“Microsoft Monday” takes a look back at the past week of news related to Microsoft. This week, “Microsoft Monday” includes details about Minecraft arriving on Apple TV, Dolby Atmos support coming to the Xbox One and Windows 10, the download speed increasing on the Xbox One, a roadmap for Cortana on IoT devices, the OneDrive for iOS update and much more!
Minecraft Arrives On Apple TV For $19.99
Minecraft / Image Credit: Microsoft
Back in October, Mojang announced that Minecraft will be coming to the Apple TV. And today Minecraft has officially arrived for the fourth-generation Apple TV at a price of $19.99.
“We’ve just released Minecraft for the slim black boxes. And, for a limited time, it comes with seven pieces of lovely DLC, giving you the chance to customize the fun to your liking. Minecraft: Apple TV Edition currently includes the Holiday 2015, Town Folk, and City Folk skin packs, along with the Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups,” said Mojang’s director of creative communications Owen Jones in a blog post.
Minecraft for the Apple TV will also support the Ender Update. Unfortunately, it does not support Minecraft Realms or Xbox Live yet. But Mojang plans to add support for those platforms “in the near future.”
Dolby Atmos Sound Is Coming To Xbox One And Windows 10
Microsoft has announced that the Dolby Atmos surround sound technology will be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs and tablets. What makes this announcement exciting is that Dolby Atmos is known for making gaming and video content sound extremely sharp and realistic.
“Xbox will be the first game console to feature Dolby Atmos and game developers are excited about using the new capabilities to make their games richer and more engaging. Atmos support for the Blu-ray app on Xbox is already available in Preview and will be released to GA soon – and we’re very excited now to offer Atmos support to games on Xbox One and Windows 10,” said Spencer Hooks, the Director of Gaming at Dolby Laboratories. “You’ll be able to experience Dolby Atmos in your home theater, assuming you have a Dolby Atmos enabled speaker system or soundbar. But you don’t need to have that kind of equipment – it will be possible to enable virtually any pair of headphones with the Dolby Atmos experience.”
Xbox Preview members can now access Dolby Atmos support on the Xbox One and Xbox One S through Blu-ray Bitstream pass-through. If you are an Xbox Preview member, you can set up the feature by making sure you have the latest Blu-ray player update under the “Updates” tab within the “My Games & Apps” section and then enabling “Let my receiver decode audio (beta)” under the “Disc & Blu-ray” settings page.
Xbox One Update Increases Download Speeds Up To 80%
In a recent Xbox One update, Microsoft substantially optimized the download speeds supported by the console. If you are on an Internet connection that is faster than 100Mbps, then you should see an increase of about 80%. On slower connections, game and app downloads should still see a boost of around 40%. The changes in the download speed depend on your ISP and connection configuration. But the download speeds won’t have as much of a boost if you are playing a game since the bandwidth is prioritized for that experience. The Xbox One update also includes optimizations to make downloads “more resilient to intermittent connectivity issues.” And the update contains performance improvements for wireless controllers and background music.
The Xbox One update includes optimizations to make downloads “more resilient to intermittent connectivity issues.” And the update includes performance improvements for wireless controllers and background music.
Microsoft Is Reportedly Expanding Cortana To Internet Of Things Devices
ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley noticed that Cortana will be coming to Windows 10 Internet of Things Core devices with displays, according to a slide presented at the WinHEC 2016 event in Shenzhen. The slide showed Cortana built into a refrigerator, a thermostat and a toaster.
“With upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update, Cortana will be available on Windows 10 IoT Core devices with displays,” says the slide. Windows 10 Creators Update is expected to arrive in March 2017. In the Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft is also adding “wake on voice from modern standby” and “far-field voice” with Cortana. This will enable hardware companies to build devices that can wake up Cortana with voice queries and it will be able to listen to people from different rooms.
Foley said that the Cortana on Windows 10 IoT Core will launch in English for the U.S. and U.K. markets first. And there are plans to roll it out in additional languages after that.
OneDrive For iOS Has Been Updated With Office Lens Feature And Instant Previews
OneDrive for iOS / Photo Credit: Microsoft
Last week, Microsoft released a OneDrive for iOS update with a few new features. Microsoft OneDrive for iOS now has the ability to preview Word, Excel and PowerPoint files within the app via the new instant previewers. Another new feature is the ability to digitize whiteboards, documents and business cards because the app now has Office Lens integration.
Microsoft Monday: Minecraft For Apple TV Arrives, Xbox One Download Speed Increases, Cortana For IoT