Windows 10: Microsoft Expanding Xbox One Voice Capabilities with Google Assistant Xbox

Brink · Sep 26, 2019

On Team Xbox, we put customer choice at the forefront of our decision making and regularly use community feedback to help guide the experiences we deliver to gamers. One piece of feedback we’ve heard loud and clear is that you’ve wanted more options for using digital assistants to interact with your Xbox.

Based on your feedback, we expanded our voice command capabilities with the release of the Xbox Skill for Alexa and Cortana last fall. We are excited to announce we’re further expanding our digital assistant capabilities on Xbox One with the Xbox Action for the Google Assistant. The new Xbox Action for the Google Assistant releases to public beta on Xbox One today and is available to all customers in English during the beta period. Google and Xbox are working together to expand language support before launching more broadly to the Xbox community later this fall.

With the release of the Xbox Action for the Google Assistant, you can now interact with your Xbox One in even more ways using just your voice, including the ability to turn your console on and off, launch games and apps, play and pause videos, and more, from the Google Assistant and Home-enabled devices, as well as the Google Assistant apps on iOS and Android.

Here’s how to get started with the beta:

Join our Google Group with the Google Account you intend to use

Sign into your Xbox

In the Google Home app for iOS or Android:

Tap “+ Add”

Tap “Set up device”

Tap “Have something already set up?”

Search for and select “[beta] Xbox”

Sign in with the Microsoft account you use on Xbox

Follow the instructions to link your Xbox and give it a device name

“Hey Google, play Gears 5 on Xbox.”Once you’re all set up, here are a few actions you can try to get you started with controlling your Xbox One with Google Assistant:

“Hey Google, play Gears 5 on Xbox.”

“Hey Google, turn on Xbox.”

“Hey Google, turn off Xbox.”

“Hey Google, launch YouTube on Xbox.”

“Hey Google, pause on Xbox.”

“Hey Google, resume on Xbox.”

“Hey Google, volume up on Xbox.”

“Hey Google, take a screenshot on Xbox.”

You’ll notice the default device name for Xbox consoles is “Xbox”; however, you can change the device name for your smart home commands at any time in the Google Home and Assistant apps if you have more than one Xbox in your home. When triggering an action, just use the device name you set in your commands. For example, you would say, “Hey Google, turn on Basement Xbox.”

For a full list of commands, setup instructions, or for troubleshooting, please visit the Xbox Insider Subreddit.

“Hey Google, take a screenshot on Xbox.”

Over the coming weeks as you begin to check out this feature, we’d love to hear from you so you can help us test and refine this new capability. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us shape the experience for all gamers on Xbox. We will also continue to improve on this experience following release and will be listening to your feedback to help determine how we expand our capabilities in the future.
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Source: Expanding Xbox Voice Capabilities with Google Assistant - Xbox Wire

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Brink · Sep 26, 2019

Cortana Expands Role of Digital Personal Assistant: Coming to Xbox One

At Microsoft, our vision for a powerful digital assistant means it is personalized and available to you everywhere, whether you’re on-the-go with the device you carry with you, in your office, where you need to be highly productive, or even in your home, where you relax, play, and are entertained. In a multi-device world this means allowing Cortana to move with you between your environments multiple times a day.

We announced earlier that your Windows 10 experience includes Cortana.** To extend availability to a multitude of devices, we announced the Cortana app will be available soon for Android phones and iPhones, working as a companion to Cortana on your Windows 10 PC. Starting in July, the beta of the Cortana app for Android Phones will be available to test as a companion to Windows 10 PCs.

And to complete our vision for bringing the first digital assistant to your device collection, we announced at E3 last night that Cortana is also coming to Xbox One this fall in the U.S. and UK.** Cortana will be a powerful assistant for millions of gamers helping elevate your game when you need her. Through voice commands on Xbox One, Cortana will assist you to more quickly find great games, new challengers and friends on Xbox Live, or accomplish common tasks.

Most importantly, Cortana is there to connect your worlds and works for you across your devices, in ways that are specially tuned for the device you’re on, whether it’s your Windows 10 PC, tablet, or phone; your Xbox; or your iPhone or Android phone. Regardless of the operating systems you choose across your devices, everything important to you should roam across the products you already own.

Starting this fall, customers will have a range of new experiences in how they interact with Windows and Cortana including,

Your Microsoft account helps keep your personal assistant connected to you across device experiences, whether on your PC, phone or Xbox One. Cortana’s Notebook will be available across your devices to keep track of details important to you. Cortana only knows what you want her to know and you are fully in control of how you use her across devices.

On Xbox One, Cortana knows your friends and makes it easy to invite them to play with you through simple voice commands. If you want to record and share a clip of your game play, you can use Cortana to precisely control the length of the recording and quickly share it with your friends without leaving your game. Cortana will also help you find information about games, such as the release date of an upcoming game, or help you get achievements by surfacing videos and information to help you succeed.

On your Android phone you can ask Cortana to remind you to walk the dog at 8pm in the evening, and then when you’re watching a movie your Xbox will interrupt playback to let you know it’s time to take the dog out.

You can ask Cortana questions and she’ll give you answers, using the same natural language, regardless of which device you’re on. Want to know the weather tomorrow? Just ask Cortana from any device.

Cortana can help you search for what matters most on the device you’re using. On your Windows PC, you can use natural language to ask Cortana to help you find recent documents and pictures. On your Xbox One, you can use natural language to ask Cortana to find a friend online or record a game DVR clip.

At Microsoft, we want everyone to love not just their Windows 10 PC, but all the devices they own, working with their Windows 10 PC. Cortana for Windows 10, for Xbox One, for Android phone, and for iPhone connect the world’s only personal digital assistant together across the devices you own and use, right there to buzz you for reminders, answer your questions, and be your personal helper.

** Cortana will be available on Windows 10 at launch in select markets.
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Source: Cortana Expands the Role of the Digital Personal Assistant by Coming to Xbox One

Brink · Sep 26, 2019

New Approaches to Home & Xbox Voice Commands Roll Out to Xbox Insiders

As Xbox Insiders, your feedback helps inform the decisions and updates we make on Xbox, from new features to how gamers interact with the console itself. Based on your valuable feedback, we’ve been continuing to iterate on two key experiences on Xbox, delivering you a faster Home experience and evolving the way we support Xbox voice commands to improve the voice experience.

Evolving Home

The Home on Xbox One is the first thing you see when you turn on your Xbox One, and we want to deliver an easy and seamless experience for you to navigate your console. We’ve heard your feedback and have continued to iterate on Home to get you into your gaming experiences faster and keeping more of your content front and center. With today’s update, we’re experimenting with a streamlined user interface.

With this new experimental Home design, the first thing you’ll notice is we’ve removed the Twists from the top of Home in favor of separate buttons that launch your gaming experiences. The goal is to let you jump into Xbox Game Pass, Mixer, Xbox Community and Microsoft Store quicker than ever. We’ve also shifted things around to make more room for your recently played titles.

We need your help testing out the new interface. The new experimental Home rolls out this week to select Xbox Insiders in our Alpha and Alpha Skip Ahead rings. For more details on rollout, keep an eye on the Xbox Insiders section of Xbox Wire. The Home experience will continue to evolve and change based on your feedback, so please let us know what you think and share your ideas for Home at the Xbox Ideas Hub. You may see this layout change and even come and go as we iterate on your feedback.

Changes to voice commands on Xbox One

Last fall, we expanded Xbox voice commands to hundreds of millions of smart devices by enabling Xbox One to connect with Xbox Skill for Cortana and Alexa-enabled devices. Xbox Skill continues to grow and change based on your feedback, including new updates that rolled out earlier this month.

Building on these efforts, we are now further evolving the way we support voice commands on Xbox and are moving away from on-console experiences to cloud-based assistant experiences. This means you can no longer talk to Cortana via your headset. However, you can use the Xbox Skill for Cortana via the Cortana app on iOS, Android, and Windows or via Harmon Kardon Invoke speaker to power your Xbox One, adjust volume, launch games and apps, capture screenshots, and more —just as you can do with Alexa-enabled devices today. We’ll also continue to improve the Xbox Skill across supported digital assistants and continue expanding our Xbox voice capabilities in the future based on fan feedback.

Starting this week, this update will roll out to our Alpha Skip Ahead ring and will fully rollout to all users this fall. As part of these changes, this update will temporarily disable dictation for the virtual keyboard on Xbox One. Don’t worry though, our team is working to provide an alternative solution and will have more details to share soon.

As always, your feedback is important to us and our partners as we continue to evolve the Xbox One Home and shape the digital assistant and voice command experience on Xbox. We have some exciting updates in the works and can’t wait to share what’s next, so stay tuned for more.
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Source: New Approaches to Home and Xbox Voice Commands Roll Out to Xbox Insiders - Xbox Wire

Brink · Sep 26, 2019

Xbox Now Connects with Cortana and Alexa Enabled Devices

Here at Team Xbox, we’ve had a long history in offering voice controls as a way to interact with your Xbox console through Kinect and headsets. Today, starting with select Xbox U.S. Insiders, we’re expanding voice support by introducing the Xbox Skill, which enables you to navigate and interact with Xbox One using voice commands through your Cortana and Alexa-enabled devices.

With the Xbox Skill, you can use voice commands to power your Xbox One console, adjust volume, launch games and apps, start and stop broadcasts on Mixer, capture screenshots, and more. It’s the fastest way to get into your games and one of the easiest ways to interact with your console for everyday tasks. For example, if you have the skill enabled on your Echo and you’re a part of the Insider preview, just say “Alexa, start Rocket League.” and this command will automatically turn on your console, sign you in, and launch your game.

The Xbox Skill integrates with your Cortana and Alexa-enabled device such as a Windows 10 PC, Amazon Echo, Harman Kardon Invoke, Sonos One, or Cortana and Alexa apps on iOS and Android, enabling voice commands to control your Xbox One console.

For Xbox Insiders* in the U.S. who want to try the Xbox Skill with Cortana or Alexa, here’s how to get started:

If you use Cortana:

Sign into the Xbox you want to control.

On your Windows 10 PC, click here and sign in with your Microsoft account to link the skill.

Try your first command! “Hey Cortana, tell Xbox to open Netflix.”

If you use Alexa:

Sign into the Xbox you want to control.

Click here, sign in with your Amazon Account, and click Enable.

Sign in with your Microsoft account to link the skill.

Let Alexa discover your console, then follow the instructions to pair your console with Alexa.

Try your first command! “Alexa, start Rocket League.”

Wondering what else the Xbox Skill can do? Just say “Ask Xbox what can I say?” to discover more commands for your console. For a full list of commands, troubleshooting assistance, and to give the team feedback and ideas, you can visit the Xbox Insider Subreddit.

As always, your feedback is important to us and our partners as we continue to evolve this experience and grow our voice integration across devices, digital assistants and voice services.

*Note to Xbox Insiders: We will be rolling the Xbox Skill out to Xbox Insider rings gradually. If the Digital Assistant setting is visible on your console in Settings -> Devices, then you are currently eligible to test the Xbox Skill. If it doesn’t appear, then please be patient as we are working quickly to add more Insider rings to the beta.
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Source: Expanding Xbox Voice Commands to Hundreds of Millions of Smart Devices: Xbox Now Connects with Cortana and Alexa-Enabled Devices - Xbox Wire

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Windows 10: Microsoft Expanding Xbox One Voice Capabilities with Google Assistant Xbox

Microsoft Expanding Xbox One Voice Capabilities with Google Assistant Xbox

Microsoft Expanding Xbox One Voice Capabilities with Google Assistant Xbox

Microsoft Expanding Xbox One Voice Capabilities with Google Assistant Xbox

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