that money can be spent on anything as long as it is in the Microsoft Store but Microsoft is probably hoping you will apply it towards a Surface RT or Surface Pro. This promotion lasts from now until 27 October 2013 and with the General Availability for Windows 8.1 as well as OEM hardware expected on 18 October this is likely an opportunity to move first generation Surface devices before the new Surface 2 devices hit stores. There is no listed expiration date for using your gift card so I guess it is possible to exchange your iPad and then hold the gift card for a second generation Surface unit. This is also limited to physical Microsoft Store locations so that will impact the number of folks who can take advantage of it.
Who’s who on Microsoft’s new operating systems team (All About Microsoft) – we all know about the re-organization that Microsoft announced and has started moving towards. It looks like we get the first news of who is going where and this story from Mary Jo Foley focuses on the folks moving into the cross-platform OS team. According to Mary Jo this team is charged with creating the Windows Phone, Windows and Xbox One operating systems powering Microsoft’s phone, tablet/PC and TV/console systems. If you think the lines are blurred between screens now – give this new team a year or so. All the names and positions they are filling are in MJF’s article.
Have an awesome weekend everyone!
