Zzk2001 Is Makeing a Install CD for Xbox
He list that it will Have
-All Dashboards
-All Emulators (Only ones he likes and tested)
-XBMC (install as App or Dash)
-2,510 Trainers
-1,000+ Dash Skins (could be more)
-Dash Backup and Recover
With the Install CD you can make Any Dash your Main Dash with just a push of the Button, Install emulators Fast and easy
….maybe even fix dash errors
A U.S. federal jury found that Microsoft Corp. infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and should pay $1.52 billion in damages, Microsoft said Thursday.
Microsoft said it plans to first ask the trial judge to knock down the ruling and will appeal if necessary. It said the verdict is unsupported by the law or the facts.
Alcatel-Lucent had accused the world’s biggest software maker of infringing patents related to standards used for playing digital music, or MP3, files.
"We made strong arguments supporting our view and we are pleased with the court’s decision," said Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Joan Campion, declining to discuss details of the decision.
Microsoft said it has already properly licensed the MP3 technology from a German company called Fraunhofer for $16 million.
"We are concerned that this decision opens the door for Alcatel-Lucent to pursue action against hundreds of other companies who purchased the rights to use MP3 technology from Fraunhofer, the industry-recognized rightful licensor," Tom Burt, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel, said in a statement.
Microsoft and Alcatel are locked in a number of patent disputes including a suit over the video-decoding technology in Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game console.
Google’s $23 million deal to acquire Adscape—first reported by Red Herring last week—gives the search giant a patent that could mean trouble for Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming service.
Ownership of Adscape gives Google access to a patent portfolio that could position the company well in a battle against Microsoft to deliver advertisements in video games. Redmond became the king of in-game ads after buying New York-based Massive in 2006 for an estimated $200 to $400 million (see Microsoft’s Massive Purchase).
The most interesting patent, however, could create some headaches for Microsoft’s Xbox Live effort to fuse console gaming with online gameplay. Google’s new intellectual property includes a patent granted to San Francisco-based Adscape—then called BiDamic—in 2005 for a “system and method for interactive on-line gaming.�
“You get a patent that could cause Microsoft some trouble,â€? said Allonn Levy, intellectual property attorney, Hopkins & Carley in San Jose. “It certainly does sound like Google is looking at getting into an area where we know Microsoft is in and interested in. Whether or not the patent works, you’d have to look at the patent closely. It certainly suggests that there is a fight coming.”
Invented by Adscape CTO Dan Willis, the patent is for a complex gaming system that sounds similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, which lets owners of the Xbox console play games and download multimedia via the Internet. BiDamic filed the application in September of 2002, mere months before the launch of Xbox Live.
“The customer located equipment is connected to the gaming service provider through a broadband access network, and includes a gaming console,� according to a description of the patent from the United States Patent Office.
“You would expect a client in this position to be leveraging this patent portfolio,� said Adrian O’Donnell, a patent agent at Freedman & Associates. Freedman filed Mr. Willis’ patent in September, 2002. While he wouldn’t give many details on how the patent stacks up against related technologies on the market—like Xbox Live—Mr. O’Donnell believes a business owning the Adscape IP would look to enforce it via things like cross-licensing deals. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a head-on collision,� he said.
Google’s Adscape acquisition comes at a time when big consumer brands are searching for new ways to connect with the coveted 18- to 34-year-old audience, and video games are emerging as a tantalizing way to do that. Google’s likely been feeling pressure to offer video games to its suite of advertising options, Mr. Taylor explained, to potentially counterbalance the Microsoft/Massive combination. “The entry of Google with a portfolio of patents and a Rolodex of big-time advertisers has a lot of people really excited,� he said.
The stakes are high. Yankee Group forecasts the market for advertisements in video games will hit $732 million by 2010, up from $56 million in 2005. While still a paltry sum compared to the $10 billion Google earned from online ads in 2006, video games could prove to be a lucrative new frontier for the Silicon Valley icon.
In addition to several pending patents, Google also gets access to Adscape’s AdverPlay and Real World/Virtual World Gateway technologies, which make it possible to deliver dynamic advertisements like billboards in Internet-enabled games and lets advertisers communicate with gamers via email or SMS text messages, respectively.
The acquisition marks Google’s first foray into the in-game advertising business and comes as it has been amassing deals and technologies to deliver ads across many different types of media, including newspapers, radio, and TV. While Mr. Willis said he was unable to discuss the aforementioned patent and Google refused to comment on any Adscape deal, this week the search giant did explain how it views video games. “In-game advertising is an area where we believe Google could add a lot of value to users, advertisers and publishers,� said company spokesman Brandon McCormick.
Many are wondering how Google plans to do just that. “That’s the $23 million question,� said Kelly Hyndman, a Washington, D.C.-based partner with IP law firm Sughrue Mion. Mr. Hyndman believes the search king is likely to use Adscape’s patent portfolio defensively against companies like Microsoft while marshalling the expertise of executives including Mr. Willis to build its own game ad delivery system.
Mercenaries 2: World In Flames was previously announced for the PS3, but Pandemic has added that it will now also be coming out for the Xbox 360, PC, and PS2.
IGN had an exclusive interview with Pandemic’s senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff.
IGN: Just to put things in context so that you know what kind of fan I am of Mercenaries, I reviewed the original game and worked closely with LucasArts on it, and I’m really looking forward to the sequel. I’m also aware of the back-story of Mercenaries, the first time around.
Jonathan Zamkoff: OK…
IGN: As in, you know, how the first Mercenaries was originally contracted with EA as a Strike series game. How Pandemic and EA eventually didn’t agree to work on the first game together, and how Pandemic went independent with a different game that LucasArts ended up signing and publishing. So…
Jonathan Zamkoff: so, you’re steeped in Mercenaries lore.
IGN: (Laughter). Yes, I guess you could say that.
Jonathan Zamkoff: Then you know it’s been quite a wild ride for us.
IGN: Yes, so it’s funny and ironic that Pandemic is working with EA again on Mercenaries 2.
Jonathan Zamkoff: Yes, very much so. Obviously, this time around the deal is slightly different. We’re feeling much more on equal footing with EA, which is really exciting for Pandemic. EA is a monster in terms of distribution, quality assurance, and really helping getting the game in the channels. And creatively, Pandemic retains the rights to the IP, so this time around we’re on equal footing and I know both sides are very excited about working together with this type of relationship.
IGN: It seems like it a good deal for you guys. But I’m curious: Why would a publisher, any publisher, want to agree to a deal where they didn’t retain the intellectual property to the game they’re publishing? You know, the publisher loses a level of control and they don’t make as much money on it without those rights, or at least that’s the way most publishing deals have been written up to this point. Maybe this one is different?
Jonathan Zamkoff: You know, honestly I ‘m not really sure of the minds of the EA executive that signed this. Mercenaries, across the board, has the buzz that it’s going to be a top ten title on the PS3 and on the Xbox 360 as well. You know, I don’t know for sure, but I think that EA is looking to get a big, open-world game like Mercenaries under its belt that they are proud and excited about. So that’s the biggest leverage we have. We’re coming in with the best-selling original IP of 2005, everybody across the board feels we have made massive improvements to the game for next-gen, and I just think it’s the type of game and the quality of game that, even though they don’t retain the IP, I think that EA wants to have a stake in Mercenaries 2. There really is no one bigger and better to handle a game in the publishing world than EA. They’re the juggernauts of the publishing world. We have a lot of faith in their marketing.
You can read the rest of the interview in full at IGN.
PRESS RELEASE: Microsoft to showcase IPTV on Xbox 360 for the first time in Europe at The Connected Home
Microsoft will showcase IPTV on Xbox 360 for the first time in Europe at
The Connected Home show to be held in Olympia, London on 5-7 March, 2007
(www.the-connected-home.co.uk). Ed Graczyk, Worldwide Director of
Marketing and Communications for Microsoft TV, will demonstrate IPTV on
Xbox 360 during his keynote at the conference, entitled “Future of
Connected Entertainment”.
The demonstration will showcase what happens when next-generation
television is combined with next-generation gaming in a unique, new
service delivered by your broadband provider. Graczyk commented,
“Separately the Xbox 360 and Microsoft TV IPTV Edition deliver unique
and exciting entertainment experiences, but IPTV on Xbox 360 delivers a
real value proposition for consumers, service providers and content and
game developers alike. By integrating these industry-leading solutions,
we continue to drive innovation and enable new connected entertainment
experiences for consumers.”
IPTV on Xbox 360 is expected to be available through select service
providers as early as the holiday season in 2007. Some of the world’s
largest telecommunications service providers have chosen Microsoft IPTV
Edition as their IPTV software solution, with scaled commercial
deployments currently under way with AT&T, BT Group PLC, Deutsche
Telekom, T-Online in France and Swisscom.
Ian Johnson, Managing Director of Junction Group Ltd, organiser of the
IPTV World Forum (www.iptv-forum.com), commented, “This will be a unique
opportunity to witness first hand the possibilities which IPTV offers to
service providers and to the online gaming market and we are delighted
that Microsoft has chosen the IPTV World Forum event to showcase this
demonstration.”
The Connected Home Show (www.the-connected-home.co.uk) will be co-hosted
at the third annual IPTV World Forum and will be held in Olympia, London
on 5-7th March 2007. www.iptv-forum.com
The Microsoft Xbox 360 console has reached 294,000 sales in January alone, said a company exec. on Tuesday. Molly O’Donnell, a group manager for Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, said that the Xbox’s sales were 18% higher than the 250,000 units sold in January a year before. She then went on to say,“Xbox 360 had a fantastic January, and we feel great about our position in the marketplace.”
We will have to wait to see how the console will stand up to its competitors the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii.
Microsoft’s stock is down about 2.2 percent in mid-afternoon trading to $28.80 as investors digest Chief Executive Steve Ballmer’s strategic update yesterday.
The headlines? His warning to Wall Street analysts that some of their forecasts for Windows revenue in fiscal 2008 were “overly aggressive” and his pledge to keep operating expense growth below the $2.7 billion figure that landed on the stock like a ton of bricks last year.
For close followers of the company, it might be worth reading the transcript of the presentation (download Word document here).
If you’re tracking the progress of the Xbox business, Ballmer’s comments on console pricing might be of particular interest. The Entertainment and Devices Division is committed to profitability in fiscal 2008. Asked about the potential of a price cut on the Xbox 360 console, Ballmer said, “I think every console in the world has had a price decrease sometime in the first few years. I don’t know whether we’ll have a price decrease in the first few years, and I don’t want to comment on that, but I will highlight for you that every console has had a price decrease in the first few years.”
Mary Jo Foley interprets how Ballmer views the Microsoft-Novell relationship. Here’s what he said:
The deal that we announced at the end of last year with Novell I consider to be very important. It demonstrated clearly the value of intellectual property even in the open source world. I would not anticipate that we make a huge additional revenue stream from our Novell deal, but I do think it clearly establishes that open source is not free and open source will have to respect intellectual property rights of others just as any other competitor will.
Here are a couple of analysts’ takes:
Sid Parakh of McAdams Wright Ragen wrote in a research note this morning that the update appeared to be aimed at “managing expectations” and priming Wall Street analysts for the company’s fiscal 2008 forecasts, due out in April.
He fine-tuned his own estimates as a result, decreasing fiscal 2008 revenue estimates by $293 million to $56.7 billion. That correlates to a dialed-down Windows revenue growth rate. Parakh lowered the rate from 11 percent to 9 percent. He did not change his earnings-per-share estimate, currently $1.72 for fiscal ’08, because the lowered revenue estimate was offset by Ballmer’s guidance on moderated operating expense growth.
Brent Thill of Citigroup wrote “Our biggest takeaway from the event is that MSFT is clearly trying to temper the exuberance in some Street models over Vista.” He left his models unchanged at 9 percent Windows revenue growth in fiscal ’08. “Our view remains unchanged that Vista will have a gradual uptake and will not create a significant spike above the normal trend line of PC growth,” he wrote.
You can see IDC’s latest PC growth estimates here. An interesting note to go with IDC’s numbers: Analyst Loren Loverde told me in an e-mail last night that “the fourth quarter of 2006 was weaker than expected — particularly in the U.S. and Japan. We will finish updating our forecasts in a couple weeks, but in the meantime the assumption is that 2007 growth may come down a little (0-1% by early estimate).”
Brier Dudley asks some interesting questions in his take.
