Xbox One to get 45 new apps

With little time to go till the big annual Xbox briefing at E3 Expo, it has been announced that more than 45 new entertainment apps are coming to the Xbox platform. Some of the big names that folks will get excited about are Twitter (a specially designed app for viewing Twitter on a TV with additional functionality), Vine, HBO GO, Showtime Anytime, Comedy Central and Major League Gaming are all scheduled to release by the end of the year, alongside many more apps. With the addition of over 45 new apps, it will bring the total catalogue up to 225 apps around the world, just remember though that that number includes Xbox 360 apps as well!

Xbox say that with over 180 apps currently available on both 360 and One, entertainment usage of the consoles outside of gaming has continued to shoot up. With one of the core visions of Xbox One being a system that allows gamers to switch seamlessly between gaming and TV shows, movies, and apps they love, this announcement is just another step forward in providing that all-in-one entertainment system.

“Xbox fans are spending more time than ever on the console, spending more than five hours a day on Xbox One,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Devices and Studios at Microsoft. “Today as we announce new commitments from dozens of our partners, including deep integration with experiences like Twitter and Vine, we hit an important milestone in our journey to deliver unique experiences on Xbox. We’re thrilled to break new ground in social TV experiences like we’re doing with Twitter on Xbox One.”

Twitter for Xbox One

A version of the Twitter platform is being designed and built specifically for  Xbox One. However, it’s useless to us in UK as we’ve got zero integration with television services other than the upcoming launch of Now TV, which you shouldn’t bother with incidentally, it’s cheaper to just go and get a Sky subscription and you’re given a better TV experience with more channels. There’s no mention if the Twitter app will integrate with Now TV, assume it won’t!

What the Twitter app will do for those in the USA is thus. Twitter will integrate directly with the Xbox One’s TV viewing system and optimised to run on any size of screen, much bigger than the traditional laptop, desktop, tablet and mobile phone screens Twitter is currently viewed on of course! While watching a programme, viewers will be able to see Tweets relating to the show currently viewed in real time, while watching. Additionally, TV listings will have Twitter integration in the OneGuide where viewers will be able to see what shows are currently “trending” on Twitter so if you care, you can stay up to date with what’s popular…even if it’s utter tripe! During advert breaks in shows, Twitter springs into action and presents to the viewer what is being said about the current show in the Twittersphere.

“People turn to Twitter every day to enjoy and engage in the real-time conversations about their favorite TV shows,” says Jana Messerschmidt, VP Business Development and Platform at Twitter. “We’re enhancing that experience on the Xbox One with a unique Watch with Twitter integration. It will now be easier to discover what shows are trending in real-time on Twitter, tune-in and follow the conversation right from within the Xbox One interface. We are excited to work with the Xbox One team and continue to deliver unique entertainment experiences.”

More partners come to Xbox

“Twitter integration is just one example of how we’re expanding the world of entertainment on Xbox this year.” says the Xbox Wire blog. 

The blog post goes on to say that Major League Gaming is building an app for Xbox One after the success of their Xbox 360 app and Vine is getting in on the action with an app of their own also.

Here is the full list of new apps being released on the Xbox platform throughout 2014. The list shows app, console and what countries the app is to launch in.

• Antena 3. Xbox One: ES
• ChiliTV. Xbox One: IT
• Comedy Central. Xbox One: US
• Crunchyroll. Xbox One: AU, AT, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IE, IT, MX, NZ, UK, US
• ENCORE Play. Xbox One: US
• EPIX. Xbox One: US
• Filmbox Live. Xbox 360: AR, AU, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, GR, HK, HU, IN, IE, IL, IT, JP, MX, NL, NZ, NO, PL, PT, RU, SA, SG, SK, ZA, KR, ES, SE, CH, TW, TR, AE, UK, US
• Fox Play. Xbox One: MX, BR. Xbox 360: MX, BR, AR, CO, CL
• Frightflix. Xbox One: US
• FXNOW. Xbox 360: US
• Gol TV. Xbox One: ES
• GoPro. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR
• HBO GO. Xbox One: US: Xbox 360: MX, BR, AR, CO, CL
• iHeartRadio. Xbox One: US
• Infinity. Xbox One: IT
• IVI. Xbox 360: RU
• KDrama. Xbox One: AU, AT, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, IE, IT, MX, NZ, UK, US. Xbox 360: AR, AU, AT, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, FI, FR, DE, GR, HK, HU, IN, IE, IL, IT, MX, NL, NZ, NO, PL, PT, RU, SA, SG, SK, ZA, ES, SE, CH, TW, TR, AE, UK, US
• maxdome. Xbox One: AT, DE
• MLG. Xbox One: US, UK, CA, AU
• MOVIEPLEX Play. Xbox One: US
• MTV. Xbox One: US
• NBA. Xbox One: AT, AU, BR, CA, FR, DE, IE, IT, MX, ES, NZ, UK, US
• NHL. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR. Xbox 360: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, JP, AU, BR, NL, SE, RU, TW, PL, IN, HK, TR, BE, AT, NZ, SA, AR, NO, CH, SG, ZA, IR, DK, CO, CL, FI, CZ, HU, IL, GR, PT, SK
• Now TV. Xbox One: UK
• Picturebox. Xbox 360: UK
• Popcornflix. Xbox One: US
• Showtime Anytime. Xbox 360: US
• Sky News. Xbox One: UK, IE, US, CA. Xbox 360: UK, IE, US, CA
• Sky Online. Xbox One: IT
• STARZ Play. Xbox One: US
• STV. Xbox 360: UK
• Syfy Now. Xbox One: US
• Target Ticket. Xbox One: US
• TuneIn. Xbox One: US, CA, MX, UK, FR, DE, IT, ES, AU, BR, AT, NZ, IR
• TV2. Xbox 360: DK
• Twitter. Xbox One: US
• USA Now. Xbox One: US
• VEO. Xbox One: MX. Xbox 360: MX
• Vevo. Xbox One: CA, US, AU, FR, DE, IR, BR,ES, IT, UK, NZ
• VH1. Xbox One: US
• Vine. Xbox One: US
• WATCH ABC. Xbox 360: US
• WATCH Disney Channel. Xbox 360: US
• WATCH Disney Junior. Xbox 360: US
• WATCH Disney XD. Xbox 360: US
• Watchever. Xbox One: DE