Xbox One Update Now Rolling Out; Brings New Media Player App and More

Microsoft's Larry Hryb, also known as Major Nelson, on Thursday announced the start of the roll-out of the latest Xbox One system software update, which will bring several new media and social-related features to the game console- many of which were announced at Gamescom earlier this month.

Hryb says the latest Xbox One system software update contains features requested by users, and will roll-out globally "over the next few days." The first major update is the new Media Player app that allows users to play files from an attached USB device. DLNA support for home servers is promised to come soon, as well as extended support for 'dozens of new file formats' that will arrive by the end of the year.

The latest Xbox One system update also brings a new Party App, which brings the party leader setting that allows the party leader to change the invite-only setting, and remove others from the party. Other users in the party will also be able to what everyone else is doing, and now have the ability to quickly mute players, join games, or invite players to games.

The next major feature to receive an update is SmartGlass. Users can now post status messages from the Activity Feed and comments, or share items from both their Activity Feed and Game Clips. Hyrb explains a new personalized Activity Feed has been added to users' profiles, and that messages now feature a new layout with a full conversation view. Users can now also record game clips directly from the Now Playing bar.

Users in new regions (Australia, Canada (French), Italy, Spain, and Mexico) have been given support for the Kinect voice command 'Xbox On' with the latest Xbox One system software update, which turns the console on when already in connected standby (Instant On) mode.

Brazil, Mexico, Austria, and Ireland users have been given the OneGuide feature with the update, which allows users to configure live TV listings. The ability to use OneGuide and the Universal Remote Control in SmartGlass will also arrive in these markets.

Other new features included in the latest Xbox One system software update are Boot to TV (booting directly to TV when coming out of connected standby), Bandwidth Usage display, and the ability to delete multiple GameDVR clips in the Upload app. Users can now also save their Avatar Gamerpics to their OneDrive accounts.

The last Xbox One system software update began rolling out on August 17, and brought a new Activity Feed, the ability to share game clips both publically and privately, the ability to like game clips, and more.