The next-gen console war is going to get a lot more uglier in 2008 by all indications. Nintendo’s Wii has already found its niche with its innovative and cool way of playing games with the Wiimote and Sony PS3’s superior hardware is slowly gaining ground, but where does the Xbox stand in 2008? The Xbox Elite and Premium were great successors but the next big step is yet to come. Sure enough, Microsoft isn’t lazing around but is working on its next version of the Xbox, dubbed “360 Ultimate.” If the rumors are to be believed, the new Xbox 360 Ultimate will boast features such as built-in WiFi, high-definition audio output, 1080p HDMI, 65nm hardware architecture, and a “near-silent” fan. It will also have a monstrous 320GB HDD to accommodate Xbox’s upcoming IPTV service. But the icing on the cake will be the built-in HD-DVD drive, giving Microsoft the much needed edge in the ongoing next-gen format war.

All this and much more will be revealed come this autumn 2008.

Bill Gates and the Microsoft crew are rumored to be planning something big for next week’s Consumer Electronics Show, but we’ve got nothing but speculation to tide us over until then. Gadget mag Stuff, however, thinks it has—or genuinely has—the scoop on what’s coming down the product pipeline from Redmond. The Xbox 360 Ultimate, Stuff writes, will be hitting store shelves by this autumn and feature “1080p HDMI output, built-in Wi-Fi, hi-def audio output, cooler 65nm hardware architecture and a near-silent fan.” On top of all that, the IPTV service that MS touted at last year’s CES will be good to go.

Also included in the Ultimate, according to Stuff? A 320GB hard drive and HD-DVD drive. While we have our doubts about the authenticity of the details, the news seems a bit too matter of fact to ring false. Is someone at Stuff simply letting the cat out of the bag early? Perhaps we’ll know more this Sunday, when we report directly from CES ‘08.

This PS3-killer [Xbox360 Ultimate - autumn 2008] will benefit from almost three years of Xbox development, featuring 1080p HDMI output, built-in Wi-Fi, hi-def audio output, cooler 65nm hardware architecture and a near-silent fan.

It’ll also have the ability to make the most of the by-then established Xbox IPTV service, which will mean recording TV shows to its vast 320GB hard disk and watching live TV shows via your broadband provider.
But the piece de resistance? It’ll have a built-in HD DVD drive.