Xbox One will launch this year

It's finally official. Microsoft formally announced the next Xbox today during a media briefing at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The next-generation platform is called Xbox One and will launch later this year alongside the PlayStation 4.

The Xbox One is said to boast an "all-in-one experience" and to that end, the platform will allow users to stream live television. Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi gave a live demo of the technology, which uses Kinect voice and gesture controls to manipulate onscreen actions.

In addition, Mehdi confirmed that the Xbox One will support Skype video calling.

The Xbox One boasts a 500GB hard drive, 8GB of RAM, a Blu-ray drive, 64-bit architecture, Wi-Fi, and USB 3.0, and is said to be "nearly silent."

Microsoft has also confirmed that players' current Xbox Live Gamertags, complete with all earned achievements, will transfer to the Xbox One.

GameSpot is in attendance at the presentation and will have more details on the next Xbox as information becomes available.