Microsoft giving Xbox 360 IPTV the London look

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Sunday, 25 February 2007

On March 5 to 7 in London, the Connected Home Exhibition will show European consumers Microsoft’s Xbox 360 IPTV service in action for the first time before a Euro rollout by the end of the year.

GamesIndustry.biz has reported that Microsoft will be showcasing the Xbox 360’s IPTV capabilities first seen publicly at the 2007 CES held in Las Vegas during Bill Gates’ keynote.

It will be shown in London during a Microsoft keynote entitled “The Future of Connected Entertainment” and will be presented by Microsoft Worldwide Director of Marketing, Ed Graczyk.

GamesIndustry.biz reports Graczyk as saying that “Separately the Xbox 360 and Microsoft TV IPTV Edition deliver unique and exciting entertainment experiences, but IPTV on Xbox 360 delivers a real value proposition for consumers, service providers and content and game developers alike. By integrating these industry-leading solutions, we continue to drive innovation and enable new connected entertainment experiences for consumers.”

With the IPTV service hooked up to your Xbox 360, you get a fully integrated TV experience, letting you record shows to the Xbox 360’s hard drive, record shows while playing games and even chatting to friends over Xbox Live while a TV show is on – although they may tell you to keep quiet!

Microsoft is working with several European telco and cable TV companies to get the infrastructure in place to support the rollout, while working with AT&T in the US. Microsoft already offers an Xbox 360 movie and TV download service in the US, although their IPTV service is not officially available anywhere in the world as yet.

The IPTV service, when demonstrated in Las Vegas, showed a much improved TV experience, with the responsiveness in channel channels and more that you already experience with your existing TV.

It’s yet one more piece of the puzzle in winning the war to be the ‘one box’ to deliver all your home and digital entertainment needs, with Sony’s PS3, a PC with web browser and Joost or Babelgum and cable TV operator boxes are all competing for simultaneously.

TV as we know it is changing before our very eyes, which look like they’ll be a square as ever from simply watching too much TV!
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