Xbox Cofounder J Allard Joins Amazon to Develop ‘New Ideas’

J Allard, a cofounder of Xbox, recently joined Amazon as a vice president on the company’s devices and services team. In an email to The Verge, Allard confirmed his new position but mentioned that it is “too early to have anything to say” regarding his specific responsibilities at Amazon, beyond working on “new ideas.”

According to GeekWire, Allard will be reporting to Panos Panay, the former chief of Windows and Surface at Microsoft. Panay left Microsoft last year after nearly two decades with the company. Allard also spent over two decades at Microsoft, where he was instrumental in cofounding the Xbox division, launching the Xbox Live network, and developing the Xbox 360 console. Additionally, he oversaw the development of the Zune, Microsoft’s competitor to the iPod.

Allard departed from Microsoft in 2010 following his involvement with the company’s canceled Courier tablet. Though never officially announced as a Microsoft product, the leaked concept of Courier combined pen and touch capabilities into a digital notepad.

Reports suggest that the cancellation of Courier resulted from internal conflicts between Allard’s Courier group and the Windows group, led at the time by Steven Sinofsky. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was reportedly unable to choose between the two and required Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates to make the final decision.

Following his departure from Microsoft, Allard primarily spent his time running Project 529, a community service organization focused on reducing bike theft. Earlier this year, Project 529 was acquired by Two Three Bird, allowing Allard to redirect his efforts and energy towards new ideas.

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