If you read gaming news every so often, there's a fat chance that you've already heard of new Xbox 360 units codenamed Jasper and Valhalla on the way. In the latest buzz about these shadowy new versions of the console, it was reported that IBM and TSMC have already received orders from Microsoft to start manufacturing the chips. More details follow after the jump.

In the quest for making ultra-realistic video games, a team of experts have banded together to create the "super chip", meant to power computers and game consoles even further than the currently-used silicon chips. More details in the full article.

More speculation has arisen on the Xbox 360 front following news that Singaporean chip maker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing will be producing a 45nm processor designed for use in video game consoles.

During a recent conference call, Chartered president and CEO Chia Song Hwee told analysts that the company has "customers' activity for products in the CPU space that goes into a video-game device." While the customer was not named, it should be noted that Chartered makes the processors used in Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console.

Since the Xbox 360 is priced at a point less than its manufacturing cost, a newer and cheaper 45nm processor for the Xbox 360 console could give Microsoft a chance to either minimize their losses on the console or further lower its price point.

If the chip is indeed going to be used in the Xbox 360, console owners will have to wait a while. Chia has hinted that production of the new 45nm processor is not likely to begin until late next year or in early 2009.

By way of a press wire in circulation, Sharp Corporation Japan has announced the upcoming release of what may be the world's smallest blue laser to date. This new semiconductor-based laser measures in at just 3.3 mm in diameter - see the press photo above for reference - and is announced to be compatible with both HD DVD and Blu-Ray format players.

It will be noted that not too long ago, Sharp made a similar announcement stating that they would be increasing blue laser diodes production for their factories in Japan. How that production increase and this recent announcement will affect the ongoing competition between HD DVD and Blu-Ray remains to be seen, although we hope this means better diversity (and lower costs) for consumers.

The new laser - under model number GH04020A4G - is scheduled to have sample shipments released this June 13th at an expected price of ¥12,000 (US $ 100) per pop. The mass production run starts this July at an expected rate of 500,000 units per month.

As you all know, online site Llama.com stripped down Xbox 360 Elite to its bare naked essentials literally. Quite unfortunately, it was found out that the new SKU still doesn't have the much-talked about 65nm GPU. Semiconductor Insights (SI) did the same recently and was able to provide some good inputs about the matter.

SI, just so you know, is one of the more reliable technical advisers to the microelectronics community around the globe. Some products that benefited from its expertise include Infineon, Intel, TSMC, and Texas Instruments among many others. Going back to 360 Elite, SI's technology analyst Rob Hilkes noted,

The CPU in the Xbox 360 Elite seems to be assembled in Canada whereas the CPU in the previous Xbox was marked "Taiwan." This may indicate that while the previous CPU was built on Chartered's Fab7 in Singapore and assembled in Taiwan, the CPU of the Elite may be built in IBM's Fab B323 in East Fishkill, New York and assembled at IBM's assembly facility in nearby Bromont, Quebec.

Hilkes added that the new system is using both sources. Also, the analyst added that Microsoft redesigned some aspects of the power architecture that results in a lower component count. For more info on this, watch the whole video analysis below.

It has been said that both Microsoft and Sony are looking to utilize the 65nm graphics processing unit (GPU) to be able to reduce production costs. Focusing now on the MS side of things, fans speculated that the Elite could already be sporting this technology but after a thorough inspection of the new SKU, it was found that the 65nm core is still not in use.

Anyway, online site DigiTimes just reported that chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has sent out an engineering version of the 65nm-made Xenos. The report mentioned as well that production of SKUs will begin in May and they will be available by Fall 2007.

It should be remembered that back in December 2006, it was reported that these 65nm chips will be available by mid-2007. Despite these delays, TSMC is still projecting that sales contribution from 65nm would amount to 5% during the said period.

Last March, it introduced 65nm-made embedded DRAM - one of the two dies that comprise the Xenos.

TGDaily reports that AMD currently has plans to bring "Xbox quality graphics to handheld devices." AMD plans to do this by utilizing their next gen mobile graphics technologies.

While specific details have yet to be released, AMD is reportedly "working with content developers now in preparation for the arrival of phones." These should be made available to handset manufacturers through "discrete media processors as well as through IP licensing agreements with semiconductor suppliers."

A developers toolkit that includes OpenVG 1.0 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support has already been released. The toolkit will also incorporate the same Unified Shader Architecture found in the Xbox 360. There's still no word yet on which companies have already signed up, but keep checking back here on QJ for more updates.

Dolby, a company famous among gamers for Dolby Digital 5.1, a technology used to deliver vivid sound on the Sony PlayStation 3, and the Microsoft Xbox 360 (don't forget Dolby Pro Logic II for the Nintendo Wii),  presented several technologies at the ICES that should deliver expansive sound experiences in consumer devices. The technologies demonstrated included the following:

Dolby Headphone – a technology that is set to offer virtual 5.1 surround over regular stereo headphones
Dolby Virtual Speaker – a technology that should provide compelling surround sound experience using any regular pair of stereo speakers
Audistry – a technology that offers a suite of audio enhancements that give a big boost to TV sound
Dolby Volume – a technology that promises to allow television makers to address to problem of having inconsistent loudness in broadcast TV.

Perhaps what is most pertinent to gamers though is that Dolby announced that it is collaborating with Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., to create and market a new category of game peripherals designed to deliver superior audio. At CES 2007, Dolby and Freescale demonstrated a new reference design for an Xbox 360 accessory cable that supports Dolby Headphone and Dolby Virtual Speaker.

The Barcelona-bound X06 rumor train carries word that Alan Wake is now fully playable. As the release is slated sometime in January 2007 already, we can actually believe as much as the rumors claim. Fortunately for all of us psycho-thriller fans, an unrelated event this morning unwittingly backs up the reports.

semiconductor company">Intel unveils the processor with codename "Kentsfield" today and name it Core 2 Quad. The California-based semiconductor company announces, "This Kentsfield, the Q6700, had been overclocked up to 3.73GHz, a 1GHz clock, with no issues." And to further demonstrate the new processor's power, they ran a demo of Remedy's unreleased follow-up to Max Payne.

According to Markus Maki, the developer's representative at the forum, "Remedy has coded the engine to take advantage of quad-core processors - the engine scales as you move from single to dual to quad." He also added that one whole core is used for physics calculations alone. This images taken from that very forum show environmental effects that are to say the least, stunning. We wonder if we would be soon hearing questions like, "What Unreal engine?"