The day is finally here, unless of course you’re a PlayStation gamer, in which case that day came several months ago. Microsoft has revealed the next Xbox – The Xbox One.
That’s right, the company has given its new console a name we’ve never heard before – it’s not the Xbox 720, the ‘Xbox’, nor the Xbox Infinity. The console is similar in size and shape to the 360, with a slick black finish and Blu-ray drive.
As we’ve heard before, the controller is similar in size and shape, with subtle improvements to areas such as the analog sticks, which now feature textured finishes for better grip. The console features a brand new dashboard that can run what you’re doing – gaming, browsing, watching TV – in a mini tile-style window.
Microsoft has also brought in features from Windows such as snapping, allowing you to ‘snap’ an app or game to one side of the display, giving access to the rest of the screen space to then run a different app. For example, you could snap an Internet Explorer window to the right side of the screen and then use the other area of the screen to watch a movie.
Voice recognition is also a pretty big feature in the Xbox One – Microsoft demonstrated many different commands that can be used to control the console, such as “Xbox, play a game” or “Xbox, open Internet Explorer”. The voice recognition seems pretty natural too, allowing you to use casual phrases like “watch TV” or “game” – the Xbox can automatically switch between playing a game, watching a movie, browsing the web and even watching live TV simply by using these commands.
More on the Xbox One as it develops…