The XBox 360 Elite, which will be launched on April 29, will be available for $479.99.
The set-top will come with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and HDMI port and cable. Microsoft says the console can store games, songs and high-def movies and TV shows downloaded from its XBox LIVE web site.
The company says the XBox 360 Elite will meet the growing demand for more high-def content, with HDTVs now in roughly 30 million U.S. homes.
"Today's games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital High-Definition content," Peter Moore, a Microsoft vice president, said in a statement.
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The XBox 360 Elite's hard drive will be detachable, meaning consumers can store content once it's been downloaded. Additional hard drives can be purchased for $179.99 each.
Owners of the $399 XBox 360 20-gigabyte model will be able to buy the hard drive and attach it.
The new console will compete with a variety of emerging HD-based products such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD players, Apple's new Apple TV and MovieBeam.
Swanni Sez:
At $479, Microsoft will struggle to make XBox Elite a success. Just ask Sony, which has experienced disappointing sales with its PlayStation 3, which starts at $499 because it has a Blu-ray player inside.
Plus: While high-def owners want more content, they are unlikely to shell out $479 on a new device that includes a technology (online downloads displayed on a TV) that is foreign to most. At least with a HDTV DVD player -- or the PS3 -- people are familiar with the concept of playing a DVD.
However, if the video quality is good -- and the lineup is large -- the XBox Elite might find a small niche with the high-def elite.
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