Get Xbox One without Kinect

It sure didn't take long for Microsoft to abandon the next generation of its must-have peripheral for Xbox One, the Kinect. It might end up being the smartest move the company has made in years. Starting Monday, Microsoft will offer a dis-Kinected Xbox One for $399 — $100 less than the original bundle and in line with the price of a 500-gigabyte PlayStation 4. The move isn't all that surprising — it gives Microsoft flexibility in future bundles. What is surprising is that the company has done it so soon after the console's launch last fall. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the PS4 has helped bring in $9.5 billion for Sony in the past fiscal year. Sony expects to sell about 17 million PS3s and PS4s by March 2015. The fourth generation of PlayStation has outsold the Xbox One four months in a row.

Tampa Bay Times