Windows Experience Blog : Xbox 360

Zune HD Revealed & Zune Coming to the Xbox!

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:34:50 GMT

My pal Brian Seitz over on the Zune Insider revealed a brand new (and very awesome looking) Zune yesterday – the Zune HD.

This awesome looking new device comes with an OLED screen with multi touch, an HD Radio receiver, HD video out capabilities, AND a web browser! Find out more about the Zune HD here. The Zune HD will be hitting the market later this year. I’m definitely getting one of these!

Oh and Zune will also be coming to the Xbox 360, taking over the existing video marketplace. Expect to hear more about this at E3 taking place in Los Angeles next week.

You can read the full press release for these 2 announcements here on PressPass.

Brian says there is more news to come. I suggest keeping your eyes on the Zune Insider.

Introducing the Microsoft Store

Brandon LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:40:00 GMT

This is something I think is pretty exciting – especially if you’re looking to score some Microsoft product. We are announcing the Microsoft Store – the first online store where you can purchase Microsoft products straight from the source!

We’re selling all of our products at a one-stop-shop: www.MicrosoftStore.com.

The Microsoft Store offers the largest selection of Microsoft software, devices and hardware in one place. You will find many reasons to visit the store:

Immediate software download option with the largest download catalog of Microsoft titles.
Most up-to-date selection of and information on everyone’s favorite Microsoft products including Windows, Office, Xbox, Zune and more!
Simple and secure purchases with full Microsoft support both before and after purchase.

We’re not just launching the Microsoft Store for US customers. In addition to the US Microsoft Store, there are also online stores for customers in the UK, Germany and Korea. Japan, France, Spain and the Netherlands are coming soon. More countries will be coming onboard throughout the year.

I’ll be picking myself up one of the new Microsoft LifeCam Show webcams from the Microsoft Store as I had been looking to pick one up for a while now.

Games for Windows - LIVE Now FREE!

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Kevin Unangst, Director for Games for Windows, made a pretty cool little announcement today over on the Gamerscore Blog regarding Games for Windows - LIVE. Games for Windows - LIVE now offers completely free multiplayer capabilities even when playing in cross-platform games with Xbox 360 users! Kevin also tells us that not only will new games like Dawn of War 2 and Fallout 3 under Games for Windows - LIVE have free multiplayer awesomeness - so will existing games under Games for Windows - LIVE such as Shadownrun, Gears of War, and Halo 2. I wrote about Halo 2 on Windows Vista here last May.

Another tidbit that Kevin revealed (and has certainly perked my interest!) is that they have announced that his fall they will be delivering a brand new marketplace for Games for Windows - LIVE. This Marketplace will be THE place to go to get content for all your Games for Windows - LIVE games. Expect to see some awesome content up on the new Marketplace for Games for Windows - LIVE including game demos and trailers!

In case you are not familiar with Games for Windows - LIVE - these are games that are designed to let users add achievements and gamerscore points earned in games to their Xbox Live account. You can also chat with your Xbox Live friends regardless of their platform (either on the PC with Games for Windows - LIVE or on an Xbox 360 console). To read more about Games for Windows - LIVE - click here.

Streaming Internet Content with Internet TV Beta to Windows Media Center

Brandon LeBlanc — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:27:00 GMT

On September 28th, users of Windows Media Center for Windows Vista (in the U.S. at this time) will see a new option under "TV + Movies" - the beta version of Internet TV. Internet TV Beta streams high-quality video content from MSN Video ( which just relaunched with new features and enhancements) through the internet to Windows Media Center. I got an opportunity to take an early look at Internet TV and want to share my experience.

When first launched - Internet TV took me to the Top Picks category. Internet TV consists of 6 main categories: Top Picks, Movies, Music, Entertainment, Sports, and News. These categories have sub-categories or "sections" in which content is divided into:

Top Picks: Top Picks are the top picks of content from all 6 categories. Top picks from movie trailers to concerts to TV shows are located here. There is some great picks here to check out like the Halo 3 "Believe" trailer (one of the coolest trailers ever) and the trailer to the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight.

Movies: Here is where I was able to check out movie trailers to movies currently at the box office as well as movies that are "coming soon" and on DVD. If you are looking to head out to a movie and want to see what is at the box office - you can easily fire up Internet TV to quickly check out some trailers before heading out.

Music: Under music, I was able to check out concerts from artists like John Mayer, Maroon 5, Snoop Dogg, Chris Cornell, and Velvet Revolver. The concerts are pretty sweet. You also can watch top music videos. I've never seen the music video to the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive" until today. I also checked out "Rockstar" by Nickelback and "Last Fight" by Velvet Revolver.

Entertainment: With the Entertainment category you get complete TV show episodes such as "Arrested Development". I was able to view the shows by channels - with channels such as A&E, bio, The History Channel, NBC Today, Food Network, HGTV, DIY, National Geographic, Fine Living and MSN TV. Under MSN TV I discovered clips to some top TV shows like "Heroes" and the new "Bionic Woman". It is nice to see short clips from shows - especially if you might be interested in checking out some of these shows. There is also a section called "Shorts" where you can view short videos from places such as iFilm.

Sports: Sports fans will love this section. I was able to view clips from the latest games across the board. And there are dedicated sections for NFL news and NCAA Football.

News: This section consists of news clips from the latest current events. There is a section dedicated to top news as well as the 2008 election. Those who are watching the 2008 election closely will find the dedicated election section quite nice.

All the content loaded up in high quality and looked quite nice. There was some brief time in accessing the content as it loads or buffers but once the content is playing - it's playing in some pretty high quality. The content is designed and optimized for broadband streaming so having a broadband connection is required for the best results. I was also able to use my Xbox 360 acting as an Extender to use Internet TV as well. The new Media Center Extenders from D-Link, Linksys, HP and Niveus Media announced today all support Internet TVso you can watch the content on TV sets around your home.

Internet TV is beta and should show up in Windows Media Center for users with Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate on September 28th. During the beta trial, the Media Center team will experiment with the content on offer, and with advertising. At this time, Internet TV is available to users in the U.S.

Talking about Windows Rally

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 16 May 2007 20:03:00 GMT

First off, let me touch base a little bit on what exactly Windows Rally is. Windows Rally is a set of technologies that ship as part of the standards for being a Certified for Windows Vista device. The core set of Windows Rally technologies are:

Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD): is the protocol that enables the device to show in Windows Vista's Network Map including a specific device icon representing that device.
Windows Connect Now (WCN): enables the ability to easily and quickly setup a wireless network.
Devices Profile for Web Services (DPWS): allows devices to be easily discoverable on your network.
Plug and Play Extensions (PnPX): USB-like plug-and-play experience extended to network devices.

You can read a more in-depth overview of the Windows Rally technologies from yesterday's Windows Rally Press Release (I tried to break down the information and simplify it a bit here).

Windows Rally *really* excites me. I currently have Cat-5 strung across my living room floor connecting my Xbox 360 to my home network. I want to get rid of the cable and run Windows Rally devices such as the Xtreme N Duo MediaBridge from D-Link that was demoed during the keynote. I depend on my Xbox 360 and its Windows Media Extender capabilities for Windows Media Center content like TV shows, music, and photos. That content is streamed across the network. I want to be able to do this without running cable all over the place.

During yesterday's Keynote, Program Managers Glenn Ward and Jim Barber demoed Windows Rally Technologies:

Video: WinHEC 2007 - Windows Rally Demo

Did you see how fast they setup the Wireless Network with the Certified for Windows Vista networking devices? That is awesome! Using the Windows Rally technologies listed above, devices such as the Media Bridges that were demoed auto-discover and auto-configure for that particular network. The Media Bridges run at 5GHz (running using 802.11 N) - making them immune to interference that is present in legacy networks (like networks running 802.11 G). With networking the Media Bridges together to stream HD content in the demo, the original network that Jim Barber set up at the beginning of the demo was not replaced. The network operating between the Media Bridges and the network set up previously operate side-by-side as they are operating at different levels with one at 802.11 G and 802.11 N.

I look forward to being able to implement Windows Rally and my own house as it looks like a amazing set of technologies that will enable me to get more out of my personal network and network devices.

Gaming in Windows Vista with the Wireless Xbox 360 Controller

Brandon LeBlanc — Sun, 13 May 2007 07:21:00 GMT

Microsoft recently released the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows a few weeks ago. I decided to pick one up last weekend as I had too many cables running in all different directions all over my desk. The Wireless Gaming Receiver allows you to use your wireless Xbox 360 Controller to play games on Windows Vista.

The Wireless Gaming Receiver is pretty simple to hook up and install. You plug the receiver in via USB just as you would a receiver for a wireless keyboard or mouse. Windows Vista will automatically detect and install the Wireless Gaming Receiver which is pretty cool.

However, you're going to want to install the Xbox 360 Accessories Status application on the Wireless Gaming Receiver CD as this will enable you to check to see how your battery life is doing on the wireless Xbox 360 Controller. The Xbox 360 Accessories Status also lets you configure notifications for device connections.

Thanks to a pointer by Michael Wolf, who you can catch over on the Gamerscore Blog, I discovered that you can use the Xbox 360 Controllers (Wireless or Wired) to play the in-box-games that ship with Windows Vista. Sweet! I shot video to demo using the Wireless Xbox 360 Controller to play Minesweeper, Chess Titans, and Solitaire:

Video: Using the Xbox 360 Controller in Windows Vista

I was particularly impressed with the fact they incorporated the ability to have your Xbox 360 Controller "rumble" in certain instances within these games - such as in Minesweeper when I hit a mine.

The Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver is priced at $19.99. That is not a bad deal if you already have an Xbox 360 and wireless controller. I've also seen the Wireless Gaming Receiver and Controller bundled together as well for about $50.00.