Xbox Surface? More rumors ahead of today's reveal
Alleged spec sheets mentioning a new Xbox controller have surfaced, just ahead of a ‘big’ mystery Microsoft announcement in Los Angeles. Yes, I said I was done guessing what Microsoft might announce today in Los Angeles.
Context & Ripple Effects
The leak lands at the end of a fast-building rumor week: on June 17 TechCrunch reported sources saying Microsoft and Barnes & Noble would announce a tablet with Xbox Live streaming, and The Wrap and AllThingsD separately claimed the Los Angeles event would showcase a Microsoft-built Windows RT tablet. Now alleged spec sheets for an 'Xbox Surface' tablet and controller are circulating through Reuters, Business Insider, Gizmodo, BGR and others — unusually broad pickup for an unconfirmed document, which itself signals how much attention the last-minute Hollywood event has attracted.
There is precedent for the theater: CNET's 2010 mystery-event coverage shows Microsoft has run this play before, and by the end of the day the company had confirmed a new family of Microsoft-made PCs under the Surface name, to be available alongside Windows 8 and Windows RT. Whether the Xbox-branded tablet in the leaked sheets is part of that lineup or a separate device remains unconfirmed.
First-order effects
- The leaked specs put Microsoft in the position of confirming or killing an Xbox-branded tablet within hours of its own event, while the reported Barnes & Noble streaming-tablet project competes with a potential first-party device for the same announcement spotlight.
Second-order effects
- If Microsoft is shipping its own Windows RT hardware, the PC makers who license Windows suddenly compete with their own supplier — and the Xbox brand becomes Microsoft's consumer-hardware wedge beyond the console.
Third-order effects
- Confirmed or not, the episode points toward Microsoft behaving like an integrated hardware-software company in the Apple mold rather than a pure platform licensor, with branded devices anchoring each Windows release cycle.
The trend: Microsoft is shifting from licensing Windows to partners toward selling its own branded hardware, with the Xbox brand serving as the consumer-facing bridge.