Microsoft Xbox One launch marred by disc drive glitch

Still, the Xbox One glitch hasn't stopped Microsoft's new console from getting off to a strong start. 

By Matthew Shaer / November 28, 2013

It wouldn't be a big-budget gadget launch without at least one glitch. 

It happens to Apple. It happens to Sony. And now its happening to Microsoft, which last week officially launched the Xbox One in 13 markets around the world. According to a handful of reports from across the Web, a small number of consoles are hobbled by a mechanical glitch that affects the disc drive, yielding all sorts of crunching and grinding noises when a game is loaded. (This video sums it up pretty well.) 

For its part, Microsoft has said that the problem affects a "very small amount" of devices – although the company did not specify the precise number. 

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"We're working directly with those affected to get a replacement console to them as soon as possible through our advance exchange program," Microsoft says in a statement. "Rest assured, we are taking care of our customers. While a replacement console is on its way, we want to ensure our advance exchange customers can stay in the game. We will provide each of them with a free digital download of one of the launch titles published by Microsoft Studios."

A broken console, in other words, earns you a free game.

Of course, there are alternatives, if you're feeling impatient. VentureBeat has a report on a fix that requires users to turn your Xbox One upside-down before giving it a few whacks on the underside. (The evidence of the efficacy of this cure is anecdotal at best; we echo the warning given out by VentureBeat: "Keep in mind that you are performing physical abuse upon a piece of consumer electronics and that you do so at your own risk.") 

The Xbox One has sold strongly out of the gate: 1 million Xbox One consoles in the first 24 hours the device was on sale. In a blog post, Microsoft called it "the biggest launch in Xbox history," and a "new record" for the Washington-based company. Still, the Xbox One doesn't have the market to itself: The PlayStation 4 also sold to the tune of a million units in 24 hours. 

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By: Success Manual On 22:35

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Apple Reportedly Developing Large Curved Screen iPhones For Late 2014, Better Touchscreen Sensors

Apple is said to be working on two curved display iPhone models for the “second half of next year,” according to a source speaking toBloomberg, with a likely released planned for the third quarter, and building better touchscreen sensors that introduce fine pressure sensitivity for later devices to be introduced after that.

These new iPhones for 2014 would come in 4.7 and 5.5-inch flavors, according to the report, meaning that Apple would be introducing not one, but two different models at the same time, in theory. We’ve seen reports of Apple working on different models of large-screen devices in the past, including one from the Wall Street Journal that suggests it’s been working on different tests of devices with screen sizes between 4.8 and 6 inches. This is the first time we’ve really heard firm information about a possible release date for said devices, from a source as generally reliable as Bloomberg. A Japanese iOS rumor site claimed a September launch for a large-screen iPhone late in October, however, and two reliable analyst sources predict a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 bound for stores in late 2014. Read More

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How Google is beating Apple in the fight for emotions

You may well have been having conflicted feelings over the last couple of years.

On the one hand, you know that Google is, at its core, an engineering company whose aim is to get your hands off the steering wheel and implant its search engine into your brain.

On the other, you're finding yourself feeling rather warm about Google, as if whatever the company says ultimately sounds mellifluous -- even if, at heart, it's menacing to your very being.

There's a reason for this. A company that once derided advertising as something beneath dwarf-tossing has embraced various facets of it, in order to make itself seem far warmer and more human.

Think of the doodles, which pop up at unexpected time to celebrate bizarre, quirky and often humorous anniversaries. They're involving, amusing and even educative. You love them, don't you?

Then there's Google's sudden and widespread embrace of conventional advertising. You know, the things that Eric Schmidt once referred to as "a video."

Three years ago, an ad called "Parisian Love" ran during the Super Bowl. At the time, Google advertising during the Super Bowl was as bizarre as Facebook respecting your privacy.

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