disolitude said:
In terms of extra features, Microsoft has a vast ecosystem of products they are integrating in to Xbox One.
For example:
Skype for Voice calling - Will Sony try to match and provide Tango or some other VOIP service and then integrate it in to gaming? If not, will this become the new "It doesn't have cross game chat with video" strike against PS4?
Skydrive for cloud storage - Each Xbox account has 7 GB of cloud sotrage on Skydrive. They can upload their in game screenshots, video captures to Skydrive and immediatly access them on their PC or smartphone. Will Sony have to strike a deal with Dropbox or Google Drive to compete here?
Windows kernel - Xbox One is running a modified version of Windows Kernel and this should give it a big advantage when it comes to multitasking, snap view, app porting etc... Sony will have to work very hard to develop XMB to be as robust as possible in order to compete Xbox One's dashboard and provide dev tools for app development as good as Windows.
Azure - It appears that Microsoft cloud is going to be working overtime for Xbox One. Other than Gaikai Sony does not have a vast cloud offerings they could utilize for non streaming purposes. They could possibly partner with Amazon S3.
Kinect 2.0 - The tracking capabilities demonstrated by Kinect 2.0 appear to be superior to anything currently available. Sony has their eyeToy but will that be enough? Also voice detection and recognition provided by Kinect should be very robust thanks to being available and perfected on the Windows side for almost a decade.
It's pretty clear that Microsoft is bringing their whole suite of services to Xbox One. Can Sony counter these features with something of their own or will they have to make partnerships with companies to match?
Will they even bother or just focus on gaming? I am not sure they can beat Microsoft when it comes to features...
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Sony doesn't have to do anything about Skype. Microsoft has to decide, if the opportunity exists, to create an application for the PS4, and how integrated it can be. It wouldn't be as integrated into the console as it would be with the Xbox One, but I think Microsoft is more interested in growing Skype adoption than making Skype only available on the Xbox One. I see Microsoft's integration with the Xbox One as being much tighter and synergystic with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Plus if the patents are for products, then what's coming is going to be really cool.
I don't think the cloud services are as big of a challenge for Sony as it may seem. They'll have to invest, but I don't see the basics as an issue. Sony's already doing cloud saves, so the rest is just stuff to add on. It's the infrastructure that Sony will have a problem with. Microsoft is building out Xbox LIVE 19 times larger than it currently is. Each Xbox One will have three virtual machines available to it in the cloud. Your entire library of games, movies, and music* will be available for your access on any Xbox One you're logged in. Movies and games will be instantly accessable even if they've never been downloaded through streaming.
I don't see Sony having as big of a problem with tracking using Move and the PS4 Eye camera. While I don't think they'll be able to do things as nicely as Microsoft, I do think they'll have similiar features. We've already some of the features that we know they'll share. The automatic slip-screen and the ability to identify users by controller. Sure, Kinect actually identifies you, not the color of the light on your controller, but the functional parts are equal. I think there'll be a lot of that. Kinect will be slicker, but in the end the PS4 Eye delivers similar functionality.
People have erroneously saying Xbox One is multitasking. The Snap feature isn't a multitasking feature. It's the visualization of the two virtual machines that are operating independently of the Hyper-V host OS, each designed for a specific purpose. When you snap an app in the Xbox One, you're instantly starting another virtual machine. The App virutal machine (Shared) runs constantly. It's always live for services like messaging (mail) or apps that have to be live, like Skype. When you switch from one virtual machine to the next you aren't multitasking in the traditional (computer lingo) sense. You're switching between views. Either the shared apps view or the games view.
Sony on the other hand, based on what I've seen, will have to go the multitasking route. Not a huge deal, but it will mean in some situations that it won't be as instant as with the Xbox One. Sony will just be using a more traditional route.
I think people are trying to find where one console will be far superior over the other and to be painfully honest, I don't think either will be that significantly better than the other.
* even from your Windows 8 PC/Laptop/Tablet or Windows Phone 8 mobile device