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Xbox One Is Your TV Guide
Microsoft demonstrated how its new console lets users navigate their television watching through Kinect-powered voice commands at the Xbox One announcement event this afternoon.
The guide pulls up voice-commanded searches based on names of shows (“watch Mary & Martha”) or networks (“what’s on HBO?” “watch MTV”). Saying “Show the guide” brings the top-level guide menu back up.
Xbox One also lets you pin favorite shows, so you can quickly check out the latest Game of Thrones episode or catch up on Parks & Recreation.
Finally, the guide includes a “trending” tab that displays a list of popular shows filtered by the entire Xbox One community or within individual regions.
Microsoft has yet to reveal whether the Xbox One functions as a replacement for your cable box or DVR or if it simply takes input from that device and layers its slick guide functionality on top. Likewise it’s not clear if it can handle over-the-air broadcast or streaming Internet sources.
Update: The console's HDMI input takes a stream from your existing cable or satellite box and layers its input on top. No functionality regarding streaming Internet or over-the-air broadcasts has been announced.
Visit our Xbox Reveal Headquarters for complete coverage of today's news.
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