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Okay Google, play Gears of War 5 on Xbox
Microsoft and Amazon announced the Xbox skill for Alexa just over a year ago. At the time of the announcement, the company had nothing to say regarding Google Assistant integration.
Now, Microsoft has revealed that Google Assistant has gained support for the Xbox One. The functionality is available today as a public beta, so do expect a few bugs and a lack of polish as Microsoft and Google iron out the kinks.
The public beta only supports English right now, but the duo say they’re working to support more languages before a wider launch in the fall.
Want to get in on the action? Then you can simply follow the instructions below.
- Join the Google Group at the link with the Google account you intend to use.
- Sign into your Xbox console.
- Open the Google Home app and tap Add > Set up device > Have something already set up? > [beta] Xbox.
- Sign in with the Microsoft account you use on your Xbox console.
- Follow the instructions to link your console and give it a name.
Microsoft says you can issue a variety of commands, ranging from turning on/off the Xbox, to launching apps and games. It’s even possible to take screenshots, record game clips, and issue basic media playback commands (pause, rewind etc).
We gave it a go and it’s pretty easy to set things up, although the console didn’t initially respond to my commands. It’s nothing a reboot couldn’t solve though, and I was then able to turn the console on and off, launch Netflix, and capture screenshots using the power of my voice. Who says you need Kinect, right?