Xie Enwei, General Manager Of Management And Operations Of Microsoft In China, Speaks During The Presentation Of The Xbox One
IN PHOTO: Xie Enwei, general manager of management and operations of Microsoft in China, speaks during the presentation of the Xbox One by Microsoft as part of ChinaJoy 2014 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference in Shanghai July 30, 2014. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Xbox One owners can now purchase Over-the-Air TV tuners that are compatible with the console and turn their Xbox into a TV. At present, the over-the-TV programming is available only for those who belong to the Xbox One Preview Program in the U.S. and Canada. Microsoft wanted to make its headway to streaming television directly, as per reports.

According to a report on Bidness Etc, Microsoft has inked its partnership with Hauppage specialists in the over-the-air (OTA) TV segment to provide an OTA TV tuner that can be linked with Xbox, which currently utilizes third party applications like Netflix, Sling TV, HBO GO, Comedy Central and Hulu. Members of Xbox One Preview Program can buy an HDTV antenna and the Hauppauge WinTV-955Q at just $80 from Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and Micro Center, reports Bidness Etc.

With the Xbox OTA service, users can access networks like FOX, NBC, CBS and PBS free of cost. Besides that, TV customers can also watch Disney Channel, ESPN, TNT directly from Xbox One. The OTA service will expand to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.

The service is already available in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and France. So now, Xbox One Digital TV Tuner service is available in 19 countries.

The process of getting Over-the-Air TV has been discussed in detail on Xbox Wire page. As mentioned in Xbox Wire page, users need to see which channels would be available in their respective areas before they try out Over-the-Air TV. As different locations can affect channel visibility, it is important to find the right antenna. After connecting the TV tuner and antenna, users can watch Over-the-Air TV on Xbox One, get a full screen view of all TV listings, watch TV on the right side of the screen and have games and other applications on the main screen.

Besides that, users can also pause the channel they have been watching as the Xbox can cache it up to 30 minutes. It also marks your favourite channels which can be changed by voice command and stream OTA TV to Xbox One SmartGlass.

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