Posted Wed May 21, 2014 at 07:53 AM PDT by Brian Hoss
TV and OneGuide expanding to more markets and to Smart Glass.
June's Xbox One update is going to be big. Microsoft has already announced that the June update will remove the Xbox Live Gold requirement from entertainment apps like Netflix as well as enable the PS Plus-like free game program. But that's not all. June will see the system get external storage support, a capability that has been promised since before the system's launch. External support even means some portable Xbox One content.
"It couldn’t be easier to increase your storage capacity of games and apps with the external storage support features we’re bringing in June. Your Xbox One system will soon support up to two external hard drives at once. Simply plug in your 256 GB or larger USB 3.0 external hard drive and once formatted, copy and move games, apps and game add-ons to increase your storage capacity at home."
FAQ: Xbox One external storage will support up to two USB 3.0 drives. You can also name your drives #AngryToast pic.twitter.com/BfuP4k5sg4
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) May 21, 2014
"This is also a great way to take your content to a friend’s house and get straight into a game directly from an external drive. You’ll need to sign in to Xbox Live if you’ve purchased your content digitally or insert a disc to verify your game ownership when you take your content on the road. The great benefit here is there’s no need to wait to re-download your game and all the DLC. With external storage support in June, you can also choose to copy full games and all of the associated content in one easy step."
The Xbox One is also getting support for real names, and a user's real name can be shared with a subset of friends, all friends, or none at all. This feature seems to be limited for the friends lists as real names won't be appearing in games.
Microsoft is also expanding to the OneGuide and TV features beyond the US. The HDMI In, OneGuide, and Kinect voice control for the TV app are coming to Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.
Also, SmartGlass will now be host to the OneGuide features as well as new Universal Remote Control features. Microsoft has even revamped how friend's activity shows up in SmartGlass.
Finally, with Kinect taking a smaller role in the Xbox One vision, Microsoft is finally adding the ability to automatically sign an Xbox Live account in when powering on the Xbox One.
Source: Xbox Wire
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