Xbox TV Launch Planned Before End of Year 81
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has confirmed plans to launch its TV service over Xbox Live by this holiday season. Negotiations with content partners are still underway, but options for live TV will include both news and sports. 'Microsoft believes the key differentiator between Xbox as a TV platform and the sea of failed competitors will be its voice and motion search tool. Utilizing the Kinect attachment, users will be able to navigate through content with voice commands. The search function will be powered by Bing.' The company also wants to tie Xbox Live's social experience into viewing video content. Steve Ballmer said, 'You should have any entertainment you want with all the people you care about, really simply and on any screen.'"
Good luck getting ISPs to cooperate (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm getting the feeling the next Xbox will just be a dumb Kinect terminal that connects to an OnLive-like service, or potentially an outright buyout of OnLive itself.
Good luck getting ISPs to cooperate. They're having enough trouble with 720p24 Netflix as it is, and that's pre-encoded and buffered. Imagine what it'll take to get 1080p60 video with low latency over home users' last mile, especially in rural areas where the Xbox 360 is the only thing kids have to do after farm chores.