Xbox 360 Elite – More 'Information'
$479, HDMI-enabled, 120GB hard drive, IPTV capability
Another source has gone live with further details on the forthcoming ‘Xbox 360 Elite’ – backing up previous claims and rumours that the unit is to cost $479 (£245), be fully HDMI-enabled, have a 120GB hard drive and, most excitingly, full IPTV capability.
The ever-reliable Dean Takahashi over on The San Jose Mercury News this weekend stated that his (still anonymous) sources at Microsoft have confirmed all of the above, stating, “It’s true that Microsoft is preparing to announce the Xbox 360 Elite, a version of the game console with black plastic and advanced features. Several sources confirmed Microsoft plans to add this box to its product line. The new box will go on sale in limited quantities soon for $479 (£245)… I believe it will have an HDMI connector so that you can connect at the highest speed to a high-definition TV. It will come with a 120-gigabyte hard disk drive and will have IPTV capability.”
Takahashi adds that, “Bill Gates announced in January that the Xbox 360 was capable of serving as a set-top box for IPTV, or Internet Protocol TV, which phone companies such as AT&T are using to offer high-definition movies and scores of channels in competition with TV.”
“By the fall, the company will also implement a chip redesign, shifting from 90-nanometer production to 65 nanometer production. That will bring costs down fairly dramatically and will enable Microsoft to make the box in larger quantities by the fourth quarter….At $479, the Xbox 360 Elite will still be cheaper than Sony’s $499 (£255) 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 and the $599 (£300) 60-gigabyte PS 3. But it will match the Sony box with the HDMI connector feature. The Sony box is not yet capable of IPTV,” Takahashi concludes.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Times in the UK last week, Xbox’s European boss, Neil Thompson told them that "In the technology and gaming there's really little in the PS3 where I can say, 'Gosh, I wish we had that'…. The biggest threat that Sony has for us is the brand that's been established around it… Sony has come up with an online world that seems to let you do just about everything except gaming.”
Speaking specifically about Blu-ray, Thompson added, "It's two, three years ahead of the market. People won't want to replace their entire DVD collections, and they'll get a better resolution with a standard DVD on an Xbox than a PS3. It's nowhere near the importance of the format war between VHS and DVD. The internet is becoming an increasingly important medium. Surely online is going to be the distribution method for much of the high-definition content."
While SPOnG’s contacts at Microsoft in the UK refuse to ‘comment on rumour or speculation’ SPOnG expects that we will see an official press release regarding the Xbox 360 Elite some time very soon.
The ever-reliable Dean Takahashi over on The San Jose Mercury News this weekend stated that his (still anonymous) sources at Microsoft have confirmed all of the above, stating, “It’s true that Microsoft is preparing to announce the Xbox 360 Elite, a version of the game console with black plastic and advanced features. Several sources confirmed Microsoft plans to add this box to its product line. The new box will go on sale in limited quantities soon for $479 (£245)… I believe it will have an HDMI connector so that you can connect at the highest speed to a high-definition TV. It will come with a 120-gigabyte hard disk drive and will have IPTV capability.”
Takahashi adds that, “Bill Gates announced in January that the Xbox 360 was capable of serving as a set-top box for IPTV, or Internet Protocol TV, which phone companies such as AT&T are using to offer high-definition movies and scores of channels in competition with TV.”
“By the fall, the company will also implement a chip redesign, shifting from 90-nanometer production to 65 nanometer production. That will bring costs down fairly dramatically and will enable Microsoft to make the box in larger quantities by the fourth quarter….At $479, the Xbox 360 Elite will still be cheaper than Sony’s $499 (£255) 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 and the $599 (£300) 60-gigabyte PS 3. But it will match the Sony box with the HDMI connector feature. The Sony box is not yet capable of IPTV,” Takahashi concludes.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Times in the UK last week, Xbox’s European boss, Neil Thompson told them that "In the technology and gaming there's really little in the PS3 where I can say, 'Gosh, I wish we had that'…. The biggest threat that Sony has for us is the brand that's been established around it… Sony has come up with an online world that seems to let you do just about everything except gaming.”
Speaking specifically about Blu-ray, Thompson added, "It's two, three years ahead of the market. People won't want to replace their entire DVD collections, and they'll get a better resolution with a standard DVD on an Xbox than a PS3. It's nowhere near the importance of the format war between VHS and DVD. The internet is becoming an increasingly important medium. Surely online is going to be the distribution method for much of the high-definition content."
While SPOnG’s contacts at Microsoft in the UK refuse to ‘comment on rumour or speculation’ SPOnG expects that we will see an official press release regarding the Xbox 360 Elite some time very soon.
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Comments
pudgieluv 26 Mar 2007 16:46
1/4
"backing up previous claims and rumours that the unit is to cost $479 (£245), be fully HDMI-enabled" = Classic case of bill and his "one ups menship" ... Copying sony with hdmi.. Someones affraid it sounds.
"It's two, three years ahead of the market. People won't want to replace their entire DVD collections, and they'll get a better resolution with a standard DVD on an Xbox than a PS3 = The thing with this statment is that the ps3 plays dvds.... Better than the xbox 360... So why would u have to throw out your dvd collection... how miss informing is that
"It's two, three years ahead of the market. People won't want to replace their entire DVD collections, and they'll get a better resolution with a standard DVD on an Xbox than a PS3 = The thing with this statment is that the ps3 plays dvds.... Better than the xbox 360... So why would u have to throw out your dvd collection... how miss informing is that
Dreadknux 26 Mar 2007 17:05
2/4
pudgieluv wrote:
"backing up previous claims and rumours that the unit is to cost $479 (£245), be fully HDMI-enabled" = Classic case of bill and his "one ups menship" ... Copying sony with hdmi.. Someones affraid it sounds.
Judging from the chinese whispers floating around about PS3 sales, I don't think Bill has anything to really worry about.
I don't see where fanboys get off these days with "X company copied Y company" about certain functions of a console that become the technical standard. If it's something like a specific function that has a signature of the company being ripped off (i.e. say Microsoft decide to do a virtual world not unlike PS3's Home), then we might have cause for complaint.
But calling foul for 'copying' a technical specification? Why don't you say Sony copied Microsoft because the PS3 can run in High-Def?
"It's two, three years ahead of the market. People won't want to replace their entire DVD collections, and they'll get a better resolution with a standard DVD on an Xbox than a PS3 = The thing with this statment is that the ps3 plays dvds.... Better than the xbox 360... So why would u have to throw out your dvd collection... how miss informing is that
I don't think the issue is whether PS3 can play DVD's, but rather whether Sony are forcing Blu-ray upon its consumers.
OK, anyone with half a brain will simply not buy into Blu-ray and keep watching DVDs on PS3 - but then in that case can you justify spending so much money on one for a function you're never going to use? I think it's not outrageous to say that the reason the console is expensive is because of its Blu-ray functionality and nothing else.
So...... you either:
[1] spend an inflated price on PS3 for Blu-ray functionality which you'll never use, ergo wasting a good chunk of money, or
[2] you replace your DVD collection with Blu-ray in order to take advantage of the extra £100-200 that the functionality cost you. Which, again, will waste you a good chunk of money re buying the movies on Blu-ray.
As they say in Lithuania, 'Zing'.
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tom united 25 Apr 2007 19:13
3/4
Is it positively £255 in the UK because i do not want it to turn out like the Playstation 3 . Xbox 360 Elite looks cool but is it similar to Xbox 360. Do you have to have to have a HDTV or can you just use a normal TV ?
The black colour looks good but is i worth buying. For the price its going to be i am definitely going to get one!
The black colour looks good but is i worth buying. For the price its going to be i am definitely going to get one!
anonymous 1 May 2007 00:12
4/4
Svend Joscelyne wrote:
[2] you replace your DVD collection with Blu-ray in order to take advantage of the extra £100-200 that the functionality cost you. Which, again, will waste you a good chunk of money re buying the movies on Blu-ray.
As they say in Lithuania, 'Zing'.
As they say in Lithuania, 'Zing'.
No one is forcing you to replace your DVD collection entirly, or even at all