The internet exploded with runors today, following new details from sources reportedly close to Microsoft. If these rumors are true, cable-integration, eye-tracking, Kinect TV and more are on the way for the next console.
We still have a few more weeks before Microsoft details the next Xbox in all of its glory, but sources point to Microsoft expanding its control over your entertainment systems. This would follow inline with Microsoft’s earlier strategies, including Xbox Live content and Microsoft SmartGlass, which were announced at E3 2012 for the Xbox 360.
It’s being reported by The Verge, from multiple sources, that a new HDMI passthrough and a user guide-overlay system would allow Xbox to become seamlessly integrated with your cable TV. It’s also being reported that the next genration Kinect controls will know when viewers aren’t watching TV, and pause the video for them, along with other basic controls and voice recognition. This cable integration could be the reason for the “always on” features that have been the target of much hostility from fans.
Kotaku on the other hand, is reporting that “XTV” will be a new feature that will possible fit into the next Xbox, something that wold align with The Verge’s sources. Microsoft has made it very clear in the past that it wants its consoles to be the center of all media-entertainment going forward, it has also launched very successful partnerships in the past with cable companies and ISPs like Verizon and AT&T.
