Yesterday, it seemed that Microsoft had confirmed the next-generation of Xbox in an interview, but today it turns out that the confirmation may be an example of miscommunication rather than an announcement.
Brian Hall, General Manager of Windows Live, said in a recent interview:
"We’ve had Hotmail and operated Hotmail for about sixteen years, we obviously have Exchange, and Outlook, that people use at work. We just decided it was time to do something new and bring the best from each of those and put them together and release it right in time for the new wave of products that we could have coming out with Windows 8 with the new version of Office with the New Windows phone and the new Xbox.
It was the part about "the new Xbox" that made the gaming community think he was talking about a new Xbox. But according to Microsoft, Hall was referring to the fall Xbox update, not the release of a new console. Oops.
Here's the entire statement from Microsoft on the matter:
“The comments to The Verge were not understood in their intended context. When Brian mentioned a ‘new wave of products,’ he was referring to the full lineup of products coming later this year from Microsoft, including Windows 8, Office, Windows Phone and of course our fall Xbox update which will bring a host of new consumer experiences like Xbox Music, Videos, Games on Windows 8 and Xbox SmartGlass.”
Given the "later this year" timeframe, it seems pretty obvious that Hall wasn't talking about the release of a new Xbox. We apologize for the confusion and hope you'll forgive us.
