Microsoft Bundles Office 365, Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Music Pass & Skype for $199 per Year

[dgstorm]

While this isn't news directly related to this site, it's still pretty big and potentially useful to many of you, so we thought it worth sharing here.

The new Microsoft has been making some major paradigm shifts in its business model under its new CEO, Satya Nadella. Apparently the bottom line proposition that Microsoft is hanging its future on is "value," and their latest announcement is a great example of that. Microsoft just announced a new bundle offering that is really a fantastic deal when you look at the math, at least for anyone who uses most of these services.

Microsoft is offering a limited edition Work & Play bundle which includes Office 365, Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Music Pass & Skype for $199 per Year. To put it in perspective, here is a breakdown of the basic numbers ofr each of these services/products individually:

• Office 365 Home: $9.99/month or $99.99/year
• Xbox Live 12-month Gold Membership: $59.99/year
• 12-Month Xbox Music Pass: $99.90/year
• Skype Unlimited World: €10.49 ($13.05)/month or $156.60/year if the numbers you're calling are mostly located in the US

Adding these services up results in a price of approximately $416, which makes the $199 bundle price more than half off. Of course, if you don't use more than a few of these services, then you are better off avoiding the bundle. It looks like Microsoft found a good formula to make a bundle that is worth the money. It's too bad the cable companies can't do the same thing, or at least offer unbundled content...

Source: Microsoft