Xbox One January Update: What to Expect? Transparent Tiles Speculated; Plans for 'Revolutionising' Kinect still 'On'

Speculations are rife on what could the January update for Xbox One bring. One of the major rumours doing the rounds is the addition of Microsoft's much-appreciated feature of transparent tiles.

Neowin reported of spotting the transparent tiles on Xbox One dashboard on Major Nelson's gaming stream. Redditor, mkmkd started a thread that discusses the feature.

This new feature could add a modern angle to the looks of the Xbox One's user interface. However, it is not yet known as to what other functionality could be included in it, since reports have only found the leaked screenshot for any sort of deduction.

Since we already know that Major Nelson aka Larry Hryb is a programming lead of Xbox Live, he would certainly be using the preview version of the new UI. Even if Microsoft is testing the new feature, it will need some time to release it to the public, reported Windows Central. It was also speculated that the feature would allow the console owners to take screenshots from the console itself. Owners will also be given an option to turn it off or on.

This new feature is likely to be released in January 2015. Other reports speculate that this feature might debut during the unveiling of Microsoft's Windows 10 in January.

Xbox Avatars could be Updated

Microsoft is reportedly planning to update Xbox Avatars, IGN reports via DualShockers that spotted the job listings, where it talked about advancing them to the next level.

Microsoft had introduced these Avatars six years ago. The listing stresses upon how the Avatars are growing across all the platforms, including the mobile devices.

Microsoft still has Plans for Kinect

Ever since Microsoft delinked Kinect from its bundle due to the console price war between Xbox One and PlayStation 4, there has been lesser number of games for Kinect. However, this might change if Attack of the Fanboy's spotting of Microsoft's job listings are to be taken into account.

"If you want a comfortable, standard-role job at Microsoft with no ambiguity or risk, please don't apply. But if you're passionate about the potential for Kinect to continue to revolutionize entertainment and are a seasoned software engineer with the skills to prototype and build the future of premium Kinect-powered experiences, we have a growing team of talented people who want to take entertainment into the future," says the post for job listings for a Senior Software Engineer.

The report argues that one of the mistakes with Xbox One was to make Kinect the main focus of the console instead of making it a side option.