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PlayStation 4 to be called Orbis, out Christmas next year?

A gaming site reckons it knows the name of the next PlayStation, as well as details regarding the console itself.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
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Luke Westaway
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The next PlayStation could be called 'Orbis', and may hit shelves around Christmas next year, according to Kotaku.

Citing a 'reliable source' who's apparently shared correct information in the past, the gaming site claims Sony's next console will have a Christmas 2013 release date to go with its daft name.

The site also pegs the PlayStation Orbis (I can only think of Keith Harris and his feathered green chum) as packing an AMD Southern Islands graphics chip, which will let you play 3D games in 1080p (yay?) as well as regular games at a whopping 4,096x2,160-pixel resolution.

'Select developers' are said to be receiving development kits for Orbis, but it's not all good news -- Kotaku's source suggests the horribly nicknamed machine won't be backwards-compatible with PlayStation 3 games.

A frustrating tidbit for anyone with a large PS3 collection. Rumours also hint that Orbis games will come on either Blu-ray discs or in download form, like the PlayStation Vita, and if you buy a game on disc it'll be locked to a single PSN account, with a required online authentication before you can play.

That's supposedly a move targeting used games. There wouldn't be much incentive to sell your games after you've played them or lend them to a friend if the disc itself was basically useless, you see.

One thing reinforcing the Orbis name is that if you visit orbis.scedev.net it takes you to the website for Sony's developer network. There's nothing Orbis-related on that page, but replacing 'Orbis' with 'Vita' or 'PS3' in that URL takes you to the same site, indicating that Sony has the name set up already.

It's wise to take reports from anonymous sources with a fistful of salt and wash it down with seawater, though a daft name, amped-up processing power and frustrating copy protection? Sounds about right for Sony's next console.

Do you think Orbis could be Sony's next console? Or would you expect the company's next console to be something a bit more radical? And what does the name 'Orbis' make you think of? Tell me in the comments, or over on our Facebook wall.