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AirRaid
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/06/an_update_on_he.html#more
An Update on Helium: It's NOT Dead Yet
Dean Takahashi, 11:35 AM in Dean Takahashi, Gaming
Guess what? Our little fishing expedition about Helium has yielded a
new email that suggests this project isn't dead. But it does raise the
question, what is Helium? I thought it was a plan to create a third
Xbox 360 SKU with Windows on board. But could it just be Live Anywhere?
Is it something else? In any case, we now know from this email that it
isn't deade. This email went out to Microsoft employees in April. It is
an update on the new beta for Xbox Live. But it mentions "future"
programs including Helium and Fusion. Fusion was the code name for
backward compatibility of the Xbox 360. Thanks to an alert reader of
this blog for the email. It's nice to know that the "hive mind" of the
Internet really does work. Can anyone add to our knowledge about
Helium? Microsoft had this to say about Helium though a spokeswoman:
"Microsoft has hundreds of products in various stages of research and
development every year; we have nothing to announce with regard to a
new product in development." Regarding Fusion, it declined comment.
From:
Sent: Tue 4/25/2006 12:42 AM
To: Xbox Flash War
Subject: Spring BETA program
Xbox 360 Spring'06 System Update BETA program
Program goals
· Obtain feedback from users on test scenario completion and
satisfaction for the Spring System Update.
o Create necessary responses to that feedback: KB Articles, etc.
· Create a basic infrastructure for future beta programs
(Fusion, Helium, etc).
Program audience
Open to all Microsoft FTEs with a retail console and a connection to
Xbox Live.
Program Schedule
· 4/25: Create a Virtual Team including representatives from
Live, Xbox.com & PSS teams.
· 4/25: VT creates communication and collaborations tools:
o Extranet Sharepoint site for program management.
o Extranet Sharepoint site for user information and discussion.
· 4/26: VT starts collecting Test Scenarios from feature teams.
· 5/3: VT announces the program (to XboxDisc, Micronews, etc.)
o Users start enrolling by providing their Console ID.
· 5/10: Enrollment closes. VT provides list of enrolled Console
IDs to the Live team.
· 5/11: Live team releases a selective system update to Xbox
Live.
o Users receive the update by connecting to Xbox Live.
· 5/11: VT publishes the test scenarios. Users start reporting:
o Test scenario completion data.
o Test scenario satisfaction data.
· 5/11: VT starts triaging received data. Possible outputs are:
KB Articles, Bug fixes, etc.
· 5/23: Live team releases global system update to Xbox Live.
Beta program closes for users.
· 5/31: VT publishes final report on the program.
An Update on Helium: It's NOT Dead Yet
Dean Takahashi, 11:35 AM in Dean Takahashi, Gaming
Guess what? Our little fishing expedition about Helium has yielded a
new email that suggests this project isn't dead. But it does raise the
question, what is Helium? I thought it was a plan to create a third
Xbox 360 SKU with Windows on board. But could it just be Live Anywhere?
Is it something else? In any case, we now know from this email that it
isn't deade. This email went out to Microsoft employees in April. It is
an update on the new beta for Xbox Live. But it mentions "future"
programs including Helium and Fusion. Fusion was the code name for
backward compatibility of the Xbox 360. Thanks to an alert reader of
this blog for the email. It's nice to know that the "hive mind" of the
Internet really does work. Can anyone add to our knowledge about
Helium? Microsoft had this to say about Helium though a spokeswoman:
"Microsoft has hundreds of products in various stages of research and
development every year; we have nothing to announce with regard to a
new product in development." Regarding Fusion, it declined comment.
From:
Sent: Tue 4/25/2006 12:42 AM
To: Xbox Flash War
Subject: Spring BETA program
Xbox 360 Spring'06 System Update BETA program
Program goals
· Obtain feedback from users on test scenario completion and
satisfaction for the Spring System Update.
o Create necessary responses to that feedback: KB Articles, etc.
· Create a basic infrastructure for future beta programs
(Fusion, Helium, etc).
Program audience
Open to all Microsoft FTEs with a retail console and a connection to
Xbox Live.
Program Schedule
· 4/25: Create a Virtual Team including representatives from
Live, Xbox.com & PSS teams.
· 4/25: VT creates communication and collaborations tools:
o Extranet Sharepoint site for program management.
o Extranet Sharepoint site for user information and discussion.
· 4/26: VT starts collecting Test Scenarios from feature teams.
· 5/3: VT announces the program (to XboxDisc, Micronews, etc.)
o Users start enrolling by providing their Console ID.
· 5/10: Enrollment closes. VT provides list of enrolled Console
IDs to the Live team.
· 5/11: Live team releases a selective system update to Xbox
Live.
o Users receive the update by connecting to Xbox Live.
· 5/11: VT publishes the test scenarios. Users start reporting:
o Test scenario completion data.
o Test scenario satisfaction data.
· 5/11: VT starts triaging received data. Possible outputs are:
KB Articles, Bug fixes, etc.
· 5/23: Live team releases global system update to Xbox Live.
Beta program closes for users.
· 5/31: VT publishes final report on the program.