Xbox One Now Supports Over The Air Broadcast Television

[Conrad Zimmerman]

Xbox One Now Supports Over The Air Broadcast Television

Cable cutters will be able to watch local HD broadcast television via Microsoft's console.

Starting today, Microsoft is providing support for watching over the air broadcast HD television on Xbox One in the US and Canada. While the console has offered the capability to view live television from launch, the feature was previously only available to cable and satellite customers. By way of a partnership between Microsoft and TV tuner manufacturer Hauppauge, users will be able to connect an HD antenna to their Xbox One and watch local broadcast channels from within the console's TV app.

The capability is currently only available to members of the Xbox One Preview program in the US and Canada, with public release for those regions expected within the next few months.

Connecting an HD antenna to the Xbox One will require the purchase of a TV tuner accessory, and Microsoft is working with Hauppauge to release an device specifically for Xbox One, with an expected price point of $59.99. Those who can't wait to watch their local HD channels can purchase the compatible Hauppague 955Q [http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr955q.html] TV tuner, which retails for $79.99.

Watching over the air broadcasts through the Xbox One comes with some additional features beyond the convenience of eliminating the need to swap television inputs. The TV app includes a guide with information on current and upcoming programs for available channels. Live TV can also be paused and the console will store a buffer of up to thirty minutes (at the cost of a 4GB allocation on the hard drive). Content can also be streamed to Microsoft Surface devices, and the Xbox One can be used to play games on its connected display while the stream is running.

Source: Xbox.com [http://news.xbox.com/2015/04/xbox-one-over-the-air-tuner]

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[Callate]

I have a number of immediate reactions to the news, and none of them are good, really.

They didn't have the option to connect to antenna in the first place?

And off of that,

Well, this is a feature that will bring in exactly zero new XBox One buyers.

Followed by

Well, I suppose this might be appreciated by some of the current XBox One owners-

Except-

...Who will have to buy a $60-$80 proprietary TV tuner?!

This is a little like discovering that your PC now accepts input from analog, roller-ball mice, except you never knew it didn't do that, and the only analog, roller-ball mouse you can use costs $50.

 

[Atmos Duality]

A new Xbone TV antenna! Perfect for all of those people in the Xbone market without Internet or Cable!
...The same demographic I was told, that Microsoft wasn't targeting in the first place.

Oh the hilarious irony.

 

[wetfart]

My wife made our TV tuner out of a 2x4, some coppre wire and a $3 part off of Amazon. It looks ugly but it works nicely.

 

[RicoADF]

...Who will have to buy a $60-$80 proprietary TV tuner?!

This is a little like discovering that your PC now accepts input from analog, roller-ball mice, except you never knew it didn't do that, and the only analog, roller-ball mouse you can use costs $50.

Or we could use our smart TV's which the xbox is connected to and switch the channel. Yeah a totally pointless ability being limited to needing extra hardware for no gain.

When I do get a XBO it wont be for that feature. It'll be for any games my PC's/PS4 etc don't have.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

This feature will probably, over the life of the console, benefit a couple thousand people who don't have Sat/Cable but do have an Xbone. It also is almost useless out side of major cities. I live in a pretty good sized mid-western city in the US, but their is nothing good on over-the-air broadcast, unless you like watching local news or Simpsons on Fox. (To be honest I don't watch Cable, either. Teh internets has everything now.) For $60, someone could get half a year of Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. If your so old school that you don't have streaming capable internet and are satisfied with a small town's over the air TV, you might not be interested in an Xbox.

Really, instead of making a $60 proprietary doodad, they should just work with a few more USB ATSC tuner manufacturers to make Xbone compatible drivers. But, I guess there is still someone at Microsoft's entertainment division who loves proprietary stuff like the first model 360 mem cards for game saving (when it could support flash drives for music) and the same system's hard drive and usb wifi adapter.

 

[megs1120]

This feature will probably, over the life of the console, benefit a couple thousand people who don't have Sat/Cable but do have an Xbone. It also is almost useless out side of major cities. /snip

I dunno if it's even that much use here in a city, you know? I live in a high-rise surrounded by other high-rises, which have a way of blocking TV signals.
This would probably work best in the inner suburbs, where buildings are short and TV transmissions are still strong. Kinda mystifying.