The folks at Hasbro have never had a problem letting everything from towns to universities to movies to big-name commercial brands slap their names on licensed versions of Monopoly, but a new version of the classic board game is unabashedly all about learning the value of today’s biggest fast food, retail, tech, and entertainment companies — everything a growing child needs to get ahead! [More]
microsoft
Apple, Google, Facebook & Other Tech Giants Pen Letter Asking For NSA Transparency
By 7.18.13
In the wake of that whole thing where the National Security Agency is reportedly snooping on people, a whole bunch of tech industry giants have banded together with privacy advocates to send a letter to the lawmakers and President Barack Obama asking for some transparency when it comes to government surveillance. [More]
The Xbox One Will Use Kinect To Provide Targeted Advertising
By 7.8.13
When you spend $500 on a video game console — and upwards of $60 for a single game — you might hope to not be inundated with advertising. But the new generation of Xbox will be just as ad-filled as the Xbox 360. Even better, Microsoft wants to use the mandatory Kinect audio/video sensor to provide ads targeted directly to the user. [More]
Xbox Exec Flees Microsoft To Fix The Failing Virtual Farm That Is Zynga
By 7.1.13
A couple weeks back, Microsoft’s Don Mattrick defended the Xbox One’s most controversial aspects — and irking a number of military personnel in the process — by saying that people who wanted to play a video game console without connecting to the Internet could just buy an Xbox 360. He then had to take it all back when the company decided it didn’t want to lose customers to Sony. Now Mattrick is jumping off the U.S.S. Microsoft to go tend virtual fields as the CEO of another much-derided gaming company, Zynga. [More]
Microsoft To Offer Ad-Free Version Of Bing For Schools
By 6.24.13
While both Google and Microsoft’s Bing search engines have “safe search” options intended to let younger school children research reports on things like “backyard drilling” without getting results that might require a lot of awkward explanations from their parents, neither had offered an ad-free version. But in the fall, Microsoft will launch “Bing for Schools,” which promises not to invade our schools’ libraries with advertising. [More]
Microsoft Decides Maybe It Doesn’t Want To Ruin Xbox One, Removes Restrictions
By 6.19.13
Well that was fast. Not even two weeks after Sony announced its upcoming PS4 gaming console wouldn’t have the insane restrictions on used and resold games that Microsoft had instituted for its new Xbox One device, reports say the boys from Redmond have decided that maybe some of their policies weren’t exactly the greatest ideas. [More]
Apple Says It Received 5,000 Data Requests From Law Enforcement, Doesn’t Say How Many It Fulfilled
By 6.17.13
With many people still wondering about the extent to which the National Security Agency and other authorities were peeping in to consumers’ phone and Internet activities, some of the larger firms caught up in the scandal are making attempts at being transparent about what they did and didn’t hand over to the government. However, some are being more transparent than others. [More]
Microsoft Hopes Publishers Will Provide More Value To Consumers If Xbox One Games Can’t Be Resold
By 6.13.13
Microsoft continues to try to convince concerned consumers that the highly restrictive policies for lending out, reselling, and giving away Xbox One games are actually just the next step in entertainment evolution and that we’ll all come to thank the company for what it’s doing. [More]
Law Enforcement Officials From Around The Country Ask Smartphone Manufacturers To Install Kill Switches
By 6.13.13
As we mentioned yesterday, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón are meeting this week with execs from Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and Google to discuss ways wireless device manufacturers can help deter theft and eliminate the market for stolen phones. Today, Schneiderman and Gascón — along with attorneys general, district attorneys, chiefs of police, consumer advocates, and educators — have launched a nationwide initiative to bring this issue to the fore. [More]
Microsoft Exec: If You Don’t Want To Always Be Online, Keep Playing Xbox 360
By 6.12.13
Following Sony’s crowd-pleasing announcement that its upcoming PS4 gaming console will not require the user to constantly be online, one might have hoped that Microsoft would ease up on that continually connected model for its Xbox One device. But no, the company is sticking to its guns, basically telling anyone concerned about this issue to kiss off. [More]
As Expected, Sony Backtracks A Bit On Restriction-Free Games For PS4
By 6.11.13
Last night, Sony delivered a mammoth kick to Microsoft’s rear-end when it announced that the upcoming PS4 would not put any restrictions on how users share games for the new console. But this is obviously too good to be true 100% of the time, and now Sony is having to clarify what it meant. [More]
Latest News About Xbox One And Used Games Only Muddies The Waters
By 6.7.13
Among the major concerns Xbox users had about the unveiling of Microsoft’s newest console, the Xbox One, was whether or not gamers would be able to play used games. Some retailers who make mountains of cash selling old games also have reason to worry. The company is now attempting to clear up those concerns, but it is really just making the picture murkier and testing the boundaries of copyright law. [More]
After 6 Months Of Battle With Microsoft, Consumerist Post Gets Refund In 5 Hours
By 5.30.13
We Consumerist editors kind of wish that companies would put us out of business. We wish that all consumers could resolve their problems with a few calm, reasonable phone calls or e-mails, and that getting anything done in a massive bureaucracy didn’t require hours of phone calls. We’re still here, though, and Steve’s story is a good example of why. [More]
Microsoft Eases Concerns (Slightly) About Being Spied On By Xbox One
By 5.28.13
Among the major concerns about the upcoming Xbox One gaming console is that the device’s new Kinect sensor is so thoroughly integrated into the the system that it will always be on and listening/watching what users are doing. In response to consumers who would rather not be monitored 24/7, Microsoft has issued a statement that quells some concerns while raising others. [More]
4 Early Concerns About The Xbox One
By 5.23.13
Earlier this week, Microsoft finally got around to showing off Xbox One, the console some gamers have been waiting for since the Xbox 360 came out eight years ago. The company made sure to highlight all the cool bells and whistles of the upcoming device, but also skipped over a number of issues that are already giving some folks reason for concern. [More]
Microsoft Says Liquid Damage Ruined My Surface’s Battery, And That’s Final
By 5.23.13
Electronics that are popular and have been on the market long enough to be out of warranty have vibrant industries of third-party repair shops, replacement parts, and online repair manuals. Yes, we’re thinking of iDevices when we say that. The problem with owning a newer device like the Microsoft Surface is that this kind of cottage industry hasn’t had the opportunity to grow yet. Warranty replacements are the norm and the only way to get things replaced. [More]
The Xbox One Is Intended To Be An All-In-One Home Entertainment Solution
By 5.21.13
It’s been eight years since Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, a wildly successful gaming console that has gradually evolved into a home entertainment hub for many users. Today, the company finally got around to releasing details of the “Durango” project, its code name for the next generation of the Xbox. [More]
Microsoft To Announce New Xbox Tomorrow; Sony Teases Video Of Playstation 4 Today
By 5.20.13
It’s been three full months since Sony announced — but did not unveil — the Playstation 4 videogame console. And with Microsoft about to announce its follow-up to the Xbox 360 tomorrow, Sony must have figured today was as good a day as any to finally show a glimpse of the PS4. [More]
