14 DAY TRIAL // The rumor mill has been getting very crowded lately, as the years-old Apple Tablet rumors are joined by various reports that promise much but are equally likely to turn out to be unfounded speculations. Most recently, PC Watch reported the possibility of Intel collaborating with Nintendo on next-generation Wii consoles. Regardless of how things turn out, even more rumors have emerged on the same Japanese website, this time implying that Sony is considering designs for the PlayStation 4 ahead of time.
When it launched the Sony PlayStation 3, the company said that the gaming console's lifespan would be of about ten years. It seems, however, that the developer doesn't mind thinking ahead and might already be considering new designs for the next-generation gaming machine.
PC Watch reports that Sony has already sacked an approach. The company had supposedly been considering designs based on Intel's no-longer-upcoming Larrabee processor with integrated graphics, but decided to scrap the idea, now that the chip maker indefinitely delayed the product's launch. It can also be noted that the Larrabee was already known to not be able to compete with high-end AMD and NVIDIA graphics solutions. Sony is, allegedly, now considering designs based on multi-core CPUs.
The console manufacturer is looking into these designs as a result of its supposed interest in shifting away from the Cell architecture, which is employed in the PlayStation 3. This architecture is harder to implement and build upon, which may have contributed to the way the company has been losing money for each PlayStaion 3 Slim console sold.
The rumors have not yet evolved into any kind of official notice from the company, but PC Watch also reported that the manufacturer was additionally working on a new handheld, which is expected to arrive before the PS4. The report doesn't indicate which company's chips it is looking into.