It's been known in industry circles for months, but the news is now finally starting to leak. You'll be able to buy the next generation Xbox in both America and Europe in 2005, say experts.

Many have expressed concern that Microsoft is forcing the next generation of console hardware too early, and that the current generation still has much to achieve. The most famous example of this came from then Nintendo of Europe MD David Gosen speaking at an ELSPA summit in London last October, where he lambasted Microsoft for pushing a next generation machine to market in 2005, and even went so far as to question Microsoft's motivation as profit.
-------- Source: Gameindustry.biz

I am excited that the new Xbox will be out late this year, but I also feel it is being pushed early. We will have to wait for E3 to get closer and see what Microsoft has to say about the release. I hope they aren't pushing it to soon where the PS3 and the Revolution have noticeably better graphics, where today the Xbox has better graphics than PS2, although graphics aren't everything.