How things have come full circle! Once we had Windows Media Center on PCs with TV tuners but them Microsoft all but abandoned Media Center for the Xbox One and TV apps and now we have a TV tuner coming for the Xbox One. Microsoft have announced a Digital TV Tuner that supports DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-C services on the Xbox One, this means you should be able to watch Freeview HD channels on your Xbox One with EPG data coming in the form of OneGuide. You will get the same features as you do when you connect a set top box to the Xbox One via HDMI which means you get OneGuide, voice control, pause Live TV, OneGuide on the Xbox SmartGlass apps and links to on demand content.
What you don’t have is any DVR features so it is live TV only so in that respect it is no replacement for Media Center but it is a cheap (£24.99) way to add live TV to the Xbox One. The tuner will be available in October for UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.
What do you think? Is this something you would be interested in?
Beginning in October, the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner will be available in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, providing Xbox One users in those markets with an over-the-air digital terrestrial TV experience through the USB single tuner, an alternative to accessing TV content from a cable or satellite set-top box connected through the HDMI-In port. The new digital TV tuner will also support free-to-air DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-C television standards.
Here’s a list of the capabilities enabled by the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner:
Watch HD TV on Xbox One: With the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner, you can watch free-to-air DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-C television channels without changing TV inputs. You can receive game invitations and notifications while watching TV and even watch TV while you wait for a multiplayer match to start.
TV Viewing in Snap Mode: You can watch TV using the Snap mode, watching TV on the side and leaving the main screen for games, Skype, or other applications.
Pause Live TV: Pause your favorite show when you get up to take a break.
TV Listings in the OneGuide: TV listings will be available in the OneGuide. From anywhere, say “Xbox show guide, what’s on BBC One?” to quickly navigate directly to that channel’s listings*.
Favorite Channels in the OneGuide: Create your own personal Favorites in the OneGuide so you can easily choose what you want to watch.
Channel Tuning by Voice: The OneGuide allows you to call out your favorite TV channel by name and start watching it instantly*.
The OneGuide on Xbox SmartGlass: Now you have access to the full OneGuide on the new Xbox SmartGlass app with the ability to tune channels on your TV.
TV On Demand: TV listings in the OneGuide will indicate which shows are available on demand from video apps.
The Xbox One Digital TV Tuner will be available beginning late October in the UK for ₤24.99, and France, Italy, Germany and Spain for €29.99.
3 thoughts on “Microsoft announce a Freeview HD compatible TV tuner for the Xbox One”
Until they add full DVR capability (it’s not like they haven’t done it already!) it’s a bit meh… nice to have if you have an Xbox One, but not enough to make me ditch MCE yet…
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Until they add full DVR capability (it’s not like they haven’t done it already!) it’s a bit meh… nice to have if you have an Xbox One, but not enough to make me ditch MCE yet…
It would be great to see them add DVR features, I bet it is coming
If it ever stacks up against MCE, I’d be buying an Xbox One the day after release…