Microsoft hears you! Xbox One microphone always on

Microsoft has stated that the Xbox One Kinect microphone is always listening for commands, in other words, it's always on. The new Xbox One will continue to listen for voice commands even when the console is turned off. This makes it possible to turn the console on with a voice command. If the device is powered off, it's in a state which can be considered as sleeping. While it sleeps it still listens for the 'power on' command so that it can be turned on whenever an user gives that voice command.

ADVERTISEMENT

This can't be turned off, the Xbox One needs the Kinect to be attached and turned on. Microsoft even states that developers can rely on the fact that information from Kinect is always available to their software. Obviously this gives at least somekind of privacy concern. If the Kinect microphone is working all the time, everyone can imagine what potentially can happen, someone could spy on you.

According to Microsoft privacy is their biggest concern and the company says that in the sleep state the device is only listening for the power on voice command. Nevertheless the Kinect needs to listen to everything going on to pick out just those two words. Microsoft has stated that it's  confident about protecting the privacy of the Xbox One owners and boasts that it has 10 years of experience in making privacy a top priority.

Unfortunately the company has not succeeded in securing their Xbox and Xbox 360 completely, for both consoles there were hacks available that made it possible to do things that Microsoft tried to prevent. There's  no reason to assume that the same thing won't happen to the Xbox One. And then it just takes a couple of smart guys to find out how to record the sound of your Kinect microphone.

ADVERTISEMENT

There were also concerns that the Kinect microphone would not be sensitive enough to hear all voice commands, that's also not an issue according to Microsoft. A spokesman of the company has demonstrated that microphone is so sensitive that it can even hear your heartbeat. That means even whispering will not prevent any intruders from hearing you.

Last but not least, Microsoft has also filed for a patent that can use the Kinect to see how many people are watching a movie. That should allow content owners to present the user with a license model based on the amount of people watching. And if there are more people watching than the license allows it will e.g. stop playback.

Yes, the new Xbox One Kinect is truly a must have novelty.

ADVERTISEMENT

No posts to display