The XBOX One

instant0 · 2013-08-30T10:08:09.000Z

So, they actively disable voice recognition if you are “IP-located” to be in a dead-zone; or is it only that the voice recognition software cant understand Australians?

Fair Dinkums?

Teiman · 2013-08-30T10:19:11.000Z

instant0:

So, they actively disable voice recognition if you are “IP-located” to be in a dead-zone; or is it only that the voice recognition software cant understand Australians?

They said is complicated. So probably is a combination of language and country. de_DE you are good to go!, de_AT … sorry fucker!.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533052(VS.85).aspx

I have no idea how they work with accents in different regions. Maybe if you set your account to the german country, and select german language, all the different accents possible there are supported.

They said is complicated, so maybe I am completelly wrong here.

divedivedive · 2013-08-30T10:20:07.000Z

It would be awesome if Xbox 1 had trouble with accents. “Wait, what was that? Sorry one more time?”

Teiman · 2013-08-30T10:25:37.000Z

Pogue Mahone:

It would be awesome if Xbox 1 had trouble with accents. “Wait, what was that? Sorry one more time?”

They could put the technology on cars. So drunk people can’t drive (can’t even start the engine).

divedivedive · 2013-08-30T10:30:49.000Z

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to drunk dial your ex-girlfriend but what do I know, I’m just a car!”

instant0 · 2013-08-30T10:53:45.000Z

Pogue Mahone:

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to drunk dial your ex-girlfriend but what do I know, I’m just a car!”

hahaha.

So; even if you speak “near fluent” English you would be unable to use it from the dead zone.
Sounds stupid, but oh well.

I suppose the dead-zone countries will get a 50$ discount then, since they only get 50% of a kinect.

Canuck · 2013-08-30T16:19:42.000Z

Pogue Mahone:

I just really don’t know why anyone cares. It’s one more line item in a pretty long list of missteps

I think you just answered your own question. Any one goof can be overlooked or explained away. When it becomes a pattern it’s more disconcerting. For example, it might make people wonder whether Microsoft’s complete incompetence when it comes to marketing has also extended to the hardware side of things. Is everyone’s xbones going to red ring 4 months down the line? Probably not, as they’ve smartly removed the ring but their ineptitude doesn’t give me much confidence.

Cyrano · 2013-08-30T16:20:28.000Z

TundraWolf:

But you can definitely play that copy of Star Wars Kinect you have!

Not even that; Xbox One is not backwards compatible with Xbox 360.

divedivedive · 2013-08-30T16:34:35.000Z

Canuck:

I think you just answered your own question.

Not really, because my question wasn’t “who cares about lots and lots of bizarre shit Microsoft has been doing lately”, it was “who cares that this device that no one really uses may not operate as promised?” I mean let’s be honest, no one really thinks Microsoft is going to be competitive in Europe. And I have a sneaking suspicion that they could not care less. It’s Microsoft, man, they could make this work if they wanted to.

Thongsy · 2013-08-30T18:19:50.000Z

ShivaX:

Just resell it if you change your mind. It’s practically free money these days.

That’s true but with ebay you’ll get hit with lots of fees and lots of potential scammers. And locally might be better but I remember when the PS3 came out a couple of people got PS3-jacked at gunpoint up here.

Either way it’s moot now as I just gave my preorder to a friend of mine. And since my brother is already getting one I’ll try it out and see how it is first.

JeffL · 2013-08-31T07:43:11.000Z

WarpRattler:

The PS3 played Blu-Ray, while the 360 didn’t. That feature was available and working in all regions at launch.

This. I needed a Blu-ray player, and I basically got a gaming console for free with the PS3.

Murbella · 2013-08-31T07:56:11.000Z

Canuck:

I think you just answered your own question. Any one goof can be overlooked or explained away. When it becomes a pattern it’s more disconcerting. For example, it might make people wonder whether Microsoft’s complete incompetence when it comes to marketing has also extended to the hardware side of things. Is everyone’s xbones going to red ring 4 months down the line? Probably not, as they’ve smartly removed the ring but their ineptitude doesn’t give me much confidence.

You can’t blame the marketing guys for having to deal with the hand they were dealt. These are almost certainly upper managements problems where management tells the rest of the division “we want X, Y, Z features in the xbone” and everyone else deals with it as best they can. What is marketing supposed to say “yeah, we’re charging you a hundred dollars more for this shitty kinect you don’t want in the first place, but at least it works in a few countries!”

Canuck · 2013-08-31T14:25:46.000Z

Xbox One to be released ‘late’ November?

IGN

Xbox One Launching in ‘Late November 2013’? - IGN

The rules of a new Xbox contest suggest Xbox One is due “in late November 2013.” Could Microsoft’s new console launch after PS4?

Pretty much the only new console information left to find out is the xbox release date. At first I thought they were being coy but Sony has shown their hand. Do THEY know when the release date is, I wonder? When does PAX start?

nordhus · 2013-09-01T06:20:21.000Z

PAX Prime is this weekend.

jpinard · 2013-09-01T13:38:47.000Z

The Xbox team must be working insane hours right now. Going to be a tough road up and through launch.

Teiman · 2013-09-01T14:21:58.000Z

late november release, says the internets trolls

with a lot of changes. microsoft cant make more mistakes, but good software needs time. but who knows? mayne sony console os is a piece of crap.

Wendelius · 2013-09-02T04:26:44.000Z

This article on the XBox One UI and the Kinect integration is a good read: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-what-the-xbox-one-dash-means-for-gamers

I have to say it all sounds good to me: the “nuclear option” for the IR blaster solution, the improved Kinect, the ability to instantly switch and snap apps and the simplified support for multiple users. Sounds like it’s all well thought out and integrated. The article mentions several times how fast it reacts too. The Kinect 2.0 sounds like it will be a more useful addition (not replacement) to UI navigation and commands than v1 was. And that’s fine by me as I already found v1 quite practical for things like Netflix or starting games.

Wendelius

sharaleo · 2013-09-02T06:21:02.000Z

I’m not sure I’m getting the ‘Kinect as the IR blaster’ bit. For one, the Kinect sensor is facing into your living room - away from the IR receiving sensors on your other equipment, which it is typically sitting next to. How is that equipment receiving the blasted signal? Are they pumping out enough IR to rely on reflections from walls and furniture? That certainly does not sound like the panacea of IR blasting - too much margin for error in room layout and construction. And if it is, why does the console itself have an IR out port? Seems redundant.

And after all that, it was not even a hands-on anyway, just a demo run by official staff. Of course whatever they demo’d worked on the booth, it was explicitly constructed to do so. Proof will be in the pudding when this thing gets into peoples’ homes and set it up in their own environment. Only then will we know if the new improved Kinect will bring a revolution and live up to the hype MS are building for it.

stusser · 2013-09-02T06:34:24.000Z

sharaleo:

I’m not sure I’m getting the ‘Kinect as the IR blaster’ bit. For one, the Kinect sensor is facing into your living room - away from the IR receiving sensors on your other equipment, which it is typically sitting next to. How is that equipment receiving the blasted signal? Are they pumping out enough IR to rely on reflections from walls and furniture? That certainly does not sound like the panacea of IR blasting - too much margin for error in room layout and construction. And if it is, why does the console itself have an IR out port? Seems redundant.

Yes, it’s just an extremely powerful emitter so reflected signals work. The googletv had the same thing and it worked fine. The console has an IR-out port in case your components are inside a cabinet.

JeffL · 2013-09-02T06:45:39.000Z

OK, the one thing I’m puzzled about, if they think you’ll be using your XBox as your entertainment center: it has one HDMI in and one out, right? Right now, going into my AVR, I have a Roku 3, and XBox, a Dish receiver, a PS3, an HDMI cable for my PC, and am in the process of installing the Chromecast that just showed up. (One HDMI out to my TV from the AVR, BTW, so it is the “switch” for my equipment.)

So how does the XBox One become the center of my entertainment center?