Recently Microsoft has announced its decision to retire Windows Media center. It seems the move is to promote Xbox One as it new living room console and Media Center. There are rumors that Xbox One TV DVR feature is just around the corner, and when this feature arrive it will make the company’s console a must-have gadget in the living room. The TV recording feature for Xbox One is expected to be released before the end of this year.

Paul Thurrott, a longtime Microsoft journalist who has many reliable sources within Microsoft, mentions the Xbox One TV DVR addition in his post about the end of Windows Media Center today.

Of course, many Media Center fans actually use the product to record and watch TV shows Via Media Center PCs in the living room. Microsoft’s solution for this need will apparently be the Xbox One, though the console currently only provides live TV watching, but not recording. My sources tell me that will change, and most probably this year, to include TV recording.

This is no surprise as Microsoft promoted Xbox One as an entertainment device/ TV set-top box since its launch. Xbox One offers users a way to watch live television through the console, along with their current TV listings in the UI. Microsoft sells an optional digital TV tuner for the Xbox One in Europe and recently added support for over-the-air TV tuners in the US and Canada. However, the functionality of the device is limited to pausing live TV; full DVR features are not available to users.

Current Xbox One versions has an internal hard drive of 500 GB. This limited storage will not be enough for TV recordings, media and games. If Microsoft were to add this feature in an upcoming software update, owners will likely have to purchase an external hard drive to store their TV recordings. There is also a possibility Microsoft could ship new versions of Xbox One with higher storage.

Source: Thurrott.com