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New Tech - The Xbox One
Wednesday 22nd May 2013 | Alex
Eight years after the 360, Xbox have announced a new console. Is it as good as they say it is?
“The ultimate all-in-one entertainment system.” – Don Mattrick, Microsoft’s head of interactive entertainment.
So what’s new? Well, it’s certainly more than a flimsy re-labeling. The hardware’s been re-vamped: the ‘One’ is powered by an eight-core processor, has a 500GB hard drive and 8GB of memory. Plus, new app functionality means updates can appear mid-game.
What’s really interesting, though, is how they’ve developed interaction. Microsoft’s president of digital media, Nancy Tellem, put it like this: “Until now, the TV viewing experience has been a one-way viewing experience for the viewer. Now that is about to change.” The ‘One’ comes equipped with a 1080p wide-angle camera and modified senor capable of detecting (they claim) extraordinarily slight movement of the body. Voice command is widely employed and facilitates activity – trigger words prompt the console into certain movements and using the microphone enables management of internet explorer windows, organized across the screen as on a computer monitor. There’s more – using Microsoft’s ‘Smartglass’ technology certain functions are controllable from a tablet or smart phone. And it allows Skype.
What’s the caveat then? Well, die-hard gamers might be a bit taken aback if they were expecting a sole-purpose gaming machine. And you’ll need to buy a completely new set of games. They’ll probably be wicked – FIFA and the NBA are ushering out something new in conjunction with the ‘One’, but Microsoft still haven’t told us anything about the price of the console. Keep your eyes out for this one.
