Xbox Live gets 1080p Zune video store, Netflix browsing, Twitter and Facebook integration

Microsoft is busy announcing a slew of upgrades to Xbox Live, and the biggest news so far is relaunch of the video service, now Zune-branded with 1080p instant-on streaming content in 18 countries. XBL is also now integrated with Facebook -- your Facebook account can be linked to your Gamertag, and games will support Facebook Connect for sharing content online. That's pretty huge -- but if that wasn't enough, you're also getting Twitter and Last.fm in the deal. Want more? Netflix users will now be able to browse the entire catalog instead of simply loading their queue, and Microsoft has also gotten its Party Watch system in order, so you'll be able to heckle videos with your online friends. Last but not least, there's now live TV streaming for UK and Ireland gamers, who'll get Premier League soccer live from Sky. All in all, a solid set of updates for XBL -- but we'll wait and see how that "1080p" video looks before we pronounce Blu-ray dead. PR blurb after the break.

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.

It doesn't stop there. Other news coming out of E3 for Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace:

• 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)

[Manuel @ Jun 1st 2009 2:49PM]

Pretty busy day for Microsoft.

[Dead_Rebel @ Jun 1st 2009 2:58PM]

See you in HELL, PS3.

[Jakob @ Jun 1st 2009 3:22PM]

Which countries?! "Which countries" - the stupid man asked.

[jguilb @ Jun 1st 2009 3:54PM]

you suckers are paying for your online gaming .. hahahaha

SUCKERS !!!!!!!!

[Yup @ Jun 1st 2009 7:15PM]

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.

[m3tric @ Jun 1st 2009 10:22PM]

Holy wow, what a day

[emirabal @ Jun 2nd 2009 10:05AM]

It was a lot of good info, and i still expect to hear many things from Sony so i wouldnt worry yet.

[Brandon @ Jun 1st 2009 2:49PM]

yess bring on the zune integration :)

[inteller @ Jun 1st 2009 3:45PM]

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.

[Miggity @ Jun 1st 2009 3:51PM]

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?

[GingerFox @ Jun 1st 2009 3:47PM]

Yeah i'll integrate my zune...oh wait no i wont, because i live in the UK where they dont exist!

[TEd Blewett @ Jun 1st 2009 5:29PM]

does anyone else think "I'll integrate my Zune" sounds sexual?

[Mark @ Jun 1st 2009 7:00PM]

Lie tangent to your curves... wait what?

[Eoghan Calnan @ Jun 1st 2009 7:13PM]

If I had a zune I'd be squirting right now

[tysmith95 @ Jun 1st 2009 2:55PM]

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.

[Dave H @ Jun 1st 2009 3:08PM]

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).

[Bluemen @ Jun 1st 2009 3:13PM]

@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

[Chris @ Jun 1st 2009 3:22PM]

@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.

[Mark @ Jun 1st 2009 3:30PM]

@Chris: And 99.999% of the public wont notice/care.

[Temple @ Jun 1st 2009 3:32PM]

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'.

[arkweld @ Jun 1st 2009 3:33PM]

@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.

[Mark @ Jun 1st 2009 3:40PM]

@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)

[Bluemen @ Jun 1st 2009 4:01PM]

@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.

[-pd- @ Jun 1st 2009 4:44PM]

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.

[UniBroW @ Jun 1st 2009 2:55PM]

that's awesome, CANNOT WAIT

[NoobSlayer @ Jun 1st 2009 2:57PM]

R.I.P. SONY PS3 and Playstation Live.

Fitting retribution for Sony swindling BluRay as the outcome of the HD wars.

[Derry Quinn @ Jun 1st 2009 3:27PM]

Playstation Live? Hahaha, no we don't have to pay to go online!

Although, as a PS3 user, I will say this "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

[Otaku.Anon @ Jun 1st 2009 8:04PM]

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.

[northpaws @ Jun 1st 2009 10:23PM]

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.

[David @ Jun 1st 2009 2:58PM]

I bet Canada won't be one of the 18 countries with instant on TV :(

Fuck CRTC

[Hawkboy @ Jun 1st 2009 3:30PM]

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.

[Cody @ Jun 1st 2009 10:15PM]

i bet the US will be :D

[big_psirex @ Jun 1st 2009 2:58PM]

Can't wait to get home and see how it all works!

[greatslack @ Jun 1st 2009 4:35PM]

I believe this stuff is coming in Fall.

[matt @ Jun 1st 2009 4:57PM]

You must live in a far and desolate location or travel very slowly.

[VVyattt @ Jun 1st 2009 3:02PM]

When's the update scheduled to release? Did I miss that?

[big_psirex @ Jun 1st 2009 3:06PM]

I was just wondering that myself???

[djmanoloco @ Jun 1st 2009 3:53PM]

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.

[fogozito @ Jun 1st 2009 9:47PM]

so whats goona be xbox linked to facebook?
Boom!! headshot!!! in my facebook wall

[copeys @ Jun 1st 2009 3:04PM]

you'd want to have a pretty good connection... all this sounds very bandwidth hogging!

[Superevil @ Jun 1st 2009 3:19PM]

Yea it really sucks for the remaining 8 people still using dial up.

[GirTheRobot @ Jun 1st 2009 3:24PM]

God bless FiOS.

[DVAUGHN @ Jun 1st 2009 3:40PM]

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).

[Dion @ Jun 1st 2009 3:57PM]

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.

[kal326 @ Jun 1st 2009 4:22PM]

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.

[copeys @ Jun 1st 2009 6:19PM]

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.

[toddy @ Jun 1st 2009 3:06PM]

Less talk more action is the only thing that counts!

[ScooterDe @ Jun 1st 2009 3:10PM]

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).

[Stephan @ Jun 1st 2009 3:11PM]

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

[urdaddy @ Jun 1st 2009 3:17PM]

Just give it a good web browser already, why waste all your time trying to integrate a few specific sites into your counsel.