By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Xbox One is shrinking in size and growing in power.
Microsoft unveiled during its Monday media briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo a new, slimmer version of the video game console coming later this year and a more powerful one that's due in 2017.
The company says the white Xbox One S is 40 percent smaller than the original black Xbox One and will feature support for 4K high-definition video.
Other changes include moving the USB ports to the front of the console, adding a built-in infrared blaster and eliminating the port for the motion-detecting Kinect camera system.
Microsoft says the console will go on sale in August for $299 to $399 depending on the size of the hard drive.
The company also detailed Project Scorpio, a more powerful Xbox One that will feature support for 4K gaming and virtual reality. The new console will feature six teraflops – or 6 trillion floating point operations per second – of power.
"Our vision for the future of gaming is beyond generations," Xbox head Phil Spencer said. "When it ships next year, we believe it will be the most powerful console every built."
Spencer promised that all Xbox One games would work across the three systems: Xbox One, Xbox One S and Project Scorpio, which was not shown on stage at E3.
While they have comparable specs, Sony's PlayStation 4 is slightly more powerful than the current version of the Xbox One.
Since they were both launched in 2013, sales of the Xbox One have lagged behind the PS4. Sony said last month it has sold 40 million PS4s. Microsoft has not revealed sales figures of the Xbox One.
During the presentation, Microsoft also heavily promoted its new Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, which will allow users to play games on both the Xbox One or Windows 10 computers.
The sci-fi shooter sequel "Gears of War 4," Christmas-themed zombie-slaying installment "Dead Rising 4," cooperative pirate adventure "Sea of Thieves" and driving simulator "Forza Horizon 3" were among the Xbox Play Anywhere titles showcased at the briefing.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More