E3 2011: Xbox 360 Gives TV A New Voice – Yours
What if you could find your favourite games, music, movies and TV shows, just with the sound of your voice? What if you could ask your TV to find “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” and it did — instantly? What if you wanted to listen to Coldplay and all you had to do was tell your TV and it responded by playing the Coldplay songs you love? Only on Xbox 360 is your entertainment together in one place – and now you will be able to find it with your voice.
Microsoft today kicked off E3 by solving the challenge of finding the entertainment you want, quickly and easily. The solution: voice search with Bing on Xbox 360. Bing on Xbox searches Sky and Zune, as well as music, video and Xbox LIVE Marketplace to find exactly the entertainment you want to enjoy. You say it, Xbox finds it.
“This is an incredible time of growth and innovation for our business leveraging technologies that see us, hear us and connect us all together,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “This year by bringing together the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing, we are transforming how people enjoy entertainment.”
Over the past two years, Microsoft has joined with some of the world’s largest TV operators to bring live television to Xbox LIVE in the United Kingdom with Sky TV, in France with Canal+ and in Australia with FOXTEL. Now, Microsoft has announced its commitment to expand access to live television programming on Xbox 360 to more providers in the United States and around the world during the upcoming year. Consumers will enjoy news, sports and their favourite local channels, all just a voice command away, on Xbox 360. Also this year, Microsoft is teaming up with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)* to bring the depth of the world’s best mixed martial arts programming to Xbox LIVE. Featuring live matches, classic fights, interviews and exclusive behind-the-scenes looks into the lives of the world’s greatest fighters, access the octagon in an all-new interactive way only through Xbox 360.
As well as adding more entertainment with UFC, Microsoft is building on its expansive catalogue of tens of thousands of movies and TV shows available on demand from Sky and Zune by bringing YouTube** to Xbox 360. You will gain access to great “Web original” content from around the world — the latest videos, gaming tips and a universe of compelling content. And for the first time ever, you can control YouTube videos just by using your voice. A great way to experience YouTube is now on Xbox 360.
Did you miss “The Social Network” in the cinema? You will be able to simply tell your television that is what you want to watch and choose from the multiple sources on Xbox 360 that may be offering it live or on demand. Want to play the latest viral videos from YouTube from the comfort of your sofa? Xbox 360 and the magic of Kinect make it as easy as using your voice. Xbox 360 brings together the entertainment you want, whether it’s movies, TV shows, music, sports, or your favourite games, available instantly with the command of your voice through Bing on Xbox 360 and Kinect.
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Martin Baker
By day I play video games, test video games or just simply write about them. By night I fight crime on the streets of London as a masked vigilante known only to a select few ... damn SECRET identity. Could never get the hang of that.
I've been writing about video games for about 10 years now, and playing them for even longer, starting off with a Spectrum ZX passed down to me in about 1988. Yes, I used to play games that came on cassettes. Yes, they were AWESOME!
I've been writing for God is a Geek since October 2010 and loving every minute of it, aside from that I write for my own website and work as a video game tester for Testology. So, yeah, I'm pretty much living the life of a gamer, and I don't intend stopping anytime soon thank you very much.
Unless I run out of money, then we might have a problem.
