TV entertainment is coming to Xbox 360. Microsoft announced today plans to bring nearly 40 “world-leading” TV and entertainment providers to Xbox LIVE this holiday in over 20 countries, including Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon Fios, and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K.; Telefonica in Spain; Rogers on Demand in Canada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and MediaSet in Italy.
“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360* and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.”
The coming feature promises to allow users tot “effortlessly switch from games to music to live TV and more, simply by telling your Xbox what you want to experience.” It will take advantage of Kinect, of course.
“Microsoft and Verizon share a common vision to transform the ways people enjoy and interact with the entertainment they want — what Verizon calls the borderless lifestyle,” said Eric Bruno, vice president of consumer and mass business product management for Verizon. “FiOS TV on the Xbox 360 is an excellent example of how we’re working with market leaders to erase old technology borders to expand the FiOS TV experience and taking advantage of unique new features including voice- and gesture-control of live TV entertainment via Kinect. This holiday, Verizon will bring a selection of popular live TV channels to Xbox 360 and will be a leader in delivering live, multichannel streaming HD TV, integrated with Kinect, via Xbox.”
The full list of Xbox 360 entertainment partners are as follows:
- ABC iView – Australia
- AlloCiné – France, Germany, Spain, U.K.
- Antena 3 – Spain
- Astral Media’s Disney XD – Canada
- AT&T** – U.S.
- BBC – U.K.
- blinkbox – U.K.
- Bravo – U.S.
- BSkyB** – U.K.
- Canal+* – France, Spain
- Channel 4 – U.K.
- Channel 5 – U.K.
- CinemaNow (Best Buy) – U.S.
- Comcast – U.S.
- Crackle – Australia, Canada, U.K., U.S.
- Dailymotion – Available in 32 markets
- EPIX – U.S.
- ESPN** – U.S.
- Facebook** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
- FOXTEL** – Australia
- GolTV – Spain
- HBO GO – U.S.
- Hulu – Japan
- Hulu +**– U.S.
- iHeartRadio (Clear Channel) – U.S.
- Last.fm** – U.K., U.S.
- LOVEFiLM – Germany, U.K.
- Manga Entertainment – U.S.
- Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports – Canada
- Mediaset – Italy
- MSN with MSNBC.com – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, U.K.
- MUZU.TV – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K.
- Netflix**– Canada, U.S.
- Rogers On Demand Online (RODO) – Canada
- RTVE – Spain
- SBS On Demand – Australia
- Syfy – U.S.
- Telefonica – Spain
- Televisa – Mexico
- “The Today Show” – U.S.
- TELUS** – Canada
- TMZ – U.S.
- Twitter** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
- UFC – Canada, U.S.
- Verizon – U.S.
- VEVO – Canada, U.K., U.S.
- VimpelCom** – Russia
- Vodafone Portugal** – Portugal
- YouTube – Available in 22 markets
- ZDF – Germany
- Zune** – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain
A set of screenshots can be seen at the gallery.
