Leaked Xbox 720 documents show $299 console with Kinect 2 and Kinect Glasses in 2013

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Leaked Xbox 720 documents show $299 console with Kinect 2 and Kinect Glasses in 2013

In a 56 page report that’s since been removed from the internet, it looks like Microsoft’s plan for the Xbox 720 (apparently the official name) includes Kinect 2 (no surprise), Kinect augmented reality and 3D glasses and a price of $299.

Microsoft outlines a competitive differentiation for its next-generation Xbox, including support for Blu-ray, native 3D output and glasses, concurrent apps, and additional sensor and peripheral support. Alongside a promised 6x performance increase, there’s also mention of true 1080p output with full 3D support and an “always on” state for the console. A slide on core hardware indicates that the next Xbox will be designed to be scalable in the number of CPU cores and their frequencies. Microsoft appears to have been debating whether to use six or eight ARM or x86 cores clocked at 2GHz each with 4GB of DDR4 memory alongside three PPC cores clocked at 3.2GHz each for backwards compatibility with existing Xbox 360 titles.

Microsoft positions its Xbox 720 as the only box needed for living room entertainment in the document, providing background recording functionality for TV content and a unified Windows 8 foundation to make it easier for application developers to build apps that target Xbox, PC, and Windows Phone. Illustrations of the Xbox 720 throughout the presentation make it comparable in looks to an old set-top box, but appear to be just a concept design used in 2010. Microsoft rounds off the document with a promised price point of $299 with its Kinect 2 hardware and a prediction of a 10-year lifecycle with more than 100 million units sold.

Microsoft lays out a roadmap for its “Fortaleza” Kinect Glasses — which appears to be a research project the company is working on. There’s little mention of the hardware involved, but the glasses appear to be Wi-Fi- or 4G-enabled and incorporate augmented reality in a way that’s similar to Google’s Project Glass augmented reality glasses. Described as a “breakthrough heads up and hands-free device,” Kinect Glasses is marked as a 2014 product that won’t launch alongside the Xbox 720 console. Microsoft doesn’t provide any specifics about how the glasses will work on the Xbox, but they do appear to be designed to be mobile for use away from the console.

Also, if the drawings from the document above are any indication at all, the 720 might look less like the big, bulky 360 and more like a streamlined Blu Ray player.

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