Take a closer look at Microsoft‘s upcoming Xbox One – the highly-anticipated follow-up to the Xbox 360. “Designed from the ground up to be the centerpiece of every living room,” the new console is dominated by a sleek black exterior of sharp lines, corresponding controllers, and a matching Kinect system. Now featuring an expanded field of view, tweaked gesture-recognition, and voice-recognition technology that even allows you to boot up the system by simply saying “Xbox on.” Inside, the Xbox One boasts an 8-core x86 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, Blu-ray functionality, and HDMI pass-thru while the controller itself now features more than 40 improvements that include “Impulse Triggers” (pressure-sensitivity), streamlined thumb sticks, and contours to the buttons and D-pad. What will likely set the Xbox One apart from the next-gen pack, however, is its user experience. Sporting a new Windows OS, the Xbox One features an easy-to-use interface that includes Skype, cloud capabilities, and a Smartglass feature that allows users to turn mobile devices into a second screen for a more immersive interaction. Finally, Xbox Live will introduce “Smart Match”, a revolutionary matchmaking system that will pair players based on advanced algorithms using language, skill, and reputation.