The biggest names in video games gathered on Tuesday at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany to show off their upcoming games, and console updates. Microsoft turned the most heads in particular, introducing a variety of exclusive Xbox One titles as well as exciting new console updates and hardware.
A New Windows 10 Dashboard
In one of the biggest announcements from Microsoft at Gamerscom, plans were revealed to release an entirely new and updated dashboard in November that will come complete with Windows 10. Following the less-than-expected download numbers that Windows 10 got with its release last month, this is a smart move by Microsoft to introduce those still shaken up over the nightmare that was Windows 8, and shifting to what they’re calling the “best OS ever.” The updated dashboard and OS is expected to greatly improve the system’s performance and speed.
Cortana Comes to Xbox
The new update will also pair Xbox One users with Cortana —a personal digital assistant that can help you with a wide variety of daily activities like scheduling a meeting, finding the nearest sushi restaurant, and searching the web.
If you already have the Cortana app for your Android or Apple device, or if your laptop runs on Windows 10, then you’ll be happy to learn that a newly downloaded Cortana on the Xbox One will automatically draw from the information already gathered on these devices. Microsoft is trying to get its customers to use their systems to their full potential by encouraging the use of compatible features such as Cortana across a wide variety of devices—features that users have yet to fully utilize.
If you’re looking to download Cortana on Xbox One, you will need to have Kinect installed, for voice recognition purposes.
Anything Else?
Along with unveiling a slew of new titles exclusive to the Xbox One such as Halo 5, Guardians and Forza Motorsport 6, Microsoft also announced plans to release a few interesting pieces of hardware.
The Xbox One will soon be backwards-compatible with a select number of Xbox 360 games, starting at some point this November. Specifically, Microsoft announced that after they are done testing its backwards-compatibility, the Xbox One will be able to play any 360 game with a golden sticker,.
Other new features will include a DVR TV service, which you could use to record, pause, rewind and fast-forward your favorite shows with the push of a button (or you could ask Cortana to push it for you).
