While Xbox is currently at gamescom, in Germany, highlighting their 2015 and 2016 games lineup, the team took some time to address some of the entertainment value of Xbox One. Previously, Xbox released a digital TV tuner that allows European, Australian, and North American customers to obtain over the air programming with an antenna. At gamescom, Xbox is taking that to the next step with the inclusion of DVR capabilities.
While this DVR capability comes with some really cool features, taking advantage of the console and Windows 10, it should be noted that an external hard drive is recommended. By including an external drive, you can (for example) record shows while doing other things on the Xbox console.
Some other key features include:
- Watch recorded shows on mobile devices – Using the Xbox App or Smarglass, you’ll be able to stream shows that you’ve recorded to Xbox One.
- Download for later – You can download recorded content to any Windows 10 device for viewing later. Ideal for when you’re going on a plane, as an example.
- Scheduling Anywhere – You can schedule recordings using the OneGuide on Xbox One, the Xbox app on Windows 10 or the Smartglass app.
- Create a collection – Since Xbox One can accept insanely large external drives, you can use that space to create your own collection of recorded content. It stays for as long as you want it to.
- Subscription Free! – This is a big one. To use this feature will require no fees to use.
The feature is slated to launch in 2016, but you can bet folks in the Xbox preview program (and in supported OTA locales) will get to try this early, much like getting to try backwards compatibility early. Note there is currently no timetable for testing by preview members, or when exactly in 2016 this feature will roll out.
For a start, this is great. Hopefully this expands to include multiple tuners, cable TV, and other content sources, but surely that will take a great amount of time and negotiation.
Source: Xbox Wire
SiliconDust says MS has no intent on expanding this to other tuners/forms of TV reception: https://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=137717#p137717
I don’t want to over-parse this, but that isn’t what they said. The question was asked if they were involved in Microsoft’s recent DVR announcement. They responded saying that they aren’t interested in a single-tuner solution like what was just announced. This statement in no way limits them from possible future project announcements.