Microsoft's Huge Xbox Update Brings Voice-Control, Motion-Sensing, Tons Of New Content

LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a new interface for its Xbox game console, one that allows you to navigate through music, movies, TV shows and games with the wave of your hand or the sound of your voice.

The interface, first demonstrated by CEO Steve Ballmer in September, is set up similarly to Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system with a series of large panes showing content options.

Xbox owners with the Kinect motion controller can swipe through screens by waving their hand in the air. It also responds to direct voice commands and incorporates Microsoft's search engine, Bing. Windows phone users can control what to watch or hear by tapping on their portable devices.

The interface will be available to Xbox users connected to the Internet via a download on Tuesday.

In a demonstration for The Associated Press, a Microsoft employee demonstrated how saying, clearly, "Xbox. Bing. `Iron Man,'" brought up a selection of movies, TV shows, games and soundtracks related to the title. Saying "Xbox. Show. Movies," brought up places to rent or buy the movie, including Microsoft's Zune store, Wal-Mart's Vudu, Netflix or pay TV channel Epix.

Separate subscriptions are required for services like Netflix, and much of the content also requires being a gold member of Xbox Live, a connected Internet service that costs $60 a year.

Microsoft expects to have pay TV channel partners, including those supplied by Verizon FiOS. There will be no broadcast partners, so fans of the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox networks will continue to rely on standard set-top boxes or digital rabbit ear antennas for that content.

Microsoft says there have been 57 million Xbox units sold around the world and there are more than 35 million users who have logged on to its Xbox Live service at least once in the last three months. It did not divulge how many Xbox Live users are paying gold members.

Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox Live entertainment and advertising, said about 40 content partners were expected for the platform. Available apps from those partners will roll out over time. Other partners include the British Broadcasting Company, Hulu Plus, Disney's online ESPN3 service, Ultimate Fighting Championship, YouTube and cable giant Comcast Corp.'s Xfinity on-demand subscription service.

Many of the offerings require separate pay TV subscriptions or one-time payments. Honey said that many deals with content providers are still in the works.

"As with any new technology that comes with the entertainment industry, it takes time," he said. "What we have here is a start."

Comments

[bryanzth]

07:09 PM on 12/06/2011

Hm. MS gonna segue from a failing winders interface to a gamer Xbox interface for work that is play. I'll stick with Linux or Unix and let the kids play with Vista 7.

BZ.

[LongRunAggregateSupply]

09:16 PM on 12/07/2011

By Linux do you mean Ubuntu?

[Tom Hn]

11:17 AM on 12/06/2011

The only respectable product from Microsoft nowadays. I always liked Xbox because it is not like Windows or Office.

[bryanzth]

07:14 PM on 12/06/2011

I always quip gripe about Vista 7 and Office. Well, boys and girls, I am having to use Vista 7 right now. It is so toy like. Reminds me of a plastic Barbie interface. I got so angry at Office that I replaced it with OpenOffice. I can breathe now. The ribbon makes me want to hit the screen.

I am not kidding or using hyperbole (well not much) and the lack of all I can do on the Mac or in LInux is giving me hives.

BZ.

[ChaseM1017]

09:24 AM on 12/06/2011

See, this is why Microsoft is so hip and cool.

[bryanzth]

07:11 PM on 12/06/2011

No, they bought hip and cool from someone else. MS stopped being cool before Microsoft Bob.

BZ.

[LongRunAggregateSupply]

09:58 PM on 12/07/2011

Who did they buy it from? I can tell you know a lot about computers and tech because your are touting your hate for Windows and how you use Linux (which is called ubuntu now but ill let it slide, you fooled the others).

[I think therefore I am]

09:15 AM on 12/06/2011

I love my X-box & although I can't play it as much as I would like due to work, it is a great way to reduce stress and escape from this mad world we live in for a few hours. For those worried about the "RIng of Death" or RROD there is a simple and cheap solution. One simple way to avoid the RROD is by buying a cheap $12.00 fan that goes in the back of the Xbox. This prevents it from getting too hot which accounts to about 74% of the reason behind RROD. Remember most people spend about 4 to 8 hours playing in one sitting. It is bound to get hot!!! I added this fan to my X-box and have never had a single problem.

[Sanders McGrillin]

08:23 PM on 12/06/2011

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check into adding one to mine tonight!

[LongRunAggregateSupply]

09:55 PM on 12/07/2011

These fans do not really help, sometimes they actually cause.more heat. I_think_therefore_i_am has done nothing in his.comments except suggest people buy this $12 fan. In my experience, those.who promote sometheng so.adamantly usually have something to gain from you buying it.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

06:34 PM on 12/05/2011

Why integrate "Bing" if there is no real way to search the internets (where most of the information lies)?  I really doubt that people will start computering Bing more because "Bing" is searching their Xbox for them.

So can I search my local files and the Xbox marketplace?  Lucky lucky me.

I just do not get it.  And the visual controls (at least for games) still suck.  It is so much easier to just use a controller.

If this was Minority Report (2002), then I could see calling it "futuristic."  It is not that though.

[thx1139]

02:10 PM on 12/07/2011

Bing Search on the Xbox searches through all the content on the Xbox as well as content on the internet depending on the apps that are available to you. Search for "Arrested Development" you will get results back for Netflix, Hulu, Zune Marketplace. You then can play the episode you want from the provider you prefer.

The more providers you have (In January I will be able to use Xfinity/Comcast) the more potential media content. Rather than having to search through Netflix, Xfinity/Comcast, Zune Marketplace, Hulu Plus, etc. to find who offers a show/movie Bing search does it for you and also tells you which ones make the content available for free.

Bing search will also find you games, videos, songs associated with the same content.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

03:53 PM on 12/07/2011

It is still not Bing search no matter how much they try to brand it as being Bing search.

I play very little of this Xbox so I really did not realize how useless Microsoft makes the machine.  I could not believe that it actually referred me to a link that I could not view about that stupid Kinect.  I eventually figured out my problem, but it was annoying.

[portabello]

05:39 PM on 12/05/2011

This is great! I can see all my streaming content PLUS I can watch my HD DVD's on the same system!

[Deftguy]

06:48 PM on 12/05/2011

LOLOLOLOLOL...HD DVD......LOLOLOL. You have got to be kidding me!

[portabello]

10:03 PM on 12/05/2011

Omg, out of all the people who read these comments, you are the ONLY one that got the joke.

I have no choice but to fan you for even knowing what an HD DVD is!

As far as I know, Xbox STILL doesn't have a native blu ray player.

[fozzi58]

04:05 PM on 12/05/2011

Interesting.

Bought an XBox last year. I use it to watch TV through my Media Center Computer, and movies I have downloaded or ripped from DVD to my hard disk. Very convenient as a media extender - allows me to play music in the living room through the tv from my music collection on my NAS drive in the basement. Maybe I should buy a game?

My only problem with the whole setup is you need to pay for a some type of TV service and XBox Live account.

Once that can be bypassed, it will become more mainstream.

[LongRunAggregateSupply]

09:38 PM on 12/07/2011

If you have a basic account, xbox often offers a year of gold for around $30. And the $5 a month you pay @ $60 keeps the service running. Note that xbox live has never been hacked or brought down except for scheduled maintainence, unlike sonys spotty record.
Also, remember that you can hook up and exernal hard drive and use it as an xbox storage device.

[marred]

03:47 PM on 12/05/2011

Oh yeah and there's no subscription fee either :)

[marred]

03:47 PM on 12/05/2011

Just get apple TV. It's far superior and you don't have to talk to it. Since when is speaking to your TV easier than pressing buttons?

[vibroluxor]

04:05 PM on 12/05/2011

Apple TV huh....can you even still get those anymore?

[marred]

10:13 PM on 12/05/2011

yes try the apple store.

[RobertFromMN]

03:55 AM on 12/06/2011

$99. It's great. Surprisingly underappreciated and underhyped considering it's Apple.

[jgeurian21]

05:29 PM on 12/05/2011

If by superior you mean missing a slew of features found on the Xbox 360, then yes I guess you could say the AppleTV is far superior. Then again, no one would, so really your comment doesn't make much sense.

[marred]

10:14 PM on 12/05/2011

It does to people who own an apple TV and an xbox like I do. Thank you for trying though :)

[MIMom]

03:41 PM on 12/05/2011

My husband wants one of these ridiculous things. He's got a PC and every other game system known to man (almost), so I can't justify the expense of one of these. Sure, it's probably fun, but $199 for a basic console PLUS the Kinect, and THEN you get started on buying games (or subscribing to GameFly)? You are well on your way to a new computer or an iPad/Samsung tablet. What's the point?

[marred]

03:43 PM on 12/05/2011

Is he your husband or your child?

[MIMom]

03:45 PM on 12/05/2011

Depends on the day. :)

[portfolio]

03:44 PM on 12/05/2011

Are you being snarky?

[MIMom]

03:50 PM on 12/05/2011

I'm always snarky...at least here. :)

Seriously, though -- the future of gaming is NOT in consoles. Consoles are not as portable as phones or tablets or even plain old handhelds (like the PSP). If money were no object, then yeah I'd buy it for him. However it is an object and to me this isn't a smart investment. He has an XBox controller for his PC already, we have a Wii, a Gamecube, and a Playstation 2 doing a lot of nothing already. We've previously owned SuperNintendo, original NES, Sega Genesis, Atari, and GameBoy...all eventually wastes of money.

[aristippe]

03:31 PM on 12/05/2011

My Xbox 360 just died. Got the red light of death. Crappy hardware. Don't think I'm gonna by another console.

[portfolio]

03:45 PM on 12/05/2011

RROD is pretty much not a problem with the new consoles.

Plus your old box can probably be fixed.

[rw302361]

03:49 PM on 12/05/2011

wii is alot more depenable

[fozzi58]

04:02 PM on 12/05/2011

Doesn't have the features XBox offers aside from the games.

I have both. Wii - great for kids.

XBox - great for watching TVs through media center PC or movies stores on hard drives. Wii doesn't have that capability.

[fozzi58]

04:05 PM on 12/05/2011

Or you need to buy PlayOn and set it up on PC so Wii can access TV.

[javajava]

03:23 PM on 12/05/2011

I got way too much $hit plugged into my TV. As i'm sure most of us have. Maybe the update will allow me to let go of my media server.

[Bruckley]

03:02 PM on 12/05/2011

More money you have to pour into the thing

[NerdyStudent]

05:41 PM on 12/05/2011

Unless I'm confused, that's how most products in our modern consumer market work these days.

[LongRunAggregateSupply]

09:52 PM on 12/07/2011

You do.t actually have to buy the media they added. Unless you want to watch the movies or shows, in which case welcome.to.the concept of business. Pay for a service, what a novel idea.

[Styxtap]

03:01 PM on 12/05/2011

This is the future of the entertainment system in your house. Minority Report Style.

[CadOps]

02:55 PM on 12/05/2011

I want my 720