Xbox One Cloud, Kinect and Smartglass details

Earlier this year at E3 Microsoft made a big deal out of the Xbox One's cloud integration; it was the highlight of the new system. Since then a lot of policies and features have been changed but it looks like the cloud is still going to play a big part in Microsoft's next gen strategy.

Details on cloud functionality were released in a video starring Albert Penello, Xbox's Director of Planning:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnQmvHsv5Tc&feature=player_embedded']

First off are the basics: your Xbox Live account travels with you including all of your purchases, save files and home screen layout. Stuff that is already available on the Xbox 360 with the exception of your home screen tile arrangement.

The more ambitious side comes in with talk of Cloud compute processing, which will come in handy later down the line when Xbox One hardware needs a bit of a power boost, giving the console potential to hit that 1080p/60 frames per second sweet spot that us gamers love so much and would expect from a “next-gen” console. 

Of course it wouldn't be a Microsoft video if the Kinect wasn't mentioned and Penello doesn't disappoint, explaining how the Kinect microphone will pick out your voice with other people in the room:

“Kinect can actually recognize up to 6 different people and because we have an array microphone, it can actually zoom in on who’s talking and just listen to those commands.”

While Kinect is no longer a necessity, features like snap on and game capture will be easier to do with your voice rather than the controller.

The Xbox One releases on the 22nd of November although some territories will have to wait until next year.

KitGuru Says: If this cloud compute function works in territories where the internet isn't as fast and delivers a tangible performance benefit then it could give the Xbox One that bump it needs. Considering 4K is becoming more of a thing now, consoles should at least be able to pull off 1080p. Do you guys think the cloud could offer the Xbox the performance edge over the PS4? 

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