Nestled somewhere between Microsoft’s announcement of the Xbox One and our announcement about Home: On, our upcoming home automation show, FastCompany Design released an interview with Microsoft’s chief production officer of interactive entertainment, Mark Whitten. The topic: How Microsoft sees that the Xbox One may one day be the central hub to control your home. And what Whitten talks about makes a lot of sense.

The Xbox One will likely reside in a central gathering place in your home, connected to your network and to a large display. Like it or not, it will probably always be on—certainly it would have to be on in some capacity to respond to your voice command, “Xbox: On.” And with its powerful hardware capabilities and potential for third-party app development, why not use some of its extra cycles to act as the controller for smart devices around your home. The Kinect interface could potentially aggregate and unify control over otherwise disparate systems like HVAC, security, lighting, and smart appliances—even energy monitoring. Most home control systems need some central controller, so why couldn’t it be the Xbox?

This may be the most we’ve ever heard from Microsoft in any official capacity about their plans for getting into home automation. Sure, Microsoft Research has been playing with HomeOS for a few years now, but this seems far more strategically directed than anything we’ve heard from that group.

Whitten admits that the concepts and even the project’s nickname (“Home 2.0″) still have a ways to go, so it may be a while before consumers start telling their Xbox to close the garage door and turn down the heat. But the possible opportunities this opens—even knowing that Microsoft is thinking about this now—are significant.

We’re thrilled to announce the start of a new podcast at The Digital Media Zone, Home: On—a show focused on home control and automation topics for the enthusiast and do-it-yourself communities. Over the past few years, we’ve started covering home control topics and devices more on this site and on our other shows. This is an area that’s (finally) growing significantly with products like the Nest thermostat and Philips’ Hue lighting system finding their way onto shelves at local big box and electronics retailers.

Once relegated to the extremes of bargain-basement X10 devices, tech enthusiasts who wanted to experiment with home automation didn’t have much choice if they didn’t want to spend a fortune on high-end control systems. But that’s all changed now, and manufacturers of common devices for the home like dimmers, thermostats, and locks are starting to offer connected devices that can be integrated into any smart home system or controlled by their own apps.

Every other week, we’ll run through industry news, take a closer look at interesting products, share project ideas, or present topics for information and education purposes. I’ll be joined by a rotation of co-hosts and guests from the industry, including consumers, industry experts, and executives from companies offering smart products of their own.

This is a topic we’re passionate about at the DMZ, and we hope you’ll share our interest and enthusiasm with each new episode. And of course, we’d like to hear from you. If you’re a home automation system owner, installer, product manufacturer, or even just a DIY home control hobbyist, let us know! We’d love to talk with you about your involvement in this space and hear your ideas about how we can grow and improve the show over time.

Home: On is a semi-weekly show, and each episode will be about 30 minutes long. In our first few episodes, we talk about some of the news out of Lightfair—a trade show for the lighting industry where connected devices were front and center; we look at the protocols that smart devices use to communicate with each other and talk with a company that’s trying to bridge those protocols so you can integrate virtually any device into your home; we take a close look at some of the latest Nest thermostat updates; and we walk through a home automation project for your bathroom. And that’s just the start! Episode one deputs on June 3, so check back at The Digital Media Zone and in iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, or Stitcher Radio in just a few weeks for Home: On.

Feedback? You can call us at 1-877-856-4933 or visit our Facebook page.

Here’s the rundown of this week’s show:

It’s a day that many have been waiting a long time for. Microsoft finally unveiled the Xbox One, the successor to the Xbox 360. It hits on a lot of the things we hoped to see: Blu-ray drive, yup; upgraded hardware, yup; improved Kinect, sure; amazing entertainment capabilities, that’s there too. New partnerships were announced (NFL), exclusive content (EA, Call of Duty), and an other-worldly Kinect demo all tied together a very tight, one-hour show that in most ways was everything the Sony PS4 announcement wasn’t.

But (there’s always a but) there was one LARGE question that went unanswered, and in the hours following the show, led to rampant speculation, most of it likely incorrect, much of it fueled by mixed messages from Microsoft. And that is the state of used/shared games on the Xbox One. Is there a fee to play on another console? Yes. Wait, no. Wait, maybe? Used games. Yes, but in a way we’re not accustomed to today. Sharing games with friends, most likely not, but possibly. One thing we did find out after the show recorded is that family members will be able to play the same game with multiple accounts.

In this show, we spend a lot of time looking at the use cases that, as of Tuesday night just hours after the announcement, were the most murky. We do, of course, look at the rest of the event, which to be sure showed off an amazing new device with some very cool tricks. But certainly all eyes will be on E3 in a couple weeks, looking for Microsoft to clear up some of the question marks.

(Note, IGN had a good “What we do and don’t know” article Wednesday morning. I highly suggest taking a peek.)       

Blu-ray releases for May 28.

Download Episode 143!

	Seen In HD Subscriptions

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. Microsoft lifted the curtain from their new entertainment console. It’s called the Xbox One, and Microsoft revealed a lot of information on the new console, new controller, new Kinect, and a plethora of new features. As if all the Xbox information weren’t enough to pack a show there were multiple emails and voicemails to cover beforehand. Josh and Richard cover all that and more on episode 228 of the Entertainment 2.0 podcast. If you’re not listening live you’re missing a lot of fun, so make sure to join Josh and Chris Barnes for the live recording of episode 229 Tuesday, May 28th at 9:00pm ET!

Click here to download episode #228

Subscribe to the Show

• Subscribe via RSS
• Subscribe via Zune
• Subscribe via iTunes

Show Links:

• Windows Phone Now in Third Place
• Love magazines? Get a $50 credit from Zinio for your Nokia Lumia
• Xbob One Revealed

Be sure and send us your emails and voicemail! (1-877-856-4933)

Follow us on Twitter: Josh Pollard and Richard Gunther.

Like us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/theDMZ

Check us out on Google+

The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

It’s been more than seven years since the launch of the Microsoft Xbox 360. The console has sold over 77 million units since its 2005 launch, but for as much as we’ve loved about the entertainment console it’s been a little long-in-the-tooth for the last couple of years. Today Microsoft announced the successor 360. They wasted absolutely no time showing the new console, controller, and Kinect, and in revealing its new name: Xbox One. The name seems odd at first. It’s not the first Xbox console; it’s the third. The name comes from the idea that it’s an all-in-one system for games, television, and entertainment.

Television and Entertainment

What may be surprising is that Microsoft didn’t start the press conference by detailing the console’s gaming prowess, or even its hardware. Instead they jumped straight into the television and entertainment features of the Xbox One. The new device does, as was rumored, have an HDMI input that allows a television receiver to pass its video content through the Xbox, to your TV. That means that you won’t need to change inputs on your TV to switch between gaming and television, but far more importantly you can use the Xbox to control the television receiver. The Xbox even provides its own electronic programming guide interface that can be controlled with your voice using the new Kinect sensor. For example you can say “Watch ESPN” or “Watch Game of Thrones” and it will either immediately tune to that program if it’s available, or perform a global search across the ecosystem to see what content is available for the given name. You can also things like “What’s on HBO” and it will go straight to that section in the guide to show you. While Microsoft didn’t provide any details on how the Xbox One with its OneGuide will be able to control the television receiver, Engadget is reporting that it will use IR blasters and HDMI CEC. One of the footnotes in the press release states “At launch, Live TV will require a supported receiver device with HDMI output”, so it does look as though it will only work with specific television receivers. When the console was shown to Wired they demoed this functionality with DirecTV, so one can assume that will be a launch partner. The best we can probably hope for, at least in the US, would be support for DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon Fios support at launch. Even that is probably wishful thinking though.

Obviously we love Windows Media Center here at the DMZ, and we’ve been recommending using the Xbox 360 as Windows Media Center Extender for years. One question that wasn’t answered today is whether the Xbox One will also function as Media Center Extender.

The Xbox One has the Windows 8 kernel at its core, and it’s very apparent from the moment you boot it up. The home screen looks very similar to the Windows 8 Start screen. The first group of tiles shows the items you’ve used most recently, then there are more groups for games, TV & movies, and music. Another feature that will be quite familiar to Windows 8 users is Snap. With the Xbox One you can snap a secondary app to the side of the screen. One common demo was watching live TV with Internet Explorer in a snapped pane, or a fantasy sports app that updated stats in real time.

What may be even more important to the Xbox One as an entertainment console is its performance. The One has a new a feature called Instant Switching. It does exactly what it sounds like: instantly switches between apps. One of the biggest problems with Xbox 360 was that it took so long to launch many of the apps. With Instant Switching you really can instantly switch between live TV, Internet Explorer, and presumably any other app that you might be using. It was incredible to see just how fast it switched apps.

Hardware

The guts that power the Xbox One are pretty much exactly what was rumored. It has an 8 core x64 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, USB 3.0, 802.11n with WiFi Direct, a Blu-ray drive, and HDMI input and output. The specs completely obliterate those of its predecessor. Microsoft claims over eight times the graphical performance of the 360! The Xbox One also includes the new Kinect sensor. You won’t be able to purchase an Xbox One without a Kinect. The new sensor captures video streams at 1080p at 30 FPS and is much more powerful than the current Kinect, even the Kinect for Windows. It will be able to determine how well balanced you are, have improved depth detection, and it can even read your heartbeat!

Gaming

As expected the Xbox One press conference didn’t focus too heavily on gaming. They did show some great new games that are expected at launch though. The first was Quantum Break. It was hard to tell exactly what Quantum Break was about, but it did look interesting and beautiful. They also showed a teaser for Forza Motorsport 5 that looked and sounded absolutely amazing! EA Sports showed off some impressive videos of their new FIFA, Madden, NBA Live, and UFC titles, and the event wrapped up with a jaw-dropping look at Call of Duty: Ghosts. We expect to see a much larger focus on the Xbox One’s gaming potential at E3.

Conlclusion

There was an incredibly amount of content packed into a short one-hour press conference, so we didn’t get to hear all the details about everything the new Xbox One will be providing. Most glaringly, we didn’t get any information on pricing, and they only gave “later this year” for a release window. There are also a lot of questions still remaining around the TV functionality, and how the new system will support used games. Microsoft did officially state on their website that Xbox One won’t require a constant connection to the internet, but it will require internet connectivity. We’ll definitely learn more, especially about the gaming aspects of the console, in a couple of weeks at E3, and if Microsoft’s recent track record holds true we’ll probably see detailed blog posts about specific features of the Xbox One slowly doled out right up until the system launches “later this year.”

Xbox One Official Press Release

Click here to download this week’s episode!

Subscribe:
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Zune
Subscribe via RSS

We are on Twitter!
@TheMoviePodcast
@JamesMontemagno
@MolsonFL

Brought to you buy: Conversat.io

Purchase this weeks movie:

Click here to download episode #135

• Subscribe via RSS
• Subscribe via Zune
• Subscribe via iTunes

Top News

• Meet the new Google Maps: A map for every person and place via Google
• New Google Play Music All Access subscription service at $9.99/mo with 30 day trial available in US today via theNextWeb
• Coming Soon From Google: A $649 Samsung Galaxy S4 Running Stock Android via AllThingsD
• New Google+: Stream, Hangouts, and Photos via Google
• Google Introduces Conversational Search For The Desktop With “Hotwording,” Prompting It With “OK Google” via TechCrunch

Afterburner

• Leap Motion brings gesture support Windows 8 via the Verge
• Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon hands-on via Engadget
• Nokia’s aluminum Lumia 925 is the best Windows Phone yet, but that’s not enough via theVerge
• Windows Phone is now number 3 – 3.2% of smartphone shipments last quarter
• Microsoft confirms Windows 8.1 as official name for ‘Blue’ update, free for Windows 8 users via theVerge

thEndUsr Stories

• Tumblr. + Yahoo! = !! via Yahoo
• Your World, in Full Resolution via Yahoo!

App Pick: Photoshop Express brings its quick photo fixes to Windows 8 and RT via Engadget

Kicker: Your Only Chance to Hear a “Space Oddity” Cover Recorded in Space via Gizmodo

Make sure to tune in tomorrow and then listen live to Entertainment 2.0 at 9pm ET as Josh and Richard will be covering the event in depth.

Watch it live here.

Ceton unexpectedly releases a new 6-tuner network tuning device for Windows Media Center; Windows 8.1 is coming, and it’ going to be free; and a new Xbox is right around the corner and it’s…well, we don’t definitively know what it’s going to be, but we have some ideas about  what we’d like it to be! Josh is back with Richard, and they cover all that and more on episode 227 of the Entertainment 2.0 podcast. If you’re not listening live you’re missing a lot of fun, so make sure to join Josh and Richard for the live recording of episode 228 Tuesday, May 21st at 9:00pm ET!

Click here to download episode #227

Subscribe to the Show

• Subscribe via RSS
• Subscribe via Zune
• Subscribe via iTunes

Show Links:

• Ceton Introduces InfiniTV 6 ETH – 6 Tuner Network CableCARD Device
• Microsoft confirms Blue to be free for existing Windows 8 users
• Microsoft rolls out UEFI firmware and other Surface updates
• Nokia officially announces Lumia 928 for Verizon, coming May 16
• Nokia Unveils Lumia 925 and More Windows Phone Enhancements
• Windows Phone 8 update to include international podcasts, FM radio
• Future for Microsoft Set-Top Box Is Uncertain

Be sure and send us your emails and voicemail! (1-877-856-4933)

Follow us on Twitter: Josh Pollard and Richard Gunther.

Like us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/theDMZ

Check us out on Google+

The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

Additionally, TiVo has greatly simplified the setup and access process. The new features are available now for iOS, but as of this publication, the Android version in the Google Play store has not yet been updated.

Click here to download this week’s episode!

Subscribe:
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Zune
Subscribe via RSS

We are on Twitter!
@TheMoviePodcast
@JamesMontemagno
@MolsonFL

Brought to you buy: Conversat.io

Purchase this weeks movie:

The rest of the Lumia 925′s hardware is pretty much the same as the 920. It has a new display but shares many of the specs. It is a 4.5″ PureMotion HD+ ClearBlack screen running at 1280×768 and still supports their supers-sensitive touch screen technology. It has the same 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM. Out of the box it doesn’t support wireless charging, but like many of the other Lumia phones you can replace the back cover with different colored (yellow, red, white, and black) backs that also support wireless charging. It is also said to be sporting a glass lens for the camera to go along with the plethora of new imaging software. The 925 packs a new feature called Smart Camera Mode which offers the ability to take ten photos at once and then automatically determine which photo was the best. It also has new modes called Action Shot and Motion Focus which allow you take beautiful photos when your subject is moving.

The Nokia Lumia 925 will debut in June in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and China and will be priced at 469 EUR. Later that month it will come to the US on T-Mobile.

Source: Press Release and Product Page

Six tuners, one CableCARD, Ethernet sharing across your home network, all for only $299! It sounds great to us! Look for a full review soon!

For more information check out the official product page.

Feedback? You can call us at 1-877-856-4933 or visit our Facebook page.

Here’s the rundown of this week’s show:

Matt starts the show by reflecting on the lives of Ray Harryhausen and Roger Ebert. From there we shift into news that EA has gotten the nod for future LucasArts games. We update the rumor mill on the next Xbox, talk about how the new Ghostbusters 4K disc looks to have a new transfer, and finish with talk of how bad things are for Nintendo right now. Then we chat about Iron Man 3 to wrap things up.       

Blu-ray releases for May 14.

Download Episode 142!

	Seen In HD Subscriptions

To this point Verizon’s only Windows phones had been the well-received but somewhat underwhelming Lumia 822 and the HTC 8x. No longer. The 928 arrives as the de facto top of the line Lumia device on all carries (for now), marking the first time in the US that AT&T does not have access to Nokia’s top Windows Phone model.

Available for just $99 (after $50 rebate and with new contract), the 928 is an iterative update on the current king of Windows Phone, the Lumia 920. Packing PureView technology into a 8.7 megapixel camera, paired with Carl Zeiss lens and OIS, the 928 ups its predecessor by adding a xenon flash, a first for Windows Phones.

Elsewhere the 920 and 928 are pretty similar: 4.5 inch OLED (the 920 has an IPS, the 928 OLED) PureMotion+ HD screens, 2000 mAh batteries (though the 928′s voltage is 3.41 compared to the 920′s 3.7), 32GB of storage, LTE capabilities, wireless charging (that works with current Nokia accessories), and the same Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 running at 1.5 GHz.

But along with the improvement offered by the Xenon flash, the 928 also claims to offer better recording from a three-mic array that Nokia says reduces distortion (as seen in the video below), and a new speaker that’s been moved to the back from the bottom that Nokia claims to be louder than any other phone. The front-facing video camera also adds wide angle.

The screen, while the same size, also runs edge to edge on the front, eschewing the slight bezel that the 920 has surrounding it’s display.

The 928 will be available, at least initially, in only black and white. And while official dimensions haven’t been released, leaked specs have pegged the 928 to be thinner and most likely lighter than its admittedly hefty older brother. Nokia has now published the full specs page for the Lumia 928. Here’s the nitty gritty, compared to the 920.

928 is listed first in the comparisons:

Height – 928 133.0 mm  |  920  130.3 mm
Width  - 68.9 mm  |  70.8 mm
Thickness – 10.2 mm  |  10.7 mm
Weight – 162.0 g  |  185.0 g
Talk time (3g) – 16.2 hrs.  |  10.8 hrs.
Standby time (3g) - 541 hrs.  |  460 hrs.

So it’s thinner (though not as much as previously thought), lighter, taller and offers better battery performance.

In a move perhaps designed to bring new Windows Phone users into the fold, Verizon is also offering a $25 credit to the Windows App Store for buys, allowing them to sample some of the more than 145,000 apps available, including recent additions Pandora and Hulu Plus.

If you want to satisfy your 928 fix, read the official release notes from Microsoft, Verizon and Nokia.

Verizon’s time atop the Windows Phone mountain might be short-lived, however. Nokia has a May 14 event planned for London where they are widely expected to release their latest hero phone for AT&T, code name Catwalk. This device is expected to shun much of the polycarbonate of the 920/928 for an aluminium body. It remains to be seen if it will bring along the Xenon flash from the 928.

Take a peek below at a series of videos showing off the 928′s capabilities vs. the competition and the official release videos from Verizon and Nokia.