I think that Microsoft employees want to wear the dreads—betting Newsweek's N'Gai Croal as an excuse to try out the look with a solid out if Johnny Depp dapper isn't the result. Because Xbox Director of Technical Strategy Andre Vrignaud just made another bet, wagering N'Gai that Sony would create a new $399 SKU by November. His prediction:

...you're going to see the creation of a new, low-end SKU this holiday. It'll likely remove integrated WiFi, memory card reader, and most controversially, all backward compatibility. (Remember, there's still some back-compat hardware in even the new "software only" back compat SKUs; removing the remaining CPU is a significant cost savings.) You'll see a new WiFi dongle made available. And finally, this low-end SKU will likely come with a smaller 40 GB hard drive. The low-end price will be set at $399, with the higher-end 80 GB SKU dropping to $499.

Reading between the lines, Vrignaud is implying that Sony will emulate Microsoft's strategy, creating an SKU very similar to the Xbox 360 itself. And given that Microsoft is most certainly tracking Sony manufacturing trends, this guess could have more clout than initial gut reactions would warrant.

Oh, and the dread(ed) wig was rejected by Croal this time around. The new wager? A steak dinner that is bound to taste better than some old wig.

Another Day, Another Microserf, Another Bet on Sony Hardware [levelup]