The Xbox One's next system update is now live for those enrolled in Microsoft's preview program, providing access to many of the features announced earlier this week at Gamescom. As an extra surprise, some previously unannounced--if somewhat minor--features are also included in today's update.
This update adds major new features like the Media Player app and a new friends area. It also includes a redesigned Party app that makes it easier to see what everyone in the party is doing, and gives control to one person who can remove party members and dictate whether people need an invite to join.
There a re other, smaller features added in this update that Microsoft didn't mention earlier this week when it previewed some of the features being added in the next few months. These include a way to save your Avatar gamerpic to your OneDrive account, a tool for tracking your Xbox One's bandwidth usage, and new options to "help you manage your controllers and accessories." One addition I'm particularly thankful for is a way to delete multiple Game DVR clips at once, which should be a real help when trying to clear out all of those automatically recorded Peggle 2 highlights I've been amassing.
If you're enrolled in the preview program that provides early access to Xbox One system updates, you'll be able to download this update now. Microsoft has yet to say when many of these features will be made available to all Xbox One owners, but we do know an update is coming for everyone this month that will include an enhanced activ ity feed and 3D Blu-ray movie support, among other things.
The previously unannounced features in today's update are listed below; check out our story on the original announcement for details on the others.
- Redesigned parties < /strong>-- Makes it easier to see who is playing what, to see whether others are in the same game as you, and to do common tasks like joining, inviting, or muting someone. Also adds the party-leader designation, allowing that person to remove others from the party and decide if an invite is needed to join.
- "Xbox On" expansion -- The ability to turn the system on with the "Xbox On" voice command expands to new countries, including Australia, Canada (in French), Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Brazil.
- Multiple Game DVR deletes -- Delete multiple clips at a time in the Upload app.
- Save Avatar gamerpics -- Love the way your Avatar looks in your gamerpic? Save it to your OneDrive so that you can make it your Twitter icon, print it out and frame it, or whatever else you feel like doing.
- Settings update -- The location of the Instant Sign-In option i s being moved, and new, unspecified options for "manag[ing] your controllers and accessories" are being added.
- Bandwidth usage -- See how much bandwidth your console has been using from the Network Settings area.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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