Microsoft

Japanese Thermal Expert Examines Xbox 360, Figures Out What’s Wrong (Hint: Everything)

Because Microsoft will never admit to any possible overheating problems with their beloved Xbox 360 design, Japanese-based Nikkei hired a thermal design expert to come examine the console. They looked at two—one made in 2005 and one repaired in May 2007. Here’s what they found: • The temperature gap with room temp was 22 degrees…

Nokia will begin using Microsoft DRM for mobile entertainment. [reuters]

Check if Your 360 Will Die in One Easy Step

Granted, there is no magical way to tell whether or not you are one of the alleged 30% of Xbox 360 owners who will suffer the red rings of death. But there is an easy way to check if your unit shipped with the new heatsink Microsoft has added to later units—a feature that we’re…

Microsoft’s HD Photo standard, which compresses more easily than JPEG2000, could be the next generation JPEG. [Ars]

Xbox 360 CPU Possibly Going 45nm in late 2008, early 2009

We still haven’t gotten 65nm Xbox 360 processors, and there’s already talk of Microsoft’s contracted Singaporean chip manufacturer moving on to designing 45nm CPUs for gaming devices. Why is this important? Because the smaller the CPU fabrication size is (90nm vs 65nm vs 45nm), the less power it takes to run and the less heat…

Best Buy Drops Xbox 360 HD DVD Price to $149

Best Buy has dropped the Xbox 360 HD DVD price yet again, down from the not-yet-a-week old price of $179 to $150. The five free movie deal is still intact as well, as long as you order before September 30. However, the player looks like it’s sold out now with no store pickup available. [Best…

Xbox 360 Price Cuts: $50 off Premium, $20 off Core, $30 off Elite

New information on the Xbox 360 price drop detailed in the Toys ‘R Us and Wal-Mart ads this weekend. Circuit City is bringing out a full two-page layout with price cuts of $50 for the Premium, $30 for the Elite, and $20 for the Core. Yes, this means all those rumors of the Core getting…

Microsoft Adding Extra GPU Cooling to Retail Xbox 360 Elites

Apparently Microsoft has started adding extra GPU cooling to new retail Xbox 360 elites in order to stave off overheating problems (and the three red lights) the units may be having. These added heatsinks were only previously found in refurbished Xbox 360s in Europe, which meant we were pretty much SOL. Ben Heck dismantled a…

Vista Service Pack “0.5” Patch Leaked

There are some Vista patches in unofficial form, leaked on the web, according to a few sites. CRN is calling it Vista 0.5, since a true SP is rumored to be over a year away. The update is supposed to help with driver compatibility, and increase file system performance, among other things. In my opinion,…

Rumors are flying about the Xbox 360 core being discontinued, but Microsoft keeps denying and claiming the Core is still in their stable of consoles. [Wired]

Actual Pics of the Halo 3 Covenant Guns

Bungie’s just put out an update and given us real pictures of the Halo 3 Toys Covenant guns. The plasma rifle looks somewhat similar to the “real” thing (the gun in the game), but the plasma pistol looks really bleh. Real Covenant aliens wouldn’t be caught dead with a turquoise gun. However, it will have…

Xbox 360 Passes Wii as Most Googled Console, May Turn Sales Around?

As of a couple days ago, the Xbox 360 has officially passed up the Wii as the most searched for console (in internet searches) since early November of last year. This wasn’t due to the Wii interest dropping lately (it’s been more or less constant since January 2007), but more because of a gradually growing…

Microsoft ships 60 million copies of Windows Vista. [newlaunches]

Buy One, Get One Free Xbox LIVE Points (and Subsequently Games)

This Sunday’s Circuit City ad is offering savings of $20 on the purchase of two Xbox LIVE accessories $19.99 and up. Constomers have double checked, and the deal applies to LIVE points, which means you can get a two-for-one special on 1600 point cards! Go forth, buy the cheap cards, and get future LIVE Arcade…

Toys R Us “Ad” Reduces Xbox 360 By $50, Too

Our mutant half-brothers over at Kotaku have posted a follow-up to yesterday’s Walmart ad, potentially reaffirming the Xbox 360 price drop to $350. https://gizmodo.com/walmart-ad-has-xbox-360-price-drop-coming-august-8th-283570 This time, it’s a Toys R Us ad, showing the Xbox 360 for the same $350 price under the price reduction euphemism of “price break.” This ad says August 12th, the…

Walmart Ad Has Xbox 360 Price Drop Coming August 8th?

Without seeing the alleged Walmart ad with my own eyes, this is still in BIG RUMOR form. But according to a very small picture (bigger version after the jump) that has been floating around online, the Xbox 360 Premium may be dropping $50 to $350. UPDATE: More unconfirmed intel informs us that the drop is…

Is the Zune 2.0 getting delayed due to production problems? Is it possible for a product that hasn’t even been announced yet to be “delayed”? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? [Zune Scene]

The Blue Screen of Death Tattoo

We’re not sure what’s worse; the Zune guy getting three Zune tattoos, or this painful-as-hell Microsoft blue screen of death (BSOD) tattoo up this guy’s entire right arm. We’re guessing this guy is a Windows fan, because nobody hates Windows THAT MUCH to endure hours of pain just for the constant reminder that Windows occasionally…

Next Gen SlapFest: HD DVD Responds to Blu-ray’s Target Exclusivity

Who’d have thought the next-gen format spin war would be full of half truths and twisted facts? Oh, right, EVERYONE. It all started from Sony’s statement that Target stores will feature Sony’s BDP-S300 as the exclusive high-definition player, and AP’s article picking up on it saying Target was exclusively featuring Sony’s player in lieu of…

Remember that limited edition Simpsons Xbox 360 Microsoft was giving out as prizes? You can buy them on eBay. Current price: $2550. [eBay via TVSquad] https://gizmodo.com/limited-edition-colorware-xbox-360-commissioned-for-sim-259405