Microsoft: "Really exciting things" for Xbox One planned post launch

Microsoft has "really exciting things" planned for the Xbox One after its launch next month, corporate vice president Phil Harrison told Edge in a new interview.

Despite policy reversals this summer, Harrison said Microsoft's "fundamental vision" for a digital-based future remains in place, though the company has "reordered priorities a little bit."

"We have a very significant engineering team--some of the smartest people I've ever worked with--who are very focused on launch right now," Harrison said. "But as soon as we get past launch then there are some really exciting things that are on the way."

Microsoft product planning director Albert Penello told GameSpot this summer that the Xbox One will allow for loaning and trading of downloaded games sometime after launch.

"I think we need to do that. That has to be part of the experience," Penello said.

He also teased at the time that backward compatibility through streaming may be offered on the Xbox One some day and that the Family Sharing plan will return.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Microsoft is developing wearable technology similar to Google Glass, backing up a report from last summer. In the Egde interview today, Harrison was asked outright if Microsoft is working on virtual reality or augmented reality technology.

"We wouldn’t make any specific announcements here but we've put USB 3.0 ports on Xbox One for a reason, which is that we want high bandwidth communication with other accessory or companion devices," Harrison said. "I'm not going to speculate but we definitely designed the platform to extend over time."

The Xbox One launches November 22 for $500.