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Interactive TV for Next Xbox?

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The next Xbox Live package will offer customers more than just games and apps of the Netflix variety-- it will also include interactive TV content, thanks to an in-house Microsoft production studio.

xbox dummySpeaking at the D: Dive Into Media conference, Microsoft head of interactive entertainment Yusuf Mehdi claims “all I’ll say about our current and future investment is [that it is] about doing things that are big and premium. Other people will try some lower-end things; what we will do is things that are big and beautiful.”

Set for launch later in 2013, the Microsoft TV service will add " another level of interactivity," with Kinect feature integration and second-screen options via SmartGlass.

Mehdi also reveals the global Xbox installed user base currently stands at 76 million units, up from 70m on September 2012. Kinect sales total 24m, while Xbox Live accounts now amount to 46m.

Asked for specifics on future Microsoft hardware, Mehdi remains tight lipped, but according to Edge Magazine the next Xbox will require an internet connection to function and will ship with a new version of Xbox Live and improved Kinect hardware.

The console will apparently also make use of Blu-ray discs, while internal specifications include an AMD 8-core x64 1.6GHz CPU, a D3D11.x 800MHz GPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and "the largest [storage] unit Microsoft has put inside a console to date."

Go Microsoft Talks up XBox 360 While Staying Mum on its Successor (AllThingsD)

Go The Next Xbox: Always Online, No Second-Hand Games, Blu-ray Discs and New Kinect (Edge Magazine)