Microsoft game division revs rise 55%

[UPDATE] Kinect helps Entertainment and Devices Division rack up $3.7 billion in quarterly sales; quarterly xbox 360 sales up 21%, Xbox Live membership up 30%.  
While Sony and Nintendo are drawing attention with news of their next handheld systems, Microsoft is celebrating the success of its console efforts.

Today, Microsoft reported its earnings for the quarter ending December 31, 2010. Overall, the company did well, posting a profit of $6.63 billion on earnings of $19.95 billion. Specifically, the company's game department, the Entertainment and Devices Division, did very well, reporting $3.7 billion in quarterly sales--an increase of 55 percent over the prior year's three-month total of $2.38 billion. Operating income for the department was $679 million, up from $365 million the year prior.



Kinect helped Microsoft's game division increase its revenues 55 percent.

One big reason for the Entertainment and Devices Division's success was the introduction of the Kinect during the holiday quarter. The system shipped 8 million units in the two months after it went on sale November 4, 3 million more units than Microsoft had forecast. The Kinect also helped boost xbox 360 sales 21 percent during the quarter, with
1.9 million units of the console sold in December alone in the US. In 2010, domestic Xbox 360 sales increased 42 percent to 6.8 million units sold.

Xbox Live subscriptions also increased 30 percent during the October-December quarter. At the
2011 Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that the service now boasts 30 million registered users, a new record. Also during his presentation, he pegged the worldwide Xbox 360 installed base at 50 million units.

The Entertainment and Devices Division also includes windows Phone 7, which sold
1.5 million units in six weeks, according to Microsoft. The phone, which has features that connect with Xbox Live, is now available on nine devices in 30 countries via 60 operators. More than 100 applications are being added to its marketplace each day according to Microsoft.

[UPDATE] In a conference call with investors, Microsoft executives said they expected the Entertainment and Devices Division's current-quarter revenue to increase 50 percent. For the full fiscal year, the company expects the division's revenue to be up 40 percent. Once again, the popularity of the Kinect and Xbox 360 were cited as factors for the uptick.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot


"Microsoft game division revs rise 55%" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:29:59 -0800

 

IDC: ZTE takes fourth in global cellphone rankings, leapfrogs Apple and knocks RIM out of top 5

You like numbers? Good, because it's the season and amid all these lovely financial reports we've been hitting there are some broader trends to look at. IDC has released its mobile phone report for 2010 and has concluded that, worldwide, the industry grew 18.5 percent over 2009, shipping a massive 1.39 billion units. That's nice and all, but check out this bit about ZTE. The manufacturer boosted its annual shipments by 94 percent, stealing Apple's recently-won fourth place position globally and, in doing so, knocking RIM straight into the dreaded "others" category. Can RIM make it back? Will Apple recover? Will Siobhan and Lucky ever reconcile their differences? Tune in next quarter to find out.IDC: ZTE takes fourth in global cellphone rankings, leapfrogs Apple and knocks RIM out of top 5 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink BGR  |  IDC  | Email this | Comments

Expert review related with PS Samurai

 

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Open up your console to a new generation of homebrew applications. Load homebrew apps/games off any USB hard drive/flash drive.Fully updatable with new functions/updates by attaching PS SAMURAI to any computers USB port. More information about the PS SAMURAI device can be found here.

PCs to get Kinect 'in a formal way' - Microsoft CEO

CES 2011: Steve Ballmer tells BBC that motion-sensing system will make its way to windows systems...eventually.  
At his
2011 Consumer Electronics Show keynote address, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made much of the Kinect, the xbox 360's motion-sensing system. The camera-based, controller-free peripheral shipped 8 million units last year, 3 million more than the 5 million units the company expected it to.



Kinect: Coming to the PC’eventually.

With the kinect already a hit on the Xbox 360, many people are wondering if the add-on will ever be released for Microsoft's omnipresent product, Windows. Speaking with the
BBC, Ballmer appeared to confirm that a PC-compatible Kinect will indeed be released--eventually, anyway.

When asked "Will you be able to plug a Kinect into a PC?" by the interviewer, Ballmer answered thusly: "We'll support that in a formal way in the right time, and when we have an announcement to make, we'll make it."

Microsoft isn't the only one bringing Kinect technology to PCs. There are currently numerous research projects that have created open-source Windows drivers for the Kinect, leading to such experimental creations as a Kinect-based mini-copter and a Roomba-like robot. Also, earlier this week, Primesense, one of the companies behind Kinect tech, announced it was working on a similar motion-sensing system for the PC. Called WAVI Xtion, the system is being manufactured by PC maker Asus and will be available in the second quarter of this year.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot


"PCs to get Kinect 'in a formal way' - Microsoft CEO" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:36:42 -0800

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EA explains Tigerless cover of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters

Now earlier today, we reported about the latest installment of EA's annual golf series, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters. In a surprising move however, EA decided not to include the superstar golfer's image on the

Dell Alienware M17x and Aurora hands-on

It's true, Dell unleashed two new Alienware systems this morning, and naturally we just had to check out the two epically powerful rigs in person. We spent the most time with the new 17-inch M17x, and while the chassis has been updated, it's still loaded with lots of LEDs, a trippy color-changing backlit keyboard, and chrome accents. The lid and edges have been given a more chiseled aesthetic, so we'd say it looks more muscular than ever. Obviously, the big story with the M17x is that it is now 3D capable. The full HD display is seriously beautiful, and while we didn't get to check out a Blu-ray 3D movie on the rig, we can only imagine how breathtaking the experience is going to be. We did, however, get to check out its new integrated 1080p streaming capability, which actually is based on an integrated WHDI solution. You'll need to pick up an extra box and hook it up to your TV, but in the demo we saw there was absolutely no lag between the clip of Final Fantasy on the laptop and on the TV. The unit we saw hanging around was packing a new Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA graphics, but it will apparently be available with AMD's latest graphics as well.

We also caught sometime with the new Aurora desktop, but like we said it wasn't much. The tower is still crazily-lit, but has been updated with the most powerful overclockable Intel Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors as well as new NVIDIA graphics that support 3D Vision. The Aurora should be available this month for a starting price of $1,799 and the M17x for $1,499 on January 10th. Hit the break for some more images and the source link for Engadget Spanish's short video. Gallery: Dell Alienware M17x and Aurora hands-onDell Alienware M17x and Aurora hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Engadget Spanish , Dell  | Email this | Comments

NEWS: Nintendo 3DS Potentially Hazardous for Children

Prolongued 3D play might affect vision in young children.
Nintendo advised that children under the age of 6 shouldn't play the 3DS using its 3D settings as they confirmed the lineup of games for Nintendo World 2011, an event in Japan from January 8 to 10 where the 3DS will be playable by the public for the first time.Since 3D causes more eye strain and fatigue and  might affect vision development in children, Nintendo is advising for kids under that age to not play it. The warning doesn't just apply to the 3DS, though. This is a general warning towards 3D entertainment, including movies, due to potential negative effects of 3D, such as motion sickness.
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