Entering the already busy arena of online streaming video services, Xbox 360 announced yesterday that it’s teaming up with Verizon to offer the company’s Redbox Instant Video exclusively on its gaming consoles. It’s always good to have options, and it seems companies are going to continue coming up with competitors for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon’s video services. And when companies compete, we win. Hurray! [More]
Verizon’s Redbox Instant Video Service Launching New App For Xbox 360
By February 6, 2013
No One At Best Buy Actually Wants To Sell Me An Xbox
By December 5, 2012
In the last year, Best Buy has been attempting to market itself not just as a place to go to purchase electronics, but as a store where you’ll find helpful and informed employees. That’s not exactly the impression one Consumerist reader got after his last visit to the store. [More]
Time Warner Cable Dangling Free Xboxes To Entice Customers To Sign Up At Best Buy
By November 7, 2012
People want free stuff. Cable companies need new customers. Best Buy really, really needs shoppers to set foot in its stores. These three facts have all resulted in a promotion that has TWC offering up free Xbox 360s to new customers who sign up for its Triple Play package while visiting Best Buy. [More]
Microsoft Confirms $99 Xbox 360 For Those Who Love Pricey Monthly Subscriptions
By May 7, 2012
Last week, it was rumored that Microsoft would be slashing the price on its Xbox 360 game console to a mere $99 with the asterisk that you also sign up for two years of its Xbox Live Gold online service. The company officially announced the offer today, and confirmed just how huge that asterisk is. [More]
Expert: Credit Card Data On Old Xbox Hard Drives Is Vulnerable (Updated)
By March 30, 2012
If you’ve ever gotten rid of an old Xbox 360 hard drive, a determined hacker could find a way to extract your credit card information from the device. As part of a study meant to expose Microsoft’s lax protection of consumer data, researchers bought a refurbished Xbox 360 and used hacking tools to plunder the device for info that identified the previous owner, as well as the owner’s credit card details. They say old data isn’t safe even if the hard drives have been formatted. [More]
Comcast Thinks Data Caps Shouldn't Apply To Its Xbox Streaming Service
By March 27, 2012
This week, Microsoft is adding new streaming video applications from HBO Go, Major League Baseball and Xfinity from Comcast. And while announcing that new streaming video service, Xfinity’s overlord Comcast say the traffic from the streaming video service won’t count against Comcast’s 250GB monthly data cap. [More]
Microsoft Says It's Taking Xbox Live Account-Hacking Problem Seriously
By February 8, 2012
Reports — some of them from our readers — are circulating that thieves are hacking their way into Xbox Live accounts, perhaps in greater numbers than usual. While Microsoft says it has no evidence that there is an Xbox Live security breach, the Xbox Live general manager says support teams are working hard to retrieve swiped accounts and protect users from threats. [More]
Kinect For Windows Doesn't Mean You'll Be Playing Dance Central 2 On Your PC
By January 12, 2012
When Microsoft announced earlier this week that it would be selling Kinect for Windows starting in February, a number of people envisioned a near future where they would be moving the cells around on their Excel spreadsheet by waving their hands, or finally getting quality motion controls for PC games that have never been ported to the Xbox 360. But neither of these situations is really what Kinect for Windows is about. [More]
Report: Hundreds Of Xbox Makers At Foxconn Plant Threatened Suicide
By January 12, 2012
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn has factories just about everywhere in the world, and they make stuff for just about every gadget company that you can think of. This makes any news coming out of the company, from 2010′s suicide cluster to last year’s explosion, fascinating to us. But it’s hard to look at your Xbox quite the same way after learning that hundreds of Foxconn workers reportedly took to the roof and threatened suicide over severance payments. [More]
How Not Having Home Internet Access Makes Xbox Live Problematic
By January 12, 2012
It’s difficult to imagine such a rustic, primitive existence, but Dustin doesn’t have broadband Internet access at home. He seems to manage, though. Except when it comes to his Xbox 360. When he downloaded a game expansion, a Microsoft representative gave him bad advice, instructing him to put his hard drive in the console of a friend who does have broadband at home. The representative left out a step, and the game expansion license now belongs to Dustin’s friend’s account. No one at Microsoft is able to help him get the content back under his own gamertag so he can use the content he paid for. [More]
Avoid Browser Glitch That Causes Unintentional Xbox Live Purchases
By January 6, 2012
If you like to look for free Xbox 360 game demos via Xbox.com on a browser, it’s easy to make a mistake that causes you to accidentally buy the product rather than just test it out. [More]
Report: Xbox 360 Update Uglies Up Video Playback
By December 19, 2011
That Xbox 360 update that makes gamers promise not to sue and reportedly broke some consoles also may have brought another annoyance along with it. Reports say updated machines have trouble properly playing video, making colors appear washed out. [More]
Mandatory Xbox 360 Update Breaks Some Consoles, Microsoft Claims 'Coincidence'
By December 16, 2011
Last week’s exciting Kinect Dashboard update for Xbox 360 consoles didn’t just ask users to waive their right to sue and make customers pay to be advertised to. It also appears to have caused problems with a number of consoles. Nothing major: it just keeps them from reading any discs…no, wait, that is major. Microsoft representatives say that this is a coincidence, and that customers with freshly broken consoles need to send them in for repair for $100 or so. [More]
Microsoft Makes Gamers Promise Never To Sue It After Xbox Update
By December 8, 2011
It turns out that shiny new mandatory Xbox 360 update was something of a Trojan Horse that allows Microsoft to twist gamers’ arms and make them agree never to sue the company. [More]
Will Xbox TV's Voice & Motion Controls Actually Revolutionize TV Watching?
By December 5, 2011
Starting tomorrow, an update to the Xbox 360′s dashboard will integrate its Kinect motion/voice-detection system and Microsoft’s Bing search engine in the hopes of creating a truly hands-free entertainment experience. But does it work? [More]
FiOS Bringing 26 Channels Of Live TV To Xbox 360
By November 29, 2011
As we wrote early last month, the folks at Microsoft had signed some sort of then-nebulous deal with Verizon FiOS to bring more live TV options to Xbox 360 users. Now, as the twosome prepares to roll out its offerings, details of the deal have finally been released. [More]
Xbox 360 Finally Getting More Live & On-Demand TV
By October 5, 2011
It’s been reported for quite some time that Xbox 360 users would eventually get access to more streaming video options. Earlier today, Microsoft announced that it has partnered with a number of content providers to bring content from HBO, SyFy and even more for Comcast and Verizon FiOS subscribers. [More]
Microsoft Apologizes To Those Mistakenly Banned From Xbox Live
By September 26, 2011
A security snafu banned an unconfirmed number of users from Xbox Live. Now Microsoft has admitted to the mistake and issued an apology to those affected. The Xbox cops have revoked the ban and credited the innocent with three free month of Xbox Live and $20 worth of Microsoft Points. [More]
