As you may or may not yet know, the Xbox 360 Premium consoles in the US will all be shipping with an HDMI port soon. So if you don’t want to spend the money on the Elite, you’ll have a chance to get true digital 1080p from the Xbox 360 with the newer Premiums.

The guys over at Joystiq dug a little deeper and found out a very easy way to tell what consoles will have the coveted HDMI port. Just check the side of the box for the “HDMI port” text. Supposedly all consoles manufactured after July 1st will have HDMI.

I’ve been using HDMI out on my Xbox 360 Elite and I have to say it gives a much cleaner and vibrant picture on my HDTV than component. For the record, I have a Samsung 50″ 1080p DLP set.

Joystiq dug a little deeper and found the code name Zephyr on the label, which indicates the new Premiums have the same motherboard and new heat sink as the Elite’s (remember Zephyr is the code-name for the Elite motherboard). This also shows these new Premiums do NOT have the 65nm chips, codenamed Falcon. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for those smaller, cooler chips.

Microsoft announced last night that a limited edition Halo 3 Xbox 360 would be released this September. The new console features an exclusive “Spartan green and gold” finish and comes bundled with a matching Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, 20GB Hard Drive, Headset, Play & Charge Kit, and exclusive Halo 3 Gamer Pics and Theme (available via Xbox Live download).

The funny part is what’s listed further down the description page on xbox.com… an HDMI port is included in the console. Does this mean we’ll start seeing HDMI ports in all 360’s once they switch over to the “falcon” chipset? It would seem plausible, as manufacturing two different motherboards would keep costs higher.

Either way, I doubt too many people will be shelling out more money for another Xbox 360 at this point.

With E3 hanging in the balance and coming up quickly what predictions do you have for this coming event?
I am thinking a big one will be the announcement from Microsoft that all of their Xbox 360 skus will get a price cut, thanks to their new chipset code named “falcon”, which looks to run cooler and pack all of the same punch for the a lower cost. Look for a pricing similar to this:
elite - $399
premium - $349
core - $249
mystery machine to be announced - my guess would be something either between the elite and premium or just something balls out with all the bells and whistles for $499.
What do you think?

The latest salvo in the console wars has just been fired by Microsoft according to the MercuryNews. There will be several new improvements in the “Falcon” which will be a reduction in chip size from 90nm to 65nm in both the CPU and GPU(graphics chip). This basically means that the chips will be smaller and running faster, and at a cooler core temperature. It also means that the machine will have less material and therefore cheaper to produce. Does this signal a price cut? No one knows for sure, but the Falcon will not cost anymore than the original 360, with the add-ons being the only price determinant. The Falcon is the project name at the moment and no word on whether that name will stick. Expect this to be available by the end of this calendar year.