At today’s Xbox reveal event, Microsoft showed how their new console will change how you’ll interact with your TV. Snap Mode lets users run multiple functions simultaneously and switch between them with voice commands without having to shut them down individually.
A demo showed live TV being shown on the TV and when a Microsoft exec on stage said “Xbox, snap Internet Explorer,” the TV image shrank to make room for a new search window pane. From there, he went to a Favorites menu and navigated to buy movie tickets via a companion smartphone app.
Snap Mode and its Instant Switching multitasking could be the thing that delivers most on Microsoft’s promises that the Xbox One will be the only thing that you’ll need in your entertainment area. It's certainly a quantum leap for them and rivals anything else available in the living room.
It’s pretty damn cool.