Microsoft released Xbox 360 S (250GB)

The latest Xbox 360 ditches the matte-plastic encasing seen on the white and Elite versions and instead opts for the now-infamous fingerprint attraction glossy black finish that covers so several gadgets of today. The comfort measures in at 2.9 inches tall by 10.6 inches wide by 10.4 inches deep and weighs a bit over 6 pounds, making it obviously smaller than its big brother.

There are far less buttons on the new Xbox 360; most notably absent are the disc plate and power buttons from the earlier consoles. Instead, both are now touch sensitive; a small nick above the disc tray opens it, and the unit can be turned on simply by touching the round silver power area. Also, a tone is played from inside the console whenever either of the two touch areas is occupied.

The silver power circle also represents the number of controllers connected and will rotate depending on how the comfort is oriented (either horizontally or vertically). Past 360 owners will associate this area with the "red ring of death" error message, but Microsoft has removed red LEDs from the console, so now any fail will be represented with a series of green lights.

To the right of the control circle is a spring-loaded door beating two USB ports. Next to it is the regulator sync button, which also doubles as the system's infrared (IR) port. Though there seemed to be some debate as to whether this made it difficult for information to be agreed to the Xbox 360, our tests with a accord remote shows no sign of such issues.

For those hopeful to ditch the massive "power brick" that tethered the alleviate to a power source, you're half in luck. The proprietary correlation is positively smaller, but there is still a power box you must deal with. Though it's about half the size of the new, we're much easier downgrading the "brick" to a "block."

One downside of the newly designed console is unsuitability with older Xbox 360 faceplates. We can't say that this customizable feature was one of the console's strong points, but nonetheless, no faceplates will work with the new Xbox 360.