I have the squeezebox and the MAC and they are not really reliable or capable of doing what the new XBox is claiming. I am not saying the new device will work as demoed but the claims seem amazing. I am wondering out loud if the XBox One may turn out to be like the iPhone, an enabler of various third party componets controlled by a central hub (XBox One = iPhone).
In the XBox One case it brings to the table, Skype, Voice recognition, gesture recognition, interactive TV, tablet/phone remote, and an Xbox One SDK (Software Development Kit). Third-party developers/vendors could create apps to run on the XBox One and interface with their products.
For a hypothetical example, the FLAC files on the Bryston BDP-2 could be accessed by my voice commands (like Siri) using a Bryston XBox One app as the intermediary. The intermediary app would run like how third party apps run on the iPhone. The Bryston BDP-2 will of course be connected to the stereo system. I don't know if this is pie-in-the-sky thinking but I would like to see something like this happen.
Never had reliability issues w/ a squeezebox.......mac is pretty reliable as well - though pure music can be flaky.
A lot of the features you're mentioning have or are being integrated into blu-ray players, set top boxes, or even the TV's themselves (e.g. Samsung tv's w/ cameras and gesture recognition). Even the media access / control features as well, whether w/ built in software or through third party software such as Plex, Firecore, etc.
I'm w/ RClark though - I'm strictly of the couch potato button presser generation - I don't want to shout out or make physical efforts to control my media.
If I owned something as nice as a Bryston BDP-2 I wouldn't want a lowly Xbox One anywhere near the signal chain - not even for storage (and w/ just 500GB of HD space, probably not enough for a real music lover's collection, particularly of hi-rez).
As for controlling audio content - I would trust Bryston to keep improving the control options (i-device / android / pc) for the BDP-2 more than MSFT.
Not trying to be an ogre about the XBOX One - I'd be interested in one as a game console. After 7+ years gamers are ready for the next jump in graphics (mostly) and sound (7.1. channel finally - hopefully at HD / Master Audio quality, but don't count on it).
But all the other "features" of the XBOX One just seem "me too". I think MSFT & Sony both have bought into the idea that having something primarily as a game console doesn't cut it - and this may be the swan song of consoles. But no one has actually managed to introduce a high end gaming platform online or otherwise that doesn't require some advanced hardware at the users end. Perhaps the real problem is insufficient quality media (games) w/ compelling stories & innovative game play. Can't just keep putting out sequels to hit games. And just see how far the original Wii got on the basis of a clever controller (and how it isn't going very far w/ their new one which is a set back).
I think in the end the ultimate central "media server" is a computer, and the ultimate controller is an i-device, smart phone or tablet - which allows you to control multiple devices with one. Perhaps the "solution" is better software to allow one app to control multiple media devices - like the "universal remotes" of yore.
As for the server, I've seen some people build some nice high end media servers w/ careful design, great parts, all to maximize audio & video quality, unlike most mass market stuff (and different from a regular computer that really isn't built for those AV quality requirements). Most of these don't come cheap. So in the meantime it seems like a quiet & compact PCs - whether mac minis or comparable windows or linux machines - seems to be the way to go for most of us.
