Microsoft announce Xbox One console

So, despite all of the rumours and hearsay, the next Xbox isn’t the Xbox 720, Xbox 8, Xbox Fusion or anything of the sort. It’s Xbox One. Didn’t see that coming, did you?

Xbox One

In the worldwide reveal, Don Mattrick took the stage to reveal the next incarnation of the console, and this generation will be all about the living room, your personal experience and an all-in-one mantra.

The Xbox One, which looks distinctly like a retro VCR, is big, black and boxy. It boasts a large, equally boxy Kinect sensor, and a new, tweaked controller.

The new unit is being designed to be a true, all-in-one unit for the living room, and will incorporate games, TV, movies, music and the Internet, all controlled by voice and gestures. We’ll come to that soon, but first, the specifications.

Sadly, the reveal didn’t really go all that in-depth with the specifications of the console. It’ll feature 5 billion transistors, 8GB RAM, a Blu-Ray drive, 500GB HDD and will boast “near silent” operation. It’ll also be cloud heavy, as expected. No mention was really made of the always-on issue, though, other than the console will offer always connected content.

It’s not entirely revealing, and we were hoping for much more from the official hardware unveiling, but despite boasting that the console is powerful, MS didn’t really want to focus on the tech specs, but was much more interested in showing off the new Kinect functionality, alongside the new all-in-one ethos.

Next gen Kinect

A new, enhanced Kinect sensor bar, which features a 1080p HD camera, improved voice recognition and greatly improved sensor capable of detecting shoulder, wrist and other finer movements (even your heartbeat when you’re exercising) can be found at the centre of this experience, and with it you can take full control of not only the Xbox, but your TV too.

The Xbox One can be turned on with a simple “Xbox On” command, and will instantly log you in to the home screen. From there you can easily ask the Xbox to do anything, and it’ll switch to whatever you ask instantly.

In the demo the console was seen switching seamlessly between game, TV, music, on demand movie and Internet browsing, all with simple voice commands.

Simple, pinch and pull-style gestures can be used to return to the home screen and back to your chosen content instantly, and the Xbox One is even capable of running two items side-by-side, with a large left-hand screen, and a smaller right-hand panel. In the demo, this ‘Snap Mode’ was shown on the Xbox One and was used to view TV in the main screen, and sports results in the other. It was an impressive feature, and one that may even make Kinect haters change their tune.

Xbox One is going to feature full Skype support, including group calls, even whilst you watch TV (again, using the Snap Mode). This is, like all other features, controllable via vocal commands.

The TV integration will be further boosted by the inclusion of a voice-controlled TV guide. This will feature a favourites option, showing only your favourite shows in a custom list, and the ‘trending’ view shows you what the Xbox community is watching, and what’s popular, pulling the TV into the social media arena.

This all-encompassing, instant switching is made possible by the unique three-pronged architecture behind the new console. These consists of the Xbox, which will, of course, power the next generation of games, the Windows kernal, which will power the apps and multimedia, and the third, final component which deals with the multitasking, enabling the instant switching and simultaneous running of apps and games.

It was certainly an impressive demo of this well-rounded entertainment system, and if it functions as it did here, then the Xbox really could become the next big thing in home entertainment.

Hardcore

Hold on, what about the core? The gamers who made the Xbox what it is today? Well, Microsoft isn’t ignoring this section of its punters. We’ll report on the more game-centric details separately, but we should mention the new controller here.

It looks very similar to the existing 360 controller, but apparently has over 40 design improvements. These include new impulse triggers, a new d-pad and an enhanced, longer lasting battery, integrated by default so no more fiddling with batteries if you don’t buy a separate rechargeable power pack. The controller’s position can also be tracked by Kinect in a similar way to the PS4′s own pad.

The controller isn’t alone, and the already tested Smartglass functionality will return in an enhanced capacity, but as already stated, Kinect is the hub of the console’s user control outside of gaming, offering a “lag-free, instant and complete experience.”

Xbox Live

Xbox Live was, surprisingly, given short shrift, but impressive technical achievements were noted, including the staggering power base of 300,000 servers, which Microsoft claims is more computing power than the entire world, circa 1999. Big talk, but also quite believable, and staggering.

Xbox Live’s next gen will benefit from the Xbox One’s built-in game DVR, which will let users record, edit and upload their own clips to the service, and the achievement system will be both dynamic and personalised, and much more social.

Players will be able to search for other gamers to tackle in their favourite titles, even when they’re playing a totally different game or even watching TV, and online games will feature much more players, creating what Microsoft promises, “living and persistent worlds.”

Halo TV series!?

Lastly, on the hardware and non-gaming side was some more TV-focused content. To be honest, a lost of this was more than a little vague, talking about blending Xbox and TV into a new, interactive medium, but there were a couple of highlights.

First was the America-centric announcement of a deal between Microsoft and the NFL. Using the new Snap Mode tech, American Football fans who also partake in fantasy football leagues will be able to utilise a new feature that merges the real with the fantasy. Live games can be watched, and fantasy league info and stats can be overlaid, and updated dynamically. Impressive stuff, and if it works out, it’ll not only make watching American football more hands-on, but a myriad of other sports too.

By far the biggest announcement in the TV area was the reveal of a new, live action Halo TV series. Being worked on by 343 Studio and Steven Spielberg, this series will be a “premium television series”, exclusive to Xbox One. Fascinating stuff. No footage was shown, but more will come very soon.

So, the overall hardware reveal was quite a mixed bag. It was light on in-depth technical specs, and focused heavily on the multimedia and Kinect side of things, but at least we now know the name and what it looks like. We also found out that Xbox One is “coming later this year.” Zavvi is already listing the Xbox One for a November 30 release (this may change, however), and preorders for the machine have begun, with a £399 price tag in the UK.

Much more will be revealed at E3 in the next couple of weeks, so be sure to stay tuned.