Kinect Is the Next Xbox, Says Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, has stated that the company is very excited over the launch of the Kinect motion tracking system, saying that it will be on the scale of a entirely new home console launch.

The CEO was speaking at the London School of Economics and answered a question about the device that his company was most “keen on”, indicating Kinect.

He then went on to say, “You control everything on your television screen, and content interaction with friends is happening in the cloud. It is a smart device… it gives us the ability to have a natural user interface. And you can participate in games with friends across the globe.”

In typical Ballmer hyperbole the Microsoft executive also said that the Kinect is actually the next version of the Xbox 360.

It's interesting to note that Ballmer has chosen the Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360 as more important than the upcoming Windows 7 phone, which will be first shown off on October 11 and will offer integration with Xbox Live, with a clear focus on gaming.

Kinect will allow users to control the Xbox Live interface and play video games entirely through motions of their body, without the need of any physical controller.

The device will launch on November 4 in the United States and will sell for a starting price of 149.99 dollars.

It's biggest rival is the already out PlayStation Move from Sony, which uses a handheld controller to deliver the motion tracking experience.

Both Sony and Microsoft are eager to extend the shelf life of the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, adding new functionality and telling players that they need to pick up the new hardware in order to get the best gaming experience possible.

Recently Goldman Sachs suggested that Microsoft should spin off its profitable Entertainment and Devices division, which also includes its home console.