At CES 2007, Microsoft announced IPTV for the Xbox 360. Unfortunately, how it affects the Xbox 360 was left a little vague.
Major Nelson sat down with the man behind IPTV, BigVIP who explained what IPTV is and what it isn’t for the Xbox 360.
First off, this is a long term technology strategy announcement from Microsoft. IPTV is an emerging industry technology for delivering TV to you over the Internet. Similar to how you have Cable or Satellite for your TV, IPTV will compete with those delivery methods. In the future, your local Internet Provider will have IPTV listed as a service they offer. If you subscribe to it, you could in the future have the option of an IPTV edition Xbox 360 as your set top box tuner.
IPTV will carry a lot more High Definition content than any current method of getting High Definition programming. Although this may motivate cable and satellite content providers to get HD programming in gear, but initially at least IPTV will have the largest selection. The IPTV spec will also allow you to have four tuners going at the same time where as TiVo's and other DVR's today come with a maximum of two tuners. With the current two tuners you can record a program and watch a live feed program at the same time. So with four tuners you could record three shows at a time and also watch a live feed, or record four things at a time and watch a previously recorded show. The service provider will ultimately determine how many 'tuners' the IPTV edition Xbox 360 will have on their service.
Microsoft is planning on having an upgrade option available to the service providers to offer current Xbox 360 owners to upgrade to the IPTV Edition. The IPTV edition Xbox 360 will only be available through an IPTV service provider, it will not be available at retail stores. As with any new transmission technology, the roll out is slow and is in a few test markets right now with more areas coming on board this year. If you’re interested in finding out if or when your Internet Provider will have IPTV, check their website or give them a call.
IPTV will have features that consumers have come to expect such as on-screen channel navigation, DVR and picture in picture. The IPTV edition Xbox 360 will also integrate fully to Live like it does now when you watch a DVD or HD-DVD. Your friends will see that you’re watching TV when they look at their friends list. You can press the guide button and see your own friends list, messages as well as receive game invites. If you want to accept the game invite, you can hit record and record the show you were watching, hop into the game and then return back to your TV show when you are done playing. You can also chat with your friends while you're watching TV, so you and a buddy could watch the same sporting event or movie and talk about it real-time over Live. The IPTV Xbox 360 also fully integrates with the new Video Marketplace for high definition video on demand movies and TV shows.
If you’re lucky enough to live in an area picked for IPTV testing, you could get on board this year. Otherwise IPTV will most likely be fully rolled out through 2008.
Our only concern with all the media features being added to the Xbox 360 is that console lifespan is usually four – five years. In the case of IPTV, it’ll be fully available in the third year of it’s lifespan. How does having video on demand, IPTV, DVR and other things not yet announced tied to the Xbox 360 affect the ability to upgrade your game console in the future? Time will tell.
For more information on Microsoft's IPTV strategy go to http://www.microsoft.com/tv/IPTVEdition.mspx
First off, this is a long term technology strategy announcement from Microsoft. IPTV is an emerging industry technology for delivering TV to you over the Internet. Similar to how you have Cable or Satellite for your TV, IPTV will compete with those delivery methods. In the future, your local Internet Provider will have IPTV listed as a service they offer. If you subscribe to it, you could in the future have the option of an IPTV edition Xbox 360 as your set top box tuner.
IPTV will carry a lot more High Definition content than any current method of getting High Definition programming. Although this may motivate cable and satellite content providers to get HD programming in gear, but initially at least IPTV will have the largest selection. The IPTV spec will also allow you to have four tuners going at the same time where as TiVo's and other DVR's today come with a maximum of two tuners. With the current two tuners you can record a program and watch a live feed program at the same time. So with four tuners you could record three shows at a time and also watch a live feed, or record four things at a time and watch a previously recorded show. The service provider will ultimately determine how many 'tuners' the IPTV edition Xbox 360 will have on their service.
Microsoft is planning on having an upgrade option available to the service providers to offer current Xbox 360 owners to upgrade to the IPTV Edition. The IPTV edition Xbox 360 will only be available through an IPTV service provider, it will not be available at retail stores. As with any new transmission technology, the roll out is slow and is in a few test markets right now with more areas coming on board this year. If you’re interested in finding out if or when your Internet Provider will have IPTV, check their website or give them a call.
IPTV will have features that consumers have come to expect such as on-screen channel navigation, DVR and picture in picture. The IPTV edition Xbox 360 will also integrate fully to Live like it does now when you watch a DVD or HD-DVD. Your friends will see that you’re watching TV when they look at their friends list. You can press the guide button and see your own friends list, messages as well as receive game invites. If you want to accept the game invite, you can hit record and record the show you were watching, hop into the game and then return back to your TV show when you are done playing. You can also chat with your friends while you're watching TV, so you and a buddy could watch the same sporting event or movie and talk about it real-time over Live. The IPTV Xbox 360 also fully integrates with the new Video Marketplace for high definition video on demand movies and TV shows.
If you’re lucky enough to live in an area picked for IPTV testing, you could get on board this year. Otherwise IPTV will most likely be fully rolled out through 2008.
Our only concern with all the media features being added to the Xbox 360 is that console lifespan is usually four – five years. In the case of IPTV, it’ll be fully available in the third year of it’s lifespan. How does having video on demand, IPTV, DVR and other things not yet announced tied to the Xbox 360 affect the ability to upgrade your game console in the future? Time will tell.
For more information on Microsoft's IPTV strategy go to http://www.microsoft.com/tv/IPTVEdition.mspx
