The next Xbox could boast DVR capabilities if a Microsoft patent is any indication, letting you record video on your games console.

Shortly after Christmas Microsoft was awarded a patent titled ‘Recording media on gaming consoles’. The patent was filed way back in 2007 and describes “a digital video recorder (DVR) application running alongside a television client component” that “allows users to record media content on the gaming console”.

The patent also specifies that the tech would also let gamers record media while playing games, or when the console is switched off.

What can you record? Microsoft lists TV programming, local and online games, music and DVDs as some of the possibilities. You’ll be able to switch between the type of media you’re seeing while the console is recording.

While it’s prudent not to read too far into these patents, this one could give us a clue as to what the next Xbox will look like. And judging by the features described above, Microsoft could be setting its sights at the TV on-demand market.

Microsoft’s chunky console already boasts loads of video goodies including Sky Player and the Zune movie rental service. LoveFilm and 4oD should be making an appearance shortly, with the BBC’s iPlayer tipped to arrive later this year. But one thing it can’t do is record those tasty bits of video.

Microsoft could also be planning to ape a feature of the OnLive streaming gaming service, which lets you save ‘brag clips’, which are the last 10 seconds of gameplay. That means if something cool or funny happens in-game, you can save it at the press of a button.

Once saved, you can share your clip online. It’s a great feature, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft wanted to plant something similar in its next console.

What do you want to see in the next Xbox console? Tell us in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.

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Microsoft managed to outsell Sony’s PS3 Move controller by a substantial margin in 2010, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli – even actual sales were not as high as Microsoft previously announced.

Kinect posted a global sell-through (to consumers) of 6.36 million units by the end of 2010, IHS iSuppli said. The number is well below the (channel) sell-in of 8 million units that was announced by Microsoft at CES 2011, but it is ahead of 5.23 million (sell-through) Move controllers. Since more than one controller can be purchased for every PS3, the market research firm estimates that 4.26 million PS3 were Move-enabled.

“Sony’s marketing investment in Move was dwarfed by Microsoft’s,” IHS iSuppli said. “And although the cheapest standalone Move controller was $100 lower than Kinect, Sony’s marketing investment showed in sales. Move went on sale more than a month earlier than Kinect.”

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Microsoft’s new Xbox Live rewards scheme allows Xbox Live subscribers to scoop up Microsoft Points for doing things like renewing their membership, or activating a Sky subscription on their console.

It works like a supermarket loyalty card — except it’s much harder to work out what you’re getting.

Everyone loves a good loyalty scheme — there’s nothing better than finding you’ve got enough on your Nectar card for a bottle of Bombay Sapphire — but you often have to spend a huge amount to earn enough points to treat yourself to something nice. Microsoft’s scheme is similarly stingey, and much more opaque.

This is due to the nature of its virtual currency. Microsoft prices everything on the Xbox Marketplace in Microsoft Points to eliminate nasty £, $ and euro signs and to divorce you from your hard-earned cash in the name of acquiring that thing you really want right now. It doesn’t feel like real money, so spending it is easy. It also means it’s not obvious how much you’re earning in its rewards scheme.

Renew your 12-month Live Gold subscription for £39.99, for example, and you’ll earn 200 reward points. We downloaded Scott Pilgrim on special offer recently for 400 points (and very happy we are with it too), so renewing that twelve month subscription will net you enough points for about half a game.

But in real terms, that 200 points is worth £1.71, or 4 per cent of what you’ve spent. Bear in mind you can get that 12-month subscription on special offer from sites such as Amazon, for as little as £30.

There are several other ways to earn a few points back. Your first Gold membership will earn you 100 points, as will your first points purchase or activating Sky Player. But somehow that 85p back isn’t quite enough to persuade us to part with the £15 per month minimum that enabling Sky Player will cost.

The system isn’t even automatic — you have to enter your Live ID on the website. The email it shoots you mentions earning points for your ‘feedback’, and indeed you can earn 20 points (or a whopping 17p in real money), for filling out a survey. We suspect this is the nub of the scheme — to learn more about you. After all, most loyalty schemes are effectively a way for companies to gain valuable information about their customers.

In other Xbox news, Microsoft’s gleaming console is currently battling Sky+ HD in our Greatest Gadget of the 21st Century tournament. At the time of writing it holds a whopping 70 percent of the votes, so it’s time to head on over to the voting page and have your say.

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With Windows Phone 7 just around the corner, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is keen to put some kind of music-based infrastructure in place. What is a surprise — and a pleasant one — is that it’s bringing its Zune music and video service to a host of platforms, including Windows PCs and Xbox Live.

There are a couple of new services winging their way to the UK this autumn. Firstly, Zune Marketplace serves as an MP3 store, delivering music that you can listen to on PCs, Windows Phone 7 mobiles or — Microsoft promises — any device that supports the MP3 format. That’s nothing particularly new — Amazon MP3 for example provides a similar service.

What’s more interesting is Zune Pass. This is a monthly music subscription service already available in the US that provides unlimited downloads and streaming access to all the choons Microsoft has ferreted away in its gigantic Zune-shaped servers. It’ll cost £8.99 per month, and means that from the same account you’ll be able to stream music to your Windows Phone 7 mobile device, through your PC’s speakers, or through your TV via your Xbox 360.

From what we know so far, this service is shaping up to basically do the same job as Spotify, except it’s a pound and a penny cheaper per month, and can stream music to more devices. Spotify doesn’t have access to any games consoles, and apart from a few very special (and expensive) speaker setups, is limited to mobile and desktop applications.

We reckon this is going to make Windows Phone 7 devices a darnsight more tempting when they eventually launch later this year. We love the Spotify iPhone and Android apps, though Lord knows they’re buggy, and if you already possess an Xbox 360 or a PC, the thought of streaming music to all three devices under one subscription sounds pretty tasty.

We’d hope too that because these platforms are proprietary Microsoft entities, integration of this new service should be fairly seamless. We acknowledge, however, that Microsoft does have a history of finding creative ways of letting us down.

In terms of labels and studios signed up to help out, Microsoft has Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner Music waiting in the wings as well as ‘thousands’ of independent labels. Zune Marketplace will also be offering movies from the likes of NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and others.

What do you think? Is this another doomed Microsoft project? Or are the software kingpin’s fortunes finally on the up? Let us know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall. 

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The two leading lights of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division — Robbie Bach and J Allard — are leaving the company, possibly leaving chief executive Steve Ballmer in direct charge of all the company’s fun and games

Robbie Bach is retiring as president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, while J Allard is to become a consultant on specific projects. Bach and J Allard are the people mainly responsible for the Xbox games console and Live service, the Zune media player, PC gaming, Microsoft TV, Microsoft Surface, Office for Mac, and Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 phones.In the latest financial quarter, the E&D division made an operating profit of $165m on sales worth $1.7bn. The company made $5.2bn on a turnover of $14.5bn.

Bach joined Microsoft in 1988 and often appeared in keynote speeches with Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who said in a statement: “Robbie’s an amazing business person and close personal friend, which makes his departure a point of sadness for me.” Some had considered Bach a possible future CEO.

Allard, the division’s senior vice president of design and development, is leaving after 19 years at Microsoft. Allard is considered the “father of the Xbox” and his disappearance was noted on 18 May by ZD Net’s Mary Jo Foley, who wrote Where in the world is J Allard? A source told her that “Allard is on sabbatical and is unlikely to return to Microsoft”. However, Allard told TechFlash that his departure was not connected with the cancellation of another of his projects, the dual-screen Courier tablet computer. He said he wanted to devote more time to his personal interests, particularly adventure sports.

Allard was widely admired and the Kotaku games blog has posted a tribute, J Allard, We Will Miss You

Bach is not being replaced, so the mobile phone and Xbox bosses, Andy Lees and Don Mattrick, will report directly to Ballmer. Allard will also report directly to Ballmer on his special projects.

Whatever the reasons for the reorganisation, the division has not generally been successful at selling its major products, or at making money out of them. While Microsoft has done far better than most people expected in establishing the Xbox console line, the Xbox 360 has been dogged by problems with consoles overheating and failing with the famous Red Ring of Death. Microsoft extended the product’s guarantee to cover the issue, taking a $1bn charge for the cost. The division’s successes include the Xbox Live online service and the Halo games franchise.

While Microsoft was relatively quick to enter the smartphone market with touch-screen systems, long before Apple, its Windows Mobile software was clunky by comparison. It has lost market share both to Apple’s iPhone and to systems running Google’s Android software. And while the Zune HD and Zune 4 desktop software have impressed users, the system has not sold well in the US, and has not been launched internationally. It remains to be seen whether the impressive-looking Windows Phone 7 will do any better.

Microsoft has been extremely successful as a platform company, providing software that other companies could use to build their own products, including PCs and phones, applications and both online and offline services. The Entertainment and Devices division embodied Microsoft’s attempt to create proprietary vertically integrated systems including its own hardware, operating system, applications, content and online services. It’s a strategy that Apple has used with tremendous success, but Microsoft has never been able to match it.

Even those who weren’t particularly keen on Bach could struggle to see Ballmer doing the job any better himself. However, since Bach isn’t retiring until the autumn, there’s still time to find a successor.

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Jack Schofield

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Remember Microsoft’s press conference at E3 2008? The announcement that Final Fantasy XIII would be released on the Xbox 360 was a bombshell and Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada was the one who got to deliver it. The following year another once PlayStation exclusive developer, Hideo Kojima, announced that the next major Metal Gear title would also be coming to Microsoft’s console. Besides being leaders of two of Japan’s most profitable franchises, they have one other thing in common.

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Article on what Microsoft could have up their sleeves and weighs in on the possibility of it all.

"You all know by now that Capcom & Microsoft have partnered to reveal something on the 26th. All signs it pointing to a new game. These are my predictions on what it could be in no particular order. (Please Note The Following Are Predictions And Are No Way To Be Considered Confirmed).." Slim-PS3 is updated frequently every day with all very latest games console news.