The Redmond-based company claims that the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One have become more environmentally friendly thanks to a new firmware update.

Microsoft has released new system software for the Xbox Series and Xbox One that brings more features. Google Home touch controls or hiding game artwork in the main menu scratches the surface. You can point out the carbon-conscious downloads and updates, which means you can time them for low power usage periods (so they don’t start during the day), which can help during limited access and even reduce your electricity bill.

Quoting the post: “Xbox is now the first console to offer carbon-aware game downloads and updates. Xbox is now the first console to offer carbon-aware game downloads and updates. When your console is plugged in, connected to the internet, and regional carbon intensity data is available, Xbox will schedule game, app, and OS updates for your console at specific times during the nightly maintenance window that may result in lower carbon emissions because a higher proportion of electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources on the electric grid. This decreases fossil fuel dependency and CO2 emissions and could save money. You can choose what works best for you and adjust your settings anytime. Shutdown (energy saving) cuts power use by up to 20x when it’s off compared to the Sleep power option. For every two consoles that switch to Shutdown (energy saving) for one year, we will save the equivalent amount of carbon removed by one tree planted and grown for a decade.

Hide game art when selecting tiles on Home: some players find game art distracting or prefer a more simplified background while navigating their Home screen. With this new feature, gamers can hide game art, so it will no longer replace the Home background each time you move to select a game tile. Instead, the Home background will always remain the solid color of your choice. To adjust your background, navigate to Settings > General >  Personalization > My background > Solid color and game art. You can show or hide game art on this page with the toggle in the bottom right of the screen.

Use the Google Home app as a touch remote control for your Xbox console: Since 2019, you’ve been able to control your Xbox console using voice commands with Google Assistant. Today, we’ve partnered with Google so that you can use the Google Home app as a touch remote control for your Xbox console. When you add your Xbox console to your Google Home app, you’ll quickly turn your console on and off, navigate on-screen, control media playback, and more. You can use the Google Home app to command your Xbox as you do for other Smart Home devices.

Jump back into a party with your friends: We’re experimenting with some different experiences to make it easy to jump back into a party with your friends. As we roll this out, a random subset of users will be able to try it. To get started, go to the “Parties & Chats” tab in the guide on your Xbox console. Click on the “Party” or “Party History” button. You’ll see a list of your previous parties, which you can use to restart one of those parties or create a new one. You can also easily select which friends you want to invite.”

Not bad.

Source: WCCFTech