Microsoft’s Xbox One could potentially replace your DVR

As it turns out, Microsoft has big plans for the Xbox One, among which, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the gaming console turn into a DVR replacement. This emphasizes the general trend of gaming consoles turning into media center units, and Microsoft aims to capitalize. According to Thurrott, a known news publication with links to Microsoft, the Windows Media Center is going to be completely removed in the future. Up until now, many PC users have built custom systems as media centers to be used in a living room, with this software at its core.

Currently, the Xbox One provides live television viewing options, but there’s no way to record anything. That’s about to change, and Microsoft’s aim to kill WMC is logically – eliminating the software and providing a DVR-capable Xbox One would really boost the console’s general popularity. Considering the war between the Xbox One and rival console, the Sony PS4 is still going on (and will likely continue to do so for years, to our benefit as end-users), adding DVR capabilities to the Xbox One would be a smart move indeed.

We don’t know any specifics at the time, but the source (Paul Thurrott) is a well-known Microsoft leakster, and a reliable one at that, so chances are this is actually going to be a thing, and soon. According to Paul, Microsoft plans on releasing DVR support for the Xbox One by the end of this year. This news will certainly not please cable or satellite providers, as demand for DVR capable set-top boxes will likely diminish if Microsoft will indeed go down this path. It’s definitely an interesting feature that could give the console an edge in its power-struggle against the PS4.