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New Xbox One update introduces new UI, backwards compatibility & more (Hands-On)

Since it’s original release in 2013, Microsoft’s Xbox One has received minor software updates but none as massive as its most recent upgrade. Introducing a complete design overhaul, backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games and even more noticeable changes, Xbox fans everywhere overhauling their gaming experience. Whether you’ve already updated or you’re on the fence about doing so it’s important to know what to expect with the Xbox’s newest update.

In this video avid gamer Joshua Smith brings a hands-on tour of the Xbox One’s latest update. With Windows 10 at the core of the new software there’s plenty in store for gamers to customize and uncover. Find out what’s new and see it all in action in this quick video tour to decide whether or not you want to take the plunge with the new update.

Joshua Smith
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Just another not so ordinary kid living this thing we like to call life.
Your Xbox is becoming carbon aware with new update
Official Xbox art promoting energy saving, carbon awareness, and collective action.

While many fans are waiting for Xbox to reveal the release dates of Redfall and Starfield, or to even hold another game showcase of its own, Microsoft's first significant Xbox-related announcement of the year is about something else entirely. Xbox Insiders will have access to multiple new options to make their Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S more carbon-aware starting today.
To start, the "Shutdown (energy-saving)" power option will be updated to reduce its power consumption even further while still supporting overnight updates; in fact, your Xbox console will now optimize those updates by doing them "when the console can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid." According to Microsoft, for every two consoles that are in this mode for 20 hours a day for a whole year, the carbon equivalent of a tree that has been growing for over a decade will be saved.

That isn't the only energy-conscious addition in this update, though. A new "Active Hours" setting is coming, which will allow those who choose the "Sleep" power option to boot quickly and support remote waking during set active hours, rather than it always being available. Surprisingly, even Xbox One owners will see a carbon-aware update with the addition of the "Shutdown (energy saving)" power option today, although Microsoft is still in the user feedback stage for that platform.
These carbon-aware updates are available to Xbox Insiders with an Xbox One, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S starting today, although Microsoft says these additions will come to all current-gen console owners "soon." 

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New Xbox service lets players submit accessibility feedback to developers
A Samsung TV shows the Xbox Game Pass app that comes in the Samsung Gaming Hub.

Xbox hosted its second annual Xbox Accessibility Showcase this morning as part of its month-long celebration of the Disability community, showcasing personal stories from gamers and announcing brand new features coming to their console and future titles. The updates include the introduction of a new service that lets players with disabilities submit feedback to developers.

Xbox has been a leader in inclusive gaming for years. It developed an adaptive controller to allow those with physical impairments a customizable way to play games, partnered with Special Olympics to host the yearly Gaming for Inclusion Esports event, and has implemented tons of accessibility features into its systems and first-party titles.

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Xbox Game Pass now runs on more PCs and Surface devices
Microsoft Edge gaming updates on screen in a room.

Microsoft is continuing its expansion of the Xbox Game Pass by releasing the ARMS64 version of the Xbox app for Windows. The company wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that the Xbox app has been updated to run natively on Windows PCs and other devices running Arms, including the Surface Pro X and the newly announced Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5.

The expansion of the Xbox app means that you can not only access Xbox Game Pass on recent models of the aforementioned devices, but that the app is also supported on older PCs that were originally not able to support cloud streaming in the first place, including PCs running software as far back as Windows 7. ARMS64 gets its name from the fact that the old PCs are capable of running on 64-bit Windows -- so can the Google Chromebooks.

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