PS4 coming in 2012?

This would seem like an incredibly early release of a new console from Sony given that they tend to promote the ’10 year lifespan’ of their consoles, but at this point it is just a rumor. Maybe they’re planning on getting ahead in the next gen and beating Microsoft to release first? The release of the PS3 was a couple of years after the XBox360 was released and the Playstation brand must have lost some ground to Microsoft during that time. Microsoft is already also rumored to announce the XBox720 in 2012 at E3.