February 27, 2008New Info on 360 Death Rate Study
Posted by The Ori
Independent warranty company SquareTrade says the 16 percent Xbox 360 failure rate it reported earlier this month is just a starting point and that the actual figure could be higher.
For its study, SquareTrade tracked 27 Xbox 360 Elites, 57 Core systems, and 956 Premiums (No arcade systems tested). Out of the 171 failure claims reported (60 percent), a whopping 102 were general hardware failures (3-Lights of Death). Of the other 69 claims:
- 18% were disc read errors.
- 13% were video card failures.
- 13% were hard drive freezes.
- 10% were power issues.
- 7% were disc tray malfunctions.
From xbox360.ign.com
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February 24, 2008Microsoft: Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Officially Discontinued
Posted by The Ori
As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.
February 22, 2008Why Developers Develop for the Xbox 360
Posted by The Ori
Here is a video that explains why top developers why they prefer the Xbox 360 to develop games on.
February 18, 2008Toshiba Dropping HD-DVD – Blu-Ray Has Won!?
Posted by The Ori
Toshiba recently announced they are dropping HD-DVD, but will continue to manufacture some accessories and devices, but not for long. This is all due to major movie studios switching to BR-D. However, BR-D is not in the clear just yet, as it will compete with the Internet, where downloading is as easy as using a remote.
Also; Rumors were circulating that Microsoft is set to dump HD DVD and bring out a Blu ray Xbox 360 add-on by as early as May 2008.
Insiders at Microsoft in the USA have told SmartHouse that Microsoft have already configured a standalone Blu-ray player that can be connected to Xbox 360, and that subject to internal marketing and sales approvals, the model could be on sale within 3 months.
The Company has also been said to be working on a built in Blu-ray player, however, insiders are claiming that Microsoft sees the HD format battle moving online with consumers offered 1080p movie and content files as a download, as opposed to having to buy HD or Blu ray devices. If this is true, again, another kick in the face from M$, where future units have better features than previous models. Sony may have re-hashed the PS2 over and over again, but they never added a jump in technology like this.
February 16, 2008Next Xbox 360 Designs are ‘Jasper’, ‘Opus’ and ‘Valhalla’
Posted by The Ori
Currently there are three more Xbox 360 motherboards in the works right now. They are Jasper (heard of that before), Opus and Valhalla.
It’s well known that the next Xbox 360 motherboard is going to be Jasper and it going to have both a 65 nm CPU and a 65 nm GPU. Jasper is going to be a major advancement in reliability since it is going to run much quieter than previous Xbox 360 systems. Jasper’s reliability is in part to the fact that there is no place on the motherboard that is going to be running as hot or as much power as previous Xbox 360 systems, also it might run a lot quieter since it will not need as much power. Jasper is very real and they are testing prototypes right now. Word from Redmond is that progress on Jasper is going well and on schedule and you can expect it fall of 2008.
The Opus project is a “Falcon” generation motherboard designed to fit in a Xenon case. You can expect an 90 nm GPU but a 65 nm CPU. Opus solves a major hardware recycling and a huge inventory problem, since Microsoft currently has millions of used Xenon cases from 3-LODed “dead” systems; and, this lets them use most of the good parts from the millions of dead Xenons but with a newer tested more reliable motherboard. There would still be no HDMI on Opus since the Xenon cases don’t have openings for the port. Opus is basically going to be a third generation Xbox 360, in the case of a first generation system.
Now they are also in the very early stages of designing the fourth generation Xbox 360 called Valhalla. At the heart of a Valhalla Xbox 360 is a combined 65nm CPU and 65nm GPU on a unified (single) super chip. This also would only need one cooling system and be much quieter and hopefully more reliable than previous Xbox systems (if they include hardware JTAG testing reporting into the design). It is really early in the design process but there are engineers at Microsoft working on it as you are reading this.
Microsoft has planned on near annual changes to the Xbox 360 motherboard generation designs. First was the Xenon motherboard from 2005-06, then followed by the Zephyr motherboard 2006-2007, then the Falcon Motherboard 2007 to now. Probably later on this year we will see the Jasper Motherboard 2008-2009. Then then comes Valhalla the year four motherboard in late 2009 or mid 2010.
February 13, 2008Still No Answer For Broken Xbox Live DRMs
Posted by The Ori
The DRM issue with repaired/replaced Xbox360s is not new, but recently, consumerist.com wrote a new article about it. Not only does it look like there won’t be a real solution for this problem any time soon, but the microsoft support is still pretty much clueless about the issue:
Reader Kevin’s XBOX 360 suffered the usual Red Ring of Death, so he sent it in to be repaired. He got back a different XBOX 360 with a different serial number. That would be no big deal, except Kevin has purchased a bunch of content through XBOX Live… content that is no longer fully functional due to Microsoft’s broken DRM.
Here’s a quick summary:
* November 2007: Kevin’s XBOX 360 is replaced, causing his content to lose full functionality. He calls Microsoft.
* Microsoft keeps Kevin on the phone for an hour trying different methods of restoring functionality to his content. Nothing works. They say they will call him back in two weeks.
* They do not call him back, so he calls them. Microsoft makes him repeat the steps he tried the first time he called. They tell him they will call him back in two weeks.
* This cycle repeats twice more before Kevin gets a call from Frank at XBOX escalations. It’s now the second week of January.
* Kevin periodically speaks to Frank. Frank has no answers for him.
* February 7, 2008: Frank tells Kevin that there’s nothing more he can do and, when Kevin asks when he can expect a resolution, Frank says “hopefully sometime in 2008.”
We suggested that Kevin escalate his complaint. He did. This resulted in another call from Frank confirming:
* That he can give me no ETA for when this issue will be resolved.
* That there is nobody I can call for status updates since the team that does ‘relicensing’ does not give updates.
* That they will only provide me with resolution when all my content is relicensed not partial.
* That there is no compensation for the fact this has taken and will likely take months more to resolve.
* That there is nothing more he can do.
* That he ‘hopes’ that it will be resolved shortly.
More bad news, M$ has to get this issue resolved, they’re going to lose business…
February 13, 2008Why Netflix Streaming on the 360 Makes Perfect Sense
Posted by The Ori
Tech blog Gizmodo ran an intriguing rumor about the potential of Netflix streaming movie service coming to the Xbox 360 on Live Marketplace. The speculation stems from an alleged survey sent to Netflix members which asked: If as part of your Netflix membership you could instantly watch movies and TV episodes on your TV with your Xbox 360, how likely would you/anyone in your house be to do that?”
With all those “ifs” noted, this rumor sounds awfully believable right about now. Recent events show Microsoft aggressively approaching the expansion of its business this year, and specifically addressing vulnerabilities and opportunities it sees out there.
Netflix looks like the perfect next piece of the puzzle to bring the fight to the blossoming battle for where people turn when they want to watch a video downloaded over the Net. In fact, while Microsoft’s disinterest in becoming a video rental store probably precludes their making an outright offer for Netflix, forging a strong partnership takes on not one, but two of their other big rivals.
That would be nice if you pay the FLAT rate like the rentals, and watch whatever you want on your XB360. If it is a PER USE charge, then it’s no better than what M$ currently offers.
February 7, 2008Xbox360 HD-DVD Addon Drops to $130.00
Posted by The Ori
The title says it all really…
K-Mart has not dropped their price from 199.99 since the 179.99 price drop. The one where I live is still selling them for $199.99, and that’s probably why they can’t sell them.
You can get a 1080i HD-DVD Set-Top player for $149.99 (HD A3), 1080p for $199.99 (I got my HD A30 [1080p] for $159.99).
February 4, 2008Microsoft: Don’t Mail Bill Gates about RRoD Issues
Posted by The Ori
On Wednesday it was reported; a guy who got a brand new X360 after mailing Bill Gates about the problems he was having with his console. Tons of news sites reported on this and the result seems to have been a massive increase in angry mails towards the man.
Microsoft now has sent out a note that people shouldn’t be contacting Mr. Gates:
“Bill Gates or Microsoft executives are not an appropriate escalation point for customer service issues. Customers experiencing issues with their Xbox 360 console should contact Xbox Customer Service. Our customer service team is well equipped to ensure that the repair process goes smoothly.”
Hmm, so the man doesn’t want to hear about his failures? He must be God…
Also, the Elite model is their hottest seller, there are no planned SKU changes.
February 4, 2008Convert that Analog Stick into an IR Optical Tracker for Head Movement
Posted by greg
Continuing on their mission to revolutionize the console world is another CyberPyrot controller mod. Currently it’s a proof of concept demonstrating IR optical tracker capabilities with an infrared LED.
You know where to go for the details.
- source: acidmods.com