Microsoft has finally unveiled the next generation of Xbox Hardware, and it's Xbox One. This sleek and shiny black box comes with a new 1080p HD Kinect sensor as standard and a redesigned controller.
Inside you'll find an eight core AMD CPU, 500Gb hard drive and 8Gb of RAM that, much like the PlayStation 4, developers will be free to use as they see fit. The Xbox One will also use Blu-ray discs and has two USB 3.0 ports. The console runs three operating systems simultaneously: an updated version of the Xbox OS, Windows Custom Kernel and a third OS to allow these to talk to each other. The idea is that it will allow Xbox One to have all the features you'd expect from a games console with the speed and flexibility of a PC.
It's when you switch it on that you'll notice the difference. The dashboard page looks similar, but now allows for instant switching from one function to another. Using voice commands you can flick from gameplay to live TV to Internet Explorer without any delay. You'll also be able to "snap" two functions on-screen at a time, surfing online while watching a movie or taking an HD video Skype call while playing a game.
Xbox Live will continue, of course, and your profile and Gamerscore will carry across to Xbox One. Sadly, your Xbox 360 games won't, as the two systems use radically different hardware. Microsoft has explained that the console does not need a constant internet connection, but that it will need to be online roughly once a day for updates.
Where pre-owned games are concerned, a new game will be tied to the profile that installs it. You'll be able to take a game to a friend's house and sign in to play it with them, but buying a game second hand will require an additional payment - the details of which Microsoft has yet to reveal.
Xbox One will launch worldwide later this year, which means we'll definitely get it in time for Christmas. For more news, info and the chance to watch the presentation again, head to http://xboxnews.game.co.uk/