Apple wasn't the only one making cloud-related announcements today. Microsoft's Xbox Live will also get cloud storage later this year."Yes, cloud storage is coming to Xbox LIVE. Your profile and game saves available wherever you are," Larry Hyrb, the director of programming for Xbox Live, tweeted on Monday afternoon.
The update will allow Xbox Live users to sign into their accounts from any console at any time to access game saves and full profile, including items like Microsoft Points for purchases, Achievements, and friends.
"Cloud storage will allow you to enjoy the same great Xbox Live gaming experience even when you're not in your own living room by giving you the option to store your 'game saves' securely in the Xbox Live cloud instead of on a portable memory unit or your console's hard drive," Microsoft said in a statement. "Gone are the days of 'gamertag recovery.' Now all you need to do is sign in, no matter where you are!"
Microsoft said the update will be added "later this year," but did not specify a timeline.
The cloud option is just one of several updates coming to the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Also scheduled is a new dashboard that Microsoft said will be simpler, cleaner, and easier to navigate. "All of your favorite content is categorized in a way that is easy to browse and find what you're looking for, plus you can use voice anywhere in the dashboard to effortlessly navigate and get to what you want," the company said.The voice component was a big part of Microsoft's larger press event this morning at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. There, Microsoft unveiled Live TV, a new experience that adds live television streaming, built-in DVR functionality, voice-powered Bing searches, and a content deal with YouTube to the Xbox platform. "Quite simply we believe TV is more amazing with you as the controller," said Marc Whitten, vice president for Xbox Live.
Microsoft also unveiled a number of new games for the Xbox platform, some of which will have voice-control functionality thanks to Kinect.
"We want Xbox Live members around the globe to experience the magic of Kinect's voice recognition technology so we are committed to bringing voice to eight additional markets by the end of this year with a total of 13 markets that will have Kinect voice," Microsoft said. "We are also exploring some innovative new ways to enable the Live community to help us accelerate the refinement of voice models in new markets, and look forward to sharing developments on that front soon."
Another addition to Xbox Live will be Beacons, which will let you notify Xbox and Facebook friends that you want to play a game on Xbox Live. Set a Beacon and tell Xbox Live what you want to play, and Xbox Live will let you know when friends are playing or if they want to play the same game.
"With Beacons, no matter what you're currently doing on Xbox Live your friends know that it's ok to ask you to play your Beaconed games," Microsoft said. "Imagine sending out a Beacon to let your friends know you're interested in playing 'Halo,' while watching a movie on Netflix."
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