Rumor has been spreading over the past several months that Microsoft is building an expansion device called HomeStation for the Xbox. Microsoft has now denied the product's existance and claims it is nothing short of fiction. TeamXbox writes:
HomeStation rumors were sparked last September by a report in PC Format magazine that such a device would cross the Xbox with a PC and boast a bigger hard drive, audio and video technology and a wireless connection.HomeStation talk resurfaced earlier in January as one analyst said he could confirm the existence of the machine in Microsoft and that it could debut later this year.
This reared its head several weeks ago. The odd thing is there is no thing called the HomeStation product or initiative, Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Brewer said.
Microsoft was interested in some of the longer-term ideas, but there's no product called that, Brewer said.
This is disappointing to some and relieving to others. It would have been nice to have the power and feature boost, but then again some would have felt pressured to purchase the potential Xbox upgrade. Check out TeamXbox's story for more details.
Comments
narcogen
non-denial denial
This is a real non-denial denial if I ever saw one.
Although normally you don't respond to rumors, so I don't see why MS is even bothering, except that suggestions that MS is entering the "set top box" morass... ah, I mean, market... might negatively affect their stock price.
Notice that all the rep says is that there is no thing CALLED the HomeStation. Which may just mean that as often happens with rumors, the substance is correct while the details are fuzzy.
The rep doesn't say they aren't working on a product that meets the description, just that they aren't working on anything under that name, which is a fairly meaningless statement.
Narcogen
narcogen
furthermore...
In reply to: non-denial denialnarcogen wrote on Monday, 02/18/2002 - 6:41 am:
Also... TeamXbox and other gaming sites, if they speak directly to employees, have to get around using this catch-all term "spokesperson" since that usually is not a job title or description.
Even with big companies like MS, sometimes people speak out of turn, and if they think they are talking to an inconsequential fansite and not a real media outlet, they might end up saying something they aren't supposed to (or aren't qualified or informed enough to) and then get slapped with the term "spokesperson" when the person writing the article realizes he forgot to ask the person he was talking to does at the company.
This could be an executive secretary looking through the company phone book or product catalog and not seeing the word "home station" anywhere. (No offense meant to Ms. Brewer in this case, of course. That's purely a speculation.)
In any case, though, there's nothing substantive in the statement except the denial of the use of that name.
: This is a real non-denial denial if I ever saw one.
:
: Although normally you don't respond to rumors, so I don't
: see why MS is even bothering, except that suggestions that
: MS is entering the "set top box" morass... ah, I mean,
: market... might negatively affect their stock price.
:
: Notice that all the rep says is that there is no thing
: CALLED the HomeStation. Which may just mean that as
: often happens with rumors, the substance is correct while
: the details are fuzzy.
:
: The rep doesn't say they aren't working on a product that
: meets the description, just that they aren't working on
: anything under that name, which is a fairly meaningless
: statement.
:
:
:
Narcogen
Narcogen