The Xbox One underneath your TV set could soon replace your TiVo or other digital video recorder, according to a report from long-time, well-connected Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott. In a post discussing the death of Windows Media Center on the PC, Thurrott cites unnamed sources that the Xbox One’s live TV functionality will expand to include TV recording “most probably this year.”
The report comes just a month after Microsoft announced an official tuner allowing the Xbox One to accept over-the-air broadcast signals through a USB connection. That device also comes with the ability to pause live TV for up to 30 minutes (though that content can’t be saved long term) and to stream live programming to a tablet or phone via SmartGlass.
If Microsoft is indeed planning to roll out DVR capabilities on the Xbox One, we have to wonder why it took them so long. There’s no technical reason that the Xbox One can’t record TV signals coming in from the external HDMI passthrough and store them for later viewing on a portion of its 500GB hard drive or an external USB drive. Such a feature would certainly help differentiate the system from the competing PlayStation 4, which doesn’t offer any live TV passthrough options.
A DVR function would also represent a big step up from the current uses for Xbox One’s HDMI passthrough, which include Kinect-controlled channel switching, a built-in program guide, and the ability to snap live TV alongside a game. On the other hand, a built-in DVR that lets users easily skip commercials on recorded programs might not sit well with many content providers that partner with Microsoft to sell content through the Xbox video store and other platforms.
If the report is true, next month’s E3 would be a great chance for Microsoft to officially announce the plans and maybe finally justify the system’s sports-and-TV-filled introduction from two years ago. Plus, it would fill the Windows Media Center-shaped hole that the cancellation of that product has created.
