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SummaryThe Xbox One won't quite replace your TV set-top box, but it comes awfully close.
The Xbox One won't quite replace your TV set-top box, but it comes awfully close.
The latest game console from Microsoft takes a big leap toward being the main entertainment hub in your living room. It gives you a program guide for browsing what's on TV and what's highlighted in apps such as Netflix and Amazon. You can listen to music and view photos stored on Microsoft's SkyDrive service. You can make Skype video calls.
And yeah, you can even play games.
Some of the updates to the Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 help turn them into multi-function devices that make them more attractive to non-gamers. The Xbox goes further than the PlayStation, mainly because it integrates regular live TV. Slick new operating systems and voice controls on both consoles can make navigating the offerings part of the fun.
The Xbox still requires a regular TV set-top box to feed it TV signals using what's called "HDMI pass-through.'' And you need subscriptions for TV and streaming services. The Xbox One acts like a traffic cop and weaves it all together elegantly. It doesn't pull up on-demand shows or programs saved on a digital video recorder; you have to use the traditional remote control with the Xbox still powered on to do that. But Microsoft is looking at adding that feature in a future software update.
The $500 Xbox One comes with an updated Kinect device for motion and voice detection, while the $400 PlayStation 4 has a voice-command camera system for the first time, sold separately for $60. Both systems are good at facial recognition and will sign you in automatically.
The Xbox adds a few neat tricks: Using your voice, you can power it on, adjust the TV volume, find shows and channels and start photo slideshows. That's much easier than searching my couch cushions for the TV remote control, even though my wife found it odd that I kept talking to the machine.
A nifty "snap'' function that is unique to the Xbox makes it possible to do two things at once. This way, I could play "Need for Speed: Rivals'' in a large
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