The latest system update for the Xbox One has started to roll out to the members of the gaming console's Preview program.
The members of the Preview program will get an exclusive first look at new features for the Xbox One, which include several social gaming changes, along with a few unexpected updates.
The system update was discussed last month at the Xbox Wire, the official blog for the Xbox gaming console.
For the Preview version of the update, Xbox Live Chief Larry Hryb, also known online as Major Nelson, discussed the details in a blog post.
"Your input on feedback.xbox.com plays a big role in shaping these updates, which will roll out to all Xbox One owners in the coming months," wrote Hryb, referring to the Xbox Feedback system that was recently launched. The system gave gamers a channel through which they can send suggestions and complaints for the improvement of the Xbox Live experience.
One of the unexpected updates involved is the re-organized Party App, which allows users to see the activities of everyone else that is included with your party. Parties now require a Party Leader, who will be responsible for managing the members of the party.
The several unexpected, albeit minor, changes include the ability to save a user's Avatar gamerpic to a OneDrive account, a tool that tracks the bandwidth usage of the Xbox One, controller and accessory management tools, and the capability of deleting several Game DVR clips simultaneously.
A major update is a new media player app, which will allow Xbox users to playback media files through either an attached USB drive or, in the future, from an online home media server, as long as it works with DLNA protocols.
The update also includes the revamped Friends section, which will provide a social component to Xbox Live gaming. Users will be able to see what their friends are playing, and also post updates while playing games of their own.
Hryb said that the system update will be released to all Xbox One owners over the next coming months, though no specific date has been revealed.
In the most recent report by the NPD Group on the video game industry, research revealed that the Xbox One is still far behind the PlayStation 4 in sales. The PlayStation 4 sold double the number of units compared to Xbox One in July, marking the seventh straight month that Sony's gaming console beat Microsoft's in terms of unit sales.
