Behold! In the annals of Xbox lore, a legend of devices that never saw the light of day. Among them, Keystone — a fabled prototype of affordable gaming streaming merriment, designed to grace your TV or monitor with pixelated delight. A patent hath surfaced, shedding new radiance upon what might have been.
Lo, the patent, unveiled by those astute eyes of Windows Central, doth paint a more complete picture of this mysterious contraption. Ere now, whispers spoke of Keystone’s existence, a mere whisper compared to the grandeur of Microsoft’s Phil Spencer and his hidden treasures. In a cryptic 2022 post on X (once known as Twitter), a Keystone prototype doth perch atop Spencer’s shelf. Alas, it was but a version cast aside as Microsoft turned its gaze towards a new path.
‘Tis said that the Keystone — much like a diminutive Xbox Series S — doth appear from the front. Yet, from the diagrams within the patent, a fuller view emerge: the iconic Xbox power button, a USB-A port on the front; HDMI, Ethernet, and power ports grace the rear, with a pairing button nestled on the right. No mere rectangle this, but a square with a circle crowning its peak, a stand beneath — a compact marvel of modern design.
Behold, the company’s grand investment in Game Pass, a subscription service ripe with digital bounty. The Ultimate tier, bedecked in Cloud Streaming’s finery, doth grant access to a vast gaming trove on any device. Oh, the discless Xbox Series S, a harbinger of digital delights, offering games aplenty for purchase and download. But the Keystone, ah, it would have been a streaming stick of portability, devoted solely to the streaming arts. Alas, in an audience with The Verge, Spencer doth lament the project’s demise at the hands of price.
“More costly than desired,” he doth declare with sorrow. “Thus, we turned our gaze to deliver a streaming app for smart TVs.” And lo, with the Xbox app’s advent on Fire TV devices, the specter of a dedicated Keystone-like device doth fade into the mists of time.
