Update:

Microsoft has responded to Hall's comments, providing IGN with the following statement:

“The comments to The Verge were not understood in their intended context. When Brian mentioned a ‘new wave of products,’ he was referring to the full lineup of products coming later this year from Microsoft, including Windows 8, Office, Windows Phone and of course our fall Xbox update which will bring a host of new consumer experiences like Xbox Music, Videos, Games on Windows 8 and Xbox SmartGlass.”

Original story follows:

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A Microsoft employee has referenced “the new Xbox” for the first time. In an interview regarding the new Outlook.com , Microsoft’s Brian Hall (general manager of Windows Live) referred to “the new Xbox” as one of many projects that could be integrated with Windows 8.“We’ve had Hotmail and operated Hotmail for about 16 years. We obviously have Exchange, and Outlook, that people use at work,” Hall told The Verge . “We just decided it was time to do something new and bring the best from each of those and put them together and release it right in time for the new wave of products that we could have coming out with Windows 8, with the new version of Office, with the new Windows Phone and the new Xbox.”While this is the first time a Microsoft employee has openly acknowledged the new console, it’s not exactly a secret considering that we’ve already seen the system’s development kit . We know the console is codenamed Durango (or, more casually, Xbox 720) and we’ve seen several Microsoft studios reference a next-gen console in job listings, including 343 Industries and Rare Microsoft still hasn’t officially announced the console, but we’re certainly getting closer, as developers tell us the next generation of consoles will begin in 2013 . Until that happens, read about the few details we know so far in IGN’s analysis of a recent Microsoft patent filing We’ve reached out to Microsoft about Hall’s comment and will update this story with any information we receive.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN