Xbox One ushers in Xbox On voice recognition and command

Microsoft just announced the Xbox One, the company's newest gaming console to succeed the Xbox 360. Right off the bat, the first feature that they showed off was Xbox On (not to be confused with the console's name). It uses the new Kinect sensor (which we have yet to hear details about) to do voice commands and hand gestures.

The Xbox One can connect to all of your devices in your living room (maybe not ALL, but probably most of them). By doing this, you can control other home entertainment devices and even turn on and off your television using the Xbox One with Xbox On voice commands. You can also cycle through various apps on the new console by saying things like "watch TV," "call Fred" (in Skype).

However, you can also turn on the console by saying "Xbox on," meaning that the console can be turned off per se, but it will always be on in a sense in order to hear voice commands to turn on the console. You can also use hand gestures with the Kinect camera to swipe through home screens and apps, which will give you a Minority Report-type feeling.

Essentially, it's a lot like what you can do with the Xbox 360 Kinect already, except this time around, there's a lot more you can do with voice commands and hand gestures, and it's a lot quicker and faster to navigate through apps. The voice recognition seems to be quite crisp and fast, and this also was the first time we got to see the new Xbox One interface, which looks a lot like the Xbox 360 interface.