Slim Xbox 360, priced at only $199 is confirmed for 'fall'

Tej Kohli IT Passion Blog brings a good news for Xbox lovers....

After witnessing an internal marketing Q & A with Microsoft, Kataku can confirm that the second slim Xbox 360 will be avaialable this fall for only $ 199 USD.

In addition, Microsoft declares that Kinect will be a standalone product, and also as a part of the bundle “with the newly designed Xbox 360 Console.”

Microsoft has not yet confirmed anything on the bundle pricing, saying : "We have no additional details about pricing or retail strategy to share at this time."

GameStop, the biggest video game retailer in the US has priced Kinect Bundles at $299, for the arcade model and $399 for the Elite bundle, but these prices are not confirmed and may change.

It is still not clear what will be stripped down in the $199 version, as the $299 model confirmed that E3 will not have a 150 GB HDD and built-in wireless features, including 802.11n support, the fastest Wi-Fi in any console.

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Recent iPhone buyers getting refunds, upgrades from Apple

As iPhone 4 makes its way to the consumer market, Apple is cutting the price of iPhone 3GS in order to clear inventory.

So, if you're purchased an iPhone in the recent few weeks, the company is now matching the price, by paying back the amount of difference between the old price and the new price.

Alternatively, users can also upgrade their old phone to the new improved iPhone 4 in lieu of the refund. The policy is applicable for anyone who has purchased the older version after May 7.

Those with 16 GB handset will get a $50 credit and 32 GB owners will get a $100 refund.

However, anyone who bought the phone between May 7 to May 14 is running out of time, and will need to submit a request at the store they bought the device from by Monday the 14th.

If you want to trade in your old phone for the latest iPhone 4, the deal is simple unless you're expanding the storage capacity.

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Will Microsoft be the next Numero Uno in Tablet PC market?

Microsoft is looking forward to increase its share in the tablet PC market like it did in netbooks as consumers demand a software that accommodates in the existing ecosystem, a senior executive said on Tuesday, despite the early dominance of Apple iPad in the market and news of strong Android competitors in the offing.

When Taiwan's Asustek first launched netbook PCs in 2007, they all ran on the lower-cost, open source Linux system, but Microsoft eventually took over this sector with more than 90 percent of all netbooks now powered by windows.

"Having watched this movie play before, there's some consistency in the themes," corporate vice-president for original equipment manufacturing Steve Guggenheimer told Reuters in an interview.

"You get a lot of noise, you get a lot of energy around the alternatives, but then when people start selling these machines, and it can't quite do what the consumers want, your printer doesn't work, retailers get returns, then that's when it's hard."

According to Gartner, a research firm, more than 10 million tablet PCs are expected to be sold in 2010, with users begining welcoming such gadgets with open arms, which include Apple iPad, Dell's coming soon Streak and Asustek's Eee Pad, which it introduced this week.

Microsoft also stated that it can see the sign of growth in corporate demand, with 45% of the chief IT officers it talked to are ready to getting ready to deploy its just out windows 7 system.

"We're starting to see that commercial refresh," Guggenheimer said. "There's really good energy on the commercial side, but it hasn't caught up with the level of the consumer yet."

All top computer brands are largely dependent on the demand by corporate sector, like Lenovo and Dell have said they are seeing signs of increasing corporate demand, as businesses still using decade old Windows XP upgrade their system.

As far as the Google's prospects with smart phone market are concerned, Guggenheimer remained skeptical, largely because Google's android system does not have a common platform that could intersect different mobile brands and manufacturers.

"When you write an app for Windows, it can immediately reach hundreds of millions of users," he said. "The challenge for Android is that (software developers) will need to have multiple versions for each individual phone."

Android is Google open-source OS for smartphones. Handset manufacturers like HTC and Samsung can do a little bit tweaking in to software to meet their own requirements.

Taking fourth place from Microsoft in the smartphone OS market in the first quarter of 2010, the Android system has put the company in good position as handsets look geared up to overtake PCs for internet surfing.

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