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Xbox ‘Keystone’ streaming device delayed indefinitely and may never arrive
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The online-onlyXbox streaming devicehas been shelved by Microsoft, with the company saying it opted to release an Xbox app for Samsung TVs instead.
In a wide-ranging chat at theWSJ Tech Conference, Xbox boss Phil Spencer says Microsoft will probably launch a standalone device at some point, but it’s currently “years away”.
Spencer said the console is still under development at Microsoft, and would enable gamers to play the available games within theXbox Cloud Gaming library. However, it’s been put on the back burner for now.
“Keystone is something that we were incubating internally,” he told the audience in California. “It’s a streaming console. There’s no local play low cost, plug it into a television and you’ll be able to stream the Xbox games that are available,” he said. “We instead pivoted in late spring to working with Samsung. Weput an app on Samsung TVsso that you can play Xbox games.”
Spencer said Microsoft is all about giving gamers the choice about where they play, but said there are already plenty of options. The streaming device does already exist, as itwas pictured in Spencer’s officea few weeks back. Spencer acknowledged that was the case and says it was just a prototype.
He added: “Giving people choice – whether they want to play on their tablet, on their smart TV, on Xbox, a PC – we think that’s really critical to where we’re going. Will we do a streaming device at some point? I suspect we will, but it’s years away. I still have the prototype – it sits on the shelf behind my computer.”
Spencer also admitted that Microsoftmay be forced to raise the pricesof its console and services after the holidays, which is sure to cause a backlash among gamers if it comes to fruition.
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Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He’s based in South Florida, USA. …
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
