aNewDomain.net — Microsoft finally unveiled its Xbox One gaming system this week, at a press event at its Redmond, Wash. headquarters. It also announced a new console and a new version of its Kinect, a cam equipped with 250,000 IR equipment that customers will be able to use to control the device with gestures.
For instance, Microsoft execs used pinching gestures to demonstrate the upcoming gaming system’s ability to instantly switch between live TV and gaming mode. No availability or pricing details were available, though we are hearing about a December 2013 target date from our sources across the team at aNewDomain.net.
The proof will be in the games, of course, and in how they make use of the new XBox One’s 8-core CPU, HDMI input and output and the revamped, DVR-like Xbox Live system Microsoft also announced today.
XBox Live, execs said, will provide no fewer than 300,000 servers as a cloud based backup system for its gamers, presumably to avoid a disaster like what happened when the Sony Playstation network went down for weeks in 2011. That was hard to forget. Xbox Live will also off load some of the processing work, execs claimed.
Other specs: a 500GB hard disk that’s irreplaceable under warranty, a USB 3.0 connector for additional storage, support for video chat, Skype support of course … a GPU that supports Direct X11.1 specs. The device is reportedly four times quieter than the current XBox.
Electronics Arts reps at the events promised its line of sports games would be ready within 12 months, which gives you a good idea of when Microsoft is targeting release for this as yet unfinished device. December 2013. Bank on it.
