Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360 will be able to receive voice controls, letting users control their television and search for content, the company announced Monday at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles.
By saying commands like “Xbox, home,” or “Xbox, games,” users will be taken to corresponding screens on the gaming device. Users will also be able to pause, stop and play movies with the voice control system.
Watch a video on YouTube to see the Xbox voice controls in action.
Microsoft also announced that it will add Bing as the search engine for the console. If a user says “Xbox, Bing, X-men,” then Bing will show related games, movies and animated shorts from a variety of platforms including Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN and others.
Also during the press conference Microsoft showed game play from Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and a new Kinect offering called Fun Labs, which among other things allows users to instantly create digital likenesses of themselves.
E3 runs from June 7, to June 9.
Nick Barber covers general technology news in both text and video for IDG News Service. E-mail him at Nick_Barber@idg.com and follow him on Twitter at @nickjb.