Microsoft
Corp. is reportedly planning to open its Xbox One to any software
developer in the world. The software update facilitating the new Xbox
One apps will be released alongside its latest operating system, Windows
10.
In October, International Business Times first reported that Windows 10’s “universal” apps would work on the Xbox One, but a new report from The Verge
claims Microsoft plans to do more than offer new apps from a few select
developers. Microsoft will open up the Xbox One so that anyone can
develop for it, much like they currently can for operating systems like
Apple’s OS X or Android.
One new trick that Microsoft plans to teach the Xbox One is
the ability to play music in the background, allowing apps like Pandora
or Xbox Music to
stream while someone is playing a game. The Redmond,
Washington-based company had previously allowed only a select group of
companies to develop Xbox One apps, so it's now overhauling its approval
process to deal with apps from a number of new developers, the report
said.
Microsoft will announce the Xbox One’s new app development program at its annual Build conference
this April, The Verge said. It will then release a preview version of
the Software Development Kit (SDK), for developing and testing new apps
later in May. Microsoft will also allow anyone to turn a standard retail
Xbox One into a developer’s kit, which will make it easy for those
creating universal Windows 10 apps to test them on the console.
Microsoft is planning to release an update to allow the new
apps to appear on the Xbox One sometime in November, around the release
of Windows 10 for PCs. The company previously said that Windows 10
would also bring major updates to the Xbox One’s main apps, support for
its new DirectX 12 standard, as well as the ability to stream games from
the console to a Windows tablet or PC.
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