Few people know the ins and outs of Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles quite like Dean Takahashi, author of “The Xbox 360 Uncloaked” and daily tech writer for the San Jose Mercury News. Largely considered an exclusive source on gaming hardware, Takahashi has again surfaced with a recent article offering an inside glimpse of the new black Xbox 360, heavily rumored for months.
According to Takahashi’s Saturday morning post in the Mercury, there’s no reason to speculate any longer on the release of the shady new 360. It’s confirmed, he reports, under the name “Xbox 360 Elite”, and will retail for $479. Retail informants still peg it for May release.
Many of the features under the hood are the same as those predicted by a variety of sources, including your GizmoCafe.com, in recent weeks.
You want the features? Here’s what you get with an “Elite” Xbox 360:
Ok, the first two are fairly clear. The HDMI port will allow for the highest speed and most impressive connection to a high definition television. The hard drive will give Microsoft the tools to open up the vault on its movie and TV download service, since many gamers are already complaining that the current 20 GB version simply isn’t hefty enough.
Takahashi confirms other reports that there will be no included HD-DVD drive. That’s understandable, considering the public’s hesitation in choosing a side between it and Blu-ray. In addition, the exclusion of the high definition tray keeps costs down, already determined a problem for the lonely PlayStation 3.
However, these very radical and much publicized improvements aren’t the only ones Microsoft is working on. Takahashi reveals that the company will likely shrink its chip size sometime during 2007, from 90 nanometer down to 65.
The advantage to this? With the electrons within traveling less distance, circuits become more reliable. This means fewer breakdowns, an improvement welcomed by any victim of the “Red Circle of Death”.
For those of you still doubting that a console could become the central source of a home Media Center, Microsoft may have finally provided a checkmate to your cynicism. With the Xbox 360 Elite now capable of everything from 1080p playback to high definition movies, games, TV/film downloads, and even digital video recording, there’s little else left to ask for.
Well, maybe cup holders.
Check out the Xbox 360
