So much for feigning ignorance! Microsoft officially announced today the new Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite console. As rumored for months now, the new Xbox 360 Elite will feature a premium black colored finish, a new 120GB Hard Drive, and an HDMI output connector. Contrary to some reports, the new 360 Elite will go on sale starting on April 29th which is a little more than a month away - way earlier than expected.

Here’s the breakdown of the new Xbox 360 Elite console package.

• Xbox 360 Elite console - comes with a premium black finish with the same triple core processor package.
• Xbox 360 120GB Hard Drive - ok so let’s face it - that 20GB HDD was just getting a bit too small - especially if you found yourself downloading HD shows from Xbox Live Marketplace. 120GB is a nice upgrade. 500GB would have been better though.
• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller - The Elite comes with a matching black colored wireless controller. The black controller will also be available separately for $49.99 (wireless version)
• Xbox 360 headset - The headset’s also in black!
• Xbox 360 HDMI cable - A nice touch - the Elite comes with an HDMI cable capable of supporting up to 1080p resolutions (yes! Perfect for my new Samsung TV)
• Xbox Live Silver membership - as usual, you get the Silver membership
• AND.. a one month subscription to Xbox Live Gold

Again, the new Xbox 360 Elite will be available starting on April 29th for a price of $479.99. The 29th is a Sunday so get ready to spend some time on lines I suspect. In the meantime, I might have to consider selling my 1st gen 360!

Oh yes.. there’s a new package too!

[Check it out]

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HTC decides to take a stab at ulta mobile like devices with the newly announced HTC Shift. This device is approximately the size of a couple of DVD cases stacked together yet is capable of running Microsoft Windows Vista Business edition. The Shift features:

• 7 inch widescreen display
• 30 GB HDD
• Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA support
• Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Bluetooth 2.0 support
• Wi-Fi support

No word on pricing so stay tuned.

[Check it out]

Other Resources: HTC Touch Diamond HTC Smartphones Touch Diamond, s710, htc p6300 and htc Tytn. PDA’s and Smartphones with Wifi , Bluetooth and some with extendable keyboards.

Technorati Tags: HTC, Shift, Microsoft, Windows Vista, Vista Business

Feel like bragging that you’ve got yourself a million dollar laptop? Well if you’ve got the cash to burn, check out the new Luvaglio luxury laptop line. Here’s the component breakdown (some of which is pretty darn interesting):

• 17 inch widescreen LED lit display
• Anti-reflective glare
• 128GB SSD drive.. yes an SSD drive
• Slot loading Blu-ray drive
• Integrated screen cleaning device (what the?)

So.. why is it worth 1 million bucks? Well the power button also happens to be a rare colored diamond. Yup.. watch where you leave that laptop!

[Check it out via GearLog]

Technorati Tags: Luvaglio, million dollar laptop, diamond laptop,

Sprint has announced the new Sprint Upstage Music Mobile Phone (SPH-M620) and the first reviews are starting to come in. PC Magazine has published their review of the phone here on their website. Here is the overview of the specs for the double-sided mobile phone:

• 176 x 220 - 2.1 inch display
• 176 x 65 - 1.4 inch small display
• 1.3 megapixel digital camera
• Bluetooth support
• EV-DO support
• Integrated music player
• MicroSD card slot
• Measures 4.07 x 1.73 x 0.37 inches
• Weighs 2.6 oz

Yep - this indeed is a double sided mobile phone. One side is dedicated to mobile phone functionality while the other side is ideally meant for the music player functionality. Looks good on paper but it appears that Samsung botched the software side of things a bit. From the look of things, it appears you constantly need to flip the phone around in order to perform simple straightforward operations.

Here’s the verdict from PC Magazine:

The Samsung UpStage aims to be a merger between a simple voice phone and something like an iPod nano. Its two-faced design is great, but it’s frustrating to use, and it’s missing key music player features.

A shame really.. the phone looked so promising especially with regards to music playback.

[Check out the PC Mag review]

Technorati Tags: Samsung, Upstage, PC Magazine, Sprint, Music Phone

 Man.. I really can’t wait. Command & Conquer 3 : Tiberium Wars is literally days away for the PC platform which means.. I won’t be sleeping much anymore! Ahh this brings back memories of when I was a kid in college. Aw heck.. I think I’m still a kid sometimes.

In other C&C news, if you’re in the West Hollywood area next tuesday, you should drop by the Best Buy located on 1015 N. La Brea Ave. You’ll get a chance to meet actor Joe Kucan who plays the C&C villian Kane. He’ll be there at the store to celebrate the release of C&C 3. Some of the EA game developers will also be on hand at the Best Buy store. Again this takes place on Tuesday March 27th between 6-8pm at the Best Buy store located at 1015 N. La Brea Ave in West Hollywood CA.

Finally, C&C 3 : Tiberium Wars is also coming to the Xbox 360 platform and below is a video clip on YouTube that shows off four players using the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Live Vision Cam. It’s a pretty cool clip to watch though I’m still dubious about playing an RTS game on a console platform.

[Check it out via Kontrib]

Technorati Tags: Command & Conquer 3, Tiberium Wars, Best Buy, Kane, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Vision Cam

Yesterday we posted a story about the supposed Xbox Live security investigations being done by Microsoft. Just to recap - many Xbox Live users were complaining that their accounts were being hijacked and as a result, Microsoft investigated whether there indeed was a breach wihin Xbox Live or Bungie.net. After the investigation, Microsoft stated that the hijackings were a result of user error - with people accidentally giving away their information to would be hijackers or thiefs. End of story right? Well not so fast folks. An article over at ExtremeTech is posing a different light on the topic. It appears that Microsoft Xbox Phone Staffers (many of whom are outsourced) are the ones who are responsible for giving away too much information to would be hijackers.

One gamer shared a tape recorded conversation that he had with Xbox Live Phone Support to eWEEK magazine and man.. it’s a rather sad conversation. You can read the excerpt at ExtremeTech.. but it seems clear to us that Microsoft should at least rethink their support policies or even train their personnel better at handling these cases. This absolutely can not happen folks. Rather shameful actually when you think about it. And to think I actually believed Microsoft when they put the initial blame on users.

[Check it out]

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So, you finally have Windows Vista up and running and you even have the Windows Sidebar running on your desktop but you can’t help but wonder - “are there any other gadgets out there?” Yes there are folks. ExtremeTech has published a list of ten must have gadgets for your Windows Sidebar. Now granted.. there really aren’t that many Windows Gadgets as of yet.. Yahoo’s Widgets has thousands more.. but then again, Yahoo Widgets/Konfabulator was around far longer than Windows Gadgets. In any event, check out the list from ExtremeTech here. I personally find App Launcher an interesting add on for my desktop.

Oh.. the complete list is as follows:

1. App Launcher
2. Clipboard History
3. Multi Meter
4. Package Tracker
5. Google Bar
6. Wikipedia Search
7. AccuWeather Forecast and Radar
8. Sphere Timer
9. Panda Cam
10. Piano

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows Sidebar, Windows Gadgets, Top Ten Windows Gadgets,

Check out this modded Nintendo Wii that’s being sold on eBay. The current price is $1200 on eBay with 15 percent of the final sale price going to support “Child’s Play”. You have to admit.. the lit up shield along the side of the case is absolutely sweet. The sword is an awesome touch too!

[Check it out via Kontrib]

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TechEBlog managed to find a hands on preview video of the new Canon PowerShot TX1. The TX1 was announced in late February and is a combination digital camera and digital camcorder. Yes..many other devices offer the same combo.. but how many actually can record video in 720p HD? The camera itself has a 7.1 megapixel image sensor and a 10X optical zoom lens.

[Check it out via TechEBlog]

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CNET’s gadget blog, Crave, has published their first impressions of the new Apple TV device here on their website. The device, which is finally shipping, is designed to bridge your Mac/PC and your television set - providing digital content directly onto your TV. If you check out the posting, you’ll also see a preview video of the device.

What I love about this first impression is what they call the Apple TV - a “bigger, stationary-networked iPod that you hook up to your TV.” Hahaha.. yes.. a larger iPod indeed.

Here’s a another quote from the preview:

At this early stage, the fact that Apple TV brings iPod-like convenience and ease of use to the network-streaming media market is really its trump card. Digital media pack rats with multi-gigabyte, multi-codec video collections will want to look elsewhere–or begin the mother of all QuickTime transcoding sessions–but anyone looking to enjoy their iTunes content in the comfort of their living room may well find the Apple TV to be their favorite gadget since the iPod.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Apple, Apple TV, First Impressions, Crave, CNET