What to Expect From the New Xbox One Update

Microsoft has rolled out new changes to Xbox One Live consoles, but these changes are reserved for those that are part of the Xbox Live Preview Program for now. If you’re not part of that program (or you are), here’s what you can expect from the new update.

Media Player

Using a USB or a home network server that supports DLNA, Xbox Live users will be able to stream media files. Xbox One will support many files that Xbox 360 does not, and supported files will include mkv, animated gifs, 2 TS, and a variety of others. For now, the update only supports USB, but the update will eventually include any network server that’s DLNA connected.

TV Boot

The console will soon be able to boot directly to your TV after waking up from connected standby mode.

Xbox SmartGlass App

The SmartGlass app will let you stream your TV across your home network to tablets and smartphones, so you can get your content anywhere you go using the SmartGlass app. This app will also make it possible to pause; rewind, change channels, and press play again without messing up what you’re doing on your Xbox.

Additional Countries

This might be one of the biggest updates for those that have been previously left out of the Xbox One market launch. Microsoft is working on expanding to 29 different markets in the next few weeks, so you may get Xbox One soon if you don’t already have it. Plus, Microsoft will make the “Xbox On” voice command possible in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Italy, and Spain within the next few weeks (previously unavailable).

Check In On Friends With Friends Section Update

Your friends section will now be better all-around with check-in possibilities and the ability to see what your friends are up to when it comes to leaderboard points, what games they are playing, and the games that are the most popular with your friends – Microsoft has also stated that the company will continue to work on the friends section throughout the next few months, so you can expect some additional features to pop up here in addition to those already mentioned.

OneGuide MiniGuide

If you have OneGuide (not available in all markets yet), you can now see information about different TV channels and content at the bottom of the screen in guide form, and you can change the channel to see what’s playing on other channels while still watching TV.

Lots of Little Extras

Microsoft is also including some settings updates, avatar options, GameDVR deletes, bandwidth usage details, and other extras in this update. You can check out the full list on Microsoft’s main blog. As mentioned, these updates are only available to a select few currently, though they will be widely available sometime this September (a specific date hasn’t been mentioned yet). Microsoft is putting a lot of effort into making One better all around.

Microsoft reps have also stated that these are just some of the updates the company is working on, but additional updates will be rolling out alongside these features in the next month or so.