• Microsoft’s Next-gen Console, Xbox 720 Specs Leaked


    Xbox 720 Specs Leaked

    Xbox 720 Specs Leaked

    Microsoft‘s Next-gen console, Xbox 720, codenamed Durango, is said to be powered by an 8-core CPU clocked at 1.6 GHz and an 800-MHz graphics processor with 12 shader cores providing a performance of about 1.2 teraflops. This comes on par with specs revealed recently.

    The console will sport an 8GB DDR3 RAM with 32 MB of fast embedded SRAM. And for the first time it will be capable of reading Blu-ray discs up to 50GB at x6 read speeds. According to VGleaks, the full reported specs below:

    Durango system block diagram

    Durango system block diagram

    Full specs list:

    CPU:

    – x64 Architecture
    – 8 CPU cores running at 1.6 gigahertz (GHz)
    – each CPU thread has its own 32 KB L1 instruction cache and 32 KB L1 data cache
    – each module of four CPU cores has a 2 MB L2 cache resulting in a total of 4 MB of L2 cache
    – each core has one fully independent hardware thread with no shared execution resources
    – each hardware thread can issue two instructions per clock

    GPU:

    – custom D3D11.1 class 800-MHz graphics processor
    – 12 shader cores providing a total of 768 threads
    – each thread can perform one scalar multiplication and addition operation (MADD) per clock cycle
    – at peak performance, the GPU can effectively issue 1.2 trillion floating-point operations per second
    High-fidelity Natural User Interface (NUI) sensor is always present

    Storage and Memory:

    – 8 gigabyte (GB) of RAM DDR3 (68 GB/s)
    – 32 MB of fast embedded SRAM (ESRAM) (102 GB/s)
    – from the GPU’s perspective the bandwidths of system memory and ESRAM are parallel providing combined peak bandwidth of 170 GB/sec.
    – Hard drive is always present
    – 50 GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive

    Networking:

    – Gigabit Ethernet
    – Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct

    Hardware Accelerators:

    – Move engines
    – Image, video, and audio codecs
    – Kinect multichannel echo cancellation (MEC) hardware
    – Cryptography engines for encryption and decryption, and hashing

  • Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox 720 Rumors Round-up


    Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox 720 Rumors Round-up

    Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox 720 Rumors Round-up

    The rumor mill regarding Sony and Microsoft next-gen consoles will not stop before the grand unveil which is due in June E3 game exhibition or a bit earlier.

    A look at what you expect from both consoles, Playstation 4, PS4 (internally referred to as Orbis) and its Microsoft rival XBox 720 (internally referred to as Durango). Both consoles will feature 8-core CPUs clocked at 1.6GHz based on the new “Jaguar” technology by AMD which is currently in development. The new technology is said to offer great power consumption and raw performance.

    Orbis will sport a SoC architecture packed with the latest GPU Radeon 7970M running at 850MHz and featuring 20 of AMD’s “Graphics Core Next” compute units. This specs offer up to 1.84 teraflops metric. On the other side, Durango, will probably use Radeon HD 8770 GPU, featuring 1.23 teraflops. This gives PS4 about 50% of raw power advantage.

    Orbis is also said to feature 4GB of GDDR5 RAM with 512MB reserved for the operating system. While Durango is rumored to sport a set of 8GB DDR3 RAM of which 3GB reserved for the OS.

    Take these speculations with a bunch of salt and expect more information and leaks on the way.

  • Apple To Consider A Plastic Chassis For Its Entry-level Cheaper iPhone


    iPhone 3G Plastic Shell

    iPhone 3G Plastic Shell

    If Digitimes is to be believed, a new report comes this time to reiterate the story of Apple’s budget iPhone, the new entry-level device is said to feature a plastic chassis, rather than metal or reinforced glass. This comes as a way to cut cost for the hardware pricy parts.

    According to the report, the new iPhone will have its internal components visible due to a “special design.”

    However, other rumors are circulating that the entry-level iPhone will adopt a chassis mixed with plastic and metal, with the internal metal parts being able to be seen from outside through special design, the sources noted.

    Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg recently reported that Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone to launch in 2013 in a retail prices of $99 to $149.

    + Image courtesy of Engadget

  • The Phantom Pain could be Metal Gear Solid 5


    The Phantom Pain could be Metal Gear Solid 5

    The Phantom Pain could be Metal Gear Solid 5

    During 2012 VGA awards, The Phantom Pain has been revealed with a trailer that is made entirely of gameplay footage, featured a character with a hook for an arm who wakes up in a hospital after a crash and suffering from a coma afterward.

    Developed by, Moby Dick Studio, which is supposedly based in Sweden and has acquired licenses to develop for Xbox 360 and PS3. The CEO of the studio is Joakim Morgen (kojima OGRE)?

    Check out the trailer at the 10:40 mark in the video below:

    From the shaky camera, fonts, tilt-shift effect and the character that looks like a skinny Big Boss, if you remember during the unveiling of Metal gears Solids Ground Zeroes one of the taglines read: From FOX, two phantoms were born. Could this be the second phantom in Metal Gear Solid 5?

    For more interesting analysis by YongYea check out the video below:

    Update:

    The trailer is released in full 1080p. Watch it below: