Strategy Informer  

Speculation is feral that the new Xbox design will incorporate a tablet based interface, after Microsoft has shown off the Windows 8 Metro UI, and then there's the Xbox dashboard.

Will the new Xbox platform feature a wireless tablet like Nintendo Wii U? Hopes are inflated that this year's E3 will sport the new Xbox announcement. Will it be SKU dependent?

Microsoft are said to be releasing two models of the next Xbox, with one selling as cheaply as possible and the other targeting hardcore gamers - a tablet sounds premium.

"There are strong signs suggesting that, like with Nintendo's Wii U, a tablet component figures heavily into the new design. That saucy Windows 8 Metro interface (now also seen on the Xbox Dashboard) just begs to be touched," reports GameSpot as they gaze into 2012.

"Speculation as to the form it will take has been rife for the past few months, with some even suggesting that the core of the new platform will be akin to a tablet PC that wirelessly connects to a base station, which in turn plugs into your TV."

"If this is the case, a premium Xbox Next setup could feasibly include a base station, a tablet, a conventional controller of some kind, and the recently discussed high-def evolution of the Kinect."

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is said to be making the first official noise about a new Xbox as he delivers a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show tonight. Is there a tablet in Xbox's future? Wasn't the introduction of Kinect meant to remove the 'barrier' that any kind of physical controller creates? It seems this maybe a rumour too far.

Source: GameSpot