Microsoft intends to unveil its next-generation Xbox console at E3 2012 next summer.  Sources indicate that the new hardware has been in development since 2006.

Microsoft has sold nearly 54.4 million Xbox 360 units since the console’s introduction in November 2005. The video game system is currently the ninth most popular gaming console of all time behind Nintendo’s original NES and just ahead of Sony’s PlayStation 3, which has sold 51 million units to date.