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

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.

Comments

Microsoft: Less utility is a FEATURE!

[Chas]

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

Re:Microsoft: Less utility is a FEATURE!

[wierd_w]

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 from games being played.

The hardware is ready and capable. The kernel has all the codecs needed to do this.

What is lacking, is permissions to do this from broadcasters. Until that permission is given, MS cant legally let you record live TV. If the XboxOne ever gets jailbroken, it will make an excellent KODI (XBMC) or mythtv box.

All MS needs to do is release an app on the market place, and the thing will work.

That they went through all that trouble to design, implement, and test all the other bits of hardware and software in the system needed for this to work, but are now abandoning the feature, tells me that you have "rights holders" afraid of modern VCRs. We just need some more "Jack the ripper" hyperbole, and its a dead ringer. It also tells me that MS was actually serious about wanting to deploy the feature.

The problem is not MS in this case. It is the dinosaur buggywhip salesmen.

I dont blame them.

[nimbius]

Microsoft over the past 15 years has evolved from an OS that runs applications to a rats nest of "do everything forever." its a web browser, an app store, a media center, an XBOX, some kind of amorphous social platform, and occasionally an office and development workstation. But it all comes from Microsoft, a company thats historically maintained an ethos of crippling software like email clients and spreadsheets that run on its OS. Its a rock and a hard place for sure because if you insist on doing everything, you rarely do anything.

Looking at BSD and Linux, these projects are just OS, period. GNU offers some very stable tools to manage the OS, but you're by no means required to use them (some distros dont include them.) If you want a media center, MPD has an entire team of people working on making that a thing you can do. some might work on netbsd, but netBSD isnt about to attempt the backflips necessary to show up ready-to-go as a media server for everyone. BSD and Linux are more centric to a users specific needs not because they try to be the wal-mart of personal computing tasks, but because they foster a productive and well-running sandbox in which creative teams can come up with applications that solve problems and do things people are trying to do on their terms.

Re:I dont blame them.

[thegarbz]

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 new computer without anything additional.

Though I think the biggest WTF is the 3D printing program in Windows 10. That just smells of "We need to do something different so to claim we were the first!"

KODI does just fine....

[Jonah Hex]

These days I can do just about anything I need with KODI (formerly XBMC aka XBox Media Center) including record from tuners. No thanks to using a console for my media consumption.

Re:KODI does just fine....

[HornWumpus]

It can only record it at 720 over the component connectors. Assuming you have a device that will capture component video and a cable box with component out.

Re:KODI does just fine....

[DRJlaw]

NextPVR only works with content flagged as Copy Freely. It's not even remotely equivalent to WMC, which works with all Cablecard-delivered content.

Re:I got a box for that...

[Aqualung812]

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.

Re:I got a box for that...

[Aqualung812]

I *had* a TV

*had* a **DVR**, not a TV.
Read before hitting submit next time, dumbass.

Re:I got a box for that...

[wonkey_monkey]

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.

They Just Don't Get It

[WheezyJoe]

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:I got a box for that...

[wonkey_monkey]

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.