Price
”Woz Knows When the Price is Right
Apparently, Woz is a Price is Right fan. Unfortunately, he was just sitting in the front row and was never called down to play Plinko or spin the big wheel, because I bet that he really knows the prices of household products and could use a new Lincoln Towncar or whatever it was they gave away that episode. Oh, Woz. Hit the jump for another screenshot of Woz enjoying himself some game show goodness, then let's hear your best captions in the comments section. Thanks, Brett!
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Xbox 360 Pro Hits $299 at Target
The Xbox 360 price drop has pretty much gone official, with Target offering an in-store price of $299.99. The only thing weird about this is that it's not the rumored 60GB version that we thought was coming, so it's possible that Target is just clearing out old inventory for the new SKU? We won't know anything for certain until someone from Microsoft gets up on stage and says it. Or until they put out a press release. [Target]
Yeah, That $299 Xbox 360 Is Definitely On the Way
There have been a few blurry screenshots floating around the web that promise a $299 Xbox 360—a $50 reduction on the current 20GB model. But these latest pictures from a Gamestop employee are by far the most conclusive. The first is of an internal document that's not to be opened until 7/13 (the Sunday before this year's E3). And in not-so-subtle letters it announces "Xbox 360 Pro Systems $299.99." The second is of all the signage: More »MacBook Air With Solid State Drive Gets $500 Price Cut
Apple just ripped $500 off the price tag of their Solid State Drive-based MacBook Airs, which are now $2598, down from $3098. AppleInsider says the cuts came from two components, the 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo, which got a $100 cut, and the 64GB SSD, which got a $400 cut. The sub-$3000 bill should be slightly more appetizing to fans of light laptops. And fans of money. [Apple Store via Apple Insider]Xbox 360 Price Cuts Arrive in Australia, US Probably Following Soon
Normally we'd skip over Australia-only news, but the official Xbox 360 price cuts there most likely means those rumors of a drop in the US are pretty much locked in for sure (even if the European price reduction a few months ago didn't cross over). Kotaku says all three models got slashed, "with the Arcade down $50 to AUD$349, the Pro down a whopping $180 to AUD$499 and the Elite down $80 to AUD$649." With the new sticker of $349, the Xbox 360 Arcade is actually cheaper than the Wii, which is $400. Toilet flushing and the seasons aren't the only things backwards down there now. [Xbox AU via Kotaku]
Xbox 360 Price Cut Leaked By K-Mart Weekly Circular
A forum user High-Def Digest just posted a scan from next week's K-Mart weekly circular ad showing a price drop of $50 on the Xbox 360 Premium. The $299 price still includes a 20GB hard drive, and the timing of this supposed price drop matches up with whatever announcements Microsoft is going to have at E3—some of which which are rumored to either be a price drop or a newer version with slightly bigger storage. Kotaku points out that there's no price drop for either of the other two models, but with the Arcade sitting at $279, it seems more than likely that Microsoft will lower that as well. [High Def Digest via NeoGAF via Kotaku]iPhone 3G Could Cost Just $100 to Make, Say Analysts
Soon after the iPhone Mark 1 launch last year, we brought you an estimate of its manufacturing cost, and now the same analysts have looked at the iPhone 3G. Portelligent thinks that this time Apple may pay as little as $100 for the components, down from $220 for the original. The saving's made in engineering advances and Apple's buying power: the extra 8GB in the 16GB version may cost as little as $20, but you'll pay $100 for it. "But we're only paying $199 for the phone, so Apple make less!" you may point out. True, but Apple may be charging AT&T as much as $400 for each unit. And with 70 countries eager to buy iPhones, the analysis suggests it might be Apple's most profitable device yet. [EETimes via Yankeegroup via Fortune]
Sprint's Samsung Instinct Now Costs $199 After Rebate
We previously heard that the Samsung Instinct was going to be $299 after rebate on Sprint—not too bad a price for what we said was the best Sprint and best Samsung phone ever. Turns out the iPhone 3G's $199 reveal sent Sprint back to their abacuses, which they used diligently to come up with an extra $100 mail-in rebate to equal the playing field with AT&T. The win for Sprint's deal is that current customers can supposedly buy the phone without renewing their two-year contract, which is pretty great for someone who plans on ditching carriers soon. [Phone News]iPhone 3G's True Price Compared
Ever since Apple announced that they're cutting $200 from the iPhone's price and lowering the iPhone 3G down to $199, people have been rumbling about how the increased AT&T data plan price negates any savings you get up front on the phone. Screams of "IT'S NOT ACTUALLY CHEAPER, APPLE IS FOOLING US" have us wondering about how much more you're really paying over two years compared with the old iPhone or similarly featured 3G smartphones on AT&T and other providers. Here's what we found.
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Netflix to Jack Up Prices For Blu-ray Renters
What's the best way to punish the same early adopter customers that helped make your service a success in the first place? If you're Netflix, it's charging them extra for renting Blu-ray. CEO Reed Hastings justifies this action by saying "consumers are used to paying more for high-definition," basically punching this next generation of early adopters in the nads for doing what they love to do. More »Craigslist Sellers Flagging Reasonably Priced Wiis To Increase Profits, Piss Me Off
Didn't these people's mammas teach them right? What kind of fool would take a reasonably priced listing for $250 on this Craigslist for a Nintendo Wii and flag it as inappropriate? The kinda fool that wants to sell their own for $350 and get rid of all the competition. These people got pea brains, and they're punks on top of that. It's time for T to head down to the Slickdeals forums and show these suckas why Mr. T puts the T in I.T. Has it occurred to you that Mr. T is good at computers? Mr. T won't stand for this price gouging.XBox Euro Price Cuts are Official
Microsoft has made last week's Euro XBox price cut rumors official with an 80 euro ($122) price drop across all SKUs making the Arcade version 200 euros ($307) and the high-end Elite to 370 euros ($568) while price drops in the UK fell between 20-50 pounds ($40-$100). [Reuters]Deep Euro XBox 360 Price Cuts Coming?
The internet is aflame today with rumors that all versions of the 360 will get a €50 ($76) price cut in Europe by March 14th—which would make the Arcade system cheaper than the Wii in the UK. With any luck this could be a sign of things to come in the US. [GamesIndustry.biz via Kotaku]
cellphones
Sprint May Be Bringing a $59 Unlimited Flat-Rate Plan to Spite Other Carriers
Now that all the major cellphone carriers except Sprint have a $99 flat-rate plan for unlimited calling, Sprint wants to one-up everybody and undercut the competition by up to 40%. According to Reuters, analysts are saying that a plan could be coming that either hits the $60 or $80 price point, which would be hard for Verizon or T-Mobile to match. Again, it's all rumor and speculation now, but wouldn't you love a $60 unlimited talk plan? [Yahoo]
digital cameras
Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera Takes Swimming Lessons to Become Nigh Indestructable
While Fisher-Price's Kid-Tough digital camera was already built to withstand the Guantanamo-level torture your average four-year-old dishes out to their toys, the latest model will hold up to 30 minutes of waterboarding too, despite a rounder, slimmer body. The insides have gotten an upgrade as well, with a 1.3MP sensor (up from 640x480) and 64MB of storage that'll hold 500 closeups of your kid's boogers. [Fisher-Price]First Video of Elmo Live Singing and Dancing Shows He Got Skillz
Holy crap, I want this Elmo, and I don't even like Sesame Street. It makes Pleo look like a dumb hunk of plastic. The ways it moves and interacts is incredible—it tells stories, sings songs, dances and is simply the most expressive toy we've ever seen. It even yells out "Jazz Hands!" when he finish performing his newest rap hit, "Elmo's Gotta Get On Up." More information and videos after the jump.More »
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Holy crap, I want this Elmo, and I don't even like Sesame Street. It makes Pleo look like a dumb hunk of plastic. The ways it moves and interacts is incredible—it tells stories, sings songs, dances and is simply the most expressive toy we've ever seen. It even yells out "