Microsoft says Natal could represent the biggest evolution in television viewing since the remote control.  As reported by PC Magazine, Microsoft’s Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten made the comment while speaking at the Streaming Media West show.  Whitten spoke about the evolution of Xbox 360 from game console to entertainment and community hub, something he cited as a big surprise during his time at the company.  He pointed to features and services such as Netflix, streaming movies and television programs, and recently added social media features for Facebook and Twitter as part of the evolution.

With Natal, he touched on how the device’s capabilities with recognizing motion and sound inputs are well suited to an essential need.  He says Microsoft is trying to determine ways to organize the growing abundance of entertainment content and facilitate how people access it, similar to how Netflix helps suggest films based on subscriber s viewing tendencies.  He calls Natal as a piece fitting into the puzzle, where audience input such as laughter, gestures and the number of people watching a given program become part of evaluating what content users want and helping them find it.

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