MANILA, Philippines – At the 2014 Gamescom video game convention in Germany on Tuesday, August 12, Microsoft announced some new features that would be heading to its latest flagship console, the Xbox One.

According to a roundup post from Larry Hryb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, new social features are making their way to the system, along with updates to existing features on the console and some region-specific accessories and services.

Watch this roundup of the features from Microsoft:

A new Friends section will be introduced to users enrolled in the console’s preview program, and this Friends section will let users have at-a-glance information about what their friends are doing or playing on their consoles, as well as what’s being popularly played by their friends.

The Xbox One will also introduce a Snap Center – a seamless system that allows users to see messages, friends, achievements and other information at a glance without having to leave the game you’re in.

A new Messages app is also making its way to the system, and will feature threaded messages, showing the full conversation history – including Game DVR clip links – while you’re inside a game, playing.

A Media Player app will also be available soon, letting users play media files using an attached USB device or a home media server, such as your computer, supporting the DLNA protocol type.

If you want to watch a game remotely while someone else is playing, a new feature will also be made available letting users stream their TV across their home network to their smartphones and tablets using an Xbox SmartGlass app. This will work with the help of an Xbox One Digital TV Tuner, which is a new accessory for Europe.

Xbox One owners will also be able to set their console to boot directly to the television when it comes out of a connected standby mode.

The Xbox One will also launch in 29 new markets in the coming weeks. Microsoft hopes to show both games and new functions that users from around the world can take advantage of when the console reaches these new markets in time. – Rappler.com