The next Xbox has been pegged to go on sale next Christmas by a revealing Microsoft job listing.
The job details, which were spotted by PCWorld and have since been deleted, explain that "over the next 18 months Microsoft will release new versions of all of our most significant products," going on to list "Windows (Client, Server, Phone and Azure), Office and Xbox." We already know about the new Windows gubbins -- that's Windows 8 of course. But so far Microsoft has remained tight-lipped regarding a new games console.
18 months would see a new system released early in 2014 at the latest, though it's far more likely that Microsoft would try and get the new Xbox -- reportedly codenamed Durango -- on sale in the run up to Christmas next year, giving cash-addled parents the opportunity to stuff their offsprings' stockings with a brand-new console.Microsoft has already stated that there would be no new console out this year, ruling out a surprise 2012 unveiling. Not much is known about what Microsoft's follow-up to the popular Xbox 360 will look like, though rumours tip it to feature a Blu-ray drive and to require a constant web connection in order to play games.
If we're talking about excluding gamers who don't have an Internet connection, then perhaps we could also see Microsoft ditching physical media altogether and having games accessed solely through downloads. Another recent Microsoft job ad spied by Techradar suggests that the company responsible for Clippy is already working on a second round of Surface tablets.
[Source: cnet]