Microsoft brings voice-controlled Bing search to the Xbox, but will anyone use it?

Using Kinect, Microsoft aims to combine Bing with the device's speech recognition technology, allowing for a strange, the-future-is-now-style search. The goal, of course, is to bring your closer to the forces that aim to separate you from your money. Which is why, for example, searching for "Xbox Bing X-Men" elicits a variety of purchase-related results - including price points.

The announcement was one of many Kinect speech-related developments that Microsoft announced today. Understandably, Microsoft seems intent on shoving the Kinect's capabilities in as many of the Xbox 360's orifices as possible, which, while interesting, is sure to get stale quick. Can you imagine saying "Xbox Bing" every time you feel like searching from your couch? Me neither.

Microsoft says that its first priority is English, but speakers of other languages shouldn't feel left out: Support for other languages is on its way as well.