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Microsoft unveiled its next-generation video game console today. But the Xbox One isn’t just a gaming device. It’s basically the company’s take on what a living room computer should be.
It supports TV, video calls over Skype, multi-tasking with support for running two windows side-by-side, voice input, and a user interface that bears a more than passing resemblance to Windows 8.
Under the hood, it’s powered by an 8-core CPU, 8GB of RAM (Maybe it should have been called the Xbox 8) and a 500GB hard drive, among other features.
Update: The Xbox One will launch in November for $499. It’s already available for pre-order.
Here’s a roundup of tech news stories from around the web.
- Microsoft reveals the Xbox One
Microsoft’s 3rd video game console is called the Xbox One. Go figure. But it seems like a pretty impressive platform for bringing games, apps, video, and more to the living room. The Xbox One will be available around the globe later this year — but Microsoft hasn’t said exactly when that will be, or how much the game console will cost. [Xbox] - AMD slips to 4th place in chip sales as Samsung, Qualcomm rise up the ranks
For the past two decades AMD has been the number two chip maker, behind Intel. Sure, it was a distant second place, but it’s better than being number 4… which is what AMD is now that ARM-based chips are starting to sell like hotcakes. [IC Insights] - Asus PadFone Infinity… it comes in pink too
The Asus PadFone Infinity is a powerful smartphone that you can turn into a tablet by adding an optional dock. Now it comes in pink. [Asus] - Google releases Chrome 27 Stable
Web pages should load 5 percent faster, and Google is promising better spell correction, predictions, and more. [Chrome Releases] - Pandora now streams some albums before they officially launch
Internet radio service Pandora is launching a new channel called Pandora Premieres which lets you stream pre-release albums from both established and emerging artists. [Lifehacker]
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Yup, I’m afraid this IS what Microsoft sees as the future of the PC, not just the living room computer. A sealed DRM infested horror that they get to rake off Apple like percentages of all software that they allow to run on it.
And had not Windows 8 become a curse word I suspect they would have have called this thing the XBox 8. Now, that would be dumb. Almost as dumb as calling their third XBox product the XBox One.
Microsoft has a long history of confusing versions and naming, at this point I think it’s quite endearing.
There’s a point to the name though, they want this to be the all in one entertainment center… They finally gave it a Blu Ray drive and it has HDMI input as well as output… So like Google TV it can be the in-between device, etc.
While features like XBox Smart Glass let you use any mobile device to control your media experience and the Kinect thermal sensors are so sensitive it can even read your pulse…
So it’s got some potential…