Kinect-powered Internet Explorer browser coming to Xbox 360

It looks like Microsoft will soon be popping another arrow into the Xbox 360’s quiver, with reports coming in that a Kinect-powered version of Internet Explorer is to land on the games console.

A custom-built version of the browser that will be navigated through gesture and voice controls is said to be in development, with heavy Bing integration aimed at taking out as much of the fiddly text entry as possible. However, Kinect control will only be optional, and a more familiar controller-based set-up will also be available.

Though Microsoft have yet to confirm the update, it would make perfect sense in the run up to the launch of Windows 8; all the most recent Xbox 360 dashboard updates have been aimed to bring a sense of convergence across Microsoft’s products, with the Metro-like tile update on the 360 closely resembling the next Microsoft OS. Having Internet Explorer built into the console could help raise the browser’s profile, and that of the OS, ahead of launch, which would be useuful considering the added competition Microsoft now gets from Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s Chrome.

If the planned update is true, it’d be the latest in a growing line of apps, such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer, that look to move the Xbox 360 away from being exclusively a games console and into something more closely resembling a media and entertainment hub. An E3 announcement would be the likely time to see Microsoft reveal the app.

PlayStation 3 owners, who have had a built in web browser since launch, are asked to remain silent…