J Allard (his legal name; formerly James Allard) (born January 12 1969 in Glens Falls, New York) [cite web |title=J Allard | work=BusinessWeek Online | url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_49/b4012008.htm | accessdate=2006-11-29 ] is "Chief Experience Officer" and Chief Technology Officer, for the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. He also oversaw Microsoft's first foray into the video game industry, the Xbox.
Microsoft
He is known for his historic 1994 memo, "Windows: The Next Killer Application on the Internet" [cite news |title=Leaders of The Pack | work=Newsweek International |page=41 | date=April 25, 2005 | accessdate=2006-11-10 | language=English |id=ISSN 01637053] , about the coming rise of the Internet. The memo, distributed to Microsoft leaders, reshaped the company's direction. A Boston University graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science, Allard has also been known to play The Game as part of Team Pink.
Zune
When Bryan Lee stepped down from his post as Zune Executive in charge of business development, Allard took over as the new executive[cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070201-8754.html|title=One Zune exec out; J Allard takes over the program|accessdate=2007-10-15] . Allard is overseeing development of the Microsoft Zune, a handheld portable media device, initially seen by some media as a potential iPod rival. [cite web | url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/jallard/default.mspx | title=J Allard: Corporate Vice President, Design and Development, Entertainment and Devices Division | publisher=Microsoft | date=2006-10-06 | accessdate=2006-11-12] Allard has notably signed several artists as part of a broad Zune marketing campaign by Microsoft, which included heavy promotion during Seattle's Bumbershoot festival in 2006.]Xbox
Allard oversees all design and engineering for the Xbox console, peripherals, Microsoft's multiplayer online service Xbox Live, as well as development tools for video game developers. His responsibilities for Xbox carried over to Microsoft's 2005 video game console, the Xbox 360. J Allard can also be seen in the XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) game Space Giraffe (developed by Jeff Minter of Llamasoft) in the first level called "The Eyes of Allard." On Xbox Live, Allard's Gamertag is "HiroProtagonist", deduced from the name of the main character of Neal Stephenson's book Snow Crash.
References
External links
* [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/jallard/default.mspx Bio at Microsoft.com]
* [http://live.xbox.com/member/hiroprotagonist Xbox Live Gamercard] (login required)
* [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/rbach/05-16-05E3.mspx E3 2005 speech]
* [http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/14/the-engadget-interview-j-allard-microsoft-corporate-vice-presi/ Interview about Zune]
* [http://www.bungie.net/stats/PlayerCampaignStatsHalo3.aspx?player=HiroProtagonist Halo 3 Game History]
