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Xbox One will be a 'full-featured' DVR for TV

We'd heard rumblings for some time, but today at Gamescom, Microsoft announced that Xbox One would get its own DVR. The new functionality works from the OneGuide and streams over-the-air TV recordings to any Windows 10 device with the Xbox app or SmartGlass on iOS and Android. And you'll also be able to watch offline, too. With those two apps, you'll be able to schedule shows to record when you're away from OneGuide in your living room. Recorded content stored on an external DVR was viewable on the Xbox One's TV option, but now, the console itself will pull double duty. The console also has the ability to stream over-the-air television channels thanks to a pair of digital TV tuners, so adding in the recorder offers a complete package for game and TV viewing. Xbox One's DVR will arrive in 2016 and won't command any additional fees.

Microsoft's blog detailing the feature says that you'll need to use an external USB hard drive to store shows. The company says by using this setup, you won't have to worry about any issues with gameplay or running out of space on the console itself. This also means that the amount of content you can record is only limited by the size of the hard drive that you plug into the Xbox One. We'll have to wait until next year to give it a shot, but today's news is certainly a welcome addition.