In an interview with IGN, Xbox Corporate Vice President Marc Whitten confirmed that Xbox One will not have the Media Center Extender functionality of the Xbox 360.
Whitten was noncommittal about the lack of this feature, saying that they were going to continue to look for ways to enjoy television on the console.
First off, let’s talk about Windows Media Center Extender. Computers running Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium/Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium, or Windows 8 Pro have a version of Windows Media Center that can interact with other devices, officially called Extender for Windows Media Center. These devices connect to your computer via a network and will allow you to use Media Center’s functions, including live television shows, DVR, and watch recorded DVR programs over a TV.
Xbox 360 owners got to enjoy this functionality off of their console, which is why it is perplexing that this feature is not available on the Xbox One. To be fair, however, Xbox One has its own solution. It will work with existing set-top boxes via HDMI to provide television programs to you. Xbox One’s solution also involved having a Windows like OS that duplicates a lot of functionality gamers have gotten used to multitasking on their own, including web browsing, Skype, and Upload Studio.
For existing Xbox 360 fans, this can be interpreted as somewhere between a tad inconvenient to a complete lack of consistent support. While I think Microsoft can argue that consumers can make the transition, considering the console also doesn’t support external storage, and their continuing communication issues, they may be better off adding all these features back in sometime soon.
Source: NeoGAF
