Xbox 360 Hardware Updated

A third model will join Microsoft’s Xbox 360 lineup: the Xbox 360 Elite will feature a 120GB hard drive—six times larger than the drive on the standard console—and a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port and connecting cable, and it will be black instead of the standard console’s gray. The Elite will capitalize on the strong demand for downloadable high-definition video content on the Xbox Live Marketplace. It will also keep pressure on competitor Sony, whose PlayStation 3 (PS3) natively supports more types of high-definition video content, but is selling slowly, primarily because of its high price tag.

Video Taking Off

Since its launch in Nov. 2005, the Xbox 360 console has become popular as a general home entertainment device: according to Microsoft, Xbox 360 users spend 40% of their time on the console using nongaming functions, such as watching DVDs or high-definition DVDs in the HD DVD format (with the aid of an HD DVD player peripheral), listening to CDs or digital music files, or streaming material from a Media Center PC.