14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Microsoft in charge of the Xbox One is announcing that a new firmware update for the home console is at the moment being deployed in order to prepare the platform for some future features, although no actual new functionality is being introduced.
Gamers will have to download a small system update designed to make sure that the video game streaming associated with the launch of Windows 10 on July 29 works as it should.
The Xbox One is also being prepared for the backwards compatibility feature, which will be introduced in a few months.
The official announcement on the blog of Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, does not offer any additional details but makes it clear that users should not expect to see new features activated for a while.
The new streaming options will allow gamers to play the titles they own on the Xbox Live and show the action on any other device that's running the Windows 10 OS and a dedicated app.
Backwards compatibility is a much more complex feature, designed to allow titles that were launched on the Xbox 360 to run on the more modern platform.
Microsoft says that it will run the entire OS of the older device in a virtual machine, and so far a limited number of titles that support the feature were revealed.
The Xbox One will be more closely integrated with Windows 10
Previously during the week Microsoft also announced that Xbox Music is changing its name to become Groove and that Xbox Video is now known as Movies & TV.
The move is designed to make the two applications more appealing to the wide range of users that will pick up Windows 10 when it is launched.
It seems that the company wants to make sure that the Xbox brand only remains associated with pure gaming.
There are rumors that once Windows 10 arrives, a more open application environment for the home console will be introduced.
The device is at the moment lagging behind the PlayStation 4 from Sony when it comes to sales both in the United States, according to the NPD Group, and all over the world.
Microsoft is counting on its solid slate of exclusive fall launches, which includes Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, to change the dynamic of the home console market.