pricing

Nvidia has slashed the price of products with its newest GTX 260 and 280 graphics processors only a few weeks after it launched the chips, in response to stiffer competition from Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit.

Nvidia said Sunday night that the GeForce GTX 280 is now available for $499 and the GTX 260 for $299. The high-end GTX 280 was originally $649, while the 260 was priced previously at $399. Both products were rolled out less than a month ago.

Nvidia's graphics boards are now more in line with ATI's newest offerings. At $299, the GTX 260 … Read more

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about rumors that Microsoft was planning to chop the Xbox 360's price in July. Well, that price cut was all but confirmed today by Kotaku.

After posting leaked photos of upcoming Best Buy, Kmart, and other circulars, the gaming blog now has a GameStop employee's cell-phone snapshots of shelf art and an internal memo announcing that the Xbox 360 Pro (aka the Premium) would drop to $299.99 on Sunday, July 13. Not coincidentally, E3 kicks off the next day with--you guessed it--Microsoft's press conference.

As Sony's PlayStation 3 … Read more

For the second time in as many weeks, reports are circulating that Microsoft will be announcing a price cut for the Xbox 360.

The Hollywood Reporter is quoting anonymous sources as saying the 20GB version of the console will be cut to $299--a $50 reduction--before the E3 game industry show begins July 15 in Los Angeles. The report follows rumors of a price cut that surfaced last week on various game blogs.

Microsoft declined to comment on the reports, but an Xbox 360 price reduction on the U.S. market would follow similar moves in Europe and Asia earlier … Read more

After announcing Japan's iPhone 3G in one of the shortest press releases ever, Softbank is following up with a little more information in the way of pricing.

According to a Reuters report, the 8GB iPhone 3G will cost 23,040 yen ($213), while the higher-capacity 16GB model will retail for 34,560 yen ($319). Subscribers will need to sign a two-year contract when the handset, distributed exclusively by Softbank, launches in Japan on July 11. They can also opt for a plan that will allow them to talk for free among Softbank subscribers for most of the day with … Read more

And you thought Oracle was already pricey...

In a demonstration of what can happen when a company consolidates the industry such that there's far less competitive pressure on it, Oracle has significantly raised its prices. Many of its products saw a 15 to 20 percent price increase.

While the rest of the industry sees price declines through pressure from open source and SaaS, as well as a shift away from license revenue toward maintenance revenue, Oracle is happily raising prices and, presumably, its customers are (un)happily paying. Dave Rosenberg suggests this is a good move since Oracle discounts … Read more

Cambridge SoundWorks has recently cut prices on some of its most popular products through its new "Direct to You" campaign. The audio brand is eschewing the retail channel--and the resulting price markups--and selling its products directly through its Web site at a discount. For example, the Newton Theater MC155 and SoundWorks i765--both of which have garnered mostly high marks from CNET----each received a $200 price cut, representing a 20 percent and 40 percent markdown, respectively. Related coverage: All recent Cambridge SoundWorks product reviews on CNET

Last week I told you that Sprint was preparing to offer its new Instinct cell phone for $199. But now, I have to admit that I jumped the gun just a bit. Sprint finally confirmed today that when the Instinct goes on sale Friday it will cost just $129 after a $100 mail-in rebate. You will have to sign a two-year contract with a Simply Everything plan, which starts at $69 per month. With such a hefty price drop, it's even clearer that Sprint is taking on the iPhone 3G, which will sell for $199 or $299 depending on … Read more

Independent and small-label bands have to tour to cover the costs of recording, and with CD sales declining, major acts rely more on touring for revenue than ever before. But as these stories in the Chicago Tribune and Portland Oregonian make clear, the steep rise in the price of gasoline over the last couple of years has changed the equation drastically.

Example: two years ago, a band I was in was invitated to play a small festival in San Francisco, an 800-mile drive from Seattle. Back then, gas cost an average of $3.13 per gallon on the West coast. … Read more

Somewhere in between the old-school book-and-record sets (where you turned the page at the sound of the tone) and audiobooks, there was the mighty Fisher-Price Talk-To-Me Player.

I dusted mine off recently after finding it in one of the many boxes of toys I have yet to divest myself of and gave it a closer look.

Yeah, it looks kind of like a mouse, but it's essentially an upside-down, battery-powered handheld record player. You used the player with Talk-To-Me books, which had a 2-inch plastic record laminated on the bottom corner of each page. You line up the player … Read more