There’s a “lite” Xbox coming next year?

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Rumour suggests there is a indeed a new Xbox coming next year – but before you get excited – it’s probably not what you’re expecting.

According to MS Nerd, an anonymous blogger who’s been right about Microsoft hardware in the past, says the Redmond giant is preparing to introduce a slim, trimmed down Xbox next year.

It wont, however, actually be compatible with the current Xbox 360’s games. Instead, it’ll be an ARM-powered device focused on “Arcade-style games” and Kinect apps – and place itself as a competitor to Apple TV.

The new device – the one apparently codenamed “loop” and not the new “Durango” console, will  “use a Zune HD-like hardware platform—a  “main” processor with multiple dedicated assistive cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and sensors,” and run using a stripped down version of Windows 9. As it’ll utilise Kinect, it’s a way for Microsoft to get more of the motion-sensing peripherals in to even more homes. He says he expects the next generation of Kinect – with a better camera and better sensing ability around 2015.

It’ll be coming in 2013 – with the Xbox 360’s true successor debuting sometime later. He says he expects the next generation of Kinect – with a better camera and better sensing ability around 2015.

While Ms Nerd admits to not having any affiliation with Microsoft or its partners, he does seems to have a heck of a lot of inside knowledge. If this turns out to be true, would you buy a mini Xbox that’s not actually capable of playing real Xbox games?

Seems a strange endeavour to me- though I must admit that I’d probably snap one up if I could run XBMC on the thing.