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Xbox One to get DLNA and streaming to Smartglass

The Xbox One will be updated this year to include a digital TV tuner, DLNA support and streaming to SmartGlass.

The new Media Player app will allow you to play media via USB or direct from a network connected home media server that supports over-the-air DLNA streaming, although disappointingly, the app won’t be available to use with anything but USB until later in the year.

The Xbox Digital Tuner accessory was announced last week and Microsoft has now revealed it will be launching in the UK first as a preview, alongside France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. That means we’ll also be one of the first countries to get the ‘Stream to SmartGlass’ feature that allows you to stream whatever’s playing on your TV to your iOS and Android device using the Xbox SmartGlass app.

The Xbox One's new Media Player app means you can stream content from your network on the big screen
The Xbox One’s new Media Player app means you can stream content from your network on the big screen

Microsoft said in a blog post: “We’ve been bringing tons of new features to Xbox One fans worldwide throughout the year.

“Thanks to our recently launched Xbox Feedback, our fans have played a huge role in shaping these updates. In fact, we’ve received thousands of posts and more than 400,000 votes to date.”

The Media Player app will support more file formats than the Xbox 360 including MPEG 2 TS, animated GIFs and MKV, bringing it bang up to date and allowing you to watch your favourite funny internet snippets on the big screen (who doesn’t love a mis-performing cat gif?).

The new formats will also make the Xbox One compatible with most torrented video files, bringing new competition to the many legal video streaming services on the console.

Other features announced in the Xbox One’s future include the ability to boot straight to TV mode, so as soon as you turn the Xbox on, it’ll fire up your TV, OneGuide and attached set-top boxes, and a new live TV mini guide at the bottom of the screen to find out more about the TV programme you’re watching.

All these new features will roll out to early access and Xbox One update preview programme users first, while normal Xbox users will get the updates in stages in the coming months.

Yesterday, it was announced the Xbox One will also be getting support this year for the ‘new’ iPlayer app, alongside Virgin Media TiVo, YouView and older BT Vision boxes.

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