Interestingly, Allard will supposedly report to the former Windows and Surface chief Panos Panay, who exited Microsoft last year after more than two decades. Allard also had a 20-year-long career at Microsoft including his time at Xbox.
Allard was part of the team that created the original Xbox 25 years ago - he then assisted with the launch of Xbox's Live network and helped develop the Xbox 360 as well. He left Microsoft in 2010 after working on Zune (an iPod rival) and also the cancelled Courier tablet, which was never officially announced.
Since then he's operated Project 529 (a bike registration service) and also had a short stint at Intellivision.
It'll be interesting to see what Allard and Panay are able to create together at Amazon as part of these "new ideas", and it goes without saying that we wish the Xbox co-founder all the best in his new role!
