Microsoft will add over-the-air DVR support to the Xbox One in 2016, letting users record broadcast channels for free.
The news follows Microsoft’s launch of an official Xbox One TV tuner for the U.S. market last May, and a tuner for European markets
last fall. With DVR capabilities, users can record major broadcast
channels such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox without a cable TV subscription.
They’ll also be able to stream those recordings over Wi-Fi to phones,
tablets, and PCs, or use those devices to schedule recordings remotely.
Windows 10 users can even store recordings on a phone, tablet, or PC for
offline playback.
Even without DVR, the $60 Xbox TV tuner is a fine product,
adding features you don’t get by simply plugging an antenna into the
television. For instance, users get a full channel guide, time-shifting
for up to 30 minutes of live television, and optional Kinect voice
commands. The tuner can also stream live TV to the SmartGlass app for
iOS, Android, and Windows devices, and to the Xbox app for Windows 10.
Microsoft’s DVR support does come with
a couple of drawbacks, however: Users will need to supply their own
external hard drive for recordings, despite the availability of a 1 TB Xbox One console,
and they won’t be able to watch and record programs at the same time
using the current TV tuner. For that, users would need a dual tuner,
which doesn’t exist for the Xbox One at the moment.
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