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XBox (Games) Microsoft Television

Microsoft Isn't Adding a TV DVR Feature To Xbox One Anymore (theverge.com) 76

Posted by msmash from the bad-news-guys dept.
The much-anticipated TV DVR feature isn't coming to Xbox One ... at least not in the immediate future. The company has confirmed to The Verge that it has put the plans to add this functionality to its current generation gaming console on hold. From the report: Microsoft had originally planned to let Xbox One users schedule recordings on the go, and stream or download shows to mobile devices and other Windows 10 PCs. The DVR feature would have only been limited to free-to-air TV, and Microsoft had released digital TV tuners in Europe and the US that would have supported it. After Microsoft killed off Windows Media Center in Windows 10, the company still doesn't have a viable alternative.
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Microsoft Isn't Adding a TV DVR Feature To Xbox One Anymore More

Microsoft Isn't Adding a TV DVR Feature To Xbox One Anymore

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  • Why would I want to save TV video on a video game console?

    • Why would I want to save TV video on a video game console?

      Because I don't have a box for that. I *had* a TV with various pay-tv providers, and I already have an Xbox One.

      So, a sub-$100 USB ATSC tuner combined with the 5TB drive I already have for my console would have made a great DVR.

      Many cord-cutters don't have their own DVR yet. Building one into a major console would have been great.

    • Why would I want to save TV video on a video game console?

      Why does it matter what you do or don't want?

      Plenty of people in the world aren't you.

      • Plenty of people in the world aren't you.

        Plenty of people on Slashdot don't understand a rhetorical question.

        Woosh!

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

          What's a rhetorical question?

        • Rhetorical questions usually serve to make some kind of a point.

          All yours did was alert us to the uninteresting fact that you don't need this thing.

          • All yours did was alert us to the uninteresting fact that you don't need this thing.

            Otherwise known as a stupid question to provoke a discussion. Never be afraid to ask a stupid question, as others may want to ask the same stupid question but are afraid of what people may think of them. Thank you for your participation. ;)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )
      Because not everyone has a box for that. PS3 had playTV, which was a full featured DVR (by full-featured, that was the specs, in practice, development ended a few weeks after it was released, and most of the features ended up not working right, and were never fixed). X-Box targeted that feature, but since the PS4 doesn't support the PlayTV, someone with a PlayTV can use it on their PC (just a 2-tuner USB tuner), but not the PS4. So, since PS4 didn't do DVR, MS abandoned it in the Xbox.

  • Microsoft: Less utility is a FEATURE! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Chas ( 5144 ) on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @01:24PM (#52275849) Homepage Journal

    Man. Can Microsoft actually deliver on anything anyone REALLY wants or needs from their OS?

    • Yes, Microsoft is delivering on exactly what the MPAA and RIAA want!
      I call them crime bosses because their counterparts in Canada, CRIA & MPA-C, have both been found breaking the law on multiple occasions.

    • [tinfoil]

      Actually, the announcement did exactly what they wanted it to... it got people to buy an XBox in anticipation of said feature, resulting in better quarterly figures.

      Oh, wait, you thought they said that stuff about a DVR as if they were actually going to add one?

      [/tinfoil]

      • Adding the support would be trivial: The hardware already has an HDMI input, and you (presumably) tell the xbox to change the channel for you. The hardware to process and manage a video stream is there. The system already has a filesystem on it that is both proprietary and digital signature enforced, meaning any files written on it will be difficult to read and then put somewhere else, and even if you did, another xbox wont play them because of the signature checking.

        The console already can record video fr

  • We'll push you Ads instead (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    So, a feature that their customers may 'reasonably want' they have 0 time for but pushing out Ads is something they have a whole team developing...yeah, we know who the OS is designed for and its NOT the end-user.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @01:37PM (#52275949)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Looking at BSD and Linux, these projects are just OS, period.

      To the technical eye yes most definitely. To much of the world quite the opposite. Stick in a Linux CD and you have a fully working computer with everything including office suite, browser, chat clients, and a method of getting new software with a click of a button. Buy a Mac and you have a fully working computer with everything including ..... blah blah blah.

      Microsoft is only doing what their competitors are perceived to be doing. The distinction between programs and an OS is lost on people who buy a brand

    • Too bad we do not have a DVR that can record protected content as Windows Media Center does. I'd love to move away from Windows 7 and 8, but it appears that I'll be keeping these little boxes running for quite some time. There isn't a viable alternative for use in any other OS that I am aware of that offers the same feature set a WMC (CableCARD support, namely). SiliconDust might have something cooking with their DVR software but that's still not out. If it works I'll be paying $60/year for it and would be

  • KODI does just fine.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Jonah Hex ( 651948 ) <hexdotms AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @01:38PM (#52275961) Homepage Journal
    These days I can do just about anything I need with KODI (formerly XBMC aka XBox Media Center) [kodi.tv] including record from tuners. No thanks to using a console for my media consumption.

    • I agree. But there is one important niche that Microsoft used to fill: Cablecard. People who lost Windows Media Centre were banking on Cablecard support in the Xbone as there are zero current programs out there which can record that content except for the now defunct Windows Media Centre.

    • I took the plunge on Kodi late last year after friends telling me how great it was. Have regretted it ever since, they constantly make up excuses for the abysmal quality of it. Fucking buggy addons that take down Kodi not just themselves, shit that doesn't work consistently between versions and a litany of other bugs. At the time I thought nothing could be worse than windows media centre...I was wrong. Currently bought a chromecast and have been working on setting up plex to get rid of the turd that is Kodi

      • That's funny. Kodi works great for me, and Plex refused to index any of my media files at all. I didn't install every Kodi plugin I could find though...

        Streaming over wireless to a Chromecast has GOT to be a shitty experience compared to a wired connection.

        I regret spending the money I spent on Plex clients, since they're utterly useless to me when the media server just ignores 95% of my content.

        • As opposed to Kodi which won't play a whole range of content, no Netflix, buggy DVD and Blu ray menuing, buggy addins, unreliable. hmmmm, maybe plex sucks too but it would have to be nigh unusuable to be worse than Kodi.
  • Couldn't a 3rd party create a DVR app that does that? Is such a thing even allowed on the xbone or can only MS do it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jedidiah ( 1196 )

      Cable Card presents an odious barrier to doing that. There are also patents from Tivo Corp to consider. MS has the benefit of being another 800lb gorilla with a patent portfolio of it's own to bludgeon trolls with.

      The Mac's main software based PVR doesn't have proper CC support.

  • Did not the Wii U also want to control your TV? Nintendo also scrapped most if not all of the TV related stuff.

    I am still waiting for a correct EPG listing. Without it, no DVR can be exact.

    • Nintendo adopted support for a 3rd party mobile app called TVii that was little more than a glorified universal remote app with a built-in semi-accurate TV-guide style channel listing and ratings & commenting system, but then eventually scrapped it due to the 3rd party vendor being completely incapable of addressing very very poor service quality. I'm not sure but TVii may still be in business though and available for smart phones.

  • They Just Don't Get It (Score:3)

    by WheezyJoe ( 1168567 ) <fegg@nOsPAM.excite.com> on Wednesday June 08, 2016 @02:06PM (#52276135)

    Operating Systems, as much as they are supposed to just bootstrap your PC, are nonetheless expected to be like Santa Claus, bringing all kinds of goodies along for the ride. Apple has Garage Band, iLife (photos, messaging, facetime, a dictionary, etc.), and now iWord, all gratis. Linux distros come with billions of stuff... arcade-style games, office-like apps, math apps, astronomy apps, card games, puzzle games, wacky screensavers, and a lot of them actually work! There's hours of fun going through a new Linux distro, before you realize you're missing a proprietary 3-D driver.

    But Microsoft has forgotten all this. Everything in Windows 10 is for THEIR benefit, not ours. They have Skype to Apple's facetime, but Skype is a tease to upgrade to a paid account. Same for Office. Instead, they've TAKEN AWAY the stuff people liked about Windows 7. Media Center. Solitaire. Plus! Minesweeper. TweakUI. Cool screensavers. Aero. Gadgets (ok, maybe they were a security mess - get rainmeter). The Start menu (ok, they put that one back). Even 3-D Pinball has been binned. Sure, go to our Store, they say. But that's just a tease for us to buy stuff. Hello? Santy Clause doesn't charge subscription fees, ask you for your credit card number, or force you to take lessons in touch-interfaces so you can jones for a tablet that nobody wants.

    So, how bout it, Micro$osft, are you willing to throw in some candy in some near-future release? Or are you so stuck in this monetizing-everything shtick that you're determined to suck all the fun out of having a computer?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jedidiah ( 1196 )

      > There's hours of fun going through a new Linux distro, before you realize you're missing a proprietary 3-D driver.

      That's much like sorting out the same detail in a Windows install. If you're lucky, you won't have to do that with your NIC. Sorting out a Windows box is a little more difficult without any network access.

      If it took you hours to figure out that you are using a libre driver, then that's a testament to the libre driver really.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by subk ( 551165 )
        You're going to spend time setting up any operating system. The subtractive approach (Windows, most Linux distros) is always a waste of time. I prefer the additive approach.. Start from a kernel and a shell and add only what YOU want the system to have. Arch Linux is therefore the obvious choice for me.

  • This should have been in there from day one.

    I want fewer devices to buy / install / maintain and there is no reason why the Xbox one can't be the one box I need for all my TV-related entertainment. It has the horsepower and it is basically a PC anyways.

    You should have been on the ball getting the broadcasters, streamers like Netflix/HBO/Amazon, TV tuner, DVR, Windows Store for movie rentals etc. all together in a one stop shop on the Xbox.

    For now I'll just settle for a UI that isn't clunky and slow like it

  • MS has always rolled over where entertainment IP was involved. They're so absolutely frightened of the MPAA/RIAA's shadow they'll do just about anything to avoid conflict.

  • I absolutely love Windows Media Center on Windows 7.

    I have a quad tuner Win7 Media Center machine with a dedicated remote, and it's difficult to beat the DVR experience. I'd take it over DirectTV and FiOS's DVRs any day. But as great as it was (and still is), it was a flop with consumers. The dedicated media center extender hardware products were killed off, and the MCE laptops from Dell and HP disappeared (built-in tuners, remotes, dedicated button for "TV"), and they eventually just killed WMC altogeth

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