Gearfuse

Earlier today, Apple’s online store went up and down faster than Jenna Jameson, but even in that brief down time, rumors of updated MacBooks began to pour onto the internet. And here we are, announcing new specs. Goes to show that not every rumor is wrong or fake.

The standard new and improved MacBook now comes packed with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1 GB of memory, with larger hard disk space for all. The new MacBook is only an inch thick and features a much faster 802.11n wireless networking capability. — Andrew Dobrow

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According to Peter Moore, head of the Interactive Entertainment Business division of Microsoft (pictured above), the production team of the Xbox 360 is already working on the follow-up for the popular gaming console. Moore says that Microsoft is looking into what processors will be available around 2011-2012, a sign that this will be around the time of the next 360 release.

Could we be looking at the Xbox 750? With terrabyte technology? The thought is exhilarating, yet very unknown as of now. This would put the life of Xbox 360 at about 6-7 years, much longer then the Xbox’s 4 years of fame. Though, with Gears of War and Halo brand building up suspense for upcoming releases, while still working on the fame of former releases, the Xbox 360 might continue to sell well for the next few upcoming years. Will Moore now get a tattoo advertising this too? — Andrew Dobrow

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You thought Mac was the only media handling company to think about delving into the mobile business? Think again. The above design shows a phone subitted by Nintendo in 2001 to the U.S. patent office. The patent title was “Electronic apparatus having game and telephone functions”. The patent was not approved until June of 2006.

The name on the patent was Satoru Okada, general manager of research and engineering over at Nintendo. His name being on the patent makes it clear that at one point this was considered a serious mobile venture. To be anything breathtaking, the phone would have to be redone, design and interface wise.

The phone was to have two processors. One for the phone and a seperate one used solely for gaming. The last thing that Nintendo needs is to jump into the Japanese handheld market when there is so many goddamn competitors hitting the kids these days.

In 2001, we’re sure that a Mario inspired phone seemed like a very good idea. Though, now it just seems already obsolete. Who’s fault is it that we’ll never see this phone? We’re gonna take a jump and blame it on the patent office. — Andrew Dobrow

Electronic apparatus having… [Google Patent Search, via Digital World Tokyo]

An upgraded Xbox 360? Could it be true? Not right now says Microsoft. They have come out in the public stating that while this picture does confirm that there are upgraded Xbox 360s out there, Microsoft knows all about them. They will not be released to the public, Microsoft has said. Among the upgrades that these systems have are a cooler 65nm processor that should reduce noise, a 120GB hard drive, and an HDMI port for complete 1080p resolution.

“We’re always working on prototypes and new technologies and just playing with stuff in Redmond to see what’s interesting. … At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we’re thinking about announcing.”

–Chris Satchell

Prototypes and new technologies? That’s just code for “crap, they found out about those new Xbox 360s we were trying to keep secret… How does Steve Jobs keep all of his stuff in the dark?” While that question is still unknown, Microsoft might be trying to do some minor damage control and rumor taming at the moment. After the Xbox 360s amazing holiday sales, they really need to do something to keep consumers interested. Gears of War won’t sell forever. An upgraded 360 might just do the trick. — Nik Gomez

Microsoft Confirms Existence of Upgraded 360 [via 1UP]

If you were waiting for the Xbox 360 to drop in price, don’t hold your breath. One way that manufacturers are able to make their consoles less expensive is by reducing the size of the CPU die. Why does this allow for them to lower prices? Because they are able to fit more processors on a manufacturing run. Another small benefit of smaller dies is that they are able to run at cooler temperatures than larger dies. Microsoft had announced that they would be able to start producing 65nm processors in Q1 of 2007, but they have just pushed the launch time to mid-2007. Quite a push seeing as Christmas has just passed and their peak sales might be slipping away as more Wiis and PS3s are being shipped everyday from Japan. The Xbox 360 needs the price drop now to maintain its lead in the market, and because this price drop isn’t coming, Microsoft needs to do something drastic to make up. — Nik Gomez

Smaller processors on Xbox 360 delayed [Joystiq]

The first 65 nanometer chips made by AMD have just arrived. The codename for these chips is Brisbane, and they are a welcome addition to the Athlon 64 line. Probably the most significant part of these new chips is a transition to 65nm from the previously held 90nm AMD CPUs. Like nearly every processor released nowadays, the Brisbane line is being labeled as capable of faster processing with lower power consumption. These new processors will be adopted by Acer, Dell, Founder, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, and Packard Bell beginning in quarter one of 2007. With the upcoming release of Windows Vista for the individual user, AMD claims this processor will be better equipped to handle the high-resolution 3D visual effects of Aero.

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