Xbox 360 updates, price cuts, and chatpad

Jared Atchison 10 Jul, 2007 at 5:20pm ET Article published in Tech

The Xbox 360 will soon be revamped

Microsoft wasn’t going to sit back and let Sony have all the fun, even if their PS3 sales did jump increase 2800% after the PS3 price drop.

First, we have the new 65nm “Falcon” chip. An internal source says that Microsoft will release their next generation of 360s this fall and they will be equipped with the Falcon along with redesigned motherboard and a new GPU. The new 65nm chips will allow the the Xbox 360 to run cooler. They are also 50% cheaper to produce compared to the current 90nm chip.

Cutting costs with the new 65nm chip will help if the next prediction turns out true. Analysts are forecasting Xbox 360 price cuts to be announced at E3 during Microsoft’s press conference (today). The predicted price cuts are:

Elite: $479 -> $399

Premium: $399 -> $349

Core: $299 -> $249

Microsoft is hoping these price cuts will counter the PS3’s surging sales.

Xbox360Fanboy.com

The Chatpad will let you talk smack over Xbox Live faster than ever!

Lastly, the QWERTY keyboard for the 360 that was announced back in May has finally been revealed. Information was posted on the Xbox website. The device, which is appropriately called the Chatpad, will snap onto your existing controller and give gamers a mini keyboard in their hands. It will cost $30 when released in September.

Comments

10 Jul 2007 ~ 9:12pm primesuspect That chatpad looks totally awesome.

The core for $249 is a killer deal. I was never an xbox fan, but Microsoft is really doing everything right with this second gen console.
10 Jul 2007 ~ 9:18pm Thrax That chatpad is ingenious.
11 Jul 2007 ~ 7:41am kryyst The price cuts are exciting. But I'm hoping the new design will mean that new machines will be less prone to breaking. The current failure rate is just ridiculous. Internet statistics a side of 4 people I know with xbox's 2 have stopped working.
11 Jul 2007 ~ 10:31am jared Well the new 3 year warranty policy should ease the minds of those who are worried about their box getting the ring of death.
11 Jul 2007 ~ 1:42pm yagga Well 3 years is worthless when it's modded! I guess this is Billy's anti-mod crack down technique, whether on purpose or not is another issue... But intriguing none the less.
11 Jul 2007 ~ 2:04pm Cyclonite No console has ever been supported when modded. O.o
11 Jul 2007 ~ 8:03pm yagga

Cyclonite wrote:

No console has ever been supported when modded. O.o

Yeah yeah I know.
11 Jul 2007 ~ 8:42pm Cyclonite

yagga wrote:

Yeah yeah I know.

I'm just wondering if the extended warranty I purchased still tacks on another 2 years after the expiration of this new warranty.