XBOX-HQ.COM - IBM to power Xbox Next (Xbox 2)

It was a rumor some weeks ago on teamxbox.com and now it's confirmed. Microsoft has signed up IBM to manufacture chips for the "future" generations of its Xbox console. According to a statement offered by both companies, Microsoft has "licensed leading-edge processor technology from IBM for use in future Xbox products and services to be announced at a later date".

That's the same language used in the statement announcing Microsoft's deal with ATI to use the graphics specialist's GPUs in future Xbox systems. It is widely believed that that announcement referred to Xbox 2, so it's a good bet that the IBM announcement does too.

But which chips will IBM provide? The implication is that we're talking PowerPC processors. That seems unlikely given the current Xbox's foundation on x86 PC technology, but rumours have circulated of a compatibility break between the two generations of the console. If accurate, it's a bizarre move for Microsoft to make, particularly since backward compatibility surely helped Sony sell Playstation 2. News-Source: http://www.slashdot.org.