Right now your Xbox One entertainment console needs a Kinect 2 sensor and a cable or satellite box to be of any value for live television beyond Sling TV. Quickly that’s changing though. This morning Microsoft announced expanded support for the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner currently available in Europe and revealed a new partnership that’ll have some users enjoying all the Masterpiece on PBS any sane person can stomach.
Microsoft revealed the new footprint for its Xbox One Digital TV Tuner in a post on its Xbox Wire news blog this morning. As of today Xbox One owners in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland can all watch broadcast television using the Xbox One accessory. It was already available to folks in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom.
Getting broadcast channels in the United Sates requires you to have a cable or satellite subscription today, but Microsoft is quietly adding support for the Hauppauge WinTV-955Q digital tuner to the console. Members of the Xbox Preview Program can use the tuner immediately. Microsoft and Hauppauge are teaming up for a $59.99 dedicated Xbox One Tuner for release in the United States and Canada later this year.
