Microsoft prepping slim Xbox for next year?

Microsoft may be readying a new slimmer version of its popular Xbox 360 gaming console. According to a report, Microsoft is bringing a skinnier, faster and less-costly Xbox 360 to market by the fall of 2009. In its quest to make the console quieter, cooler and faster, Microsoft has already begun updating its components, with an interim update due by this August. If true, the thorough redesign would likely involve an "all-in-one" Valhalla chip and manufacturing of the necessary components would begin early next year, the report said. The updated machine would not only be slimmer, but may be also re-branded with a newer, unique name.

The interim version will use 65-nm CPU dubbed Jasper, which will match the 65-nm GPU already used by Microsoft; Jasper is already in production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Microsoft has already reportedly placed an order for as many as 10,000 300mm boards.

The newer, smaller Valhalla chip, expected in the slimmed-down Xbox, will begin production next year at TSMC and will utilize the smaller 45nm process and a new system-on-a-chip design, allowing Microsoft to slim down its console considerably (and in similar fashion as Sony's PS2 Slim make-over).

Filed under: industry, gaming
Other story tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Valhalla