In a highly competitive promotion against Apple's favorite tablet, Microsoft has decided to give consumers willing to turn in that old iPad a couple of hundred bucks in their store - presumably to spend on their Surface tablet... The promotion, which runs until October 27, allows people to trade in their "gently used" iPad 2, 3, or 4 tablets to receive a minimum of a $200 gift card to the Microsoft Store.

Earlier this week the director of programming for Xbox Live Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb took to NeoGAF to express his distaste for the term "Xbone." Hryb said that the term was disrespectful to the team developing the system at Microsoft.

"I don't like it," he wrote on 9th September. "It disrespects the teams that have put in thousands of hours (already) into the development of the product. Sure, it's cheeky but I don't care for it myself."

A U.S. District Court jury in Seattle has awarded Microsoft $15 million in damages related to its long-running patent infringement lawsuit with Motorola. This signals the end of litigation (save the appeals process) in the long-running legal dispute over claims by Motorola that the Xbox 360 infringed on several of its patents related to video decoding and wi-fi technology.

Jinni has inked a multi-year agreement with Microsoft to enhance entertainment discovery on Xbox video game and entertainment systems including the Xbox 360 and the upcoming Xbox One releasing in late November. Jinni is described by its creators as a "taste-and-mood based engine" that enables entertainment discovery using "content genetics" and an understanding of user preference analytics.

Are you ready for another round of console wars?  Boy howdy, I am!  So let's do the fanboy/armchair analyst thing and predict which console will sell the most units this holiday.

Let's see, Sony's Playstation 4 launches on Friday, Nov. 15 and Microsoft's Xbox One launches the following Friday on Nov. 22.  Will the extra week give Sony a leg up?  Both consoles are out before the all-important Black Friday.

According to Quantic Dreams' David Cage, Sony ended up with the exclusive to Heavy Rain on PS3 because Microsoft made a decision to turn it down due to some content in the game that they were strongly concerned about. Heavy Rain, which won a BAFTA award for Best Story in 2011, featured a storyline about a man in a desperate search for his abducted child, which Microsoft apparently thought could cause the company some controversy.

Peter Hines, Bethesda's vice-president of public relations and marketing, is making news today for some comments he made about why the Elder Scrolls and Fallout makers are not supporting the Wii U. Speaking to GameTrailer's Bonus Round, Hines said that Nintendo needs to do a better job of communicating with third-party developers about platforms like Microsoft and Sony have.

Microsoft has renamed the "Xbox Live Marketplace" on Xbox.com to the "Xbox Games Store," putting the name in line with other marketplaces the company runs - like "Windows Phone Store." The Xbox Games Store is still located at marketplace.xbox.com (at least for now), and now groups titles by platform, with sections for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Mobile and Web games.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within the next year, the company announced today. A special committee and Ballmer will help hand pick a successor. The committee is headed up by lead independent director John Thompson and includes chairman of the Board Bill Gates, chairman of the Audit Committee Chuck Noski and chairman of the Compensation Committee Steve Luczo.

Today Microsoft launched a new contest that encourages Xbox One fans to create and submit a one minute video about the Xbox One games they like. The creators of the chosen videos will win a series of Xbox One related goodies when the system launches this fall including an Xbox One system, a one-year Xbox Live Gold subscription, an undetermined amount of free Xbox One launch titles, and the opportunity to work with Microsoft's Upload team in the future.

During its Gamescom press conference in Cologne, Germany today Microsoft finally detailed how self publishing will work on Xbox One for indie developers who do not want to sign a first-party publishing deal with Microsoft or with some other third-party publisher. Earlier in the year the company said that those would be the only options for indie developers to get their games on Xbox One, but Microsoft later reversed its stance.

An update to the Age of Empires Online support page on Xbox.com - that went live yesterday and was quickly removed - indicated that Games for Windows Live services will be discontinued on July 1, 2014. The page also revealed that Age of Empires Online would be shut down at right around the same time.

The deleted entry from the site:

Microsoft will officially close its Xbox.com PC Marketplace on August 22, 2013. According to this FAQ on Xbox.com, those who have purchased Games for Windows Live titles and DLC will still be able to play them through the service's client, but won't have access to any kind of marketplace to purchase additional content. Some are concerned that Games for Windows Live titles will be inadvertently pulled from other services such as Steam, but that is really up to the publishers, according to Microsoft.

Beginning today and continuing until August 31, Xbox Live Gold subscribers may download Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising: Case Zero for free. The new free game downloads are part of Microsoft's Games with Gold program, which gives away two free games a month.

Earlier this week Microsoft announced that it would delay the launch of its next-generation console in eight European territories to "as soon as possible in 2014." Those countries include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Former Valve executive Jason Holtman has joined Microsoft, according to GamesIndustry International. Holtman was in charge of Steam for eight years, helping to turn it into the digital distribution platform juggernaut that it is today. Holtman was the point man for developers looking to get their games on the platform, and is credited with convincing big third-party publishers like Activision and Electronic Arts to hawk their PC wares there.

In an "Ask Microsoft Anything About Xbox One" feature over at IGN, Microsoft revealed another change of heart related to its upcoming Xbox One console: it doesn't have to be plugged into the Xbox One if you don't want to use it. This revelation came from Microsoft's Marc Whitten. In two sections about Kinect, Whitten explained what the different states of having the Kinect motion sensing and voice recognition technology turned on and off will mean:

Yesterday Microsoft confirmed that only Xbox Live Gold subscribers would be able to use the new Game DVR feature on Xbox One. No one was shocked by that news, given the current structure of Xbox Live and how it limits features of those not willing to pay for the service.

Microsoft's Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) released an Xbox One "Day One Edition" unboxing video detailing what you get if you have the courage to drop $500 on the upcoming console on launch day. The Day One Edition comes with the Xbox One system, a controller, an Xbox One Chat Headset, a quick start guide, and an HDMI cable (which supports 4K).

According to this Eurogamer report, the next free games to be released on Xbox Live as part of Microsoft's Games with Gold Promotion will be the open-world future-leaning action game Crackdown, and the zombie survival game sequel Dead Rising 2.

If you were hoping to buy an Xbox One without a Kinect and believed some of the rumors that a SKU would be available that featured only the console in Summer 2014, then you will be sad to hear that it just isn't true. Microsoft today shot down rumors that the Kinect or the console could be purchased separately.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed that "every Xbox One" can be used to make games, meaning that every unit can in fact be turned into a development kit, or debug unit. Kotaku offers this statement from Microsoft on the matter:

According to a tip sent over by Foss Patents, Google has appealed Motorola's loss to Microsoft in its ITC patent case which sought to have the sale of its Xbox 360 banned in the United States.

Oddworld Inhabitants founder Lorne Lanning says that Microsoft's Xbox One approach to indies ignores the little guys. Lanning's studio is responsible for the popular Oddworld series of games including Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, and more.

In Episode 61 of the Super Podcast Action Committee, hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight talk about the First Amendment, if Microsoft will cooperate with the government to allow access to the Kinect's various features (for the purposes of spying on us), Forza 5 requiring a 'day one' update, and a whole lot more. there's even some talk about Howard the Duck, LEGOs, the new Avengers movie, Hank Pym, Comic-Con and more. Download Episode 61 now: SuperPAC Episode 61 (1 hour, 10 minutes) 64 MB.

Does the Xbox One Kinect camera make you nervous?  Sure, the console is switched off but the Kinect is still listening, isn't it?  And the Xbox One is connected to the internet.  Oh sure, Microsoft says it won't violate your privacy or share info without your consent but do you trust the big M to keep its word?

Last week Microsoft asked the Justice Department for permission to release information to the general public about its participation in government controlled surveillance programs, but the DOJ would not allow it. According to CNet, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith sent a letter on Tuesday to the Obama administration asking for permission to reveal details about how it responds to orders from the U.S. government for private user data.

Fusible reports that Microsoft has successfully secured ownership of the domain names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net. In late May the company filed a cybersquatting complaint with the National Arbitration Forum asking the oversight body to turn the domains over. Microsoft's actions against the cybersquatter were aided by the Richard Law Group, which helped it secure two other domains related to its business last year - XboxPhone.com and XboxTablet.com.

A new report from The Guardian reveals the scope of Microsoft's alleged collaboration with the National Security Agency and its PRISM domestic spying program. According to the report, which cites top secret documents obtained by the Guardian, Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption related to its Outlook portal and web chat services; provided help with Hotmail mail services, its cloud storage service SkyDrive; and Skype.

According to an announcement on Microsoft's Xbox Live Rewards website, the incentive program for Xbox Live is going to be revamped in September. Most of the changes have to do with the program doling out MS Points. With MS Points going the way of the dinosaur soon in favor of real-world currency, this is not an unexpected announcement.

Microsoft encourages Xbox Live Rewards members to return to the website on September 1 for more details on the revamped program.

You can find the full statement below: