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Report: Xbox Fall Dashboard Update set for Nov. 25, uses modified Silverlight
Tech site GigaOM reports that sources close to Microsoft have revealed a few bold changes currently being incorporated into the Fall Dashboard Update, which one would assume Microsoft would have locked down by now. According to the site, the "Lakeview" code providing the framework for the dash uses a modified version of Microsoft's Silverlight technology, which will incorporate the Kinect's voice and gesture-control schemes. The site also claims that Microsoft's newly contracted third-party content partners will use Apple's HTTP Live Streaming tech rather than the company's own Smooth Streaming software. The site also claims that Microsoft will launch the update on Black Friday. We've contacted Microsoft for a comment on the claims, and hope that they're on the money -- anything that will keep potential deal-hunters out of the malls and on their couches is a welcome distraction in our books.
AT&T offering credit to Uverse subscribers for Xbox Live Gold
We already knew that some of the new services coming to Microsoft's Xbox 360 TV service would require an Xbox Live Gold subscription but, according to a Giant Bomb tipster, it looks like some previously Silver services will soon be turning Gold as well. One company apparently making the alchemical leap is AT&T U-verse, which will require Xbox Live Gold starting this November. The company is apparently sending notice of the change to its customers and offering a one-time $60 bill credit in order to soften the blow. In theory, the $60 saved on your AT&T bill can be applied towards an Xbox Live Gold subscription. Of course, if you already have Gold – a likely possibility given the effort required to get U-verse on the ol' Xbox – it sounds like you'll have an extra sixty bucks to play with next month. [Image: Giant Bomb]
UFC on Xbox Live: Full-access octagon
If I didn't know better, I'd think Microsoft and the UFC want you to gamble. At least, that's the impression I get after spending about half an hour with the upcoming UFC app for Xbox Live. It does a lot of cool things in its capacity as Xbox Live's first true Pay-Per-View offering -- more than any Pay-Per-View implementation I've ever seen. But the ability for Xbox Live members to interact with their friends list, to effectively compete against each other for the most accurate fight picks, might be the thing that sticks out the most. And it makes Vegas jealous to boot.%Gallery-136028%
Microsoft reveals new TV providers including Verizon and Comcast coming to Xbox 360 (video)
Just as the rumors indicated, Microsoft is bringing video from a number of providers beyond the ones it initially announced to the Xbox 360 in its fall update, including big guns like Verizon and Comcast. While Verizon is promising "a selection" of its live TV channels on the Xbox 360 as expected, Comcast is only bringing its Xfinity TV video on-demand offerings (no AnyPlay powered live TV -- yet) to subscribers when it launches "in the coming months." Other notable providers include Lovefilm (UK, Germany), BBC TV (UK), HBO Go, and Syfy. As promised during E3, the services integrated with Xbox will offer support for search across all available video, as well as support for Kinect voice and gesture controls. The universal search is looking good since it pulls together various services into one UI (as we discussed on our podcast yesterday), but the reality is content providers and geographical limits on what services you can pick from are still throwing up walls between users and content. Check after the break for PR detailing what you'll be able to access and where, as well as a video intro to all the tasty new TV services. %Gallery-135845%
Microsoft reveals Xbox 360 TV partners, including Comcast, Verizon, HBO [Update 2: Comcast shows Xfinity on Xbox 360]
Microsoft's Major Nelson has revealed that 40 different partners have been confirmed for the expanded TV functionality coming to the Xbox 360. There's some surprising stuff in the list just past the jump, including HBO Go, Comcast, SyFy and Verizon. Turns out that report was correct! Hit the jump for the full list of initial TV partners for the upcoming Fall Dashboard Update, which has a tentative launch date of "Holiday 2011." Update: Microsoft sent us some new images of the update. You can check them out in the gallery below. Update 2: Comcast has published this blog post talking about its partnership with Microsoft to offer Xfinity content. There isn't anything really newsworthy in there, but there is an early glimpse at the UI you can expect from the Comcast Xfinity pane in the updated Xbox 360 Dashboard. %Gallery-135843%
Verizon not talking about Xbox TV service now, but 'stay tuned'
Bobbi Henson, Verizon's Director of Media Relations for "all consumer FiOS services, including TV, Internet and voice," didn't confirm the rumors that Verizon's FiOS TV service would be coming to Xbox Live, but she did write a long blog post talking about, basically, how awesome such a development would be. You know, if that happened. "Because FiOS TV is such a powerful, interactive, cloud-based service," Henson said, "it is a natural match for devices like game consoles, and we've demonstrated our ability to blend FiOS with gaming systems at events like the Consumer Electronics Show." She added that while Verizon isn't announcing anything now, we should "stay tuned for the future!" But ... stay tuned to what? We don't have that TV service yet!
Report: Microsoft in talks with Comcast, Verizon for 'Live TV' service, Samsung for TV integration [update]
In August, Microsoft product manager David Dennis told Joystiq, "We're on track to deliver what we promised at E3 and that's to bring Live TV to Xbox this year." The only catch: What we don't know about Microsoft's upcoming "Live TV" service could fill an olympic-sized swimming pool. Digiday, the self-proclaimed "authority on digital media, marketing and advertising," claims to have heard from "multiple sources" that indicate a pending deal between Microsoft and the subscription TV titans at Comcast and Verizon. While ATT's U-verse service is currently available to Xbox owners, it represents a small percentage of the overall "cable TV" market in North America. Digiday also reports that Microsoft is working the TV angle from the hardware side as well, and is "actively looking to partner with TV manufacturers, including Samsung" to build "some sort of Window Live gaming hub" into their televisions. With a "Holiday 2011" launch date, and a beta beginning "next month," we expect to hear a whole lot more about Microsoft's Live TV ambitions shortly. Until then, we've reached out to the various stakeholders mentioned for comment. Update: Microsoft has issued a statement: "We have no comment beyond the statement already provided in the article: As we announced at E3, we are committed to bringing TV entertainment to Xbox around the world through partnerships with industry leading operator and content partners. We look forward to sharing more partner news in the near future, but we have nothing to announce at this time."
Xbox TV launching this holiday season
Microsoft will launch a TV service for Xbox 360 this holiday season, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced at a financial analyst meeting this week. Ballmer said Microsoft is working with "dozens or hundreds of additional video-content suppliers," which makes us wonder if someone should send out a company memo describing the substantial difference between those two figures. Xbox TV will feature live television as well as on-demand services. Xbox TV will use Bing and the Kinect voice commands to facilitate users' searches, a feature that Ballmer said separates Microsoft from previous, failed TV-peripheral attempts by other companies, such as Google and Apple. Van Baker, an analyst at Gartner, said that may not be as much of an advantage as Microsoft thinks. "Search is not discovery," he said. "Search as an answer to discovery implies you know what you're looking for. Most people have no idea what they're looking for." A well-integrated streaming TV service is a wonderful idea, if it's implemented correctly -- we'll see if Microsoft has the magic formula (Wingardium televisiosa!) this holiday season.
HBO Go coming to game consoles, bringing all-you-can-eat HBO to the TV
While you may have been surprised to learn that the Wii was the most popular game console for Netflix users, you should not have been surprised to learn that over "half of all Netflix users connect via a game console," as reported last week. It's similarly unsurprising to learn that Time Warner is looking to expand the reach of its popular HBO Go service from the web and mobile to connected TVs and – cue drum roll, please – video game consoles. With over 4 million downloads for the mobile apps, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says, the HBO Go service is considered to be a hit. Subscribers of the premium cable channel can access every episode of HBO's many original series, from Deadwood to The Sopranos to Game of Thrones. Extending access to the television is an obvious next step; however, it's unclear if Time Warner would charge for TV access, like Hulu has with its Hulu Plus offering, or treat all screens the same, also known as The Netflix Strategy. In addition to the price, we also don't know a date for availability of the service. Tell you what, HBO – let us subscribe to your fancy service and skip the onerous cable TV plan, and you've got yourself a deal!
Rumor: Xbox LIVE Diamond TV service to be announced at E3
With E3 set to kick off in less than 48 hours, rumors are once again flying about Microsoft's press conference news. A report at WinRumors pins Microsoft as revealing an Xbox Live-based streaming television service in the US, previously rumored to be codenamed "Orapa" (after a diamond mining town in Botswana, Africa). Further, the report suggests that the codename has been changed into something more fitting, given its eponymy: "Diamond." And no, not that Microsoft product named Diamond. "Microsoft is currently in last minute negotiations to secure the necessary agreements in time," WinRumors' anonymous source added. The source details "Diamond" as a facsimile of the UK's SkyTV player currently offered on Xbox 360, though no specific networks are named, and adds that the service will likely come with a monthly subscription fee. Microsoft previously indicated its intentions to get into streaming television on the Xbox 360, but has never made any major moves. The company flirted with a Conan O'Brien deal in 2010, but the plans eventually fizzled. If "Diamond" really does exist, though, we're sure to hear about it tomorrow morning during Microsoft's E3 2011 presser.
Reuters: Microsoft in talks to bring subscription TV, networks to Xbox Live
We heard some buzz back in April about Microsoft execs considering the addition of a "television channel" to Xbox Live, allowing subscribers to view reruns and original programming for an additional buck or two per month. Today, Reuters reports that a pair of unnamed insiders has claimed Microsoft has held meetings with various media companies to discuss licensing of television programs to be streamed through such an application. These talks, according to the sources, have been productive (though the launch of an Xbox Live TV service could be as far as a year out) and have included the potential to add interactive elements into shows viewed through the console and a "content silos" option, so that users could select entire networks (e.g., HBO or Showtime) to subscribe to. We'd definitely want to see an AMC channel, so we could get our Breaking Bad Mad Men Walking Dead on. Oh! And TBS -- for Conan. In fact, we could totally get down with an "all the awesome shows that they don't have on Hulu for some reason" channel.
Xbox 360 gets streaming TV in Australia via Foxtel
According to MMGN.com, Microsoft and Foxtel have signed an agreement to bring streaming television to Xbox Live in Australia. The service will be available in current Foxtel service areas and will provide access to "at least 30 live channels and a wide suite of Video on Demand services." The service requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription, and according to Foxtel chief executive and managing director Kim Williams, it will be offered in "various packages and prices and under flexible agreements." The Foxtel agreement marks the latest in a recent string of similar arrangements around the world. Last year, Microsoft struck deals with Canal+ in France and Sky in the UK to offer streaming television and video on demand services. North American users have also had the ability to stream Netflix movies since 2008.
Rumor: Xbox Live TV channel pitched to Microsoft by ex-News Corp head
Our laziness, it knows no bounds: We just can't stand changing out game discs from our systems (hooray digital distribution!), not to mention the agonizing chore of pushing the source button on our TV remote to flip back to broadcast programming. And that's why we're especially happy to hear a rumor from Bloomberg today that ex-News Corp president Peter Chernin is engaged in talks with Microsoft to possibly launch an Xbox Live television channel. Allegedly, during an April 12 meeting at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash. offices, Chernin proposed a channel native to the Xbox 360 that would feature "reruns and original shows" for an additional $1 to $2 per month on top of the standard Xbox Live Gold subscription fee. Chernin's publicist, Allan Mayer, says of the deal, "Peter is talking to lots of people about lots of ideas in the digital space," while a representative for Microsoft refused to comment. The report also claims that Chernin pitched the idea to Conan O'Brien's reps, presumably, to land Conan in one of the channel's time slots. Seeing as that supposed deal with Conan fell through, may we humbly propose X3F TV? [Via Edge Online]
CBS bringing Diagnosis Murder, some other stuff to gaming platforms
CBS announced today that it's bringing a wide array of its TV programming to the video game world, mainly via the PC, Wii and DS. As you can see after the break, the company revealed equally insipid-sounding game versions of Survivor, Hollywood Squares, The Amazing Race, and Criminal Minds, but we don't see how we're supposed to care about any of it when it was also revealed that a Diagnosis Murder game is in the works. We're assuming it's a Visceral-developed "dark" take on the DM mythos, with a Gothic Dr. Mark Sloan walking a demonic version of Los Angeles, solving murder mysteries with a caduceus-shaped staff dipped in angel blood. We assume this because we laid out the design doc pretty clearly in our letters, and we can't fathom why CBS would want to disappoint us.
Rumor: Eight minutes of footage of the Xbox's Sky Player
Even though the Sky Player is headed to Xbox 360s in the UK next week (October 27 to be exact), we have yet to see any kind of demonstration of the streaming television service. TechTV101 came across what looks like some footage (after the break), given to the site by an anonymous tipster. However, without any known source and with the ominous disclaimer "This is only representative of what Tuesday's launch could look like" on the site, we're going to call this a rumor just in case. The demo shows the channel selection displayed not only in the familiar NXE interface, but also in a "guide" format like those used by cable and satellite boxes. Another NXE-type menu allows for choosing TV shows and movies by category. And yes, you are treated to an ad for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, along with other footage of the actual watching TV part in action.
Wanna see IPTV in action on the Xbox 360?
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Wanna_see_IPTV_in_action_on_the_Xbox_360'; If this doesn't make you tingle all over, then you need to check your pulse. It's only been since November that we've had movies available to download on the Xbox 360, and soon it'll be live and recorded television as well. In the months after that, the console will slowly take over your kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, leaving you fully assimilated into Microsoft's SkyNet service, offering sentient oversight of all of your bodily functions. For now, revel in the goodness of Engadget's Xbox 360 IPTV interface gallery, and check out the video of this baby in action on Microsoft's Channel 10 site. TiVo, you'd better start working overtime.
Coming Soon: TV and Movies on your 360
You've been dreaming about it, you've pondered the idea, and come November 22, 2006 it'll be here. Soon you'll have the ability to download HD/SD movies and television shows from the Xbox marketplace for a small fee. Microsoft has partnered with CBS, MTV, TBS, UFC, NASCAR and Warner Bros. to make content available via download off of the XBLM, over 1000 hours of content by the end of the year! Just check out the list below of some of the content you'll have access to this year ... start drooling fellow fanboys! - "Robot Chicken" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" from Adult Swim - "CSI," "Survivor" and "Star Trek" from CBS - Emmy and Peabody award-winning "South Park" and "Chappelle's Show" from COMEDY CENTRAL - "The Real World" and "Pimp My Ride" from MTV - "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" from Nickelodeon - "Skyland" and "The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival" from Nicktoons Network - "M:i:III," Nacho Libre" and "Jackass: The Movie" from Paramount Pictures - "Carpocalypse" and "Raising the Roofs" from Spike TV - "Race Rewind" provided by NASCAR.COM -Select episodes of the original season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series and the "UFC: All Access" shows from the UFC - "Breaking Bonaduce" and "Hogan Knows Best" from VH1 - "The Matrix," "Superman Returns" and "Batman Forever" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment [Thanks, everyone who sent this in.]
