Microsoft's Xbox Handheld - Not Soon

It's a software thing...

Posted by Staff
Shane Kim.
Shane Kim.
Everybody's favourite Corporate Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Interactive Entertainment Business (phew!), Microsoft's Shane Kim, has responded to a question from UK site, Kikizo, regarding and Xbox-branded PSP or iPhone alike, with an enormous piece of waffle. Said waffle has been picked up to mean that we'll all be playing Xbox-branded handhelds really soon.

Shane's response to the idea that the 'mobile space' might one day see an Xbox logo is a mighty 245 words long, but does not begin with, "Yes, I do expect to see a mobile device".

It begins... "Well, I do, and especially with respect to Live." Kim then proceeds to speak at length about Live as "the connective tissue".

Then the key phrase that has been picked up and flourished around the Internet to mean 'Xbox iPhone-PSP-DS is due!!", "For us, it's a matter of focusing on 'when', because if we chased after a mobile or handheld opportunity, we would not have the resources and ability to do things like instant-on 1080p HD, Facebook, Twitter, Project Natal."

So, not so much 'when' as 'if'. Language, it's more flexible than a 1970s Soviet gymnast.

However, what comes next has apparently been overlooked as dull, "And so we've chosen to focus on the living room experience from a hardware standpoint..." Sure, you can use a mobile in the living room, but this has always meant console.

Shane then does a standard piece of sleight of mouth and asks himself a question, "So the question will be, how do we enter into that market - do we do our own device, do we create our own phone(?)" he asks. He then answers, "that's a question for the company itself - do we continue to go down the Windows Mobile path, which is that path that we're on today, etcetera, etcetera(?)"

We don't know Shane? Do you? As for 'that's a question for the company itself', that seems to be a large, "Nope, I've not been told about new mobile hardware", to us.

The tremendous non-answer concludes, "But believe me, we understand the importance of that device in people's lives. And the more we make Live about valuable service and add more content, and add more ways to connect with your friends through it, we're going to need to make sure that it's on all the important platforms in people's lives, including PC.

Remarkable: from 'that (mobile) device' back through Live and ending with a PC...

In short, there is no Xbox handheld on the horizon.

The entire interview is here.
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