Quicker. Better. Faster. Three words the X1 team always keeps in mind when planning, developing and launching new features to the platform. This month’s X1 enhancements focus on just that:

Smart Keyboard For Search
Even with the voice remote, there are still going to be times when customers need to key in exactly what they’re looking for. This feature, which started as a lab week project, will greatly decrease the time a customer spends typing in what they want to watch or see. This "smart" keyboard acts very much like the way search in car GPS systems works. As a customer is spelling out the name of a show, actor, etc., the keyboard will only display letters that could potentially be the next one in line.

 

Easily Browse Saved/Purchased Content
To help customers find their purchased content more quickly, we’ve reorganized the purchases folder within the saved menu into three rows; movies, TV shows and kids. Individually purchased TV episodes are grouped by series.

 

Personalized Screensaver
Last month, in addition to a series of landscape images that populate the screensaver, we added the ability to select a rotation of animals or entertainment images instead. This month, we’re making the screensaver even more personal by letting customers use their own photos as the backdrop. If enabled, the screen saver will rotate through photos from a connected Facebook, Instagram or Flickr social account.

 

Power Saver Mode
Power saver lets customers put their X1s on standby to reduce power usage - to as low as a night light in some cases - without affecting important functions like recording shows or movies or watching them on other devices within the home. The setting can be activated at any time by saying "power down" into the X1 voice remote. Additionally, saying "go green" will let you update your power settings so that the box automatically powers down after a set time of inactivity. Pushing any button on the remote will power it back up in seconds and customers will see a "welcome back" screen telling them how hours of energy were conserved.  

 

DVR Recordings Got Smarter
DVR’s traditionally record shows based on the scheduled air time of the program. Every once in a while, however, a show starts early or ends a little late, and the very beginning or ending of a show gets cut off and not recorded. Which is annoying. So, we’re working on making the DVR smarter to ensure it records all of a program – from start to finish – so no key moments get missed, and this month’s release includes some of those improvements.