UK Xbox One apps available on day one: Netflix, Lovefilm and more
Amazon has announced that their movie and TV show streaming service, Amazon LoveFilm is now available on Microsoft’s next generation games console, the Xbox One. Let’s have a look what else is available.
The Amazon LoveFilm app is available from the Xbox One App Marketplace from today, and it comes with support for full HD video in 1080p and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound, it also comes with Amazon’s Whispersync technology.
The battle of the consoles could be won or lost on the strengths of other capabilities away from gaming. Whilst we’re still waiting to see which services the UK PS4 will get on November 29th the rumours are that it will initially be fewer than the Xbox One’s offerings.
Here’s the other streaming and on demand services what will join Amazon LoveFilm:
- Netflix – Access to all the functionality of your Netflix streaming account, including Wish Lists where you can save content in one location to easily find at the top of the pile.
- 4oD – Channel 4’s on-demand and catch up service is the first of the big UK terrestrial TV streaming apps to arrive.
- YouTube – Not originally listed on the Xbox One available apps list, however, YouTube is available from day one.
- Crackle – Crackle is a completely free resource of archive and cult movies and TV shows for you to watch on your console.
- Eurosport – Access to a whole range of sports action from the TV channel for a subscription fee. Includes Monday Night NFL football, if that’s your kinda thing.
- Machinima – The online broadcaster offers a wide range of gaming-based TV shows and video.
- Ted – Opens up all the keynotes and vast Ted archive of clips and videos to Xbox One owners.
- Twitch – Want to watch gamers show their talents or walkthroughs of games you find too hard? This is for you.
- Xbox Fitness – A collection of fitness videos and workout suggestions that also have some interactive elements, such as the ability to assess your heart rate through the Kinect sensor.
- Xbox Music – Microsoft’s answer to Spotify is available through this subscription service application.
- Xbox Video – Like Xbox Music, you will need to download this app to access your bought or rented video content.
On their way…
Jogging to catch-up with the list above are Demand 5, Sky’s Now TV, Blinkbox, Muzu TV, and Wuaki.tv. It sounds like the PlayStation 4 will beat the Xbox One to BBC iPlayer, though.
Standard
This list contains the things that you’d kind of expect but also need if you’re not to become a laughing stock for PlayStation owners.
- Audio CD Player – An obvious one but this software patch hands a very important feature to the Xbox One. Not only is it software you’d expect on any console with a physical drive, it’s vital for Microsoft as the PS4 doesn’t have the ability to play MP3s at the time being.
- Blu-ray Player – Like the Audio CD Player, this is an essential download. Strangely, the Blu-ray playing functionality is not built-into the machine as such, but comes as an app instead.
- Internet Explorer – Where would Microsoft be without its own browser on its own console?
- SkyDrive – Like with the Xbox 360 before it, the Xbox One links to your SkyDrive cloud storage account.
- Skype – A new feature for the Xbox One, the new Skype app works with the Kinect sensor and allows you to have up to four people on a conference call at the same time.
- Upload Studio – If you want to edit your gaming videos before sharing them, this is the app you’ll need.
What do you think? Are these enough to give the Xbox One the edge?