XBox 720
Microsoft is readying an Xbox set-top box focused on casual gaming and streaming video, The Verge reported today.
According to the report, several sources told The Verge that Microsoft is planning on releasing the new device next year as an inexpensive alternative to its longstanding hit console, the Xbox 360. The set-top box is expected to offer the ability to play casual games and stream videos, and would be sold alongside the existing Xbox.
"The device will run on the core components of Windows 8 and support casual gaming titles rather than full Xbox games typically found on a dedicated console," wrote The Verge. "Although hardware specifications aren't fully locked down, we understand Microsoft will use a chipset to enable an 'always-on' device that boots quickly and resumes to provide near-instant access to TV and entertainment services."
The Verge argued that the new Xbox device is just one element of a "broader effort to ensure its core architecture for the next-generation Xbox is scalable enough to be put together to run on a number of devices." Among those devices could be a phone able to run Xbox Live. Microsoft is also said to have considered offering the Xbox functionality to television manufacturers interested in selling an Xbox TV set, The Verge wrote.
When the Xbox was released in 2005, it was unclear how Microsoft's second full-scale video game console would sell. In the seven years since, it has sold tens of millions of units, and helped Xbox Live become a dominant home for streaming games, movies, TV shows, and more.
Microsoft may have hinted at its planned moves with several recent job postings for engineers for its Interactive Entertainment Business that would be hired to work on a "new cloud-based TV platform."
Microsoft's Xbox 720 will unveil a new version of Kinect, a Blu-ray drive, and an A/V port for watching and recording broadcast TV, at least according to details leaked by Xbox World.
Promising "next-gen secrets inside," the latest issue of the U.K.-based magazine dug up several reported specs on Microsoft's next console.
First off, the Xbox 720 will introduce Kinect 2.0.
Microsoft has been as publicly mum about the next version of Kinect as it has about all details concerning the new Xbox. But a company document leaked in June touted a higher level of accuracy, stereo imaging, better voice recognition, and the ability to track four players at once.
A Blu-ray drive will also be part of the package, a rumor that's been around for a few years now.
Other features will include directional audio, an input and output for watching and recording TV shows, and an "innovative controller," noted gaming news site ComputerAndVideoGames.com (CVG). Last February, Xbox World said that the redesigned controller would come with a built-in HD touch screen.
Microsoft is also eyeing AR (augmented reality) glasses for the 720 at some future stage.
Codenamed Durango, the new Xbox would be powered by a CPU with "four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores" and 8GB of RAM.
Dan Dawkins, Xbox World's editor in chief, told CVG that "Xbox World has been at the cutting edge of Durango coverage for over 12 months. Unless something really dramatic changes, everything...will be revealed long before E3in June."
CNET contacted Microsoft for comment and will update the story if we get any information.
