Click image to watch Xbox One “March Update” video.
Since the launch of the Xbox One in November, the console has felt a little underwhelming, for the most part. With the exception of the massive graphical overhaul and upgrade we witnessed for NBA 2K14 last fall, the purchase could’ve waited until next week when Microsoft’s Killer-App Titanfall launches. Having the best next-generation game on the market means you need a presentable console right? Meet the official March system update!
After receiving numerous complaints (from ourselves included), Microsoft has improved a variety of things within the consoles user interface; with most of all the being party chat and friend features, to drastically enhance our Xbox One experience.
Users who rely on Kinect for faster navigation with Instant On, will automatically receive the update during peak hours later today. With the long-awaited TwitchTV app set to arrive next week in time for live streaming of Titanfall (among other things), you can hit the jump for a complete tour of the new Xbox One experience and full details for the update.
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Improved Multiplayer & Party chat
- Cross title party chat
- Party chat on by default
- Easier multiplayer invites
- Easier multiplayer joining
- Ability to see what the people in your party are doing
Improved Friends List + Profile
- Improved friends list utility & speed of access
- Ability to see people you recently played games with
- See when friends are broadcasting, including live broadcast thumbnails in activity feed
- Get to a friend’s profile faster using type-ahead suggestions
- Contextual app menu actions on friends list and activity feed items
- Enabled more multiplayer (join and invite) actions on user profiles
- 54 new contest-winning gamerpics
Twitch TV live streaming support
- Broadcast gameplay on Twitch.TV through Xbox LIVE (When the updated Twitch app ships next week.)
- Voice support for starting and ending broadcast
Bringing out social in home
- See favorite friends currently online
- See friends broadcasting gameplay
Miscellaneous shell improvements
- Improved notification center experiences including “quiet mode”
- View Game Clips while in snap mode
- Protect user settings with passkey
Browser improvements
- Control Bing and Google maps with gesture and controller
- Quick search when highlighting a term on a page
- When searching from Bing search on the console, direct link to Internet Explorer in order to see additional web results.
New Devices – Driver and Firmware updates
- Firmware update to the Xbox One controller to support the Xbox One stereo headset adapter
- Support for 1st and 3rd party headsets
- Driver updates for the Xbox One Media Remote
SmartGlass Improvements
- Push notification to your device for Xbox Live messages
- Quickly see what a friend is doing including presence and recent
- Enhanced viewing of personal and a friend’s game progress and clips
- Ability to close snap from SmartGlass
Live TV
- 50Hz fix – users can set the Live TV app to display at 50Hz for full or fill modes
- Volume up/down adjustments – user can tailor the number of volume increments when using “volume up” or “volume down” commands
- IR blasting of power & volume to TVs/AVRs in all regions
- AVR setup maps to include model number for most sound bars or AVRs when setting up TV
Improved Audio output support
- SPDIF (optical out) now supports 5.1 Dolby Digital – enabling devices such as sound bars with only Optical In to be able to receive 5.1 Dolby Digital from console over optical
- HDMI output now supports stereo uncompressed, 5.1 uncompressed, 7.1 uncompressed or 5.1 Dolby Digital live or 5.1 DTS