What's going to happen in 2012? Next Xbox tablet-based

If the rumors are to be believed, the guts of the new Xbox, presumably some kind of insane multicore CPU and crazy powerful graphics chipset, will be teased nice and early as part of Microsoft's final showing at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. Expect it to be properly revealed, with a name and everything, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in early June. If that timing is accurate, it seems likely that we'll see it in stores by the 2013 holiday season.

But what of the box itself? Given Microsoft's recent efforts at unification across its Windows, Mobile, and Xbox product lines, it seems clear that the 720 or whatever they end up calling it (surely not that) will be the ultimate personification of that strategy. There are strong signs suggesting that, like with Nintendo's Wii U, a tablet component figures heavily into the new design. That saucy Windows 8 Metro interface (now also seen on the Xbox Dashboard) just begs to be touched. Speculation as to the form it will take has been rife for the past few months, with some even suggesting that the core of the new platform will be akin to a tablet PC that wirelessly connects to a base station, which in turn plugs into your TV. If this is the case, a premium Xbox Next setup could feasibly include a base station, a tablet, a conventional controller of some kind, and the recently discussed high-def evolution of the Kinect. Thank goodness for wireless connections if that's the case; otherwise, we're in for one hell of a mess of cables.