Microsoft has released the second round of April system updates for the Xbox One to members of its Xbox One Preview program a week after the first set of updates was made available.
The release, which is expected anytime during the first couple weeks of April, brings with it the ability to send voice messages, a feature that Microsoft says was hotly requested by its customers. While voice messages are not so popular on smartphones, gamers pounding away on their controllers are happier sending off a quick voice message to someone than tediously typing it out using the controller.
The Xbox 360 featured voice messages, so it was surprising for gamers when they found out Microsoft did not include the feature in the Xbox One. Voice messages will also contain support for sending from an Xbox One to an Xbox 360 and back.
"Xbox One Preview program members will be able to compose and play back voice messages in the messages app when snapped on Xbox One," says Microsoft director of programming for Xbox Live Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson. "Quickly and easily record audio to send to your friends or others through your snapped messages app accessed through a simple quick double tap of the Xbox button."
Microsoft is also introducing dedicated servers for Party Chat, which does not always work for everyone often because of strict network address translation settings that prevent the Xbox One from connecting with other consoles for Party Chat. When this happens, Party Chat will automatically use the dedicated servers so gamers can use the feature without problems.
Lastly, Microsoft is expanding What's On to Canada and the U.K. The feature, which is already available in the U.S., highlights the currently most popular games, movies, TV shows, game broadcasts, and clips. Microsoft says it will also tweak the Staff Picks section so that its content is related to the gamer's recent game activity.
The system updates follow another trio of new features released by Microsoft on March 20. The previous set included more improvements for Party Chat, which now notifies the user if it does not detect a microphone or if privacy settings are blocking communication.
Microsoft also announced links in Game Hubs and a description for each Achievement each time an Achievement notification comes up.
Check out the video shown for a live demo of the new voice messaging feature on the Xbox One.
