Xbox 720 Specs & Features to Include Windows 9 & ARM; Release Date Probably 2015-ish

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We have not discussed the next-gen Xbox console in quite a while so it’s time to freshen up those rumors with a brand new report today that details some potential specs and features for the future Xbox 720.

A blogger with intimate knowledge of certain Microsoft projects, and he or she apparently had some correct predictions in the past, has shared a “mix of rumors, tips and speculation” with the world regarding the future of the new console that are quite revealing:

The Xbox is another story altogether. With a heady mix of rumors, tips and speculation, I am now stating that Xbox codename “loop” (the erstwhile XboxTV) will indeed debut a modified Win9 core. It will use a Zune HD-like hardware platform—a “main” processor with multiple dedicated assistive cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and sensors. It will be custom designed by Microsoft and two partners based on the ARM architecture. It will be cheaper than the 360, further enabling Kinect adoption. And it will be far smaller than the 360. It will also demonstrate how Windows Phone could possible implement Win9’s dev platform on the lower end.

It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft can pull off all these great feats and succeed in the market over the next five years.

We’ll take everything with a grain of salt, like we always do with such rumors, but we will remind you that previous reports suggested the Xbox 720 will come out at some point in 2015. Now that the new Xbox is said that it will run Windows 9 – and I can’t but wonder on this one, if a console runs Windows, isn’t it basically just another PC? – we’ll remind you that Windows 7 was launched in late 2009 and that Windows 8 is expected to be launched at some point next year, about three years after its predecessor hit stores. Therefore we expect Windows 9 also to be launched three years after Windows 8, or in 2015. What if Apple enters, willingly or unwillingly, the console business by then?

Will Microsoft be able to launch an Xbox 720 at the same time? Oh, and we’re definitely very interested in that ARM processor that would power the device, but we’ll be back with more details on the console in due time.