Today, Bloomberg has posted a new report that suggests that according to some sources familiar to the plans of the company, Microsoft is planning on releasing the Xbox 720 right around the holiday season time next year. It means that right now we are almost 12 months away from the next generation Xbox from Microsoft, so we should be having a great Christmas with Xbox 720 being one of the treats.

We have been hearing a lot of rumors and speculations about the next gen gaming console from the Redmond based company, and first of all we heard that it is said to be codenamed Durango. We have also heard various features and specs it will bringing, one of the major improvement expected in the Xbox 720 will be the addition of Blu-ray Rom. In addition to that, it is highly expected to bring Kinect 2.0 with so many new features. That’s not it; Xbox 720 is also speculated of being coming with native 3D support as well. Of course none of the above rumors are officially confirmed right now, but now we have the idea when this device will be released, which means that once Microsoft starts the mass production of the device we certainly will start to hear more about the exact specs for various sources.

Of course there are millions of satisfied Xbox 360 users all around the world who are looking forward to get their hands on the next Xbox as well. So, we are also hoping that Microsoft will launch the new console at E3 event in 2013 which is scheduled to be held in Los Angeles. You might remember that Microsoft launched Xbox 360 at the E3 conference as well.

There is a possibility that Microsoft might not go for the E3 launch for the next gen Xbox, as there is a possibility that Microsoft is trying to make an exclusive and grand launch for the Xbox 720. Currently, Xbox 360 is still leading the hardcore gaming market as the latest figures suggest that Xbox 360 is the highest selling console and it has beaten Sony’s PS3 with a big lead. So, that is why Xbox 720 is expected to be an instant hit among the consumers all around the world. Right now we have not heard about the next installment of Sony’s gaming console, but it is highly possible that it will arrive after the release of Microsoft’s Xbox 720.