The big news at CES in January was that Microsoft would soon outfit its popular Xbox 360 gaming console with IPTV STB software. It forced the industry to rethink its conception of a set-top box, but now Redmond has unleashed the newest version of the Xbox, the Xbox 360 Elite, in the U.S. with not a single mention of IPTV functionality. A report in The Mercury News said Microsoft's global marketing director for the Xbox, Albert Penello declined to say whether IPTV services would be launched to make use of the Elite, and instead deferred to the IPTV service providers themselves to explain their service and hardware offerings.
Shipments of the Elite begin April 29 and the units will retail for $479. Current Xbox consoles go for $299 and $399. The Elite is the first to sport HDMI output and a larger hard drive 120 GB, which dwarfs former models that maxed out at 20 GB.
For more on the Elite:
- see this report from The Mercury News