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'Xbox Fitness' no longer requires the Kinect

You can also finally download workouts.

The Kinect, once such an integral part of Microsoft's Xbox One story, just lost a big toehold. You no longer need the depth sensor for Xbox Fitness, a key non-gaming app. The device brings gamification to workouts and forces you to think about form, so the app is more like a streaming service without it. However, dropping the requirement certainly opens it up to more users. Folks who compete with friends might also be disappointed to know that non-Kinect rivals still get a score just for watching the videos. Kinect users can score higher, though, and new workout titles will continue to support the camera. There's no word on whether Microsoft might offer smartphone body tracking like it does with Just Dance Now.

Another much-demanded new feature is workout downloading. If you buy workouts like Mossa fights or P90x, you can download the content to your hard drive rather than streaming it. For those of us with occasionally weak connections, that should let you get through an intense workout without an abrupt, possibly hazardous stop in the action. The update is now available, but some Reddit users are reporting that not all workouts can be downloaded, so we've reached out for more details.