New Xbox Rumours
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:14 pm
UK, January 3, 2008 - Microsoft's head honcho Bill Gates is due to make his final keynote speech at next week's Consumer Electronics Show, and many are speculating he is to go out with a bang with the announcement of a new flavour for the Xbox 360.
The murmurings began with a column by Brier Dudley in The Seattle Times, a source close to Microsoft, in which some educated guesswork about the contents of Gates' swansong was aired. These ranged from the fairly pedestrian – a focused convergence between the Xbox Live, Zune and Media Center teams to offer a one-stop service for content – to the more bravado anticipation of a new variety of Xbox 360, adding to the various choices already available. Dudley outlined the possibility of Microsoft licensing out their technology to a third party "…to develop a digital video recorder with a hard-drive, high-definition HD-DVD drive and Xbox gaming capabilities."
Already the rumour has snowballed, with Stuff Magazine going as far to outline specifications of the new Xbox, alongside a speculative street date of Autumn 2008 and the moniker of Xbox Ultimate. Among the features they expect to see are the aforementioned HD-DVD drive, built-in Wi-Fi, a more muted fan and a 320GB hard disk that would enable users to fully benefit from the Xbox IPTV service.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft UK were not willing to offer comment on the growing speculation, but rest assured all will become clear when Gates delivers his speech this Sunday.
The murmurings began with a column by Brier Dudley in The Seattle Times, a source close to Microsoft, in which some educated guesswork about the contents of Gates' swansong was aired. These ranged from the fairly pedestrian – a focused convergence between the Xbox Live, Zune and Media Center teams to offer a one-stop service for content – to the more bravado anticipation of a new variety of Xbox 360, adding to the various choices already available. Dudley outlined the possibility of Microsoft licensing out their technology to a third party "…to develop a digital video recorder with a hard-drive, high-definition HD-DVD drive and Xbox gaming capabilities."
Already the rumour has snowballed, with Stuff Magazine going as far to outline specifications of the new Xbox, alongside a speculative street date of Autumn 2008 and the moniker of Xbox Ultimate. Among the features they expect to see are the aforementioned HD-DVD drive, built-in Wi-Fi, a more muted fan and a 320GB hard disk that would enable users to fully benefit from the Xbox IPTV service.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft UK were not willing to offer comment on the growing speculation, but rest assured all will become clear when Gates delivers his speech this Sunday.