Microsoft's (News - Alert) aspirations of living room dominance – serving as both gaming platform and entertainment device – have been clear for some time now, but new reports have recently emerged to suggest the newest Xbox will do more to move those ambitions forward than anything Microsoft has previously done.

The new Xbox will reportedly not only work with a user's cable box, but also allow the console to work with a television in much the same way that Google (News - Alert) Play does.

According to the newest reports, the new Xbox will take a cable box signal and route it through an HDMI port, allowing the Xbox to display it and even throw in its own user interface. Thanks to some partnerships between Xbox and content providers, this will even go a bit farther than would Google TV.

While not every cable service will be in play at launch, subsequent updates will bring in the stragglers on a more gradual basis, and the basic function will be available right from get-go.

Further reports suggest there will be, as heard previously, a May event for Microsoft to show off the new hardware. This is a good time for Microsoft to do so, as E3 arrives a few weeks later, followed by Microsoft's Build conference, giving Microsoft plenty of opportunities to show off just what the new system can do with respect to both hardware and software.

Additionally, this could be seen as tying into earlier reports in which Microsoft planned to sell its Mediaroom operations to Ericsson (News - Alert), allotting Microsoft more room to focus on the Xbox for video provision. There are still reportedly plans for a Microsoft set-top box dubbed "Xbox TV," but this is likely to hit next year instead of a new console.

Microsoft's interest in becoming a full service device has been seen for some time now, going back to 2011's E3 when Microsoft showed off how a Kinect could be used along with Bing to locate various sources of X-Men related content with just three words. That kind of functionality could put a nice new spin on home entertainment, especially once the various apps Microsoft is already spotted working with are factored in.

But the issue of the Xbox Live Gold paywall is something of an unresolved factor; will users be interested in Microsoft's impressive new control possibilities if it means a higher monthly bill? What's more, this may well explain the highly controversial "always on" requirement that's been bandied around for some time now, and may even do so in a way that doesn't take out the used gaming / rental gaming markets. If the always-on functionality part is limited to the cable feeds and the video content, people are likely to be a lot more understanding of the whole thing, and probably happier about it since it provides a useful service but doesn't get in the way of the games.

Only time will ultimately tell just how the new Xbox is received, but the answer is likely to be had fairly soon as the new systems enter the market.