We received an interesting tip that we thought we'd share with the group. Windows expert and all-around bon vivant Paul Thurrott recently previewed Microsoft's new Arc mouse on his personal blog, detailing the device with a handful of photos. In the final shot of the series, what appear to be two Xboxes side-by-side can be seen in the lower right-hand corner... but one of those consoles looks thinner than the other. The appearance of what might be a
slimmer Xbox 360 has (needless to say) sparked a debate amongst our editors here. Some say it's nothing -- a matter of angle -- while others argue that this could be just the scenario in which you'd see a leak of a new form factor. Either way, you can't simply brush off the differences here, and a little Photoshop matching on our end proved that these edges are decidedly different in angle. So we put it to the Engadget reader: is this a sign of things to come, or just our imaginations running wild?
Update: And we have our answer! Paul Thurrott has gone to the trouble of
detailing just exactly what's going on here, and it
is an angle issue. Needless to say, we've got a lot of deflated dreams and lightened pockets in the office today.
[Thanks, Brian]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Lance @ Sep 25th 2008 9:40AM
Hopefully this is Jasper, along with a price drop
kal326 @ Sep 25th 2008 9:49AM
It probably is a Jasper box given the all around 45nm drop. However, I would not expect a price drop again any time soon. $199.99 is a pretty cheap cost of admission for a next gen console.
kangmink6 @ Sep 25th 2008 11:18PM
Oh man I wish it was named CHROME!
Mitch @ Sep 25th 2008 10:23AM
He's made a post on his blog on the website showing it isn't a slimmer xbox.
http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/09/25/slimmer-xbox-360-spied-in-the-wild-sorry-but-no.aspx
Lax G @ Sep 25th 2008 10:29AM
Ulucky people
http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/09/25/slimmer-xbox-360-spied-in-the-wild-sorry-but-no.aspx
Kris @ Sep 25th 2008 10:35AM
Get your facts straight Engadget. Paul has posted additional photos on his blog to prove this isn't a thinner XBox 360.
http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/09/25/slimmer-xbox-360-spied-in-the-wild-sorry-but-no.aspx
Billy @ Sep 25th 2008 10:43AM
I don't know, it's weird... The shot on this site, they really do look different. The one on the left looks a LOT smaller, a good 30% or so. But the shots he posted to rebuke it obviously show they are the same.
Perhaps it is barrel distortion (or whatever it's called)? Don't most non-Pro digicams severely stretch the far corners of pictures?
Ethan @ Sep 25th 2008 12:24PM
The cupboard's just blocking a bit of the 360 off, yes?
BJ is Gooder @ Sep 25th 2008 12:27PM
Can we stop calling it a ' next-gen' console yet?? I think its been out long enough to be called current.
xValentine @ Sep 25th 2008 1:01PM
Hairy arms.
Same ol' 360.
Bear @ Sep 25th 2008 9:41AM
HD-DVD addon.
Zadillo @ Sep 25th 2008 9:48AM
It doesn't really look like it though..... it seems to have an infrared and controller ports on it like a normal Xbox 360; the HD-DVD drive doesn't have anything else on its front besides the drive-bay door: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/
Tom Robertson @ Sep 25th 2008 10:02AM
I think it was meant to be a joke...
Totalfixationm @ Sep 25th 2008 12:22PM
I really wouldn't mine having a HD-DVD player, since its so cheap i'm sure they could do it at very little cost.
Junk Carter @ Sep 25th 2008 9:42AM
No chance, look at his set up, it is obviously under his desk and is a CPU.
Invisiblemoose @ Sep 25th 2008 9:56AM
...You think that looks like a processor?
Evan @ Sep 25th 2008 9:57AM
whaaa?
blizz419 @ Sep 25th 2008 10:07AM
obviously someone doesn't know what a CPU is lol.
matt @ Sep 25th 2008 10:21AM
Way back in the day the tower was commonly called the 'CPU' because computers weren't as monolithic as they are today and the tower is the part where all the processing goes on. Today a 'CPU' is usually a single chip so its not as common to call the whole box the CPU but it is still acceptable.
Junk Carter @ Sep 25th 2008 10:26AM
Sorry for using the old vernacular, doesn't change the fact that it isn't a new Xbox 360.
blizz419 @ Sep 25th 2008 10:52AM
i wouldn't consider a Engadget reader calling a tower a CPU acceptable.
pathogen @ Sep 25th 2008 11:34AM
Someone went to ITT tech.
adam.plante @ Sep 25th 2008 12:20PM
@Matt
The tower has never been called a CPU. People just have no idea. I have also heard people refer to their Monitor as the computer. In fact I was working as a tech once and asked someone to bring in their computer and they brought in their monitor. They claimed I should have asked them to bring in their CPU. I handed them a CPU and explained that they should probably not try to remove theirs.
jupiterthunder @ Sep 25th 2008 3:16PM
@adam.plante
and that is why people think tech guys are asses.
fanthem @ Sep 25th 2008 3:19PM
@ Junk Carter
Whether or not it is an old vernacular, it doesn't matter these days. Go around saying you're gay and I promise you people will not be thinking you're just happy.
bassbeast @ Sep 25th 2008 9:42AM
I don't know how they could make a new form factor because of the removable hard drive.
But what's up with the green LED?
Liam @ Sep 25th 2008 10:07AM
Yeah but thats why they did the data transfer kit for the elite.
Neeko @ Sep 25th 2008 9:46AM
I agree. Unless MS is gonna mass produce two Hard drive sizes (slim and non slim)for new and old 360s i call FAKE. but if this is a fake then what the hell is it. it looks real to me. Something that im sure hes pissed got leaked. or maybe it VIRAL.
Could be a new slim xbox core. Theres no hard drive attached so maybe it hasnt been produced yet.
Bart van Krimpen @ Sep 25th 2008 9:48AM
I think its the reflection of a hologram sticker, not a LED
Scott @ Sep 25th 2008 10:07AM
I agree, its got to be a hologram sticker or something. Most leds on the 360 are red anyway.
Liam @ Sep 25th 2008 9:42AM
Hopefully a slim Xbox refresh. TBH it isn't slim enough if you compare it to the PSOne or PStwo.
Blu-Ray Please :D
anonymous @ Sep 25th 2008 9:47AM
Microsoft is still pushing for HD - DVD, me thinks they'll never go for blue ray... sorry :S And i agree, I doubt it's just an addon, its pretty big!!
Ryan @ Sep 25th 2008 12:44PM
MS is definitely not still pushing for HD-DVD. The format is dead and the factories have stopped production. NOBODY is backing it now.
Ignatius @ Sep 25th 2008 10:36AM
The fact that they've stopped production of the HD-DVD drive AND slashed the price to $50 just isn't enough for you, is it?
As much as I hate to say it, HD-DVD is and has been dead for several months now.
frankXchange @ Sep 25th 2008 9:46AM
It's not a cooling unit? ;-)
Lectoid @ Sep 25th 2008 9:47AM
It almost looks like the one one the left is a normal xbox, and the one on the right is a thicker xbox.
And I wonder what tha white thing is on top of the left one, maybe kind of asset tag so they can track who they gave it to. No wait, I looked again, it's a memory card (never seen one in person).
Can someone measure their memory card and compare it to the picture for a reference?
TheIcemanCometh @ Sep 25th 2008 9:49AM
It is a memory unit. And despite my other comment, the one on the left IS the current form factor. I laid my memory unit on my 360 in the same position as in the picture, and it appears the 360 it's on is the same as mine.
Chad @ Sep 25th 2008 9:51AM
Let me get this straight, you think the one on the right is possibly a new (thicker) xBox?
Phil Perman @ Sep 25th 2008 9:59AM
I have to agree, the one on the right looks like a fatter than normal xbox, rather than the one on the left being thinner.
Also the mem unit looks about the right size compared to the xbox on the left
Torawk @ Sep 25th 2008 10:22AM
The left is a normal 360.. I didn't measure my memory card but if I place it on top with a little bit of grey on the right it passes the middle line of the 360, just like the picture.
The one on the right is also missing the button to remove the hard drive..
TheIcemanCometh @ Sep 25th 2008 9:47AM
I see a couple of possibilities here.
1. The 360 on the right could be a debug kit. But, those are typically black, and I don't know why he would have one of those since he's not a developer.
2. The one on the left could be a slimmer 360, which would explain why he has the memory unit sitting on top of it - to allow him to easily play on either console.
My $0.02 worth
Monte Zuma @ Sep 25th 2008 10:48AM
Use the memory unit to figure the dimensions. The system on the left looks roughly 2 widths (78mm), and the width of the current 360 is 83mm. A system that's 5mm thinner? Hardly practical.
From My Cube @ Sep 25th 2008 9:48AM
i dont see anything?
phanbouy @ Sep 25th 2008 9:50AM
duuuuud what is this microsoftgadget! all you steve ballmer worshippers need to get off his jock already.
engadget, stop posting microsoft news every 22 seconds
i'm cool because i hate and use the word "douche" like it's going out of style
Micanos @ Sep 25th 2008 2:59PM
well.... at least your picture is cool....
compared to.....mine.....:(
phanbouy @ Sep 25th 2008 10:03AM
seriously though... i hardly ever say anything about mac, or even spend much time defending apple from the hater hobbyists whose whole lifeblood is coming on here every fucking day making quasi-literate arguments about why apple is teh suxx0r and MS teh roxx0r, supported by dozens of frothy lemmings mashing each other's uprank in the latest "we love windows because it's the most common" circle jerk
but i've had enough of your hypocrisy windows fanboys. i tried to play nice, thinking the flame wars would die down if Zak et al stopped taking the bait, but nooooooooo. well fuck it the pendulum's swinging back, bitches.
Tpatel @ Sep 25th 2008 10:07AM
Windows Doesnt have fan boys..because it doesnt need fan boys because 88 percent of the world uses it.
Mac needs fan boys to stay afloat.
Thats how the world turns.
phanbouy @ Sep 25th 2008 10:09AM
windows doesn't have fanboys? there's a dude whose AVATAR is the fucking vista logo, another dude whose avatar is the fucking plastic vista software box it comes in, yet another whose avatar is the fucking WGA logo!
that bullshit meme has GOT to die. keep patting yourselves on the back, fanboys
Jon @ Sep 25th 2008 10:16AM
Please don't feed the troll.
Roger @ Sep 25th 2008 10:22AM
What the fuck is this? so its ok if engadget post Apple related stuff every 22secs instead? What a troll! It would be great if you stop posting every 22secs as well.