Monday 8 January 2007
Xbox Live will offer Microsoft's Internet Protocol TV service later this year, enabling Xbox 360 owners to use their consoles to watch and record television shows, access video-on-demand and enjoy HD quality TV, Microsoft's Bill Gates has revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show this week.
The service is currently under trial with BT for the UK market, perhaps with a view to integrating into the telecoms company's own video-on-demand/set-top box initiative, BT Vision.
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You'll be able to run other Xbox Live actions, such as voice chat, text messaging or Marketplace downloading, while using the IPTV service, which Microsoft reckons will provide us with "all the advantages of an advanced TV service along with the benefits of next-generation gaming".
With the US rollout penned in for around this Christmas, and BT running the test for use in the UK, we'd imagine Xbox 360 gamers here will be enjoying pay-per-view sports, top quality drama and imported comedy shows by this time in 2008. Hopefully we'll have saved enough pennies for a proper HDTV by then, too.
