My Cart - In just a few short hours Microsoft will reveal their latest console, the much vaunted successor to their immensely popular Xbox 360. Still nameless, much has been speculated about the impending machine, and the world is only a few short hours away from finally being furnished with some cold hard facts.
The announcement comes nearly 4 months after Sony heralded the arrival of the Playstation 4 back on the 4th February (remember that?). Notably absent from Sony’s announcement was any tangible product, so if Microsoft are looking to one-up their fierce rivals from the off, expect to see the product itself occupying centre stage.
In fact, that’s going to be the main focus. In depth technical statistics might be lacking (and what we do know seems startlingly similar to Sony’s machine; an AMD eight-core CPU at 1.6ghz, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, blu-ray, USB 3.0 connections and a 500GB hard drive) but expect Microsoft to talk about pixel power accompanied by plenty of shiny new footage intended to dazzle. Under the hood it’s looking increasingly likely that Microsoft and Sony have gone for similar set ups, so much attention will likely be devoted to the expanded external functions that the latest Xbox offers. Microsoft have long talked about integrating the Xbox into the entertainment centre of modern and future living through their desire to have the console be ‘HDMI one’ – that is, the first thing plugged into your TV.
What this means is that the newest Xbox won’t simply just be an Xbox as we currently understand it. The belief is that Microsoft will be launching an all-in-one machine that will integrate video-on-demand, TV channels and potentially even the ability to pause and record live TV. Features such as these will undoubtedly place Microsoft in direct competition with companies like Sky and Virgin Media, claims ostensibly supported by Xbox spokesman Major Nelson last month; “we’ll mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment.” It seems games will only be one the new Xbox’s many tricks.
Whatever else the announcement brings, you can be sure that Microsoft will continue to push the boundaries of graphical capabilities, and an HDTV will be the absolute minimum requirement to enjoy it. At Electronic World we stock hundreds of cheap HD ready LCD TVs, cheap LED TVs and amazing full 1080p 3D TVs that are just perfect to get you all set for the launch. Microsoft won’t actually release the new console until around November, but you can pick up your HDTV from Electronic World now to be all set come the big release.
You can keep up to date with the launch as it happens by following #XboxReveal on Twitter.
