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Xbox One update rolling out with new media player and SmartGlass app improvements

Xbox One update rolling out with new media player and SmartGlass app improvements

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Microsoft’s big September update for Xbox One is rolling out to consoles today, just under a month after the company made it available to select beta testers. The update includes a number of improvements focused at the TV integration on the Xbox One, including a boot to TV option, live TV mini guide, and an expansion of Microsoft’s OneGuide TV guide data to Brazil, Mexico, Austria, and Ireland.

The biggest feature is a new media player app that allows Xbox One owners to play files from attached USB devices. Codec support is robust, and Microsoft plans to support formats like animated GIFs and MKV by the end of the year. The Xbox One media player will also support DLNA playback by the end of the year, but right now it's USB only.

SmartGlass updated with lots of new features

Microsoft’s latest Xbox One update also includes improvements for the company’s SmartGlass app across phones and tablets running iOS, Android, and Windows. You can now post status messages and comments to the friends Activity Feed, and share game clips with others. Recording game clips has been added to SmartGlass, alongside support for threaded messages for Xbox Live conversations. SmartGlass updates also include the ability to stream TV to the application, although you’ll need the new digital TV tuner accessory to take advantage of that initially.

Microsoft has also updated its party app to allow gamers to remove people from parties and easily see the status of friends activity within the party, and added "Xbox On" boot support for Australia, Canada (French), Italy, Spain, and Mexico. The latest update is available now and will be automatically installed for Xbox One owners using the standby (Instant On) mode.