HomeMain MenuNewsXbox Newsbeat: February 16th, 2015

Xbox Newsbeat: February 16th, 2015

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Hello gamers! I hope we all had a wonderful weekend either spending it with loved ones or smashing through the latest and greatest games. Well now it is time to go back to the grind and that means it is time for this week’s Xbox Newsbeat. For those who are out of the loop, Newsbeat is the one stop shop for all the hottest Microsoft news. This week we only have two headlines to share with you all but they are still pretty sweet. So lets kick back and hit the Newsbeat!


Expand Your Minecraft Universe with Star Wars Rebels Skin Pack for Xbox

While we are still a few months away from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many star-fans have been thoroughly enjoying Star Wars: Rebels – a show that is part Star Wars, part Firefly and all class. Well now Minecraft players can download a skin pack that features characters from the game. Which side of the force flows stronger through you?

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Xbox One February System Update: Enjoy Game Hubs, Updates to Controller, Party Chat and TV

One of the things that I have always enjoyed about the Xbox One console has been the fact that the champions over at Microsoft are constantly updating it with new features to make it the ultimate entertainment machine that we are all looking for. Well a new update has recently rolled out its latest update, and here are the new cool things you can enjoy:

  • Controller improvements – We’re excited to improve stability and speed on the Xbox One controller in the following ways:
    • Quick Connect – Previously, controller connections to Xbox One took approximately four-to-five seconds when powering on a controller. Now, it will only take about two seconds.
    • Stability improvements – The update also provides a number of fixes that address some of the controller disconnect issues reported by Xbox One owners.
  • Game hubs  These are the go-to centres for interesting content, tips and tricks for your favourite titles. Every Xbox One game will have a game hub where you can see which friends are playing the game, compete with your friends in game leaderboards, dive into the coolest game clips and game broadcasts, and follow the game’s top broadcasters and clip creators.To get to the game hub for your favourite game, find a game in your pins, recently played list, or My games and apps, then press the Menu button and select View game hub. You can also search for any game in the Xbox Store and click on the Game Hub tile from the game’s store page.On the game’s activity feed, game developers can share interesting content with anyone who follows the game. You’ll be the first to get news on upcoming updates and DLC, featured game clips and trailers, behind the scenes content and more. All the news about your favourite games is delivered right to your console. Additionally, you can now choose to Follow a game from a game hub, which will incorporate the game’s activity feed content into your activity feed.

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  • Party chat updates  Several changes have been made to party chat in recent weeks, including:
    • Chat connection status – New icons have been added to let you know the current status of a chat connection in your party. A Clock icon means the connection is being made. A Squawker Ring icon indicates the connection was successful, and actively shows who is speaking. An icon means that networking limitations (such as a Strict NAT) are preventing the chat connection from completing for specific participants.
    • Improved connectivity between multiple participants with Strict or Moderate NATs –  some connectivity improvements have been made to party chat in partial mesh situations when multiple participants are behind moderate or strict NATs with their home gateways/routers.
    • Game and party invitations – To help you more quickly know who is inviting you to what, we made improvements to game and party invitations. Now, you can see which of your friends is inviting you and what party or game the invite is for, without having to wait for the text to scroll on the notification.
    • Performance improvements – Decreased the time it takes to set up person-to-person (P2P) connectivity for party chat and streamlined the retry logic for setting up party chat sessions.
  • Custom backgrounds and tile transparency  Tile transparency has been added to the Home tiles to make your background images more visible. As a reminder, to set a custom background, go to Settings > My Xbox > My background. Note: some items can’t be made transparent due to usage rights/restrictions for certain images.
  • TV updates  A number of updates to the live TV experience are available today and new features have been added to additional countries including:
    • TV trending in OneGuide  As you scan the OneGuide TV listings, you can see which shows are trending with a “Trending on Xbox” or “Trending on Twitter” note and icon within the details for each show. Currently, Xbox TV trending is available to all Xbox One owners in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and Twitter trending is available in the United States.
    • Improved control of TVs, set-top boxes and audio/video receivers  Xbox One works even better with more devices. Updates to the IR blasting database for new models have been added and address issues reported by our fan community.
    • Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android  Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android devices for Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners has been added in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

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There is is folks, another short but sweet installment of Xbox Newsbeat. Which of this week’s two headlines grabbed you the most? Let us know in the comments below and make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the awesome Xbox Updates as they roll out.