Microsoft is preparing to show off the Windows 8 Consumer Preview later this month, and with it launch the Windows Store.
There will be a number of launch titles in the Store, says a report, including the mobile blockbuster hit Angry Birds.
The rest of the list is as follows: Hydro Thunder, Toy Soldiers, Reckless Racing, Ilomilo, Rocket Riot, Full House Poker, Tentacles, Crash Course, Ms Splosion Man and Wordament.
Windows 8 will come with the old classics, Pinball and Solitaire, pre-installed.
How the Windows Store works for devs is app makers receive a the greater end of a 70/30 revenue split which moves to 80/20 if you bring in over $25,000 in sales.
Result for: microsoft
Last year stories started circulating about a Microsoft plan to integrate pay TV into Xbox Live. Reports claimed they were close to finalizing deals with companies including Time Warner, the BBC, and HBO.
However, it now appears they weren’t as close as originally reported and their plans have been put on hold indefinitely. It seems TV executives weren’t impressed enough to offer terms acceptable to Microsoft, and the deal fizzled.
Citing an unnamed media executive personally involved in the negotiations, Reuters says Microsoft got so far as demonstrating their TV platform in action, but ultimately decided the price of programming was too high. Their source reportedly said, “They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards but then said ‘ooh ah, that’s expensive.”
Combining this new information with previous reports about Microsoft TV, it appears their plan was to provide both Netflix-style video on demand, but with more current content, and a traditional (but web-based) pay TV service. In addition, they seemed to be considering producing exclusive content of their own.
Of course this is nothing new or shocking. Like so many other industries built around legacy technology, they have fought nearly every attempt to develop new business models.
Network executives have licensed TV series to Netflix with key episodes missing, demanded Hulu block viewers who chose to watch their free shows (and commercials) on TVs instead of computer monitors. On the other side of the equation, cable providers are punished if they help paying customers extend TV service beyond the living room.
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Result for: microsoft
Microsoft continues to force Android makers to pay up, and the company is now bragging that it owns 70 percent of the Android market.
Thanks to a rock solid patent portfolio, Microsoft has spent the last two years negotiating licensing deals with Android and Chrome OS makers, forcing them to pay Microsoft a piece every time a device sells. Like with other deals, the terms were not disclosed.
Says Microsoft: “We are pleased to have built upon our longstanding relationship with LG to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Together with our ten previous agreements with Android and Chrome OS device manufacturers, including HTC, Samsung and Acer, this agreement with LG means that more than seventy percent of all Android smartphones sold in the U.S. are now receiving coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio. We are proud of the continued success of our program in resolving the IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome OS.”
