Xbox 720 News

A third-generation  Xbox game console (maybe named 720?) is coming by next Thanksgiving, "informed sources" have shared.

Reports from  Xbox World suggest the new device will feature a mess of upgrades, including Kinect 2.0, a Blu-ray drive, a more sophisticated controller and an a/v port  for tuning and maybe recording TV shows through  the Xbox Live Interface.

The timing of this "leak,"   shared first by Bloomberg News, is more than accidental, we think. Microsoft sold a good crop of bundled-up Xbox 360 game consoles – about 750,000 – over this Thanksgiving/Black Friday wheeling-dealing weekend.  But shoppers who hesitated are probably weighing the other options out there – including the new Nintendo Wii U and bigger screen 3DS systems and Sony's PlayStation 3 – the latter also likely to get upgraded next year.  Spreading  a little doubt in buyers minds,  giving them reason to hesitate, is in the classic tradition of "vaporware" that Microsoft and other computer companies used to tout  in the one-upsmanship age of the massive COMDEX shows.

More to the moment and real, Microsoft also is jockeying for attention this weekend by offering Xbox 360 customers a free preview of its Xbox Live Gold service – including Xbox Video, Xbox Music, and enhanced content from Xbox SmartGlass. Get all the details here.