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Home / News / Latest Xbox One ad accidentally turning on viewers’ consoles

Latest Xbox One ad accidentally turning on viewers’ consoles

Microsoft learns the perils of voice-activated hardware when Xbox owners complain

Putting a cool celebrity in a personable TV ad probably seemed like a smart move for Microsoft’s latest Xbox One campaign, but the clip is generating unintended results for some viewers.

Various Xbox One console owners have taken to the Internet to share word that the clip—which features Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul saying the words, “Xbox on”—has resulted on their systems powering up accidentally while they watch TV.

Thanks to the platform’s Kinect sensor, the console can boot up from sleep mode when a user utters those terms within range of the hardware. Microsoft tells the BBC that previous ads have contained the spoken phrase without wide-ranging incident. Clearly, however, this one’s yielding some surprising responses.

Granted, the segment of the Xbox-owning population that things like this happen to may not grow much larger in time. Microsoft just released a version of the Xbox One without the Kinect sensor bundled in, thus shaving off a solid chunk of the entry price. This bit of news comes after this week’s big E3 conference, where Microsoft showcased a large number of upcoming Xbox One titles.

No word yet if Microsoft plans to recut the ad or otherwise try to minimize its impact on viewers’ consoles, but for now, the original clip is embedded above for anyone that wants to try and recreate the effect.

[Source: BBC]

READ MORE: E3 2014 — all of the biggest news

Profile image of Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Freelance Writer

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.

Areas of expertise

Video games, gadgets, apps, smart home