A number of details about Microsoft’s next generation Xbox, currently dubbed the ‘Xbox 720′, emerged late last night and early this morning.

Most of these rumours come from Kotaku, which claims to have apparently well placed sources in the industry.

Here is the drill-down of rumours so far:

• Microsoft will use Blu-Ray discs as opposed to DVDs for the medium of choice. This is a given following the demise of the HD-DVD format.
• Microsoft will develop a system to prevent used games from being played. No exact details on how this will work quite yet.
• A new version of Kinect will ship when the new Xbox is released.
• Fudzilla and Semi Accurate claim that the new Xbox will be “six times as powerful” as the Xbox 360. The GPU chipset wil likely be based on AMD’s Radeon HD 6670.

Semi Accurate’s Charlie Demerjain claims that the next-gen GPU/APU that will power the Xbox 720, codenamed “Oban”, went into production in December 2011. Mr. Demerjain also alleges that when he asked his sources at Redmond for confirmation they allegedly responded with, “who the fuck told you that?” – an apparent vindication of Mr. Demerjain’s often reliable sources.

All reports indicate that the next generation Xbox will be launched in the fall of 2013.