Microsoft Planning “Xbox Lite” Alongside Xbox 360 Replacement?

Casual gaming, along with both smartphones and tablets, have really picked up steam lately, and some folks have been wondering what the “normal” video game console guys will do about it. Well, if this latest leak is to be believed, it looks like Microsoft is planning a new console with a scant $100 price tag in order to go with the flow – appeal to those who would like to play Angry Birds on their big-screen TV – as well as to bring the company's gesture-sensing Kinect controller and the existing Xbox 360's media playback capabilities to more people.

The Xbox 360 Slim

Within the Xbox Lite's casing will be an ARM-based processor, similar to what's found in most of today's gadgets, so one can probably assume that compute power will be lower than what's provided by the aging Xbox 360's processor. We aren't too sure of what graphics chip will be used, either. But, then again, you don't need all that much power just to run a few simple games and watch videos. Meanwhile, the use of a power-efficient ARM chip should allow this supposed 'Lite to get away with a smaller casing without any active cooling.

Judging by the mass appeal of casual games and set-top devices in general, the Xbox Lite may end up a rather popular device, and Microsoft is clearly setting itself up for such a situation with a release near the end of 2013. If they are preparing an Xbox Lite at all, of course. Do take all of this with a grain of salt until we hear from more sources.

(Via The Tech Report)