The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
Now that the 802.11n standard has been ratified, the Xbox 360 is
finally getting a Wireless N adapter to better cope with the heavy
demands of today’s digital content devouring public, but it’s double
the price of a USB Wireless N adapter for your PC!
With the great end-of-year shopping season effectively now upon us, it’s no surprise to see the console manufacturers coming out with new add-on products, better online services and new games.
One such new add-on for the Xbox 360 is a new Wireless N adapter, due to arrive down under on November 26.
Outfitted with twin antennas for better wireless performance in online gaming, downloading and streaming media than the existing A/B/G adapter, anyone with an 802.11n network and a desire to network the Xbox 360 wirelessly will presumably want one.
Unfortunately, it’s also one of those areas where Microsoft has a captive market, and can charge accordingly despite competitive products for PCs being up to half the price, as regular USB wi-fi adapters can’t be used with the Xbox 360.
It’s somewhat funny to see the existing 802.11 A/B/G adapter for the Xbox 360 advertised at AUD $149.95 with a “NEW LOW PRICE!” sticker in yellow, but it’s not so funny when you learn that the Wireless N adapter will sell for the same “low price” of $149.95.
In the US they’re $99.95 at retail (excluding any sales taxes), but they’re around US $10 cheaper online. Whether the usual suspects of the Australian retail world will apply any street pricing discounts is yet to be seen, but they'll still likely sell well above AUD $100.
A quick check over at Officeworks.com.au shows a Netcomm NP900N USB wireless adapter for $79.95 and a seemingly overpriced Belkin Wireless N+ adapter on a stand for $129.95. Prices at dse.com.au were similar with a D-Link G adapter for $49.94 and a D-Link "Wireless Xtreme N Duo" for $119.
Neither have the twin external antennas the Xbox 360 version sports, which Microsoft would presumably point out adds to the cost, but with regular 802.11G USB adapters selling from AUD $45 at retail, USB wi-fi adapters clearly aren’t that expensive to make in the factory.
In short, they are a nice way for Microsoft to make some good profit on a Wireless N accessory only they can supply: if you want to be play’n, you’ll have to be pay’n!
David Bass
| ComOps, a leading Australian provider of business software products and services, has won a competitive tender to deploy its Salvus safety, r…
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