MS' IPTV for 360 demoed

[Queasy]

Link

In his keynote speech at CES in January, Bill Gates revealed that the Xbox 360 would be integrated into Microsoft's IPTV offering. Seidel demonstrated the functionality for me and gave me a chance to explore the 360's IPTV capabilities. Mediaroom can be accessed from the 360 from the Media menu, appearing as an option below the current Music, Pictures, and Video selections. Once you select Mediaroom, the 360 acts as another set-top box.

While watching TV on the 360, you can still receive invites from friends. Should you decide to engage in a friendly Halo 2 deathmatch, Mediaroom will automatically pause the show and record the rest so that you don't miss out on a minute of Grey's Anatomy. Seidel said that the 360 will get full Mediaroom functionality by the end of 2007 or in early 2008, but that Microsoft has not decided whether the Mediaroom update will be pushed out like other Xbox Live updates or be media based. Either way, existing Xboxes will be able to fit into the Mediaroom environment.

Seidel reiterated that Mediaroom will only be available from IPTV providers, which means that your Xbox 360 won't gain any set-top box capabilities unless your TV provider decides to go the IPTV and Mediaroom routes. In the US, that means AT&T, as Verizon brought its FiOS TV efforts in-house after initially casting its lot with Microsoft's IPTV.

Mediaroom is an impressive-looking product from Microsoft, but it's going to be a slow rollout in US?if only because of a current dearth of potential homes to connect. AT&T is Mediaroom's big customer in the US. The telecom currently has about 40,000 U-Verse subscribers, but plans to pass 18 million homes by the end of 2008. Outside of the US, Microsoft counts Bell Canada, Deutsche Telekom, British Telecom, and Swisscom among its customers. If AT&T can convince one of the satellite providers or a major cable company to make the switch, it should raise Mediaroom's profile in the US significantly.

 

[Aikouka]

I wonder if these are hi-def videos too? 'cause there's no way I'm watching SDTV when I can simply use my OTA antenna and get HD even if I have to ignore the Halo 2 invite .

 

[Queasy]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Aikouka
I wonder if these are hi-def videos too? 'cause there's no way I'm watching SDTV when I can simply use my OTA antenna and get HD even if I have to ignore the Halo 2 invite .</end quote></div>

AT&T's U-verse is supplying HD. They have something like 30 HD channels available. I believe they are currently working on supplying more than one HD feed at a time.

 

[CKDragon]

Am I understanding this correctly: Customers with Verizon's FIOS TV solution won't be able to use their 360 for IPTV ever?

Or we just won't be able to use some official Microsoft portal ("Mediaroom")?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: CKDragon
Am I understanding this correctly: Customers with Verizon's FIOS TV solution won't be able to use their 360 for IPTV ever?

Or we just won't be able to use some official Microsoft portal ("Mediaroom")?

That's the way I read it. Verizon developed their own software and it operates differently from what AT&T/MS developed.

 

[CKDragon]

Originally posted by: Queasy
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: CKDragon
Am I understanding this correctly: Customers with Verizon's FIOS TV solution won't be able to use their 360 for IPTV ever?

Or we just won't be able to use some official Microsoft portal ("Mediaroom")?</end quote></div>

That's the way I read it. Verizon developed their own software and it operates differently from what AT&T/MS developed.

Well then, between the HDMI Dongle and this news, within one day I've gone from very satisfied to pretty darn regretful about my purchase of a 360 Elite on launch day.

Two of my three reasons for the purchase are now seemingly for naught. The third of which was that the black does look better on my entertainment center. However, it's not even the nice piano-finish black like my receiver and whoop-de-friggin'-do on a color change, anyway.

I guess I can hold out hope that AT&T somehow manages to make some headway in Northern, VA over Verizon by next year.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: CKDragon
Well then, between the HDMI Dongle and this news, within one day I've gone from very satisfied to pretty darn regretful about my purchase of a 360 Elite on launch day.

Well, I wouldn't get too disappointed over a rumored product that may not even work well yet.