According to a few reports I have been hearing the Xbox "720" will have 16 cores I'm sure that it's really 8 cores with 16 threads but never the less that is a lot.Also I have heard that 2 of the cores is just for the Kinect technology which would free up the other cores for other processes. The 720 is also suppose to be have 2 7XXX series video cards which would be insane as well pretty soon there going to have to be shipping these consoles with water cooling.
I doubt it will have anything too crazy, considering they are only going to be 500 or 600$. Also if they cant keep the system cool without water cooling they fail miserably considering everything is custom built and fit to accommodate airspace. Its not like buying computer parts and sticking them into a box
I really hope instead of disk they just sell preformatted usb sticks in cases. Thats what im waiting for.