 You can tell the Xbox, Xbox. Watch TV, it'll switch instantly over the television. With voice commands. The future is here. One year ago this month, Microsoft unveiled its vision for the future of Xbox. What a difference a year makes. I'm Addie Robertson, and this is 90 seconds on the Verge. We'll continue to innovate on Kinect. I think it's an important differentiator for us. But I also know there are people out there that want to make the choice when they want to make it. Microsoft announced today that starting June 9th, the company will begin selling a version of Xbox One without Kinect for $399. That means the base model now costs the same as Sony's PlayStation 4, which so far is outselling the Xbox One worldwide. Right now, there are only a handful of games that use Kinect in any meaningful way. With today's announcement, the incentive for developers to make Kinect games has further diminished. This is the second major backpedal for the Xbox One, which was originally going to require a persistent internet connection and severely limit the used games market. Microsoft changed that policy last June before launch. The company today also announced that starting this June, apps like Netflix and HBO Go will no longer require a premium Xbox Live Gold account. It added free Xbox One titles to its monthly Games with Gold promotion, which brings us back to Microsoft's original vision of an always-connected experience powered by natural motion. Is that the future of home entertainment? Possibly, but we're not there yet, and Microsoft knows it won't be able to realize that dream if it can't at least compete against the PlayStation 4. For more on Xbox One, check out The Verge. Coming up, Microsoft backpedals through time and announces the return of Jezzball.
 You can tell the Xbox, Xbox. Watch TV, it'll switch instantly over the television.
 With voice commands. The future is here.
 One year ago this month, Microsoft unveiled its vision for the future of Xbox.
 What a difference a year makes.
 I'm Addie Robertson, and this is 90 seconds on the Verge.
 We'll continue to innovate on Kinect. I think it's an important differentiator for us.
 But I also know there are people out there that want to make the choice when they want to make it.
 Microsoft announced today that starting June 9th,
 the company will begin selling a version of Xbox One without Kinect for $399.
 That means the base model now costs the same as Sony's PlayStation 4,
 which so far is outselling the Xbox One worldwide.
 Right now, there are only a handful of games that use Kinect in any meaningful way.
 With today's announcement, the incentive for developers to make Kinect games has further diminished.
 This is the second major backpedal for the Xbox One,
 which was originally going to require a persistent internet connection and severely limit the used games market.
 Microsoft changed that policy last June before launch.
 The company today also announced that starting this June,
 apps like Netflix and HBO Go will no longer require a premium Xbox Live Gold account.
 It added free Xbox One titles to its monthly Games with Gold promotion,
 which brings us back to Microsoft's original vision of an always-connected experience powered by natural motion.
 Is that the future of home entertainment?
 Possibly, but we're not there yet, and Microsoft knows it won't be able to realize that dream
 if it can't at least compete against the PlayStation 4.
 For more on Xbox One, check out The Verge.
 Coming up, Microsoft backpedals through time and announces the return of Jezzball.