Feed: Slashdot
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Title: Amazon Taps Xbox Co-Founder To Develop 'Breakthrough' Consumer
Products

Link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/05/29/214...

Amazon has launched a new innovation-focused team called ZeroOne, led by Xbox
co-creator J Allard, to develop breakthrough consumer products across
hardware and software. CNBC reports: The ZeroOne team is spread across
Seattle, San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California, and is focused on both
hardware and software projects, according to job postings from the past
month. The name is a nod to its mission of developing emerging product ideas
from conception to launch, or "zero to one." [...] The new group is being led
by J Allard, who spent 19 years at Microsoft, most recently as technology
chief of consumer products, a role he left in 2010, according to his LinkedIn
profile. He was a key architect of the Xbox game console, as well as the
Zune, a failed iPod competitor. Allard joined Amazon in September, and the
company confirmed at the time that he would be part of the devices and
services team under Panos Panay, who left Microsoft for Amazon in 2023 to
lead the group. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed Allard oversees ZeroOne but
declined to comment further on the group's work. The job postings provide few
specific details about what ZeroOne is building, though one listing
references working on "conceiving, designing, and bringing to market computer
vision techniques for a new smart-home product." Another post for a senior
customer insights manager in San Francisco says the job entails owning "the
methodology and execution of concept testing and early feedback for ZeroOne
programs." "You'll be part of a team that embraces design thinking, rapid
experimentation, and building to learn," the description says. "If you're
excited about working in small, nimble teams to create entirely new product
categories and thrive in the ambiguity of breakthrough innovation, we want to
talk to you." Amazon has pulled in staffers from other business units that
have experience developing innovative technologies, including its Alexa voice
assistant, Luna cloud gaming service and Halo sleep tracker, according to
Linkedin profiles of ZeroOne employees. The head of a projection mapping
startup called Lightform that Amazon acquired is helping lead the group.
While Amazon is expanding this particular corner of its devices group, the
company is scaling back other areas of the sprawling devices and services
division.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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