Round Up: Xbox 360 Sales, Kasparov Chess, Apple's 'Pod'

Today's Gamasutra round-up includes news of Microsoft's Xbox 360 sales figures, Glu Mobile signing Kasparov Chess, and Apple's legal claim to the world 'Pod', as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts and Gamasutra job postings. - Microsoft has released the latest iteration of its Xbox 360 sales expectations regarding its sales for the remainder of the fiscal year. By holiday 2006, the company indicated that it expects to ship over 10 million Xbox 360 consoles to retail, as well as see a console library of 160 games. By the end of its fiscal 2007 in June, Microsoft anticipates between 13-15 million consoles shipped worldwide. The company also indicted that the Xbox 360 boasts the highest accessory attach rate among consumers with 2.9 units sold per console, and that its software attach rate rose this month to 4.6 titles per console. - Mobile game publisher and developer Glu Mobile today announced an agreement to develop and publish Kasparov Chess in partnership with world champion chess player Garry Kasparov. Kasparov Chess, which will be available on wireless carriers worldwide beginning in early 2007, will offer a number of ways to play including cross-carrier, international multi-player capabilities allowing players to challenge other chess players around the world. - A new report from MSNBC has highlighted a trademark infringement complaint filed by Apple against at least two companies, including video game-related entities, regarding their usage of the word 'Pod'. Specifically, Dave Ellison's company Mach5Products, which develops, among other things, an infrared data collection system called the Profit-Pod for arcade games, was issued a "cease and desist" letter from Apple regarding the product's name. According to the report, Apple's complaint was based on "a Pod-formative mark and incorporates a substantial portion of Apple's iPod mark", and that "both devices receive and transmit data and are used with computers [and] both are used in connection with video games." - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include a look back at Castlevania: Bloodlines for the Genesis, the latest 'Our Blazing Destiny' webcomic, and news on wacky indie game Boom! Boom! Driller! - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring openings from Activision / Treyarch, Dynamic Animation Systems, Irrational Games, LucasArts, Monolith Productions, Terminal Reality, and Zoonami Limited.