According to rumors, the production line of the PS4 will indeed be Orbis. The term is Latin for circle and will likely be part of the console’s full name, because the number four in Japanese (shi) also means death and is generally thought of in a negative fashion.
The name Orbis will also tie into Sony’s PS Vita, which is Latin for life. This “circle of life” system-pairing will likely be built on cross-play and cross-buy functionality present in the PS3 and Vita, as Sony seeks a larger ecosystem of devices.
At the core of the PS Orbis will be an AMD quad-core APU 28nm processor codenamed “Liverpool,” 16GB of flash memory enabling swift firmware updates, and 4GB of RAM, or possibly 8GB of RAM. “The downside is that RAM is expensive, but Sony can’t afford to scrimp,” PSM3 commented.
There’s the possibility that the system will ship with a controller that consists of two magnetized Move wands that form a Dual Shock when combined. The PS Orbis will also likely have a Move camera integrated and the ability to use the PS Vita as a controller and “Sony also filed patents for augmented reality 3D controllers,” noted the article.
The PS Orbis is expected to be an “always online” experience. As such, PlayStation Plus will factor in even more, with subscription plans likely to supplement the raw cost of the console and reduce the sticker shock.
Games available on the system could come from the cloud, be free-to-play and possibly be ad supported. It is also a possibility that the online-only nature of the console would lock out used games entirely.
The report states that the console will not be backwards compatible with old PlayStation discs, instead supplementing it with a back catalog of streaming games. The reports of an ultra-hd, 4K resolution were also bagged as impossible for the system.
The cost for the Orbis could be $500 or more and come between late 2013 or in early 2014. Games have been in production for the system for over 18 months, most being emulated on PCs right now. “PS4 will be a high-end PC with optimized, custom graphics hardware “that’s no bad thing,” PSM3 concludes.
Source: ITproportal.com