Xbox One to Support USB Multimedia Including .MKV, DLNA Streaming Coming Soon

[Foxi4]

The PS4 has gotten a lot of flak for its lackluster multimedia capabilities. Unlike its predecessor, it still does not support MP3 or DLNA streams and initially it did not support 3D BluRay discs. It would seem that Microsoft noticed the complaints of Sony's disgruntled fans and acted upon them, as the Xbox One has been confirmed to receive a multimedia application supporting "a few dozen of file formats" with the capability to load files via USB and, in the future, via DLNA streaming. This is what the official Microsoft release says about it:

"Media Player – A new app will be available soon that enables users to play media files from either an attached USB device or from a network connected home media server that supports DLNA protocols. The preview version of the Media Player app will initially only support USB devices, with DLNA support coming soon. Xbox One will support more formats than Xbox 360, including support for dozens of new file formats like mpeg 2 TS, animated gifs and mkv which will be added by the end of the year. See below for additional file formKats."

Interesting - perhaps this new development will additionally motivate Sony, as Microsoft is clearly hot on their tail in terms of functionality. What else is there to say? Ah, yes! I forgot the obligatory "TV, TV, TV!", didn't I?


Source (Kotaku)

 

[Jayro]

Finally, a set-top MKV player...

 

[Arras]

Animated gif support whoo
Anyway, the real question here is whether it's proper MKV support. If it doesn't support some features that are (somewhat commonly) used nowadays like ordered chapters and hi10p it's still kind of useless.

 

[Oxybelis]

It seems MS just ports Win 8 apps to Xbone.

I think there are a lot of security problems because of that. I like it

 

[Foxi4]

It seems MS just ports Win 8 apps to Xbone.

I think there are a lot of security problems because of that. I like it

On the side of the Windows kernel, maybe. Remember that the system is running three kernels - Windows, Blade and an overseeer.

 

[Oxybelis]

On the side of the Windows kernel, maybe. Remember that the system is running three kernels - Windows, Blade and an overseeer.

Wii U is similar too. User mode + kernel mode + kinda ARM hypervisor. But it got hacked

 

[Foxi4]

Wii U is similar too. User mode + kernel mode + kinda ARM hypervisor. But it got hacked

It's not similar at all - kernel and userland are just degrees of access.

 

[FAST6191]

Finally, a set-top MKV player...

Two generations/possibly the better part of a decade after homebrew managed on its earlier incarnations, and quite spectacularly at that.

All that said if I do not have to suppress a derisive snort quite as hard whenever I hear about a commercial device's media capabilities it is a positive step.

 

[Foxi4]

Two generations/possibly the better part of a decade after homebrew managed on its earlier incarnations, and quite spectacularly at that.

Remind me which console has ever properly supported .MKV, I must've missed that one. If I wanted to watch a glitchy slide show, I'd play Watch_Dogs. ;O;

 

[FAST6191]

I would probably not say XBMC was reference standard for MKV decoding/splitting, for the time and compared to some of the PC offers back then it did well. It more or less managed subs, tracks and (I think, I never relied upon them) chapters as well.

 

[Idaho]

That's nice, I was hoping VLC would release on the xbone as an universal app to get that done but I guess it won't be necessary even though it'd be cool ​

​

Now let people release emulators as universal apps on the xbone and give me a file manager and I'd definitely buy it (even though I'll buy it anyway because HALO...).​

 

[Foxi4]

I would probably not say XBMC was reference standard for MKV decoding/splitting, for the time and compared to some of the PC offers back then it did well. It more or less managed subs, tracks and (I think, I never relied upon them) chapters as well.

All of my experiences with .MKV on consoles were lackluster at best - it was always VLC or bust, but maybe XBMC will change my point of view.

 

[Idaho]

All of my experiences with .MKV on consoles were lackluster at best - it was always VLC or bust, but maybe XBMC will change my point of view.

Showtime on the ps3 provided nice support of mkv format even though it wasnt perfect...

 

[FAST6191]

At the risk of having something thrown at me XBMC was basically a port of mplayer/ffmpeg/libav to the xbox, plus the very nice frontend.

 

[Hielkenator]

XBMC has a new name "KODI".
FYI XBMC BARELY RAN ON THE ORIGINAL XBOX AND HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED ON XBOX 360.
On the original xbox it was more of a poc kind of demo.
Not even remotely flashed out as it is today.
This is also the reason the named is changing.

Anyway, nice to see features my sammy 2009 tv has had, like DLNA? c'mon.
Why don't they just focus on GAMES?
Besides that, my 60 bucks android tablet can do all this and a lot more.
Using it's hdmi output connected to tv and I'm done...

I just do not see why this is even remotely exciting news.
People that are interested in these kind of tech, most likely have a android tv stick or similar allready.
Nowadays there are so many devices doing the same thing all together in terms of media etc.
There are so many many choices wich are a LOT cheaper.
You do not even have to download anything , you can stream movies etc right from the internet, easy as pie with XBMC.

 

[Arras]

XBMC has a new name "KODI".

Anyway, nice to see features my sammy 2009 tv has like DLNA? c'mon.
Why don't they just focus on GAMES?
Besides that, my 60 bucks android tablet can do all this and a lot more.
Using it's hdmi output connected to tv and I'm done...

I just do not see why this is even remotely exciting news.
People that are interested in these kind of tech, most likely have a android tv stick or similar allready.
Nowadays there are so many devices doing the same thing all together in terms of media etc.
There are so many many choices wich are a LOT cheaper.

Yes, but if you already have one of these for games hooked up to your TV, it might as well play movies too.

 

[Hielkenator]

Yes, but if you already have one of these for games hooked up to your TV, it might as well play movies too.

Yes, but it's hardly worth mentioning, let alone be a selling point.
Besides, if the XB one makes the same noise ( cooling fans ) as the 360 I'll pass ANY DAY.

 

[FAST6191]

XBMC has a new name "KODI".
FYI XBMC BARELY RAN ON THE ORIGINAL XBOX AND HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED ON XBOX 360.
On the original xbox it was more of a poc kind of demo.
Not even remotely flashed out as it is today.
This is also the reason the named is changing.

Could have fooled me, XBMC on the xbox ran every AVI file with xvid stuffed into it that I threw at it, and some more exotic stuff besides, which basically means everything that was readily available back then. Beyond that it fetched stuff via basically every network protocol that matters for transferring files of reasonable size, had some basic scrapers (though I used the more advanced technique of have good file/directory names), supported a remote control (eventually even network remote control) and had library and resume functionality beyond that. I would have liked some nicer USB support but that was mostly a hardware limitation.
There were a lot of extra niceties that were added to it since it left the xbox as a directly supported platform, and several added throughout its run. That aside it definitely wiped the floor with anything that was not a PC connected to the TV at the time as well, however before I start rocking in the corner as I recall trying to make discs that play in a "MPEG4 capable" DVD player I think I will leave it there.

 

[mightymuffy]

Yes, but it's hardly worth mentioning, let alone be a selling point.
Besides, if the XB one makes the same noise ( cooling fans ) as the 360 I'll pass ANY DAY.

Dunno what your house looks like mate, but for me, with a slightly whiny missus, this is good news (as is, I suspect!, the upcoming news that the PS4 will also feature it around the same time). Plonk yerself down in front of the telly after a hard days work, fire up the console for a few games of something, then simply switch to the media player in seconds... hell you can probably snap it in.... Don't recall them calling it a selling point either.
And besides, Xbox One (or PS4) do not make the same noise from the fans - both are very quiet in comparison.... quieter than Wii U in fact.

 

[Armadillo]

Could do with a bit more detail on mkv, rather than just, it plays mkv.

What formats does it support being contained in it? Is it going to support 10bit h264, what sub formats etc.

Just saying .mkv is a bit useless. 360 played .mp4 for example, but was limited to what could be in there (h264 & AAC only).