Xbox 720 Could Be Delayed by Manufacturing Trouble

Rumors suggest that manufacturing trouble could delay Microsoft’s next Xbox. According to tech site SemiAccurate, the ‘Oban’ processor that powers the system is facing shortages that could prevent Microsoft from manufacturing enough consoles for the oft-rumored 2013 launch.

SemiAccurate reports that manufacturing yields on the new processor’s production wafers are “painfully low.” As explained by OXM, that means ”for every wafer, or sheet of silicon chips, created, only a tiny percentage are actually usable. Think of it like a sheet of baseball cards. If one sheet makes 30 cards, but only one card comes out without any issues or defects, that's a bit of a problem." Microsoft has reportedly increased Oban manufacturing to “very high quanitities” that SemiAccurate notes are “too high by more than an order of magnitude to simply be for dev kits.”

Microsoft will reportedly try to get parts from two or even three sources in order to increase its odds of success, but SemiAccurate reports that Microsoft doesn’t have long to set things right if it wants to hit a target date of fall 2013. “It takes about 8 weeks to run a hot lot through a fab and analyze the results,” the site notes. “If production wafers are really going in this year, the last time a foundry can run a test wafer is about November 1. Anything after that day will not come out of the fab in time for the results to be fed back in to the production chips. That is the technical term for ‘The XBox Next is going to be delayed.’”

Anonymous sources suggest to SemiAccurate that there’s “some slack” in Microsoft’s production schedule, and that even a six to eight week delay wouldn’t be enough to push back the next Xbox’s launch. “Microsoft insiders tell us that the planned launch date is September 2013, and that is not changing without heads rolling internally,” SemiAccurate writes. “Given the very hard limits imposed by the fab technologies involved and the self-imposed start date, time is running out. If there is two months of slack in the supply chain, unless the yield problems are solved by late February 2013, Microsoft can’t hit its desired September 2013 launch date.”

We heard in January that the Xbox 720 chipset was already in production, though the first run may have simply been for the development kits that are already being distributed. IGN sources suggested in the past that the next Xbox will be six times more powerful than current generation consoles.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft about the rumored manufacturing delays and will update with any comment we receive, though given Microsoft’s reluctance to mention the new Xbox, it’s unlikely we’ll hear any additional information. For now, read what we know about the next Xbox so far thanks to a Microsoft patent from earlier this summer.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Valve reportedly getting into the PC hardware business

Reports are coming out today that confirm long-held rumors that Valve has been looking at some way to enter the PC hardware business. While this doesn't point toward the much-desired "Steam Box" that was rumored a few months back, it's an exciting development nonetheless.

According to The Verge, Valve has confirmed rumors that a job posting for an industrial designer indicates that they are planning to enter the hardware business. However, they did not specify what sort of hardware they're planning to make, only offering the following quote as a sort of clue, "We're frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we're jumping in. Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven't really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There's a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked."

It's not clear whether that quote indicates Valve will be leaning toward making PC accessories such as mouse/keyboard alternatives, or if they have ambitions that go beyond that. And of course, there's always the possibility that Valve is planning to start small with little projects like a gaming peripheral, then work its way up the chain to bigger productions.

We will of course be following this story with great interest, and will report back if any new developments arise.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 isn't a Brother's in Arms game anymore

Despite rumors from a couple months back that the patent for the upcoming war shooter, Brothers in Arms: Furious 4, had been abandoned, it turns out Gearbox has actually been considering the title's future very carefully.

Apparently, they've decided that the game is no longer a true installment in the BIA series, and will be dropping the prefix from the name. Currently we don't know whether it will just be called Furious 4, or if they have another name in mind.

The news came today at a PAX panel reported on by Polygon in which Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said, "the game that was announced as Brothers In Arms: Furious 4 has evolved," adding that when the company "pushed the gameplay loop, they got into a place that got away from the core."

He didn't mean that as a bad thing though. He added that they merely felt the game needed to be "unshackled" by the constraints of an established franchise. The resulting game will now be a completely new brand.

Given this new information, it now seems likely that the game's publisher, Ubisoft, had made the decision to abandon the Brother's in Arms name way back before May when the trademark for the name lapsed.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

OnLive Possibly Being Closed by End of Day

IGN is hearing rumors that OnLive may be shutting down as early as end of day today.

Brian Fargo from inXile says he received an email from an OnLive employee which read:

"I wanted to send a note that by the end of the day today, OnLive as an entity will no longer exist.  Unfortunately, my job and everyone else's was included.  A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and I’m sure our path with cross again."

Mashable corroborates Fargo's email, saying "According to a source close to the situation, the company called an all hands meeting at 10am PDT, at which the entire staff was fired. Some staffers may be rehired as the company transitions to its next unknown iteration."

IGN has reached out to our sources at OnLive but have yet to receive confirmation.

We'll update with more information as we hear it.

Developing...

Nic is the Editor of IGN Tech. He loves technology almost as much as Brand New, Boyz II Men, and Catcher in the Rye. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

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The iPhone 5 Rumor Roundup Continues

While the media's patience wears thin and the Android platform continues to grow its market share, the 'net is bursting with iPhone 5 rumors ranging from the plausible to the laughable and everything in between.

Source: T3

The most believable (and corroborated) set of Apple hints now surrounds the unannounced device's release date. iMore reported today that, coinciding with an iPhone 5 event, pre-orders for the next-gen smartphone would begin on September 12, or nine days before the alleged release day.

All of this information comes to iMore by way of "sources who have proven accurate in the past," a character we've seen a few times before, and since.

Source: BGR

His distant cousin, BGR's "trusted source" and apparent AT&T insider, also outed a late September release window for the iPhone 5, citing a rescheduled employee training event and an "all hands on deck" policy as the reasons for suspecting that timing.

The Apple press conference on September 12 is almost certainly the platform for Apple's iPhone 5 announcement, but the question is whether or not release will follow so quickly. For comparison, the iPhone 4, which released over two years ago (a longer development timeline that most), was announced on June 7 at WWDC 2010, then introduced to store shelves June 24 internationally. Apple is no stranger to surprises, or to swift turn-around times, so the September and October rumors sound like reasonable guesses.

Over the past week, images and even video have "leaked" from Japanese manufacturers, French journalists, and American speculators. The footage swam over the Pacific from Japanese site Macotakara to deliver a purported first full look at the casing that will be holding the new iPhone. While this seems to be in line with other ideas about the wraparound middle-back cover, there's no way to know if the video is a good-looking farce or the real deal.

Source: iPhone 5 Guides

Other rumors about the casing and display have circled around a 4-inch screen and a thinner, higher-resolution LCD panel.

Blogs all across the tech-interest sphere have been claiming for months that the days of the 30-pin iPhone dock connector won't continue with the iPhone 5. Although a consensus on the smaller connector has yet to be reached, it's not unthinkable to imagine that Apple may be going to the micro-USB standard, if changing at all.

Leaked images of what may be the iPhone 5's motherboard have also given rise to some spurious speculation. While some contend that the SIM card slot from the pictures looks to support micro-SIM cards, those infamous sources are claiming some insider knowledge about nano-SIM cards for the iPhone 5.

IGN will be on-hand at the September 12 event and keeping tabs on all the rumors (and eventually facts) about the iPhone 5 and Apple's next generation of mobile devices.

Sources: 9to5 Mac, The Verge, Macotakara, BGR, iMore

Dan Crabtree is an I.T. guy and freelance writer with words on IGN, and a league of other gaming news outlets. His dog is considered handsome and well-read. You can find him (the human) on Twitter and IGN.

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