Oppenheimer Gives Update On Microsoft, Next-Gen Xbox

According to ZDNet.com, Microsoft MSFT has just begun working on a new project for its gaming console. Based on a recently discovered web post from a designer that discusses a confidential Xbox project. ZDnet believes MSFT is working on its next-gen Xbox system and is aiming for a 2015 release. Oppenheimer believes this makes sense, as it expects Microsoft to keep its current platform as long as it can and then release a new console in a few years. Oppenheimer continues to believe Xbox and Kinect have plenty of life remaining and expect them to help drive double-digit revenue growth in the company's Entertainment and Devices group for the next few years. On Monday, MSFT announced it had taken legal action against Barnes & Noble and its device manufacturers, Foxconn and Inventec, for infringing on several of its patents. MSFT claims that Barnes & Noble's e-reader and tablet devices, which are Android-based, infringe on numerous MSFT patents. The company noted it currently has a patent licensing program for Android device manufacturers, but BKS has refused to participate in this program. As such, MSFT has decided to sue Barnes & Noble and its manufacturers. MSFT closed Monday at $25.33