Cortana will be available on the Xbox One, bringing natural language voice commands to the box both on Kinect and via headsets. The games collection has been totally revamped, and Microsoft has given us greater control over the Xbox One's activity feed.
It's not only Xbox gamers who have new features to look forward to, though! The Xbox app and its integration with Windows 10 has a ton of updates on the horizon as well.
From Xbox Wire (opens in new tab):
"Starting this summer, Xbox One and the Xbox app will receive the first of two updates that will help you stay connected with friends on Xbox Live and enjoy even more games across your favorite devices. Cortana will come to Xbox One; the Xbox and Windows Stores will start to become unified; we will begin to introduce your top PC games with Game Hubs to Xbox Live, and more. These updates are crucial to giving our fans around the world a great gaming experience wherever and whatever they play."
While the Xbox One features are rolling out this week in preview, the updates to Windows 10 will arrive over the coming weeks to the Xbox Beta app for Windows 10. Download the Xbox Windows 10 beta app over here (opens in new tab) if you haven't already.
Here's what you can expect for the Windows 10 updates so far, as Microsoft moves to merge the Windows 10 Insider Program with the Xbox Preview Program following the upcoming Anniversary Update.
Upload edited GameDVR clips to the Xbox Live community
You'll be able to take clips you've recorded using either your Xbox One or Windows 10 Game bar, edit them using any video editing suite and then re-upload them to your activity feed on Xbox Live. Content creators rejoice!
Additionally, GameDVR has now moved into the profile section of the app, allowing you to manage your showcase, captures, uploads, and downloads in a single location.
Record PC game clips in 60 frames per second
Here's something I'm jealous of as a Xbox One gamer. PC gamers will now be able to utilize a new "Very High" video quality setting in Windows 10's Game Bar to record clips at 60 frames per second. 30 frames per second will still be available for less powerful hardware as well.
Use Game bar in more full-screen PC games
When games are running in full-screen exclusive mode, they often lose access to the Windows 10 Game bar, used for creating clips and capturing footage. Microsoft has added several popular Win32 games to include the Game Bar when running in full screen. So far, these include League of Legends, World of Warcraft, DOTA 2, Battlefield 4, Counterstrike: Global Offensive, and Diablo III.
Reminder: To access the Game bar on Windows 10, press the Windows key + G.
For more information on how to use the Game Bar and DVR on Windows 10, I wrote up a helpful how-to guide over here.
Major PC games are becoming integrated with the Xbox platform
Microsoft is building a database for 'top' PC games on Xbox, meaning they'll have their very own game hubs within the Xbox app and on the Xbox One itself. It means that you'll be able to follow games, receive updates direct from developers, and see news and content relating to that game in a single place.
Additionally, it also means that you'll be able to share game clips and screenshots directly to Xbox Live, and gamers — regardless of platform — will be able to see, like, comment and share those clips with the rest of the community. You'll also be able to see what games your friends are playing, whether it's Halo 5 on Xbox or World of Warcraft on PC, all from the friends list.
The Windows 10 Store and Xbox Stores are becoming integrated
While there's no information as to when this will happen, Microsoft are moving to bring UWP apps to the Xbox One. As a result, the Windows 10 and Xbox Stores are converging.
As noted previously, the Windows 10 Store will pick up the ability to see DLC, virtual currency, season passes and other things necessary of a legitimate PC gaming store, with more enhancements down the line.
Activity feed enhancements
Like on the Xbox One, you'll be able to tailor what gets automatically shared to the Activity feed. Right now, achievements and game clips are automatically shared for all to see, but if you'd rather your followers only saw the best of what you had to offer, you can now disable the automatic sharing of both features.
Additionally, the Activity feed submission functionality has been enhanced, allowing you to search more easily through recent clips, screenshots, and achievements for sharing with your friends and followers.
Share from the Xbox app to Twitter
Similar to the features found on Xbox One, you'll now be able to share your clips and screenshots directly to Twitter from the share button on the Windows 10 app.
Just the beginning
This is just the beginning of Microsoft's planned updates to the Xbox integration with Windows 10. Microsoft is planning to launch a second wave of updates to the Xbox One Preview Program and Xbox Beta app later this summer, which could contain heavy-hitting features the company want to keep under wraps for announcements at E3. As noted at Build, the Windows 10 Insider Program will merge with the Xbox Preview Program too, to "streamline" the feedback process and speed up further updates.
To read up on what the summer's wave of updates has in store for the Xbox One itself, see the link below:
Here's everything you need to know about the latest Xbox One Preview Program update
