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Microsoft has detailed the list of features due to be introduced in the next Xbox One update – including a major revamp to the way players can interact with their Xbox Live friends.
As detailed in the video above, the new Friends area will be available as a new tab on the Home screen and will allow players easy access to their friends’ current activity and the top trending games amongst their community.
There’ll also be a new Gamerscore leaderboard where players can compare their Achievement progress with friends from across the last 30 days.
But while the Friends area will be available to a “subset” of players registered for the Xbox One update preview program, Microsoft’s wording suggests that it may not be ready for all users until a little later in the year.
“We’re doing an extended preview on this, rolling it into the early access preview this month to a subset of our preview audience so we can refine it until it’s ready for the entire Xbox One market,” the platform holder says.
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Whether the Friends area does or doesn’t make it, though, there’s still plenty of other improvements to look forward to in the August update, including significant changes to the Activity Feed, which is being redesigned to look even more like Twitter than it does already.
You’ll also be able to ‘Like’ and comment on updates posted in the feed, and share them with your friends publicly or via private message.
Mobile purchasing is being introduced, too, letting Xbox One users remotely purchase games and DLC through Xbox SmartGlass and Xbox.com, and, if your Xbox One is left in standby, have them download ready for when you get home.
An update to the Blu-ray player app will enable playback of 3D Blu-rays on Xbox One as well, although there’s no word yet on when 3D games will become supported. You’ll also be able disable notifications during video, too, meaning your nightly catch up of Orange is the New Black won’t be disturbed by a random friend request.
And finally, a low battery notification is being introduced warning you of when your controller’s batteries are getting low.
A release date for the update has yet to be confirmed, but to find out more about the new functionality on the way, take a look at the video above.
Source: news.xbox.com
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