Mike Ybarra, Head of Platform Engineering for Xbox, revealed yesterday via the Major Nelson blog that a whole load of new features have hit the Xbox One as of yesterday, and he assures us that "this is a big release."
This update includes not only Beam streaming, but also an "updated Xbox experience" with a brand new guide, among other things. Ybarra says one of the big goals with this update is to make Xbox streaming easier, and the streamlining of navigation throughout the console fits into this.
He then explains each feature in depth, the first being the updated look for Home on the console, simplifying the UI and optimising for speed, prioritising "the most valuable content for your games." The Guide has also faced changes too, as it has been enhanced "as an overlay on the left side of your screen," letting you access all your features from there. This also impacts gameplay capture, as "in the GameDVR menu, you now have easier access to capture gameplay and to modify your options - when recording, you'll see in the menu overlay that it lasts up to 5 minutes and within the Guide, you can also 'Record this' for up to 10 minutes."
Beam on Xbox One is also explained a little bit more, as you can now stream gameplay directly from the guide, as well as managing your Beam broadcasts and interact with players on the chat. No extra software is required to do this, and there's a new Beam viewing app to watch other streamers too.
Other new features include the addition of a family timer, providing screen time limits, and the Blu-ray disc player now supporting bitstream passthrough, meaning the receiver can now decode audio natively.
Is this the easiest streaming has ever been on the Xbox One?