Microsoft unveils Xbox 360

A microsoft employee displays the console and wireless controler of the next generation video game console "Xbox 360" during a press preview in Tokyo theater yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The world's largest software maker said its second generation Xbox will be on U.S. store shelves well in time for the 2005 holiday season that begins in late November, but it did not say how much the white-and-silver concave console would cost.

Among the features are three IBM microprocessors that are expected to deliver powerful computing and advanced graphics, as well as a detachable 20-gigabyte hard drive and the ability to customize the machine's front panel with detachable face-plates.

Microsoft's Xbox business is arguably the Redmond, Washington company's biggest bet, costing the software giant more than $1 billion in sunk costs every year since 2001.

Microsoft, with deep pockets and a reputation for persistently chipping away at competitors, has Sony squarely in its sights at a time when the Japanese consumer electronics maker is struggling with a top-level management overhaul and weak profitability.

Microsoft narrowly beat its closest competitor, Nintendo Co. Ltd., with the Xbox. The smaller Xbox 360 is a departure from the original squarish black Xbox that debuted in late 2001, and is aimed at a wider audience, said J. Allard, Microsoft's vice president leading the charge behind Microsoft's push into the business.

Allard said Microsoft learned from its mistakes with the first Xbox, which launched a year behind its main rival, Sony's PlayStation 2 console.

Allard acknowledged, "We didn't get the controller right, we didn't get the industrial design right," referring to the original oversized Xbox controller and hardware that scratched DVD disks, generating customer complaints.

For the latest round, Microsoft hired U.S. and Japanese design firms to design a machine with smoother, more fluid lines to attract customers drawn to the iPod and Sony's products.