Xbox Live gets 1080p Zune video store, Netflix browsing, Twitter and Facebook integration
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jun 1st 2009 2:12PM
posted Jun 1st 2009 2:12PM
Today from the E3 stage in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced plans to dramatically improve their HD video offering through a new technology that enables instant on 1080p streaming with 5.1 audio with Zune video on Xbox 360.
This implementation is as close to a "disc in the drive" experience as possible over the Internet. At a high-level, here is how it works:
- Video startup is nearly instantaneous because of the back-end proprietary Microsoft technology developed by Zune that seamlessly transitions between many different bitrates and resolutions of video.
- Video playback will start at a low bitrate for fast download time and then ramp up to a higher bitrate and quality, up to 1080p with 5.1 audio.
- Features such as smooth fast forward and rewind that users have only seen before with local physical media.
- Social: We unveiled Movie Party, a feature where you can go to the movies with your friends whether you are sitting on the same couch or in living rooms across the country. Starting this year, you can share a virtual theater, see your Avatars (a virtual you) on the screen – all while you listen to each other laugh and cry together at the movie through voice chat on Xbox LIVE.
- New Regional Partners: Now, for the first time Xbox LIVE members in the UK and Ireland can watch live or on-demand TV with BSkyB on Xbox. Never miss a moment of your favorite live TV shows, sports, movies and family-friendly entertainment – even share your favorites with up to seven friends in an Xbox LIVE Party.
- Global Expansion: The 1080p streaming HD Zune video experience on Xbox LIVE marketplace is expanding to 10 new regions this year, making movies and TV shows available in 18 total countries including US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, and New Zealand. (Note: content and partners vary by region)
Pretty busy day for Microsoft.
See you in HELL, PS3.
Which countries?! "Which countries" - the stupid man asked.
you suckers are paying for your online gaming .. hahahaha
SUCKERS !!!!!!!!
Does Google or Apple do anything even remotely close to what Microsoft revealed today? I think NOT. I am an Apple fanboy but I think we have to give credit to Microsoft for this one. Good Job Mr. Ballmer.
Holy wow, what a day
It was a lot of good info, and i still expect to hear many things from Sony so i wouldnt worry yet.
yess bring on the zune integration :)
actually I'm very disappointed in the lack of E3 zune news. It makes the early Zune HD announcement just seem like a footnote. What a half hearted effort.
Unless I missed it I heard nothing about integrating better with Zune subscription music. How sick would it be to have mixview and instant streaming with my Zune Pass on the 360?
Yeah i'll integrate my zune...oh wait no i wont, because i live in the UK where they dont exist!
does anyone else think "I'll integrate my Zune" sounds sexual?
Lie tangent to your curves... wait what?
If I had a zune I'd be squirting right now
With all the viedo fetures on the New ZuneHD who really needs a blu-ray player when they can by a much smaller divice that can do much more for cheaper.
People will continue to get Blu-Ray players because the video and audio are much higher quality. The Zune HD's bitrate will be nowhere near what Bu-Ray's is. I have a Zune, 360, and ps3, and the video and audio are unmatched on Blu-Ray compared to any downloadable HD content (i.e. Netflix, xbox live rentals, etc).
@Dave
Because it was not 1080p before . . that is kind of the whole point of this post, it will now be 1080p
You should see a lot better quality in the Live content now that it has increased the resolution of the video
@Dave BluRay is still going to be a much higher bit rate and has lossless 7.1 sound. I'm not saying that Zune integration or upgrading to 1080p is bad. I'll use it. BluRay is still going to be better unless everyone gets internet speeds that can handle streaming 20+gigs of information quickly.
@Chris: And 99.999% of the public wont notice/care.
Can you take the movie you purchased from ZuneHD to your friends house? Can you sell it or give the movie away when you're done? Can you watch it on another machine 10 years from now? Can I lend my favorite movie to my friend because I want him to see it?
Those are all things I can do with Blu-ray or any other optical media. I have NO freedom with downloaded content. It's great to 'rent' but not to 'own'.
@Bluemen
the point Dave is making and the point everyone seems to miss is that just because something is labeled 1080p does not make it all the same. Resolution means nothing if the bit rate is poor. Compression noise, motion blur, loss of detail ... all symptoms of low bit rates and you can find them on plenty of "1080p" sources around the Web.
There is nothing online that can currently compete with Blu-ray for the quality of the 1080p image.
@Temple:
1: yes, just take the ZuneHD to your friend's house...
2: I'm sorry, sell or give it away? Who the hell does that? I might be able to see giving it away, but even so, you're better off just watching it with the person you'd give it to...
3: 10 years from now Blu-ray will be by the wayside for another superior form of media. I know I don't still watch my VHS tapes.
4: I don't think people do this that much either, you'd usually just watch it with the friend.
The strongest of your arguments are probably with the lending/giving away the movie, but I honestly don't think that's THAT important of a feature. Also, I'd say owning a movie is passe, people usually only watch movies once, and even for movies they really like 3 or 4 times, so renting rather than owning the movie is usually a better deal(especially because by the time you get to the 3rd time of watching it, it's all over tv)
@arkweld
You are 100% right about the under lying facts, But as Mark said "And 99.999% of the public wont notice/care."
What the will see is that its easy to download, no need to go to the store watch anytime and so on ...
the point here is that its "close" and a lot more convenient.
I have a 360 with HD DVD, a first gen Zune, an iPhone, a PSP, a PS3 and a Wii.
I state this simply to show that I have no brand loyalty. What I care about is the highest quality experience.
I assure you that side by side the Bluray experience dominated the HD DVD on the 360.
For one, the 360 was never capable of 7.1 audio - two channels down from the start - the audio comparison was simply no contest.
Though my 360 has HDMI the video quality failed to match the Bluray discs played on my PS3.
I read the keynote points on the 1080p instant-on. A Bluray killer it is not, but it's sure to appeal to a large number of 360 owners and make money for MS. That said, this will not kill Bluray because Bluray appeals to a much larger market than a gaming machine, and as much as gamers and fanboys may wish it so - the Xbox will always be considered a game machine first. Not to mention the marketplace demands a dumbed down interface and reliable hardware. As simple as the Xbox is to use for folks like us - creating multiple accounts and navigating dashboards doesn't set well with a whole lotta people. On the hardware side, I got the RROD on two previous 360s, and my bluray laser burned out on my first PS3.
Thus, for aficionados Bluray is the winner. For the mainstream, a single purpose set-top box is demanded, and Bluray will fill that void.
Shout in the streets the demise of Bluray if it helps, but it's far from dead.
that's awesome, CANNOT WAIT
R.I.P. SONY PS3 and Playstation Live.
Fitting retribution for Sony swindling BluRay as the outcome of the HD wars.
Playstation Live? Hahaha, no we don't have to pay to go online!
Although, as a PS3 user, I will say this "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"
I dont understand the whole ps3 gets free internet debate.
playstation = $400 (free internet)
xbox = $200 (no free internet)
Difference = $200
xbox live (1 year) = $50
200 / 50 = 4 years of xbox live
conclusion:
ps3 users pay for their internet in advance
xbox users pay as they go, plus they get more functionality out of their systems for their buck.
What about 5 to 6 years?
Xbox360 ($200) + Harddrive ($100) + WIreless Adapter ($100) + 6 years Live subscription ($300) + Blu-ray player ($300) = $1000
PS3 ($400) = $400
Plus my PS3 is still running perfectly fine now, while my Xbox360 is barely alive, red ring, game freezing and noisy (and all these have been happening since day one).
I think the Natal project and the whole the new Live services are cool, just think xbox360 is hardware wise is piece of crap.
I bet Canada won't be one of the 18 countries with instant on TV :(
Fuck CRTC
Only the UK and Ireland are getting the instant TV, NOT 18 countries. 18 countries will be getting the new updated Video Marketplace and since Canada already gets it, I'm sure it will get the updated 1080p version too. And the CRTC has nothing to do with why we don't get TV shows on the Canadian Marketplace.
i bet the US will be :D
Can't wait to get home and see how it all works!
I believe this stuff is coming in Fall.
You must live in a far and desolate location or travel very slowly.
When's the update scheduled to release? Did I miss that?
I was just wondering that myself???
Yeah what's going on with the release date? That's a big piece of information there. I'm really looking forward to this now. Not sure to get all hyped up since this may have been released simultaneously with the announcement or may be a couple of months off. Patel you get a -1 for not giving us a release date, or lack thereof.
so whats goona be xbox linked to facebook?
Boom!! headshot!!! in my facebook wall
you'd want to have a pretty good connection... all this sounds very bandwidth hogging!
Yea it really sucks for the remaining 8 people still using dial up.
God bless FiOS.
I steam netflix content on my xbox now, and eventhough it currently isn't anywhere near HD quality it still adjusts the quality down to fit in the available bandwidth. On several occasions the quality has been so bad that I just switched it off. And this is with a 5Mbps connection. You are not going to get 1080p unless you have some ridiculous bandwidth (you people with DSL, forget about it).
I currently have an PS3, AppleTV, and a XBox 360. I've tried streaming movies from all three. Out of all three, the AppleTV, by far, has the best clairty, download speeds, user interface and available catalog. Just like others have said, I had problems watching standarad definition movies via Netflix with my Xbox 360. With my PS3, it would sometimes take hours to download a movie to watch. With the AppleTV, I was always watching my HD movie with 5.1 surround sound within 5 minutes. And all three of these devices are connected to the same internet port. With this being said, until there is a more reliable way of watching HD content via the internet, I'll stick with my Blu-Ray player or AppleTV for HD movies.
Good thing I just got the 18Mb/2Mb Uverse installed. The line is capable of 25Mb down however it is capped at 18Mb. Also since I'm just running Internet through it I get 17.5Mb of that usable, 2.2MB/s downloads are f'n sweet. Netflix buffers in seconds and runs at highest quality. It's no FIOS, but its the best I can get where I am.
You've got to remember, all this will hit your download quota like all hell. The ISP's are probably either squirming in their pants, or sitting back waiting for the bills to come in.
Less talk more action is the only thing that counts!
Great. Looking forward to premier league football across Europe please. And with the language of your choice (for crying out loud: somebody has to finally make this happen).
Live Premiers League! Holy crap I want. How long until we get live sport viewing in the US, cable giants just lost the last reason they were relevant, live sports I can't wait! UK proxy here I come
Just give it a good web browser already, why waste all your time trying to integrate a few specific sites into your counsel.
Browser = Exploits...
I'll take the the 360 safe and secure as it is and leave browsing to my PC and Laptop (and phone, and iPod Touch, and Wii...oh wait...I already have enough browsers).
Cause then you would need one less computer with Windows on it. They don't wanna compete against themselves. That's the only that its the only console without a browser that I can think of.
Browser = any service you want. Including Twitter, Facebook, last.fm, Hulu, etc. It's just a shame the PS3 browser is so lame.
Personally, I think having things like Facebook/Twitter/Last.fm/Netflix integrated is much better than just being able to pull them up in a browser.
It's kinda how the iPhone app is much better to use than just pulling up Facebook on the iPhone's browser.
Sure I could browse to facebook on my PS3... but having a customized UI giving me the ability to view full screen photos, see streamlined updates of statuses, browse profiles, etc is a welcomed move as opposed to using a mouse pointer to clicking facebook/twitter on my console's browser.
Also with dashboard integration, you can tie in other "console events" together like having your facebook.com/twitter status update automatically to show what game you're playing on your 360, automatically import in screenshots you take in games into your facebook photo album (they demo'd that one I believe), listen to last.fm/watch instant neflix together with friends sync'd, etc... all stuff you couldn't do easily with the sites being encapsule in their browser viewing forms.
Some people like using browser's on their TVs, which is cool... I, for one, don't. But that's just my preference.
I wouldn't mind buying Xbox Arcade package just for the live premier league actions....but ONLY if M$ brings the love to NA.
Until then, the old school way wins.
Does this mean that the ZuneHD is going to have last.fm integration built into it? Like, will I be able to scrobble tracks I listen to on the ZuneHD even if I don't have an Xbox 360 or XBL. If so, I'll definitely be picking up a ZuneHD (32GB) on Sept 5th.
Ok, so does this mean Netflix's streaming offerings are catching up to the mail service, or does it continue to lag years behind? I canceled my Netflix trial only because I don't want to deal with the mail, and the streaming catalog was piss poor.
Hurry up and release it already, MS! For crying out loud!!!!!
I think that MS is really going after Apple in the whole Software to Hardware intergration. Like there is an Itunes to Apple TV to Ipod, I think that they maybe try to do a Zune Market / XBOX / Zune Player.
If the videos are 1080p in Zune Market? I wonder if they will sync to the new Zune HD or transcode down to 720P for ZuneHD playback?
(Or the ZuneHD can really play 1080P; the new tegra chips can do 1080p)
I don't think they were going after Apple all that much, mostly sony and their blu-ray stuff. Music didn't seem like it was as high of a priority.
Well, they would sell me if they could just get the phone part right.
I know WinMo is customizable and can do everything that an iPhone can do.
The iPhone is slicker and has a centralized application repository, hack it, and you get three...
I am quite excited about this update, while my PS3 is not even connected...
-Edward
Will they be adding last.fm to the Zune platform itself? The Social is too limited to be of any use at the moment.
You can't even Scrobble the Zune... or at least with a proper plugin. Hopefully that will be announced soon!
what no myspace ?people still use it right???
only if you are in 6th grade. Myspace is for tards.
MySpace is for poofs.
If you've seen the graphs MySpace is slowly falling, while facebook just keeps growing.
I just reopened my facebook account. I closed it when I graduated from college in 05, when facebook was strictly college based social network site. Jumped on it again recently and my has it grown. I closed my myspace website recently as it lost its steam. Hardly is anybody on myspace. I'm glad to see this facebook and twitter integration. Now when do we get a bloody release date for this update?
Microsoft - the new Apple?
Nope, just holding their rightful place as multi-media home entertainment champion. lol.
MS is really doing big things as far as the UI front. Really that was all Apple ever had, they couldn't build a OS on their own so they went the smart route and used a Unix core and slapped their UI on top. Apple has done some nice things with Integration, but they are really not in the same league as a Microsoft. As a developer the variety of different development plaftorms they have from Surface to Azure is really incredible. Since they are basically developing frameworks rather then a particular product they fall behind other companies in terms of time to market. But it is ultimately why they win. Apple really forced them to step up their game on the UI, but in the end Apple does not have the back end know how to really innovate behind the scenes. Apple + Oracle or Apple + Sun might really give MS a run for their money.
Is that why Microsoft's share of the home computer, music and software markets have all declined the past several years, while Apple continues to grow and grow? Not to mention that Microsoft lost money last year for the first time EVER! I have yet to meet a person who has used a Mac and vowed never to use a PC again. The only thing PC's have going for them is their past history and footprint in society. If it wasn't such a pain in the ass for business to switch platforms, many would join the Apple crowd. Unfortunately, I was one of the millions that has had Microsoft forced down their troats over their lifetime. Fortunately, I bought my first Mac two years ago after being convinced to give them a shot and fell absolutely in love. Wake up people. Just because the masses use it, doesn't make it a superior product!
@ Dion
Wow, can you pass some of that kool-aid please? The fanboy force is strong in this one!
Sorry to break it to you, but Apple will always be the red headed little stepchild of Microsoft. These fantastic updates to the 360 experience just illustrate how innovative MS is, and why Apple remains as a sub 10% afterthought.
Can anybody salvage any reasons for someone to buy a ps3 over a 360?
Nope, but imagine Sackboy + "Project Natal"
Or a Wii?
Microsoft's presentation today was insane.
It actually has better games
Facebook integration FTW!
When do these updates go live? Today or a date in the future? Like tonight when i get home from work?
Netflix browsing! They listened! Sweet!
Where is the HULU integration that was speculated on earlier?
Wasn't going to happen. Some over zellious bloggers saw a post on Olivia Munns twitter feed that said she just got done doing some hulu/microsoft promotions. They assumed that she was talking about hulu integration with the 360 or MC, and never bothered to think that she might have been talking about doing promotion spots for BOTH companies, that are unrelated to each other.
"Premier League soccer"
Correction: Premier League football. Honestly, what is it going to take for you guys to give the sport its real name?
We already have football. Forgive us for using a Brit term ("soccer") :)
A term "soccer" may be, but the name of the sport it is not. The correct name is "Association Rules Football", as directed by the Football Association (www.thefa.com). There is no excuse for changing the name simply because America has a different game called "football". You have no idea how much this annoys people, or perhaps the US does and simply does it for the annoyance factor, which is disrespectful to the international audience.
How about a web browser?
Too much to ask to throw a "stable" build of IE into the mix?
At this rate i'd settle for Opera
All it needs now is Hulu. I'm sure the content provider are will do everything they can to block it. I guess they're freaked out by the thought that we can watch streaming TV on our... TV. Just like what happened with Boxee. After Hulu blocked content to Boxee (as requested by the content providers), a short time later Boxee bypassed the block by embedding a Firefox browser so when the program connects to Hulu its recognized as a Firefox browser, not the Boxee application, and hands over its sweet video goodness. I doubt Microsoft would take the same sort of approach, sadly.
--------------------
Excuse me, Mr. Content Provider:
Stop sucking.
Thanks.
Are these extra 'games', that have to be started - like the Avatar customisation application, or are they 'blades' that can be enabled/disabled like the welcome blade?
Personally I'm hoping they're blades, would make more sense and means I'd use them more.
Perhaps a guesture-based browser /after/ Natal is off the ground?
LastFM is cool, but if you need a "gold" account to use it, then no dice. Also, I doubt seriously the I would fire up the Xbox and the 60" TV, and the stereo, just to listen to a bit of music. And speaking of music, will Microsoft ever have any decent visualizations for music on the 360. The ones they have are terrible. They barely track the music and are overly complex.
sounds good, somewhat except twitter and facebook will probally display (userid) is playing (insert game name)
a few questions
1) release date? i doubt its today
2) do you need gold for that? that would insane to play for gold to acess your facebook and twitter when you can dp that free on anyother device heck i dont even pay for twitter iphone apps ive been using twitterfics free version xbox live should be totally free as a consolation for people who have suffered RROD bs and have had mulitple machine replaced
good news but better news......how about HULU and pandora?, now that would be the sh*t
werd
I'm excited by the announcement of 1080p and 5.1 sound for the new Zune video service, but when will the Netflix app get 5.1 sound? It's only coming through at 480p, so if MS can do 1080p and 5.1, why can't Netflix?
I own every single system with a 52 inch Sony 120 hz n 2000 watt 7.1 serious hardcore surround sound
N don't see how this will beat or kill bluray quality ,.?
Unless i'm a dee dee deee,
I still rent blu ray for $1.,
Just watched the E3 clip via the XBOX 360 - IT WAS AWESOME!!!
Well played, Microsoft.
I have an Apple TV and love it, though I have to say I'm disappointed by how little attention Apple pays to the device.
Microsoft's stepping up their online video offering. Hopefully Apple follows suit. Come on, new Apple TV with App Store (for Hulu, games, etc.)!
Hell yeah Microsoft, awesome. Can't wait to see what Sony's going to do to try and top this awesome presentation.
Wow, first Windows 7, then the Zune HD, now this. How did Microsoft concentrate so much epic win into half a year?
wow. i feel pretty stupid having bought a ps3.
That's... a lot of stuff. I think I'd prefer a few more games instead though.