As we inch closer to the Windows 8 launch, taking place on October 26th, it’s becoming ever-more clear that Microsoft has one seriously ambitious day on its hands. Not even taking into account the fact that Windows 8 is a major shift for Microsoft’s OS, the company and its legion of partners will be unveiling the first-ever consumer Windows tablets – and I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering how those will fare next to the iOS and Android models that currently dominate the market.

Clearly a sign of the company not having enough on its plate already, rumor has it that Microsoft is set to launch “Xbox Music” on the same day as the Windows 8 launch. As it sounds, this looks to be a music service to follow in the footsteps of Microsoft’s failed Zune platform. In recent years, Microsoft has had clear intention of sticking with the brands it’s best known for, so with its “Xbox Music” name, it’s bound to capture the attention of many.

Xbox 360 – Soon to offer a compelling music solution

Similar to the Zune Marketplace’s options, users will be able to opt for paid subscriptions or go the free route and listen to their music with the occasional ad tossed in. At this point, details are very scarce, so what the subscriptions will offer and cost is left totally up to the imagination for now. Xbox Music is also set to support Microsoft’s storage service SkyDrive, however, so it seems likely that the subscriptions would include some space in the cloud.

With previous services, including Zune, Microsoft has become notorious for not supporting competitive platforms, but that won’t be the case with Xbox Music. Instead, you’ll be able to access the service not only on your Xbox 360, Windows Phone 8 or Windows 8 device, but also your Android and iOS devices as well – although those competitive latter versions won’t be available right at launch.

As someone living in the Great White North, the Zune platform left a bad taste in my mouth due to its slew of features that those outside of the US could not access. As such, I’m really looking forward to seeing it Microsoft learned its lessons from Zune and fixes them with Xbox Music. Even common services in the US such as Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music are available in few places outside of the US (the UK is blessed with a couple), so if Microsoft has good availability with its Xbox Music service, it could see swift wide-spread adoption.

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Microsoft has officially launched its new MyAchievements rewards system for Xbox Live. The good news: You can now earn free Microsoft Points as a kind of “cashback” reward for microtransactions you make on Xbox Live.

The bad news? You’re going to have to spend a small fortune — and play a ton of games — to really see the fruits of your labors.

Here’s how it works. Microsoft has split its MyAchievements rewards system into three different tiers, which are all based on a person’s Gamerscore. If you’re an Xbox neophyte, or not much of a gamer, you have to hit a Gamerscore of at least 3,000 before you unlock the first reward tier: A “special gift” during your birthday month.

Keep playing to hit a Gamerscore of 10,000, and you’ll gain an additional reward beyond the unnamed gift during your big celebration month. Now, for everything you buy on Xbox Live, you’ll receive a (whopping) one percent reward of Microsoft Points per purchase. Bump up to a Gamerscore of at least 25,000, and the rebate reward increases to two percent.

Kotaku’s Owen Good ran the numbers, and this translates out to approximately 16 bonus Microsoft points for a typical $20 purchase. But before you start to have dreams of gaming the system, blowing a ton of cash at once, and reaping fistfuls of extra Microsoft points to last you the rest of your Xbox gaming life, know that Microsoft has put a limit of 30,000 bonus points across the entirety of the MyAchievements promotion.

Of course, to hit that, you’d have to spend nearly $19,000 at once on Xbox Live downloadable content.

According to the fine print on Microsoft’s MyAchievements site, the rewards promotion looks as if it’ll last until June 30, 2013. Also, don’t get too excited about the “big” gift that Microsoft has waiting for you once your birthday month hits: According to the company, it’s valued at approximately $0.25.

That’s, what, one digital party balloon?

For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

If you’ve been consistently building up your Xbox 360 Gamerscore for years, you’re about to get rewarded…kind of.

Microsoft has just launched an all new rewards program for Xbox gamers. It’s called MyAchievements and allows your Gamerscore to be used for some modest prizes.

“You’ve been faithfully building your Gamerscore for years now. To reward you for your dedication, we’ve created MyAchievements for Xbox LIVE Rewards Gold members. The MyAchievements level that you earn – CONTENDER, CHAMPION OR LEGEND – depends on your Gamerscore. The higher your score, the bigger the reward!” says Microsoft.

Once you join the Xbox LIVE rewards program, here’s how it will work:

Once you hit 3,000 Gamerscore, you’ll start receiving a “special gift” on your birthday. According to fine print, that gift will retail at around $0.25. That’s the “Contender” level. When you hit 10,000 Gamerscore, you’ve become a “Champion: and will receive the birthday gift plus a 1% rebate on Xbox LIVE Marketplace purchases accumulated every month. The top tier is called “Legend” and you hit it when you reach 25,000 Gamerscore. At that level, your Marketplace rebate is bumped up to 2%.

When you think about all the hours it takes to accumulate a 25,000 Gamerscore, you start to realize just how modest these rewards really are. But oh well, guess you can’t complain about getting something for free.

You have to be a member of Xbox LIVE Gold to apply for the rewards program. You don’t have to start from scratch, as any achievement points you’ve earned up to this point will count towards your level.

[h/t The Verge]

Microsoft is beginning to pare back its Zune offerings to make way for Xbox Music, a brand new service that is still a mystery for the most part. Today, however, we’re getting some details on Xbox Music’s pricing and an ever-so-brief glimpse at the user interface it will sport on Xbox 360. The pricing information comes courtesy of the Windows 8 Music app, while the look at the UI is the doing of some Xbox dashboard beta testers, who spilled Microsoft‘s secrets in sharing a screenshot with The Verge.

The Windows 8 Music app shows us that a one-month subscription to the incoming music streaming service will run £8.99, while a one-year subscription will cost £89.90. Zune users living in the UK will immediately recognize those prices, as they’re the same rates Microsoft charged for access to the dying service. Pricing details for the US are still missing, but it seems safe to assume that Xbox Music will follow the same payment structure as Zune here in the States as well.

Of course, in order to use Xbox Music, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription to Xbox Live Gold, which runs $59.99 per year in the United States. This means that you’ll be paying more than the advertised price to use the music streaming service, but obviously the expectation is that you’ll use your Gold subscription for more than just access to Xbox Music. Good news for those of you who hate paying monthly fees (don’t we all?), as some keen-eyed gamers on NeoGAF are also saying that an ad-supported free version of Xbox Music will be offered, so it appears that Microsoft is taking a page out of Spotify‘s book with this one.

The screenshot that was sent to The Verge doesn’t show much, but it does indicate that users will be able to sync their playlists across multiple devices. If that’s an actual feature of Xbox Music, then that will be a big bonus for users, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. The service is still obviously in its early stages though, so right now, we’ll just have to wait until Microsoft spills some official details. Stay tuned.

Brandon Wade/Getty ImagesJerry Rice is now a spokesman against obesity, and we spoke to him about other stuff, too.The NFL is teaming with Xbox to fight childhood obesity, with a goal of recruiting 1 million kids to be physically active 60 minutes per day.

Workout warrior Jerry Rice is helping lead the charge, serving as a spokesman for the project in hopes of getting more kids off the couch and exercising, whether that’s with a Kinect, or, if they’re up for it, maybe taking a page from the G.O.A.T. and running hills in their backyard.

“There’s a lot of obese kids out there, and this is a nationwide movement to recruit kids across the United States to pledge to be active for 60 minutes a day,” Rice said. “This is all about getting them active, and you can do this as a family. I remember when I was a kid, I was always outside playing basketball or I was catching footballs, so I was always active. That’s why I want to help get the awareness out there so we can address this situation.”

The initiative is called the 60 Million Minutes Challenge, where families can pledge to play at this website or on the Xbox Live dashboard. By pledging to work out, not only are they committing to good health, but as incentive to keep the sweat pouring, they’ll also have an opportunity to win NFL Shop gift cards. In addition, when the 60 Million Minutes Challenge Facebook page launches Oct. 9, participants will even get a chance to win a personalized “social autograph” on their wall from former and current NFL stars.

“The Kinect for Xbox 360 is so important to this because your body is the controller,” Rice said. “So while you play, it gives you a workout. The Kinect is fantastic because you have to get up, you have to move around.”

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US PresswireJerry Rice, widely considered the greatest receiver ever, helped the 49ers win three Super Bowls.This season is one of the more unpredictable that I can remember.

It really is. It’s so unpredictable who is going to win, but I’m sure this 49ers team has a lot of resilience. They are going to fight, and they are going to be ready for the next battle. You just have to get that offense going again. They have the defense, but I want to see the offense throw the ball down the field a little bit more. I want to see Randy Moss out on the football field being a little bit more involved, and I want to see more of Mario Manningham. We have the weapons, we just need to pull everything together.

I mentioned how you’re in the new “Madden” game, and most years, everyone wants to be rated a 99 overall in the game. That’s the highest rating. But back in “Madden 98” you were actually rated 189 in the game. That’s the highest rating ever. Did you know that?

You’re kidding, right? [Laughs] My son plays and loves the game, but I’m not very good at it. But wow, that’s amazing that I was ever rated that high.

Who do you see as the best wide receiver in the NFL today? Maybe they’re not 189 rating worthy, but who do you see as elite?

There are a lot of these guys I call the young generation, these young pups coming along like A.J. Green and Julio Jones, but right now, you have Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson and they’re doing big things for their teams. These guys are big-play receivers who can just completely take over a ballgame.

Do you think any of these guys will ever catch your numbers, or are your records unbreakable?

I think records are always meant to be broken, but I really sacrificed a lot to really play for such a long time. I really had an outstanding cast of teammates who helped me break so many records.

The game has changed so much, now a former teammate like Ronnie Lott wouldn’t even be able to smack people across the middle. He might not have become the legend he is today if you guys played by today’s rules.

He wouldn’t be able to hit. He wouldn’t be able to be the enforcer he was back in the day. You’re still seeing some of those hits, but the league is really trying to cut down on that and protect the players. It’s sort of hard for a defensive player to taper back just a little bit, because when you get that shot, you have been told to drive through that individual, but now you have to taper back just a little.

What would your numbers have looked like if you didn’t ever have to worry about a safety trying to take your head off across the middle?

I don’t know about that. I understand that in today’s game the players are bigger and faster and you cannot lead with your helmet. If you do that, there’s going to be a severe fine.

How do you think that this current 49ers team and this defense would’ve stacked up against some of your old teams? Could they hang with you back in the day?

Oh, we are not going to go there! We are not going there! [Laughs] I think the 49ers are on their way back. They have an excellent coach in Jim Harbaugh, and they have a great defense who will hit you in the mouth. They have a great team, and I picked them to make it to the Super Bowl against the Texans.

Back to the Play 60 initiative, what advice do you have for parents who are trying to help get their kids in better shape?

I think the best way is to lead by example. It’s up to the parents to get out there and be active. If the kids see their parents doing it, they’re going to do the same thing and follow in their footsteps. Working out is still something that I take a lot of pride in, and I still try to stay in the best shape that I can stay in. If you do that, it’s going to be very rewarding.

Do you still go out and run the hill?

Still running hills and a lot of track work. This is something I’ve done my entire life, being active, and there are a lot of kids out there that we need to set the right example for. If we do that, it’s going to be better for them in the future.

We have five copies of Borderlands 2 to give away, two for PS3, two for Xbox 360, and 1 for PC! Read on to find out how you can enter to win.

If you’ve been online since Tuesday on an Xbox 360, PS3, or while connected to Steam, you probably already know that Borderlands 2 was released, because you may have friends online playing it right now. They are probably enjoying it too. A lot.  They are taunting you with their new gaming acquisition. They are mocking you, challenging you to jump online and join them in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest hits of the year.

Don’t let them get away with that.

If you are a frequent reader of DT’s gaming coverage, than you probably know that we liked the game a whole bunch. You can check out our review here where we gave it a 9.5, something we don’t do too often. In fact, we liked it so much that we got a hold of five copies to give away.

We have two copies of the game on PS3, two on Xbox 360, and one Steam key for PC to give away, so there will be five winners in all. For your chance to win, all you have to do is answer a simple question: WHAT is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow!

That’s a joke, by the way. Please don’t answer that. Or do answer it with your platform preference, but be certain your answer is correct and be sure to show your work.

Now, for a chance to win, simply let us know what your favorite online game of all time is and why, then be sure to include your platform preference – if you don’t let us know your platform of preference, we can’t determine which group to enter you with. Choosing more than one platform is fine, but you can only win once.

The contest will end Tuesday, September 25 at noon PST, so enter now.

And good luck!

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In a significant bet that a technology company can compete with Hollywood to produce original video content, Microsoft Corp. has hired Nancy Tellem, the longtime entertainment president of the CBS network, to run a new production studio in Los Angeles.

As entertainment and digital media president, Tellem will put together a team to develop series that will be available exclusively through Microsoft’s Xbox platform.

Microsoft has this year made Xbox its entertainment brand not only for the Xbox 360 video-game console but also for other connected digital devices like computers, tablets and smartphones.

“What’s so exciting about this opportunity is we’re looking at the next iteration of television,” Tellem said in an interview. “We’re starting from scratch and we’ll be looking at linear and interactive content, both longer-form, like television, and shorter form.”

Tellem, who had worked at CBS since 1997 and ran its entertainment division from 1998 to 2009, is the highest-profile entertainment executive to join a tech company since former Warner Bros. chairman Terry Semel became chief executive of Yahoo in 2001 and then named former ABC entertainment president Lloyd Braun to head a new Santa Monica office.

Braun spent two years at Yahoo, leaving in 2006 after failing to make the Web portal a power in original programming. Semel spent six years running the company but departed in 2007 as its fortunes were fading against competitors like Google.

Many observers have said that Semel and Braun’s media-focused strategy at Yahoo may have simply been too early. In the past few years, consumers have become more comfortable consuming entertainment on digital devices. Earlier this year, Microsoft disclosed that Xbox 360 owners spend more than half their time online watching video and listening to music, not playing video games.

Most studios and networks like CBS now make their content broadly available online, including on the Xbox, through their own websites and apps as well as platforms like Hulu, Netflix, iTunes and Vudu. 

Tellem’s appointment came from talks that started early this year when the executive met with Microsoft in her post-presidency role as an advisor to CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves. During her time at the network she was known for pushing into digital media and oversaw the CBS.com website, and was known as a strategist and deal-maker more than as a programmer.

“Our early discussions with Nancy around what television could mean on the Xbox platform went well and it became clear her expertise from the television industry could accelerate the strategy we were pursuing,” said Phil Spencer, vice president of Microsoft Studios, which has in the past focused on video-game production. “We have always known the goal for Xbox is to be a platform for all forms of content.”

Although most avid video-game players are young men, Tellem said she sees her primary audience as families who use a broad range of digital devices. 

“We’re going to reach out to a very broad range of consumers,” she said. “When I first got to CBS we looked at what the core audience was and built from there, and that’s just what I’m going to do again.”

The executive has yet to put together her staff, and she says she doesn’t yet know what content she might produce first or when it will launch, though it seems unlikely that anything could debut before late 2013.

But she said she hopes to make “premium content” that can compete with current shows airing on broadcast and cable networks.

“We have large visions as to where this could all go,” Tellem said. “Building up a studio in Los Angeles with a significant financial commitment is very important.”

Spencer said Microsoft hasn’t determined whether the shows Tellem produces will be supported by advertisements, available only to paying subscribers to the XBox Live online service, or be sold on a pay-per-view basis.

The formation of the studio makes Microsoft a competitor, in a sense, to television networks vying for viewers’ limited attention. The more time people spend watching original shows on Xbox, the less time they can watch CBS or USA, and the less motivated they may be to continue paying for a cable subscription, which provides much of the revenue to traditional networks.

But Tellem said she will work with Hollywood studios and producers in creating programming for Xbox. Spencer added that Microsoft still plans to encourage partners to distribute their own programming through the Xbox. Some, like the HBO Go application, require a cable subscription.

In 2004, Microsoft hired former Universal television chairman Blair Westlake to spearhead media partnerships. He continues to oversee licensing of television shows and movies for the company.

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