Microsoft unveils its $1bn attempt to topple PlayStation

["Stephen Jones" <ukha@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1610015,00.html
or .. http://tinyurl.com/dzupz

"
Microsoft unveils its $1bn attempt to topple PlayStation

Bill Gates believes his powerful new Xbox can dominate the home digital
entertainment market.
=20
ITS launch has generated more frenzied speculation than the new Star Wars
film. Now the wraps are off Bill Gates=92s little white box which promises
=
to
revolutionise home entertainment.=20

Officially, the Microsoft Xbox 360 console, unveiled by Lord of the Rings
star Elijah Wood on the US MTV network, is merely the most powerful
compute=
r
gaming machine yet produced. But the ability to video-conference with other
gamers through wireless headsets will still leave plenty of its 3.2
gigahertz processors to spare.=20

Mr Gates has promised a new console so powerful that it can become the
all-purpose digital entertainment hub in many homes. It can download films,
music and photos then transfer them directly onto the next generation of
high-definition television screens =97 converting your television into a
large-screen PC.=20

Due to go on sale in November, the new Xbox is the result of a $1 billion
(=A3536 million) Microsoft investment designed to halt the dominance of
Son=
y=92s
PlayStation.=20
=20
Microsoft has taken design lessons since launching the chunky
black-and-green first generation Xbox in 2001. Leaked pictures present a
sleek silver-white concave console which neatly stands on its side.
Expecte=
d
to retail for =A3230, it attracted favourable comparisons with Apple=92s
iP=
od
design classic. =93Microsoft would love the new Xbox to be the next iPod,=
=94
said Matt Rosoff, analyst at research firm Directions on Microsoft. =93The
next Xbox is going to be Microsoft=92s spear into the living room.=94