It seems Microsoft lost track of time in a very good way for Xbox One owners. The new September update comes with a few days still remaining in August.
Microsoft has shown an incredible amount of support and activity with regards to software and interface-related changes for the Xbox One. A variety of key features are now available to everyone with media features being the focus in this update.
You’ll now be able to boot straight to TV from standby mode on the console — a highly requested feature to be incorporated in the Xbox One experience. Also now available is a TV mini-guide that will display the currently-tuned-in channel’s information and gives users the ability to change channels without interrupting what is currently playing with a large intrusive overlay.
For those who would like to play their own movie/tv-show collection, the Xbox Media app is finally available with more than 20 file formats compatible right now. As soon as a USB drive is connected a prompt will display to download the Media app right away.
The most notable non-media related features that players who utilizes the Xbox Smartglass app will see are the new threaded messages and the improved activity feed. Those who download the free app are now able to post status updates and share items on their feed.
The social experience will continue to grow on the Xbox One as players await for the new “friends tab” on the home screen that will provide easy access to your friends list and their activites as well as the leaderboards for games played. Players will have to wait at least one more month for the improved friends interface to arrive.
Full list of new features below:
- Boot to TV – Users now have the option to have the TV start as soon as the console is turned on from standby.
- Mini guide – Currently the One Guide takes up nearly the entire screen, but the new mini guide displays show information and give users the ability to change channels without interrupting what is currently playing.
- Improved party chat – Kicking players from the party and an option for whether the party requires an invite or not are included as well.
- Media App – Just plug-in your own USB 2.o or 3.0 external hard drive to play your own movies, TV shows, music, and personal videos with dozens of file formats supported and more to come later this year.
- Updated Smartglass – Post status updates, share items, and comment on videos with the improved Xbox app. The message system gets rehauled as well with threaded messages finally available to allow easy viewing of conversation history.
- More region compatibility – The OneGuide is now accesible to Xbox One gamers in Brazil, Mexico, Austria, and Ireland. The “Xbox On” kinect command is now available for Australia, Canada (French), Italy, Spain, and Mexico.
- Bandwidth – Monitor your console’s internet speeds and history. Gamer’s can also cap their data usage at their desired amount.
- Delete multiple clips – Where it had previously allowed you to only delete one recorded game-clip at a time, the Upload app has been updated to allow users to delete multiple clips at once.