Xbox One will talk the talk, let a remote friend walk the walk

Kinect can talk and Xbox One feature remote play
I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that

More Xbox One news is scheduled to be announced at E3 2013, but some new features are reportedly being leaked ahead of the press conference, like Kinect's ability to talk and remote play.

The new Xbox One Kinect will be able to hold a two-way conversation, according to multiple anonymous sources who spoke to Polygon.

Microsoft's 1080p camera is said to be able to scan a room and, if its facial recognition software picks up someone new, ask the person to identify themselves. In turn it will save that information to the console.

So far, this week's press conference was limited to a human player issuing simple commands like "Xbox, Game" or enabling Xbox One multitasking features with "Xbox, Snap Mode Internet Explorer."

Xbox One's ability to talk is being compared to iPhone Siri. Google also recently unveiled that its search engine will be able to carry a similar two-way conversations.

Of course, like Google's willingness to talk back, the new Kinect feature won't be ready for prime time right away. While it may be demoed at E3 2013, it is expected as a post-launch day patch.

TH; DP - Too hard, didn't play

Remote play is the other Xbox One leak that apparently couldn't wait for E3 next month.

Xbox One's brand of remote play incorporates the Microsoft-owned Skype VoIP service so that players can ask a friend for help in a game, according to Polygon.

The voice chatting friend can accept and take over the gameplay, which is a perfect solution for those difficult moments in which you get stuck on "that one stupid section" of a game.

Sony's holiday-bound PS4 also has a similar remote play feature, allowing a friend to take over frustrating gameplay moments.

Of course, if you're really an expert, the PS4's DualShock 4 contains a handy Share button that can begin broadcasting gameplay out to the web, proving that you don't need remote play support after all.

Xbox One has a gameplay DVR, which should mimic this remote viewing capability.

While Microsoft has yet to officially comment on Xbox One's ability to talk back and remote play, expect to hear about these new features next month at E3 2013.

  • Read up on the Xbox One vs PS4 debate, as Microsoft and Sony are matching each other on remote play, but have different advantages when it comes to other features.
Matt Swider