Heading into the conclusion of its first year in the market, Xbox One has benefitted from a steady stream of system updates that have improved the console dramatically. And for November, Microsoft is adding a ton of new features, again, including numerous new customization capabilities, TV features, IE and SmartGlass updates, and more.
These features are rolling out now to members of the Xbox One preview program, and will ship to all Xbox One users in November. Here's what's new.
Personalization features
Custom Dashboard background. Microsoft says that the ability to customize the Dashboard background is the number one user-requested feature. With the November 2014 update, you can choose a custom color or achievement art as your background on Xbox One, and more customization options are coming in future system updates.
Gamer profile improvements. You can now share your location and bio as part of your profile. More interesting, you can also select a set of up to six Showcase items—game clips or achievements—that are displayed in a carousel format when other gamers look at your profile on an Xbox One console. You add an item to your Showcase by sharing it ... to Showcase.
Twitter integration. You can now share your favorite game clips via Twitter: Just use the Share button on any game clip you have created and select Twitter to start composing a tweet.
TV features
Live TV Trending. In the US, Canada and the UK, a new tab in OneGuide will display the top 20 most watched TV shows, with the list filtered to those shows that are actually available to you. This Live TV Trending list is updated every minute.
Twitter TV Trending. In the US only, you can also see what Live TV is trending based on shows with the most conversations taking place on Twitter.
Xbox TV Trending. The Trending tab in OneGuide has been updated to display Twitter trending first and Xbox (e.g. Live TV Trending) second. Xbox.
Tweets in MiniGuide. Now you can see tweets for live TV shows in real time and join in the conversation.
Recents and Favorites in MiniGuide. The MiniGuide has also been updated to include your favorite TV channels in a combined Recents and Favorites area. And you can now activate the MiniGuide by saying "Xbox, Select MiniGuide" while watching TV.
Store updates
Store page improvements. The Xbox Store pages on Xbox One have been improved to enable you to more quickly browse and find content.
Better navigation. The navigation buttons in Store were moved to the far left so you can find them more easily. You can also more quickly find game add-ons, perform store specific searches and recommendations are more prominently displayed.
Category improvements. Store categories have been standardized so you can easily see the top items at a glance.
SmartGlass updates
Friends' game activity. You can now see a list of your friends that have played any game within the Xbox One SmartGlass experience.
Games with Gold & Deals with Gold. For those with an Xbox Live Gold subscription, you can now browse the Free Games with Gold and Deals with Gold offers and trigger the download of the content to your Xbox One console from any mobile device.
Store improvements. There's a new section for apps in the SmartGlass Store experience, and a Coming Soon filter for Games and Add Ons.
Internet Explorer updates
Improved Snap support. You can now snap IE from the browser's address bar.
Featured sites. Internet Explorer will now display a number on a badge when something is newly-added to a featured site.
There's also a video describing some of the new features, though the narration is a bit harsh.
