Rumors are circulating that processor chips for theXbox One, said to be co-designed by IBM and Global Foundries, are codenamed "Oban," and have been in production since late last year. Though this might sound like Microsoft gearing up for a 2012 launch (especially considering the order was supposedly for 10,000 chips), the reports confirm that the chips in question are likely in the works to put into debug consoles for developers to start working on software, with an actual console release likely not coming until sometime in 2013. An announcement in 2012 is still likely, though, especially if Microsoft wants to steal some steam from the Wii U's launch.

Getting into the tech of things, it's being said that the chip "is a Power PC CPU plus an ATI GCN/HD7000/Southern Islands GPU," though that's just speculation based on other rumblings from the same sources. For those who don't fully understand what that sentence of technobabble means, just know that it can adequately be summed up with "it's going to be a powerful next-generation console."

You can read more about the tech here. It might be a rumor, but it makes sense - with other speculation pointing towards a 2013 launch for the Xbox Next, we wouldn't be shocked at all to hear that Microsoft is working hard to get debug units into the hands of developers sooner than later.