Xbox One Adds New Avatars And Alexa Support With Latest Update

Microsoft has been constantly upgrading the Xbox One and in their latest update they have added support for Cortana and Alexa. Cortana is Microsoft’s personal assistant and Alexa is that of Amazon. The Xbox Skill feature allows interaction with your Xbox using Alexa or Cortana devices. You can ask the assistants to start a game and they will start the device, log in and launch the game as well. One needs to download Xbox Skill to use the features. It is also being offered with an Amazon Echo Bundle. The home speakers can also reduce or increase volume.

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Xbox has also introduced new avatars which focus on inclusiveness. This features all ranges of body types. One can choose any type of outfit which he or she wishes to. They also represent people with disabilities and allow avatars to have crutches, wheelchairs etc. These avatars were shown at last year’s E3 where the release date was set for Fall, 2017. Microsoft has been one year late to bring these features.

What this means for the industry

Microsoft and Amazon’s close partnership is interesting to see as both have their own assistants and this partnership could mean that they can interact with each other. Dolby Vision HDR streaming across supported televisions has also been enabled. This allows a user to stream Netflix from their device. In the future, there is a possibility that other streaming services will join the bandwagon. Microsoft is also adding Dolby Vision to the Xbox One becoming the only other than Apple TV 4K and Google’s Chromecast Ultra to support both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Tell us how this will help all you Xbox One users and if it is a welcome change or not.

The October update is available for all Xbox One, One X and One S devices.