Xbox One Apps - The missing piece

[Robert Carpenter]

This is one area of the new Xbox that is still a complete mystery.

Every single page of the dashboard has been shown except the "Apps" page. Search Google images. You will not find one picture of it. No information has been leaked or published about these Apps other than the expected ones like Netflix, Skype, and IE.

There's a reason the "Apps" page of the dashboard was not shown. It was purposely avoided. They are keeping quiet about that area of the console for a reason, and I expect to hear great things about it during the BUILD conference.

Apps are what I am interested in the most for the next-gen consoles. If Microsoft gives developers enough access to the system, this is where the Xbox One will excel. I don't think there are any other features of the new consoles that would open up as many possibilities as this.

Thoughts?

 

[martinmc78]

Indeed - its something I alluded to in another thread - there has got to be something coming up that ties in with the 360 - otherwise why redesign it to sit perfectly on top of/beside the Xbox one.

Why make everything look like windows 8 unless there are apps coming that will integrate with pc's and tablets besides smartglass. I also believe there is a whole other piece to the puzzle to push the 3 screens philosophy even further. With the launch in November pretty much tying in with 8.1 on phones and pc's what else will the Xbox one be able to do?

 

[Robert Carpenter]

Indeed - its something I alluded to in another thread - there has got to be something coming up that ties in with the 360 - otherwise why redesign it to sit perfectly on top of/beside the Xbox one.

Why make everything look like windows 8 unless there are apps coming that will integrate with pc's and tablets besides smartglass. I also believe there is a whole other piece to the puzzle to push the 3 screens philosophy even further. With the launch in November pretty much tying in with 8.1 on phones and pc's what else will the Xbox one be able to do?

Exactly. I don't think Xbox One and Xbox 360 will be tied to each other. I do believe they will share some of their features though.

Microsoft still has a large advantage over Sony when it comes to software. They have more experience than Sony will ever have. They will always be ahead. And they have something Sony will never have until the distant future: An Ecosystem.

 

[Coreldan]

I'm hoping for strong integration with my Win 8 PC, Surface RT and WP8!

 

[Robert Carpenter]

I doubt XB1 apps are going to offer anything substantially compelling. And their three screens initiative now revolves around Smartglass and thats available on other platforms so I dont expect we'll see any special WP features there.

I guess you just don't understand the potential of Wifi-Direct. Oh well.

 

[Coreldan]

Pray educate me then.

This might help http://forums.windowscentral.com/xbox-one/227713-do-not-ignore-feature-wifi-direct.html

 

[Robert Carpenter]

Could be useful but the feature in itself doesnt guarantee anything. It would at least allow mirroring your WiDi capable device on the One but apps dont look like an area that would benefit hugely.

It allows infinite communication possibilities between all these devices. Video streaming is just one of hundreds of things you can do with it.

And to be honest, Wifi-direct is just a small area of it's own. The Xbox One runs Windows 8. Do you not see any benefits to this? Do you understand how much the console can progress throughout it's lifetime with system updates? It's no longer a dashboard update. It's a full operating system update.

 

[tk-093]

Well, we are 5 months away. I'm hoping we will see a steady stream of updates as we get closer to launch, especially as a big chunk of The One deals with things other then games. I think it'd be cool if you could set email accounts on your XBox one to read and send email, for example. "XBox! Take a memo!" It's has huge potential.

We've also had no information about new Kinect games. With the original reveal they bragged up Kinect 2.0 and there is that tech demo out that really shows off how awesome the cameras are so I'm hoping we start so see some really cool stuff come from that. I really think that has the potential to be a game changer. People jumped all over the Wii because of the motion stuff, but it ended up not keeping it's pace up because of the lack of hardcore games.

The One is going to have awesome hardcore games AND a huge potential to have some awesome Kinect type games too. (If it works as good as I hope it does.)

Kinect 2.0 is the reason it's $100 more so I expect them to be out pimping that and the other entertainment features over the next several months.

 

[Reflexx]

I doubt XB1 apps are going to offer anything substantially compelling. And their three screens initiative now revolves around Smartglass and thats available on other platforms so I dont expect we'll see any special WP features there.

When I hear this, it sounds like "Those darn computer thingies. I don't need 'programs'. What could be compelling about programs?"

 

[Reflexx]

You guys are all arguing from a purely potential standpoint and suggesting scenarios that may never materialise, I am looking at it from a practical standpoint and not assuming anything. Nothing thats been suggested may happen, and nothing yet suggests it will. Until the capabilities are actually demonstrated its too early to be proclaiming apps as anything more than they are.

Apps aren't anything more than they are... which are programs.

As for talking about "potential"... well, considering the console doesn't launch until November, isn't that the ONLY thing any of us could talk about?

 

[Robert Carpenter]

You guys are all arguing from a purely potential standpoint and suggesting scenarios that may never materialise, I am looking at it from a practical standpoint and not assuming anything. Nothing thats been suggested may happen, and nothing yet suggests it will. Until the capabilities are actually demonstrated its too early to be proclaiming apps as anything more than they are.

God I hate people's views anymore. When the iPhone came out, it had nothing. Do you know why it grew so fast? Do you know why people fell in love with it? One word: possibilities.
Growing up, this was the factor that drove innovation. People didn't get excited for what a new product had to offer initially. They got excited for the possibilities that it created.

If you don't have that same attitude towards technology today, get out of my thread. You're no different than any other consumer. When you act like every other consumer, I'm going to treat you like every other consumer. Consumers don't understand the technology that they use. And to me it seems to be no different with you. You don't understand the technology enough to contribute to this conversation.


Anything you post in this thread will now be ignored by me. I advise everyone else participating in this thread to do the same.