Yes, I know this will most likely be an unpopular opinion. Even I can't believe I'm writing this article. (Me! The gadget and gaming geek!)  But it needs to be said, in light of rumors swirling around about these next-gen devices.

We don't need an Xbox 720.

At least, not yet.

Look, I love my Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Even the PS3, which I spent most of 2011 with after straying from (then reconciling) with an Xbox 360 S, is an extremely capable gaming system.  There is still plenty of life left in these systems, if games like Rage are any kind of proof. The current generation of gaming consoles are priced right (in the $199 to $249 range), offer online connectivity and gaming capabilities, and have large fanbases. Judging by the reactions to Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3, games can receive blockbuster movie-type attention and critical success, even this "late" into their lifecycles.  Over this past holiday season, millions of gaming systems were sold- this, despite a weak economy.

Speaking of which, the economy being what it is (not great for most people), I don't see how it would make sense for Microsoft or Sony to release new consoles now. This is particularly true for the PS3.  A new console debuting from Microsoft or Sony could be priced in the $399 or higher range (unless they are willing to take serious losses), and that does not include games or peripherals. To fully invest in a new system, consumers may need to invest at least $500 or more.  A lot of gamers may not be willing to make that kind of investment right now. Take a look at Nintendo's 3DS and Sony's new PS Vita. The 3DS debuted (as will the Vita) at $249. For Nintendo, they were forced to drop the price $70 several months later due to weak demand. The Vita, already released in Japan, has been outsold by the older PSP model. Sony is particularly egregious in this area; not only are they releasing the new (and admittedly powerful) Vita at $249, they are also releasing a new proprietary memory card format for it, which will cost more than the MicroSD equivalents.  On top of that, this card will be required for certain games. This speaks of a certain hubris that can frustrate loyal gamers.

Will Microsoft succumb to this type of hubris? There are talks of the next Xbox featuring digital downloads only. Some reports put broadband availability in the US to 68%, making a digital-only Xbox could be a dealbreaker for a decent-to-large number of gamers. The skeptic in me says that this is to cut-out used game sales and force the consumer to pay full price for a new game every time (weren't we just talking about the economy?). This would also prevent people from sharing games with others. And the reality is it comes down to increasing their profits at the expense of flexibility for the consumer.

In the end, we'll have to wait and see what Microsoft has in store for the next Xbox. I'm sure it'll sell millions. I'm sure that it will be a huge success (barring some sort of huge misstep in design and / or marketing).

But I'm not in any rush.

When not filling up Inside the Circle with his own brand of crazy talk, Julio maintains a blog over at http://www.julioinprogress.com. You can also Like him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jaowriter.

So I logged onto the Twitter website to check trending topics to see what was happening. Much to my surprise, "RIP Adele" was trending. I checked my news outlet sources on my Tweetdeck to see if there was any report on this. Nothing. Twitter had decided to kill someone and this time it was Adele.

If anybody would be surprised at the RIP Adele news, it would be Adele who probably logged onto the internet to find out that she died.

The internet is moving at an extremely fast past. If your name gets to Twitter trending topics, you're automatically news. That goes for the same for "false news".

News outlets use Twitter to send out news which is great for someone like me who "lives" on the internet. I follow a lot of news people/outlets on Twitter and I find it great to get news instantly. The problem is some news outlets sometimes rush to break news and get the facts wrong.

Joe Paterno, the infamous Penn St coach, was on his death bed and would eventually pass away. Unfortunately, some people couldn't wait to break the story and hit the "Post" button too early. Joe Paterno was declared dead on Twitter before he died. CBS news got the story from a small news outlet and tweeted it out to the world. The reps from Joe Paterno's family rushed and denied the report.

It wasn't good for that small news outlet and CBS as CBS fired a member of their staff and the editor of the small news outlet stepped down.

Even on television, the quality of journalism is deteriorating. The phrase "Breaking News" has become nothing more than an attention grabber rather actual Breaking News. Real journalism has been pushed out of the way for ratings. Instead of great story pieces, we instead get talking heads in boxes giving their thoughts on what they liked about a politician's speech or a celebrities' dress. It's all largely devoid of "news" and it's rather all for entertainment.

Its hard to get real news and facts. Television News is obsolete to me. The internet does a better job for me. It's not always accurate and sometimes it's damn wrong. But at the least the information is available to the user and they can instantly check the facts and find it if they are real or not.

Believe me, the internet doesn't get a pass for giving out useless information sometimes (Katy Perry unfollowing Russel Brand on Twitter is not news) but the best thing about it is that I have options and can choose to ignore it.

Journalism is dead. Newspaper are gone and buried. The internet is the place to be. Long live the internet.

For a moment, believe I am the Old Spice Guy. Look at that number then look at Windows Phone, back to that number--back to Windows Phone! Happily Windows Phone is not the iPhone. Perhaps in some twisted way, the fact there was no new holiday Windows Phone on Verizon was a good thing.

Overall, Verizon sold 7.7 million phones last quarter. Of that, 4.2 million were the iPhone 4s. In the first quarter that Verizon was able to sell the iPhone, it represented 55% of the total phones Verizon sold. Consider the Droid Bionic, Droid Razr, HTC Rezound, and Galaxy Nexus all launched around the same time as the iPhone 4s. With the exception of the iPhone, these are 4G phones, which Verizon happened to sell 2.4 million of last quarter. If you assume that the Droid gets top billing as Verizon has licensed the name from LucasFilm (personal investment) and the iPhone sells itself (which it pretty much does), that did not leave Windows Phone much room in its then form as an smartphone without LTE support.

Totaling 4.2 with 2.4 million gives us 6.6 million, or 85% of all phones Verizon sold last quarter were either and iPhone or a 4G phone – how many of that 15% remainder were HTC Trophys? Thinking about LTE being critical to Verizon moving forward it makes sense, to me at least, that there was not a new Windows Phone on Verizon this past holiday. It probably would not have sold well. With LTE support in phones like the 16mp shooter HTC Titan II and Polycarbonate-clad Nokia Lumia 900 perhaps Windows Phone can make a splash this summer winning the Verizon smartphone race with quality and not quantity.

Last year, Neville had an idea which I thought was fun, engaging and excellent. That idea had MVPs (and friends of MVPs) submit songs for a playlist. The playlist was basically a soundtrack for MVP Summit 2011. The playlist includes songs like "Hello, Seattle" by Owl City and "Bright Lights, Bigger City" by Cee Lo Green.

This year I wanted to resurrect that project and ask for songs to be included in the 2012 MVP Summit Playlist. However, there will be one twist: Instead of making your submissions public, you're going to send them privately to me. The final playlist will be released the 2nd week of February and it should be surprising what songs get included.

So if you want to have a song included on the playlist here's how to get your submissions to me:

• If you follow me on Twitter, send me a DM (if I need to follow you, I will) with your song selection
• If you wish to email it, send it to my email address
• If you wish to send it through the Zune software (Zune Social):
• Right-click on the song, in the software and choose 'send'
• Insert my Zune Social tag "tromboneforhire" (without the quotes)

The comments section of this post will be closed so no one accidentally submits on it. :)

There are a couple of things I'd like to request:

• The song should be available in the Zune Marketplace. If it's available through Zune Pass that's all the better. If it's not, then it should be a song that's at least available for preview/purchase.
• We're all adults here, if you want to submit a 'parental advisory' track go ahead. If you plan to have little ones listen to this play list, just delete those songs from the list before pressing play :)
• I want to ask that there be one person, one song for now. If I feel more songs can be added, then I'll let you know when additional submissions can be made.
• Songs only, not complete albums, please.

Thanks, folks. Let's make an awesome playlist for us to listen to on the travels to Bellevue, WA next month.

A boy fell into a mud puddle…

Now for the clean version, he took a bath.

That was the joke shared by commenter Ultraman1970. This joke won him a copy of Gears of War 3. You get it, right? It is the boy who was dirty and he (Ultraman1970) won because it (the joke) was submitted to the GLW3SNMPHD Giveaway post (that contest). Share your joke for a chance to win 3 months of Xbox Live and Zune Pass. The winner will be announced sometime tomorrow evening!