Who the heck is Jasper and why is he in my Xbox?

No sooner had we realized that the Falcon had landed, we’re hearing mumblings around the Web that Jasper will soon invade the Xbox 360 console. Jasper will eventually replace Falcon with a 65nm graphics chip from ATI. The latest batch of 360s is rolling with 90nm graphics chips and 65nm CPUs.

So why does any of this matter? Well, I don’t know if you heard, but the Redmond juggernaut has had to pony up over $1 billion to repair defective units that were doing the RROD dance. Falcon units are probably running cooler and are less defective than previous models and Jasper will undoubtedly run much smoother, which means you won’t have to wait around for your console to be sent back from repairs. It also means that the cost of the Xbox will drop, again, but not until next August when the revamped 360 will surface. Hmm…maybe that’s when the next Xbox will appear.

Xbox 360 secrets: After Falcon comes Jasper [Mercury News]