With Xbox One, Microsoft is not only targeting consumers at home, but also small businesses around the world. You may wonder, how does it makes sense? Here is the argument from Microsoft, ”it’s entirely justifiable to make the Xbox One a business expense. The Xbox One, priced at $499, is an affordable option for small business owners, as there are many features built into the console that could help it rival even the most modest of video conferencing and networking platforms”.

Skype: Xbox One will allow people to not only use Skype on the console, but it will allow for multi-person chatting. Combine this with the wide-angle lens and 1080p view of the included Kinect and you have the means for collaborative meetings and presentations.

As an example, Skype is being used in educational settings, everywhere, to bring together classrooms, cultures and learning. This can also apply to your business. Utilize Skype, and the power of group chatting, to have that collaborative exchange with clients and co-workers, no matter where in the world they happen to be. Utilize the size of that nice TV screen to see every smile and nod as your next great plan comes together. The Xbox One with Kinect, as a Skype provider, is just as capable as a PC with an attached/included microphone and webcam. The difference here is that Xbox One and Kinect gives you the open space to move, gesture, show examples, and see everyone more clearly.

SkyDrive: Currently, on the Xbox 360, you have access to SkyDrive via the Internet Explorer web browser and the dedicated SkyDrive app. SkyDrive has become one of the leading cloud services for storing documents and having them available anywhere you need them. For the home business, SkyDrive, snapped with Skype (for example) can make accessing documents for presentation and discussion easy.

The SkyDrive app can let you easily access both photos and videos for viewing. If you’re hosting a meeting at your office, don’t worry about attaching a PC to the TV or using a projector. Store your videos in SkyDrive and then use the app to open that video. Do you have photos from recent travels or images showing details and diagrams? Open them with SkyDrive, navigate them with Kinect voice or hand gestures, be free from tethering that PC around.

With SkyDrive via Internet Explorer, you can use it with the Office Web Apps to open that Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint. Use the Kinect voice and hand gestures to navigate to websites. Now you’re free of clickers and light pens to use your hands to for more expressive gestures.

Wi-Fi Direct: I’m currently in awe of Wi-Fi Direct and it’s possibilities. For consumers, I put forth the idea, that Wi-Fi Direct, plus SmartGlass, would mean being able to beam live TV to any SmartGlass enabled device. For you — as the small business owner — you could imagine having a SmartGlass enabled device and beaming in the other direction: Send your presentation to the TV, use Smartglass to navigate through the PowerPoint presentation, use your tablet to control Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer and Office Web Apps: The current Xbox 360 and Xbox One will have Internet Explorer available. If you host clients at your home, use the power of IE and the size of your TV to showcase your new redesigned website, or snap IE to the side while using SkyDrive to present sketches you’re working on. Because Internet Explorer has access to the Office Web Apps, pair that with a Wi-Fi keyboard and mouse and you have the means to edit documents, when necessary, even if you aren’t near your PC.

Future Applications: The app story of Xbox One has yet to be written, therefore it is entirely possible to find apps down the road that could be of benefit for you and your business. With the processing power, snap mode, and connection to a large screen, that the Xbox One has, this device is capable of going from the ‘break room’ to the ‘board room’.

http://microsoft-news.com/microsoft-pitches-xbox-one-to-small-businesses-as-it-provides-great-value-at-499/

 A family member was supposed to borrows his companies Xbox 360/Kinect for the holiday last year. They have them in the office and use them for video meetings across locations.

But he forgot so we ended up doing a 'Google meet up' with our laptops - and it failed horribly with the group. It worked in that we could see each other, but so much feedback from the audio made it a mess. I really would have worked much better with Kinect - Kinect filters out the sound coming from the speakers in your room.
So unless everyone is on a headset - like a radio station. It a quite good alternative for group Skypping.

Also, the Skydrive is a rather convenient thing to upload the family photos/video and share with everyone.
Also – what about some ‘lie detector’ app that could see temperature changes to see if someone is lying during an interview?

Do you think business will benefit by using some of these features from the Xbox?

Wow. So many revolutionary features..........................




.............................. That I can already do on my smart tv or my chromebook or my laptop or my smartphone or my tablet or my PC............

If businesses are going to pick up an XB1 for these features they should be out of business.

I like the sound of the skydrive and smartglass integration. I ue both already. I like skydrive better than google docs because it has a better web based programs. But I do use both, wonder if google will make a windows app for google docs. I didn't know that the xboxone would allow you to stream tv to any device that has smart glass. One more reason for me to get a tablet.

Yeap good stuff.... those things are way more convenient than the PC option or smartphone option for VoIP.... PC is enough for 1on1 conference calls.... but if you want to do group conf... you either need several PC and it usually suck ass big time especially if in the same room.... smartphone VoIP is a joke in a professional set up unless you are on the field....

Well and the other stuff is appealing too.... PC is great for solo work or 1on1 but it really sucks as soon as you are in bigger group set up...

Wick and??? I can game on my PC, chromebook, tablet, smartphone, my cable box, smart tv, and even myself loll

So we should just kill consoles they are completely useless after all....

This is why Sony fans just will not understand in 3 years why Xbox One i outselling PS4. Because PS4 is just a games machine.

Xbox One with Kinect 2.0 is reaching far further than simple casual market. And if any company can capture the business market its Microsoft. They have a HUGE trust for business software.

lol seriously this idea can't come from Microsoft, can it?

The idea is laughable. "let's buy Xboxes for our office". It's just not gonna happen.

This smells suspiciously like Julie Larson-Green running home to momma. She's worked in office products for years, and now she's going to make the One into an office product.

this is just the completion of a plan set out long ago. nothing suprising to me atleast. Its one of the reasons i first supported the xbox.  they are merely combing all their services and resources into ONE connected and complete box. Its on its way to usurp the PC, but more importanly it covers the market that appple has used to cut into MS. The people that want an easy to use device that they dont need to fiddle with but just works, and covers all the functionality of a pc with out the freedom. So hopefully windos will have the market of freedom with the pc, and the market of convienece with the xbox one. Same with windows 8, they have the new metro look and locked down system like apple and android, but also the freedom of their original OS with option for it. Not sure if they will allow a keyboard use for xbxo ONE, but if they do, you could use sky drives web based apps and the ONE would function as a word processor/excel device, a video conferencing device, browse the internet, watch multimedia, play videogames, etc.