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Xbox Next is a name used along with Project Xenon, Xbox 2 and Xbox 360 to refer to Microsoft's as-yet unnamed Xbox successor video game console. It is expected to be released in late 2005 or early 2006.
In a Q&A to the development community, Pete Isensee, Development Lead, Xbox Advanced Technology Group, detailed the Xbox Next's specifications. The console is powered by a customized 3.5+ GHz CPU, rumored to be based on the IBM PowerPC 970 processor. The GPU is a custom 500+ MHz ATI design. The console has at least 256 MB of unified memory.
The CPU includes three independent processors (cores) on a single die. Each core runs at 3.5+ GHz. The Xenon CPU can issue two instructions per clock cycle per core. The CPU is expected to reach between 80-100 GFLOPS.
In March 2004, Microsoft announced a new software game development strategy, dubbed "XNA", relevant to the Xbox Next.
Rumors
- Unlike the Xbox, the basic version of the Xbox Next is rumored not to have a hard disk.
- In November 2004, The Inquirer reported that three separate versions of the Xbox Next may be released: a standard Xbox Next, the Xbox Next HD with a built-in hard drive and additional multimeda functionality, and the Xbox Next PC which would incorporate an entry-level PC, a CD burner, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a special multimedia edition of Windows XP.
- If the Xbox Next does come in a version with a hard drive, Halo "2.5" will be a launch title for that Xbox Next system.
Xbox 2 and "Halo 2.5" (http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/7408/Halo-25-and-Xbox-2-The-Bomb/)
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