Neowin

Could the next television you buy let you use your hand gestures as a replacement for your remote control? That's the new rumor over at The Daily web site. The story quotes unnamed sources as saying that Microsoft is in early talks with a number of television makers about licensing their Kinect motion gesture sensor technology for use as a part of future TVs.

The story also claims that two of the TV manufacturers that Microsoft is chatting with about future Kinect support are Vizio and, oddly enough, Sony. Microsoft and Sony are, of course, fierce rivals in the game console space. Microsoft first launched the Kinect motion gesture device as an add-on for its Xbox 360 console a year ago. The idea of having a Sony TV with a technology developed for a rival game console certainly boggles the mind.

Having a TV with Kinect support would certainly have lots of applications. It's possible that the normal remote control could be done away with entirely with people turning a TV on and off with either gestures or voice commands and moving through the TV's user interface with just hand gestures, much like how the upcoming next Xbox Dashboard update will add such support for the Xbox 360 console.

If such talks are indeed taking place, Microsoft is poised to compete with Google TV, which so far has failed to generate much interest from consumers. And then there's those rumors that Apple has got a television product of their own in the works.

http://www.neowin.net/news/rumor-kinect-based-tvs-in-the-works?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

That would really give MS a leg up in the TV department.

I want this to be true, and for those 'talks' to actually succeed, if only for it to be a stepping stone for Microsoft to get their 3DTV technology onto the market but also because it is a very good idea.

"Change to BBC 2",
"Kinect TV, please record FX on Wednesday at 11."
---Recording Dexter on Wednesday at 11, would you like me to Series-link?
Yes please...

I can get into that to be honest.

Makes sense TBH I'm excited about potential of Kinect for about everything except games. Looking forward to the formal PC launch of the device as well.

I still believe we can see some truly amazing games for Kinect, not enough to warrant it as a system in itself though. Not this generation however, I still believe this is one big beta for them and we won't really see any amazing Kinect games like Halo Wars Kinect or Viva Pinata Kinect. Next gen I have high hopes though.

Yeah, I know what you mean.  I do believe there is something there, but, perhaps inevitably with the success of fitness/dance games on Wii, so far they only decent titles have been dance/fitness ones.  Kinectimals showed some promise, but pretty much everything else, such as Joyride, has been truly, utter rubbish that show the device in a poor light.

TBH once it hits PC formally never mind the hacks, etc. I expect the PC base to show what's possible in many ways including games.  Most developers, by the nature of the industry, are actually rather poorly placed to innovate with something like Kinect IMHO.  The model for development these days is too based around low risk and following proven genres to easily accomodate something totally new.