Perhaps I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to this topic, but I have never seen the purpose of watching television on video game consoles, instead preferring that more attention is spent on delivering the greatest number of video-on-demand options as possible. Nevertheless, for those that want to take advantage of television through their Xbox One console, Microsoft Australia have announced a public preview of ‘OneGuide’.
OneGuide is described by Microsoft Australia as “enabling Xbox One users to experience premium life TV features on Xbox One”. It grants users the ability to watch free-to-air television with apps and other features through the console. For example, it will be possible to navigate using either the controller (Which never seems to go missing as much as the television remote) or Kinect Voice. Some other PROMOTED features include:
- Favourite Channels in OneGuide: Create your own personal favourites in OneGuide so you can more quickly choose what you want to watch. This is provided you own an Xbox One Kinect.
- Channel Tuning by Voice: OneGuide allows you to call out your favourite TV channel by name and start watching it instantly.
- TV Listings in the OneGuide: Navigate TV listings using the controller or with Kinect Voice control – e.g. say “Xbox show guide, what’s on Channel 7?” – to quickly navigate directly to that channel’s listings for free-to-air TV. Listings are available in both full screen and mini-guide, with the option of parental controls.
- TV Playback in Snap Mode: You can now watch TV using the Snap mode, watching TV on the side and leaving the main screen for games, Skype, or other applications.
- OneGuide on SmartGlass: You will have access to the OneGuide listings on the new Xbox One SmartGlass Beta app with the ability to change channels on your TV. You can download this app from the marketplace or store on your mobile device.
- TV On Demand: TV listings in OneGuide will indicate which shows are available on demand from video apps.
To complement the launch of OneGuide, Xbox Australia will also be launching a new ‘Xbox One Digital TV Tuner’ in March 2015. This is what they have to say on the tuner:
It will provide Xbox One users in Australia with an over-the-air digital terrestrial TV experience through a USB-attached TV tuner, an alternative to accessing TV content from a free-to-air box connected through the HDMI-In port. One feature of the new digital TV Tuner, is the streaming of TVacross a home network to a smartphone or tablet using the Xbox One SmartGlass app, allowing you to pause, rewind and fast forward TV. The feature also allows users to watch TV on a device within your home and game on the Xbox console simultaneously.
Those involved in the official Xbox One Preview Program will be able to access OneGuide right now Unfortunately for those not part of the program, access is through invite only.
