Microsoft, Xbox | featured news

Microsoft Corp will unveil its much-anticipated next-generation Xbox on May 21 following months of speculation the company is gearing up to announce a new video game console this summer.

The next generation of Xbox could finally be announced this spring. On May 21, the company will forget about the troubled Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems and lavish a bit of attention on the Xbox, according to bloggers who cite sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

Software and tech hardware companies have to protect their secrets and shield their upcoming products from the prying eyes of competition right up to the day they choose to announce. In a multi-billion dollar industry like gaming, market players take this kind of thing seriously. Very seriously. An Australian hacker was visited by a handful of law enforcement officials this week on allegations that he’s been stealing intel about the not-yet-released new Xbox, a Microsoft product.

After past disappointments, Microsoft has paired its latest digital music offering with the Xbox and Windows as part of a broad set of bets to regain ground it has lost to Apple and other competitors.

Microsoft has announced that it will be launching a new music service known as Xbox Music. Xbox Music will offer more than 30 million songs on Xbox 360s, Windows 8 PCs, tablets and phones.

Microsoft is launching a new interface for the Xbox 360 game console, borrowing the tile-based “Metro” look that started on the Zune music players, moved to the Windows Phone software and will spread to PCs next year with the arrival of Windows 8. The new version of the software will be downloaded to all users starting December 6.

Gears of War 3, which arrives in stores Tuesday, is Microsoft's biggest Xbox exclusive game ever out of the gate — surpassing even pre-orders for the flagship Halo games. Sales of this final chapter in the Gears series topped 1.3 million at last tally and are expected to surpass the first two installments, which sold about 13 million copies combined.

Microsoft recently announced that it sold more than 2.5 million Kinect motion sensors for its Xbox 360 game console globally since it was launched on November 4, 2010.

Microsoft has just announced the 17 games that will be available on launch day with Kinect for Xbox 360, the tech giant's highly anticipated controller-free gaming system.

Microsoft is claiming that retailers are seeing “unprecedented demand” for the redesigned Xbox 360.