Wow, egotrip much. The remove has been around in various forms since what, shortly after the invention of the TV? May parents TV, from the mid 70s, had a wired remote. That MS will produce a CE product that will a) be a must have device for every TV on the planet b) be cost effect AND reliable and c) live up to it's own hype seems like a stretch to me. I am sure those who own it will find use for it, as the stereoscopic camera is a promising bit of technology, but to make claims like these is like Harley Davidson saying that they have a mind control throttle that will become the industry standard, or McDonalds selling you a big mac meal that improves your metabolism for weight loss, give you all your daily nutrients, and make you better looking: The technology might be there, but making empty promises only works on the stupid. Do they really think everyone is that stupid, or just their fanbase?

Like everything coming from Microsoft, I'll be on a wait and see basis for at least a year. I'd much rather go for a Holographic remote. I'd be hard to watch Porn alone with all the wrist flicking lol

I guess the age old argument of "stop changing the channel" will just get even worse. All you people who have expressive hand gestures will need to keep silent when the TV is on.

Natal will be able to spread butter on bread too...

As I can't even afford an xbox 360, how the hell will natal be working...nice ideas, but dreaming a bit big. Maybe some rich people will enjoy doubt it'll be cost effective anytime soon.

yea im gonna sacrafice a remote for moving my arm and doing something stupid to change the chanel like lift my arm above my head

I have a feeling the whole "controllerless interface" of natal will be over used in games and not much fun. It should be used in moderation and it definitely won't be a good remote control.

bit of a retarded story. It's still easier to push 'play' rather than wave your hand to action play.

The Xbox 360 will be nothing more than a gaming system with some cool extras. Hell, the damned thing does not even have a Blu-ray player, so why would be center their entire entertainment interest in this one machine? The comments from Microsoft get dumber and dumber.

Perhaps the next generation will cover many of the needs the user will have(i.e. large storage, Blu-ray drive, improved hardware, etc.), but the current generation does not seem capable of doing everything Microsoft claims it can. I mean, fuck, Microsoft sounds like they want the Xbox brand to cook our food, clean our house, bathe us, and wipe our ass, all while playing games and operating our TVs.

HELLO!!!?????!!!?? What good will women be after Natal comes out? The next thing you know, Microsoft will be releasing the Sexbox 369 addon for the "lonely men and women".

Buttons are easy, we like buttons

"A remote control is already too hard."

For who?!?!

Natal? Isn't that a province in South Africa?

So, flicking our wrists and yelling at an xbox is somehow easier than moving your thumb a fraction of an inch? Someone should explain to Whitten how current remote controls work, I think he's confused.

... You can't afford a 360 thus Natal will fail? ... Good logic.

Anyway, I don't get where most people are coming from here in the comments. Microsoft says the 360 will become an entertainment center, gaming console, and the Internet all in one. Why is that so strange? It's what the PS3 already is trying to do. How exactly that translates into "cook our food, clean our house, bathe us, etc..." is beyond me. I understand that's hyperbole, but still, simply Microsoft is trying up the competition with the PS3 for control of the living room.

As for comments on Blu-Ray... While I'm sure there are many who use it, I don't personally know a single person who does, and I work in retail at an electronics store, and we sell probably 1 BRD to 50 DVDs. So I'm pretty sure to most people it's not that important yet.

It's not even out yet, so you're bashing what you think you know of a concept, never mind the actual product. I'm sure MSFT has some cards up its sleeve.

Also the Natal system is actually like a more compact one sided wii controller. But instead of direct measurements they are approximated using digital image processing to determine the points of reference. In essence the natal system can only see is 2.5D it cant actually detect in full 3 dimensions.

Also I am intrested to see an optical recognition system that can detect faces, pitch, depth, roll, hands, and do this with multiple people is a noisy image enviroment (try using natal with a table in front of you) if they can get this on a CE device without any tracking issues then I hope it can be plugged into a pc to use too for other less gaming like purposes.

Basically if Natal is as powerful as the hype is then they should start selling it to robotics and automation industries as a cheap full 3D multi-object built in processing camera in a slick plastic bar. If you are in the engineering field and have exposure to these subject areas then they are promising something that hasnt been done even in space, aerospace, robotics, academia, etc...

The major point to remember is that direct interactions are easy to have almost perfect command recongition. Try using your remote when 80% of the commands go through as intended you will probably not like it quickly as every on average every 2 button presses out of ten may fail.

Voice control on a device that plays ... A lot of voices ... Doesn't seem like a good idea, really. I can only imagine the different types of voice "viruses" that'll ensue. And how advertisers will use it against me.

TV. Volume. Eleven! Hi. I'm Randy of Randys Furniture and Yes we're going out of business again folks and everything is half thats right half off! (insert sound of my speakers blowing, here).

People sure are negative in here. I can totally see this work. I'd imaging it could be a bit like Star Trek. For example: "computer: dim lights". Here you would go "tv: increase volumn" and then the tv turns up the volumn a bit. Since Natal has a camera, it can see who is issuing the command. So it won't be confused by the sounds from the tv itself.

Personally I've longed for something like this for years. When you are relaxed on the cough, with the remove control out of reach, and you just want to change channel or something simple like that, it would be nice to not have to get up. :-)

I'm not saying it is going to replace the remote. But I can think of several times that I am lying on the couch after a long day of work and the remote is all the way on the coffee table and I can't reach it. It would be pretty convenient if I could just start shouting commands or waving my hands. Perhaps it won't replace the remote, but I could see it being a secondary control mechanism.

"Either we're missing something, or Microsoft is getting over-bloated in the ego department"

"Either we're missing something, or Microsoft is getting over-bloated in the ego department..."

Ego? World domination is an ego problem? Microsoft doesn't have an ego problem.

Muahahhahahaha

Unknowing friends might have the wrong idea if i'm "flicking" through channels.