During a conversation with Shane Kim, the new Corporate Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Microsoft offered very general commentary on the next Xbox console.

When asked if his new role includes looking at how Microsoft is going to transition into the next console, Kim said:

"How [do] you think about next generation? What is that next generation going to encompass? How are you even going to define that? All of that is part of the equation. What kind of geographic expansion do we need to see? Is the world more of an online world than a hardware-oriented world? I think there are some really fascinating opportunities in front of us."

While the statement offers no details, it does suggest that Microsoft is at least exploring the idea of launching a digital system rather than a traditional expensive piece of hardware.

We're likely several years from the next Xbox, so enjoy this brief statement. It may be the last we get for a while.