Newly released patent applications from Microsoft have sparked speculation¹ that it is to unveil a Wii remote rival at the E3 expo in Los Angeles.

微软新提交的专利申请显示其动机，微软将在洛杉矶举办的E3展览发布一款Wii。

The Xbox 360 controller has not changed since it launched in 2005

An application was filed in 2007 for a motion controller, dubbed²（复制） Magic Wand, that interacts with "a collection of sensors⁴".

Microsoft says it will not "comment on speculation" about a possible launch.

Gavin Ogden, from gaming site c&vg.com, told the BBC that Microsoft needed to "jump on the motion sensor³ bandwagon（引人注目，流行）".

"We thought they were going to show something off at the E3 Expo in 2007 - some sort of waggle（摇动，摇摆） stick - but nothing materialised," he said.

"I have no doubt they are going to try and do something, although it remains⁵ to be seen how they do it."

Biometrics（生物测定学）

The patent application also describes "biometric sensors" that would examine "fingerprint⁶, hand geometry（几何）, hand vein⁷（静脉） pattern, palm pattern, and grip configuration⁸" along with "facial thermogram（自记温度图表）, a facial feature, a retinal（网膜的） feature, or an iris⁹（虹膜） feature".

"There was talk, a long time ago, about mapping people's faces on to characters," said Mr Ogden.

"However, there were concerns that people would stick real faces on it - such as Gordon Brown - and then spend all day shooting them. The world wasn't ready for that."

At the beginning of May, Microsoft's boss, Steve Ballmer, gave a speech to the Dallas Regional Chamber¹⁰ and was quoted as saying: "Pay attention to the stuff we're announcing in the next month on Xbox."

So the industry will be waiting to see if Microsoft comes up with any surprises at the Los Angeles expo in June.