Microsoft has begun rolling out its Xbox One February system update, following a closed beta test, which makes a raft of improvements and tweaks to the platform. Included in the new update are the previously announced controller tweaks, along with info hubs for each game and tile transparency on the Dashboard. Also included is new party chat functionality featuring better descriptive icons and improved stability. The February system update is the first of 2015, following a string of upgrades in 2014, and continues Microsoft's pledge to regularly improve its Xbox platform. "Since Xbox One launched, we made a commitment to listen to feedback from the Xbox Live community and we continue to deliver on that promise," the company wrote on the Xbox Wire. A full list of changes, written by Microsoft, can be found below. Controller Improvements- Quick Connect – Previously, controller connections to Xbox One took approximately four-to-five seconds when powering on a controller. Now, it will only take about two seconds.
- Stability improvements – The update also provides a number of fixes that address some of the controller disconnect issues reported by Xbox One owners.
Game HubsThese are the go-to centers for interesting content, tips and tricks for your favorite titles. Every Xbox One game will have a game hub where you can see which friends are playing the game, compete with your friends in game leaderboards, dive into the coolest game clips and game broadcasts, and follow the game’s top broadcasters and clip creators. On the game’s activity feed, game developers can share interesting content with anyone who follows the game. You’ll be the first to get news on upcoming updates and DLC, featured game clips and trailers, behind the scenes content and more. All the news about your favorite games is delivered right to your console. Additionally, you can now choose to Follow a game from a game hub, which will incorporate the game’s activity feed content into your activity feed. Party Chat- Chat connection status – New icons have been added to let you know the current status of a chat connection in your party. A clock icon means the connection is being made. A Squawker Ring icon indicates the connection was successful, and actively shows who is speaking. An X icon means that networking limitations (such as a Strict NAT) are preventing the chat connection from completing for specific participants.
- Improved connectivity between multiple participants with Strict or Moderate NATs – We also made some connectivity improvements to party chat in partial mesh situations when multiple participants are behind moderate or strict NATs with their home gateways/routers.
- Game and party invitations – To help you more quickly know who is inviting you to what, we made improvements to game and party invitations. Now, you can see which of your friends is inviting you and what party or game the invite is for, without having to wait for the text to scroll on the notification.
- Performance improvements – We also decreased the time it takes to set up person-to-person (P2P) connectivity for party chat and streamlined the retry logic for setting up party chat sessions.
Custom Backgrounds and Tile Transparency We’ve added tile transparency to the Home tiles to make your background images more visible. As a reminder, to set a custom background, go to Settings > My Xbox > My background. Note: some items can’t be made transparent due to usage rights/restrictions for certain images. TV updates TV trending in OneGuideAs you scan the OneGuide TV listings, you can see which shows are trending with a “Trending on Xbox” or “Trending on Twitter” note and icon within the details for each show. Currently, Xbox TV trending is available to all Xbox One owners in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and Twitter trending is available in the United States. - Live TV trending (new countries) – France, Germany, Brazil and Mexico now have the ability to see live TV trending data in Xbox OneGuide.
- Improved control of TVs, set-top boxes and audio/video receivers – Xbox One works better with more devices. Updates to the IR blasting database for new models have been added and address issues reported by our fan community.
- “Trick play” with Xbox One Digital TV Tuner – Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners in supported countries (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) are now able to see video frames when fast-forwarding or rewinding paused TV on Xbox One consoles.
- Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android – Live TV streaming on Windows Phone and Android devices for Xbox One Digital TV Tuner owners has been added in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
- OneGuide for the Netherlands – Support for OneGuide is being added for Xbox Live members in the Netherlands.
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