Distinguished by its black finish and signature metallic detailing, Xbox 360 Elite will have an estimated retail price1 of $479.99 (U.S.) and will come packed with components and accessories for the ultimate high-definition entertainment experience:2

• Xbox 360 Elite console. The console is equipped with a premium black finish and three powerful core processors capable of producing the best in HD entertainment (up to 1080p), 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound, HDMI output and DVD playback with upscaling capabilities right out of the box.

• Xbox 360 120GB hard drive. The 120GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.3 The hard drive is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $179.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black). This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller, now in black, features the Xbox® Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 headset (black). Now available in black, the headset lets gamers strategize or trade taunts while playing games and send voice messages to friends on Xbox LIVE.

• Xbox 360 HDMI cable. New to Xbox 360, HDMI allows consumers to get HD video (up to 1080p) and multichannel surround sound, all from one cable.

• Xbox LIVE Silver Membership. With this, gamers can chat with friends online, collect achievements and gamerscores, send and receive voice and text messages, and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace content such as game demos, HD movies and TV, as well as the best in downloadable games from Xbox LIVE Arcade.

• One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold. An Xbox LIVE Gold Membership provides a complete online entertainment experience. Those who subscribe to this premium service can engage in competitive online multiplayer matches, tailor their matchmaking via feedback and accomplishments, chat with more than one person at a time, and take advantage of unique privileges in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Xbox LIVE Arcade.

The following accessories for the Xbox 360 Elite console will only be sold separately:

• Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit. Complete with a charging cable and a black rechargeable battery pack, the Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit allows gamers to recharge their Xbox 360 Wireless Controller without interrupting their gameplay. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $19.99 (U.S.).

• Xbox 360 rechargeable battery (black). The rechargeable battery pack provides more than 25 hours of gameplay per charge. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $11.99 (U.S.).

While existing partners continue to increase the amount of content they offer, the list of total partners also continues to grow. The new partners announced today will bring an array of content to Xbox LIVE Marketplace. From a reality show about a bounty hunter named Dog or an action-heavy, retro-styled mecha series to a TV show about extreme biking in the mountains or a program detailing a war in the desert, there is something for everyone. Examples of television shows and feature films that will be coming to Xbox LIVE include these:

• A&E Network. “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” “King of Cars,” “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” “Driving Force” and “Criss Angel Mindfreak”

• ADV Films. Top offerings from the No. 1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation (“anime”) outside Japan

• National Geographic. The television series “Is It Real?” and “Taboo” as well as programs such as “21 Days to Baghdad” and “Air Force One”

• TotalVid.com. A broad action-sports offering including extreme skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, motocross, surfing and mountain biking

Initial sales figures from Microsoft show its new operating system Windows Vista made a splash in its debut. In the first month of Windows Vista’s general availability, sales exceeded 20 million licenses, more than doubling the initial pace of sales for its predecessor, Windows XP. These initial figures reflect the broad interest in the security and usability enhancements in Windows Vista.

“We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate,” said Bill Veghte, corporate vice president of the Windows Business Group at Microsoft. “While it’s very early in the product lifecycle, we are setting a foundation for Windows Vista to become the fastest-adopted version of Windows ever. Working with our partners, we are helping our customers leverage new tools and programs to accelerate the transition and provide a great user experience.”

Windows Vista license sales after one month of availability have already exceeded the total of Windows XP license sales in the earlier product’s first two months of availability. In January 2002, the company announced sales of Windows XP licenses had exceeded 17 million after two months on the market.

The more than 20 million copies shipped represent Windows Vista licenses sold to PC manufacturers, copies of upgrades and the full packaged product sold to retailers and upgrades ordered through the Windows Vista Express Upgrade program from January 30 to February 28.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that its board of directors has increased the size of the board from nine to 10 members and elected Reed Hastings, 46, chairman and CEO of Netflix Inc., to the board. Hastings has also been appointed to the finance committee. At the meeting, the board of directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, payable June 14, 2007, to shareholders of record on May 17, 2007. The ex-dividend date will be May 15, 2007.

“Reed’s track record for delivering innovative and disruptive technologies to market is very impressive,” said Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. “With his rich consumer and technology background, he will be a tremendous addition to our board.”

“There are very few companies that rival Microsoft’s impact on the way millions of people live, work and play around the world,” Hastings said. “I look forward to working with Microsoft’s esteemed group of board members to help shape the direction of the company as it continues to tackle the biggest industry challenges and opportunities.”

At the Virgin Megastore in London's Oxford Street, the software giant handed out chairs to those queuing that had a website address printed on them.

Anyone visiting the webpage saw an Xbox 360 branded site that "welcomes" Sony to the next generation and chides the electronics giant for being "late". Microsoft's Xbox 360 launched in late 2005.

Web services are often protected with a challenge that's supposed to be easy for people to solve, but difficult for computers. Such a challenge is often called a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) or HIP (Human Interactive Proof). HIPs are used for many purposes, such as to reduce email and blog spam and prevent brute-force attacks on web site passwords. ...

Asirra (Animal Species Image Recognition for Restricting Access) is a HIP that works by asking users to identify photographs of cats and dogs. This task difficult for computers, but our user studies have shown that people can accomplish it quickly and accurately. Many even think it's fun.

Gates, billionaire co-founder of Microsoft Corp., philanthropist and college dropout, will receive an honorary degree June 7 when he delivers Harvard University's 356th commencement address.

Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates met his technological match Tuesday, losing a video game simulation of a penalty shootout to star Mexican soccer player Rafael Marquez 2-1 as hundreds of Microsoft Mexico employees and other invited guests cheered on the two. ...

Calderon presented Gates with Mexico's highest medal of honor to a foreign citizen for his generosity to Mexico, in particular a recent $30 million hardware and $10 million software donation to a program that is connecting 2,700 public libraries to the Internet. Gates said he expected to see all of the libraries connected by the end of the year.

The Legendary Edition ($129.99 U.S. ERP*) will be released in limited quantities and arrive in a highly collectible Spartan helmet case that no hardcore “Halo” fan should be without, along with two bonus disks full of supplemental content. The first disk will provide exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage and videos, including a high-definition “Making of ‘Halo 3’” documentary showcasing the Bungie team and its effort to create the most anticipated title in the industry’s history; numerous high-definition featurettes documenting the creative design processes involved in developing the game; and even a look at some early game concepts and their evolution through the game’s development. The disk will also include an audio-visual calibration tool, never before seen on a video game and custom designed by the “Halo 3” graphics and audio team to make the most of fans’ high-definition home theaters, for the ultimate “Halo 3” and Xbox 360™ audio and video performance.

The other froth was caused by the revelation that the Limited Edition would contain one piece of content that isn’t in the Legendary Edition. Well, don’t worry about that at all. The Legendary Edition purchasers will be pleased to know that they will not have to live without that content at all. More on that later (some of the details are still being worked out), but it should be smiles and sunshine. Seriously.

Microsoft Corp. ..., Google Inc. ..., Yahoo Inc. ... and Time Warner Inc.'s ... AOL are bidding to provide search technology and manage online advertising for Comcast Corp.'s ... Web site, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Microsoft Corp. today announced the extension of the Xbox LIVE® games and entertainment network to the Windows® platform, bringing together the most popular online console game service with the most popular games platform in the world. Debuting on May 8, 2007, with the launch of the Windows Vista™ version of the Xbox® blockbuster “Halo® 2,” Games for Windows — LIVE will connect Windows gamers to over six million gamers already in the Xbox LIVE community. Then, launching in June, “Shadowrun™” will for the first time connect Windows gamers with Xbox 360™ players in cross-platform matches using a single service. “UNO®,” releasing later in 2007, will also support cross-platform play between Windows and Xbox 360.

The launch of Games for Windows — LIVE marks a major expansion of the Xbox LIVE service across multiple platforms, uniting gamers with a single identity, a single gamertag, a single friends list and a single list of achievements attainable on the Xbox 360 and a Windows-based PC. Games for Windows — LIVE gamers will be able to easily find and play supported titles online with their friends across a Windows computer or an Xbox 360. As a unified service with Xbox LIVE, Games for Windows — LIVE will be available in every country and region supported today by Xbox LIVE.

Members of Xbox LIVE automatically receive the functionality of Games for Windows — LIVE, using the same gamertag and friends list at no additional cost. For a single, unified service, the pricing of the LIVE services across both Xbox and Games for Windows is identical. In addition, Games for Windows — LIVE introduces the best of Xbox LIVE functionality to please PC gamers, such as in-game voice chat, integrated achievements and dedicated servers. The offering of both Silver and Gold memberships will remain in place for gamers on the Xbox 360 and Windows PC. There is no cost associated with signing up for a Silver membership. Gold memberships will deliver the premium online network experience for $49.95 (U.S.) per year. Current Xbox LIVE Gold members will automatically have access to Gold features on Games for Windows — LIVE titles.

You'll have a single gamertag you can use on either (or both) platforms, and your same friends list, achievements, and messages will all be available to you where you are. And even better, it won't cost any extra coinage - if you’re an Xbox LIVE gold member on Xbox, you’re automatically a Games for Windows – LIVE gold member. It's the same service. You just use your existing gamertag and go.

As a part of their continued collaboration, Microsoft Corp. and Lenovo today announced a global agreement to pre-load Windows Live™ services on Lenovo PCs sold worldwide including ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCentre desktops and Lenovo-branded PCs. In the coming weeks, Lenovo will be the first PC maker to provide its customers worldwide with immediate access to the Microsoft® Live.com portal (http://www.live.com) and Windows Live Toolbar (http://toolbar.live.com) for a more integrated and personalized Web experience as they work, communicate and conduct their day-to-day activities. ...

With Live.com, customers can easily customize their home page content, create multiple pages based on their interests and add their favorite content from millions of sources of information. The Windows Live Toolbar gives consumers one-click access to Live Search, which enables category searches such as Web, news, images and immersive maps to help them find what they are looking for.

Microsoft and Lenovo are committed to developing solutions that combine both companies’ advanced technologies for more productive and personal computing experiences. Microsoft and Lenovo’s continued relationship has delivered additional innovations to customers including optimized Microsoft Windows Vista™ functionality through the self-help tools available on Lenovo PCs, as well as enhanced Tablet PC solutions.

Microsoft Corp. today announced it will acquire Tellme Networks, Inc., a leading provider of voice services for everyday life, including nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search. Microsoft and Tellme share a vision around the potential of speech as a way to enable access to information, locate other people and enhance business processes, any time and from any device. Combining Tellme’s talented people and expertise in high-volume voice services with Microsoft’s platform, resources and worldwide customer reach will inspire new and innovative solutions. ...

This acquisition will mark an important step forward in Microsoft’s strategy for delivering software plus services that put people at the center of technology solutions in the office, at home and on the go. For more than a decade, Microsoft has enabled speech, handwriting and touch as forms of natural user input, making computing and digital devices easier to use. Combining Tellme’s technologies with Microsoft’s existing and future products and services will help improve the way people use voice to find, use and share information:

• Unified communications. Tellme’s voice-enabled services and solutions for enterprise customers complement Microsoft’s unified communications voice services portfolio. This will allow customers and industry partners to build highly scalable voice solutions that leverage rich identity, presence, messaging and application integration.

• Speech platform. Tellme’s robust voice-enabled platform helps open new doors for Microsoft’s hundreds of thousands of developers and partners to build innovative speech solutions based on open standards.

• Mobile services and search. Tellme’s speech expertise and work in mobile search, combined with Microsoft’s innovative local and mobile search offerings, will help take the mobile search usability experience to the next level.

• Software plus services. In the long term, Tellme technology will enhance Microsoft’s many voice-enabled applications, including the Windows Vista™ operating system, the Microsoft Office system, and mobile applications such as Windows Mobile® and Windows® Automotive.

Take the passion of people, the innovation of the Internet, potential of voice technologies, the unprecedented transformation of the telephone plus a few new ideas and you’ve got the makings of Tellme.

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has banned its users from installing Microsoft's new Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7 software packages, saying there was no business or technical justification for the upgrades.

At my core, I am an analyst. It’s what I do and I do it well and after much thought, I realize I’m just not ready to stop doing that job just yet.

Christopher Payne, the corporate vice president for Microsoft's Live Search initiative, plans to launch a Seattle-based technology firm unrelated to the search business, a person familiar with the situation confirmed Wednesday.

This course came with a really wicked video I just had to upload. It’s a great example of how you’re being pushed to deliver the best you’ve got. This video is the answer to my ‘Why Microsoft’ question. It doesn’t contain secret info, it’s just a great moral booster. I loved it.