The Xbox team is pulling the trigger early on its release of its customized Windows 10 Anniversary Update release. According to a support page, which the folks over at Neowin discovered; Xbox One console owners can nab the unceremoniously titled “August Update” that includes a treasure trove of new additions and Windows 10 goodies.
Perhaps in preparation for the early release, the Xbox team has put together a nice sizzle reel of all the upcoming changes to Xbox One in this latest update.
Eager Xbox One users can now look forward downloading and installing the August 2016 update and playing around with this list of more detailed new features:
Cortana available in the U.S. and the UK
- Talk to Cortana on your Xbox One with your headset or Kinect. To start, just say “Hey Cortana” or launch the Cortana app. If you’re not sure what to say, try “Hey Cortana, what can I say?”
- If you’re using Kinect, turn on your console by saying, “Hey Cortana, Xbox on.”
Background music
- Music apps will now be able to play music in the background. In an app that supports background music, just start some music. You’ll be able to switch to other apps and games while the music plays.
- After starting your music: To play, pause, skip, and adjust music volume from anywhere, double-tap the Xbox button to open the guide, choose Multitasking, then select your music controls.
- The app must support background music. An updated Pandora app in the U.S. is the first app to support background music—and more are coming soon.
My games & apps
- Your stuff is closer. From Home, move right and select My games & apps.
- In My games & apps, there are new sorting options.
- “Ready to Install” has its own area, so you can quickly find the games and apps you’ve purchased but haven’t installed.
- Game and app updates will show up in their own area, when available.
- The queue area now tells you what’s been recently installed in addition to what’s in your queue.
Language & location settings
- You can now choose your location separately from your system language. To change your language and location, double-tap the Xbox button to open the guide, select Settings > All settings, then choose System > Language & location.
- All languages aren’t available for all locations. When you choose a language that isn’t usually associated with your location, most of the system will be in your chosen language, but you may see a mix of languages in areas like Store or online content.
Top PC games on Xbox Live
- Top PC games now have game hubs on Xbox Live. Whether you’re on PC, Xbox, or mobile, you’ll see what PC games your friends are playing, share PC game clips and screenshots, and message friends on Xbox Live. On Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, you can join a party chat with your friends no matter what they’re doing.
New Store
- Xbox Store and the Windows Store have come together, making the shopping experience more streamlined. From Home, move right to Store to start browsing all content.
- Preorders now get charged closer to game launch instead of at time of purchase. You can also cancel and change your payment option for preorders anytime at account.microsoft.com.
- Customers in the U.S., Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Germany, and Finland can now use mobile operator billing to make purchases. Customers in China can now use China Union Pay.
Find Facebook friends
- Find friends from Facebook by linking your Facebook and Xbox Live accounts. In the guide, go to the Friends tab, then choose Friends > Suggestions. Select Find Facebook friends and follow the steps. Your Facebook friends that have done the same will start showing up in your suggestions.
Control automatic sharing
- You can now choose to automatically share your achievements, screenshots, and game clips to your activity feed. To change your sharing settings, go to Settings > Preferences > Activity feed.
- Users should keep in mind that the update may only be the first part of a two-part rollout of updates as the Xbox team has mentioned about the Xbox One Windows 10 Anniversary update.
Nevertheless, participants in the Xbox One preview and regular users will be aligned after today with both systems resting on OS version 10.0.14393.1018 (rs1_xbox_rel_1608.160725-1822).
If interested, head to the System Settings page on your console to see if the update has hit your device. Let us know if you got it.
