The new Xbox will be announced tomorrow eight years after the introduction of its predecessor - Xbox 360. However, consumers must expect more than a game console.

However, the new Xbox will be more than just a gaming console but a centrepiece of one's entertainment area. There have been a number of reports claiming that the next Xbox will come with an integrated Blu-ray player that will delight movie junkies.

Moreover, Leaks of key documents about the next Xbox's hardware have shown that the device will come with two HDMI ports: One to connect the Xbox to your TV, and one to connect your cable box to the Xbox. That's the same setup used by Google TV and the latest Slingbox, and it allows Microsoft to access your live TV programming and overlay it with its own programming guide, widgets and apps.

The Xbox Infinity will be showcased at a "special unveiling" by Microsoft's President of Interactive Entertainment Don Mattrick and the Xbox team. The next-generation Xbox launch should be used to unveil the new console, which is tipped to have the same eight-core x86-64 AMD Jaguar processor with 8GB of RAM as the PS4 console revealed in February.

Software giant Microsoft already handed out invitations for the unveiling of the next Xbox, dubbed as Xbox 720, Durango or Infinity, on May 21 at Redmond, Washington.

Rumoured to play host to two separate CPUs for dedicated gaming and multimedia processing capabilities, the Xbox Infinity could also have the new Kinect 2 motion gaming peripheral, Xbox TV streaming service and 3D technology.

Rumour has it that the console will also feature a 64bit system with 1.6 Ghz across eight cores and somewhere around eight GBs of RAM. That's quite a step up from the 360's 3.2 Ghz across three cores and mere 512 MBs of RAM.

The new console will almost certainly have built in WiFi, USB 3.0 ports, a BlueRay drive, large internal hard disk, digital audio and HDMI outputs. A second generation of the Kinect motion sensor is reported to be included with every console with some claiming it won't function unless the sensor is connected.

The Xbox 720 always-on DRM connection has recently been debunked by an apparently legitimate internal Microsoft email, which also tipped the next-gen console to pack a Blu-ray player and HDMI input connection.

The next generation of Xbox console is expected to be announced on the 21st of May this year and was expected to be launched during the holiday season. The new Xbox might not become available earlier than the first quarter of 2014.

However, Microsoft will face stiff competition with the release of Playstation 4. Sony's upcoming next generation console is scheduled for release the holiday season of 2013.