Peaking to The Verge on the Decoder podcast this week, Spencer says the device known as “Keystone” is currently too expensive: “It was more expensive than we wanted it to be when we actually built it out with the hardware that we had inside,” says Spencer “We decided to focus that team’s effort on delivering the smart TV streaming app.” The streaming app is the Xbox TV app that made its debut this year on Samsung smart TVs. It provides users with access to Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming on their TVs without a console. While it is exclusive to Samsung at the moment, the Xbox TV app would likely be at the heart of any Xbox Streaming device.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 10, 2022 Microsoft was looking at a retail price of between $99 and $129 for the streaming device. However, Spencer says building the device and adding a controller was only manageable with a retail price of $299. That is more than just some wiggle room which is why Spencer has previously said the device is years away. Microsoft is waiting for better technology that it can add for cheaper it seems. Tip of the day: It’s a good idea to backup your computer on a regular basis, and the most fool-proof way is to manually create a disk image and save it to an external hard drive.