XBox One’s energy needs costing $250k a year
The Natural Resources Defense Council, a committee dedicated to environmental issues, is not happy about Microsoft’s XBox One. Specifically, they’re peeved about the console’s voice command functions remaining constantly on even when the XBox is not in use. It turns out, to keep the One in a constant spring-loaded state of waiting for the words “XBox On” to be spoken, the audio processing core of the machine must remain active 24 hours a day, and that soaks up a lot of energy — to the tune of 12 watts an hour. The voice functions can be turned off, and when they are, energy use from the One drops dramatically — to just a half a watt an hour. The NRDC estimates that having so much of the One remain active costs the US energy infrastructure, and those who pay for it, $250,000 a year. And more people keep buying XBox Ones every day! The fact is, most gamers would lean toward the NRDC’s side of the debate, if only for