“Microsoft… may pour billions of dollars over four years into
developing and promoting a home video game console, code-named
X-Box, said one person who has been briefed on Microsoft’s plans.
Microsoft’s proposed machine, a hybrid akin to a PC that plugs into
a television to play games, is expected to be manufactured to the
company’s specifications by PC makers or subcontractors.”
“People familiar with the situation say Microsoft has decided
against using microprocessor chips from Intel Corp., the company’s
longtime partner in PCs, and is strongly considering using Advanced
Micro Devices Inc.’s Athlon microprocessor. … The Microsoft
machine also is expected to use a graphics processor called
GeForce, from Nvidia Corp… [Envisioneering Group analyst Rick]
Doherty believes that X-Box will use a new hybrid of Windows 98 and
a variant of Windows NT that Microsoft designed for non-PC
applications. Notably absent is Windows CE…”
“The potential competition with Sony has been building for
months. Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer
Entertainment, has touted the upcoming Playstation 2 not as a
simple video game machine but as a connected device that can handle
Web surfing, electronic commerce and other chores and that is
easier to use than a PC. In one recent speech, Kutaragi said Sony’s
future lies in ‘networked digital entertainment.’ “