A new report talking about the background and future of Rory Read, who is the new chief executive officer of chip maker AMD, mentions that the company is working with video game hardware developer Sony in order to create the chip to be used in the upcoming PlayStation 4.
Economic magazine Forbes claims, citing a number of former employees from AMD, that at the moment Sony and the chip maker are already working on the new technology designed to improve the prospects of both companies.
A custom Nvidia-made chip, the RSX, is now the graphics powerhouse of the PlayStation 3 while AMD is providing Microsoft with the Xenos, the core Graphics Processing Unit of the Xbox 360.
It is not clear why AMD would be interested in switching developers and platforms for the next generation of home consoles, given that the collaboration with Microsoft seems to have resulted in a pretty solid device, which has managed solid sales success during last year.
Both AMD and Sony have refused to comment on the report and on the secret collaborations, with both companies saying that they refuse to take into account speculation.
Sony has insisted for a long time that it has a 10-year life plan for the PlayStation 3 and has consistently denied all reports that it will reveal a new home console during 2012 with a possible launch date during the next year.
Sony has just launched a new handheld, the PlayStation Vita, and the company has made it pretty clear that most of its first-party studios are now involved with creating video games for the new platform.
Given that the Vita will require post-launch support for at least one year, regardless of actual sales numbers, Sony could be preparing a new device to be unveiled at E3 2013 and to launch later during that year.
Economic magazine Forbes claims, citing a number of former employees from AMD, that at the moment Sony and the chip maker are already working on the new technology designed to improve the prospects of both companies.
A custom Nvidia-made chip, the RSX, is now the graphics powerhouse of the PlayStation 3 while AMD is providing Microsoft with the Xenos, the core Graphics Processing Unit of the Xbox 360.
It is not clear why AMD would be interested in switching developers and platforms for the next generation of home consoles, given that the collaboration with Microsoft seems to have resulted in a pretty solid device, which has managed solid sales success during last year.
Both AMD and Sony have refused to comment on the report and on the secret collaborations, with both companies saying that they refuse to take into account speculation.
Sony has insisted for a long time that it has a 10-year life plan for the PlayStation 3 and has consistently denied all reports that it will reveal a new home console during 2012 with a possible launch date during the next year.
Sony has just launched a new handheld, the PlayStation Vita, and the company has made it pretty clear that most of its first-party studios are now involved with creating video games for the new platform.
Given that the Vita will require post-launch support for at least one year, regardless of actual sales numbers, Sony could be preparing a new device to be unveiled at E3 2013 and to launch later during that year.
