The Xbox One's Watch TV feature is ambitious and functional, but can also be confusing. After some hands-on (well, mostly hands-off, Kinect voice-controlled) time with it, however, I feel prepared to explain exactly what you'll be getting, and whether you can use it.
How it Works
First, the basics. Xbox One Watch TV doesn't replace your cable or satellite box. Fundamentally, it's an HDMI passthrough device that shows you whatever source you plugged into the HDMI input (like your cable or satellite box), either in full screen or integrated into the Xbox One dashboard and its apps. It doesn't tune to any channels, and it doesn't process any television signal. Instead, it just takes whatever the cable or satellite box (or OTA tuner, if you use one) puts out and pipes it through to the TV. The included IR blaster controls your set-top box and tells it to switch between channels based on your commands.
This means you won't be able to throw out your set-top box. On the other hand, it means you won't have to wrestle with your cable or satellite provider to get a cableCARD to work with your Xbox One, which has been an issue in the past for other third-party DVRs and set-top boxes. So, no, don't think of it as a replacement for your cable box but instead as a powerful add-on to your cable box.
Once everything is set up by connecting the cable box through HDMI, place the IR blaster and tell the Xbox One what type of cable box you have and which cable provider you use. You can then start watching TV by selecting Watch TV on the dashboard or saying to the Kinect, "Xbox, watch TV." This switches the Xbox One's current view from whatever you're doing (including playing games, which are paused and can be resumed when you're done watching) to the HDMI signal the cable box is sending to the Xbox One.
OneGuide and Voice Commands
You can watch TV just like you used to with your cable box remote, but telling the Xbox One your cable box model and cable provider opens up a host of new features integrated into the system. The OneGuide offers a programming grid just like the one you'd see on your cable box, but with voice controls through Kinect and integration with services like Hulu Plus. You can set your favorite channels and services, so you can flip through what's on right now and what was just added to Hulu Plus on the same screen.
The Xbox One doesn't connect every channel available with a voice command, but it remembers all of your favorite channels and your most recently viewed channels so you can say "Xbox, what's on Comedy Central," and it will turn on the Watch TV function and show you the program grid for Comedy Central and the surrounding channels. Being able to tell the Xbox One to flip to your favorite channel seems like it could be very handy, but we'll have to see how the new voice controls on the Kinect work first.
The Kinect voice controls have two main formats, and you'll need to get used to both if you want to control your TV with your voice. There's a consistent set of voice commands across the entire Xbox One interface, so you can say "Xbox, what's on (favorite channel)" or "Xbox, watch TV," or "Xbox, open Skype," and it will do it from wherever you are in the menu system or any app or game.
There's also the Xbox Select format, which lets you select any labeled item on the menu with your voice. To use this, you need to say "Xbox Select," then wait for the prompt to come up. After that, you can say "Bob's Burgers," if it's on the programming grid, or if it's on Hulu Plus (and your Hulu Plus account is on the screen), and the Xbox One will select that item as if you put the cursor over it and pressed the A button. It will take a bit of practice to learn which commands you can say to the Xbox One in one smooth phrase, and which you need to precede with "Xbox Select" and a beat.
The Xbox One OneGuide and Kinect voice controls will be available on the Xbox One at launch on Nov. 22, after the required day-one patch. Keep an eye on PCMag.com for our coverage of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launches.
via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHNwQeSh_VhOWs6IrqiRY05jQ31rg&url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2426873,00.asp
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