J Allard, speaking with TheStreet.com said that Microsoft’s next console, the Xbox 360, “will be in the neighborhood” of $300, attempting to dispel fears that the system might be $399, or even $499; but, there’s no word on if the system will launch at the $299 price tag set by its predecessor. Final decision on the price is “about two months away.”

In The Globe and Mail, a Canadian daily newspaper, Cimtek vice president of operation Craig Thornton said the console would be in the “preliminary build stage until July,” then the console would enter the product-validation phase, and then finally hit “full-scale production in September.”

“They have a huge mandate for getting [the Xbox 360] out for thanksgiving this year,” Thornton commented, which appears to confirm a widely rumored November launch date.