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Microsoft To Bring Cable TV To 360
iONiUM writes with a CNET article outlining the next step in Microsoft's plans for cable television, which he says "seems like yet another step forward in killing traditional cable companies." From the article: "[Microsoft] announced this morning that nearly 40 television content providers — including Comcast, Verizon, and HBO in the United States — will roll out programming over Xbox Live. The company also has deals lined up with providers in the U.K., Spain, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Italy."
and you may have to pay a outlet fee as well?
seems like yet another step forward in killing traditional cable companies
Yet these same cable companies are the ones most likely providing you internet access. It's evolution, nothing more.
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
Oh, boy, this is comedy gold:
If Microsoft made TV...
When you change channels, you will occasionally get an hourglass for a few seconds, for no apparent reason.
Every time there's a change to the channel line-up, you'll have to download a 300 MB update, wait ten minutes for it to install, and then restart your TV.
Instead of the NTSC color bars, during "technical difficulties" they will show a blue screen with white text.
Every year they'll change what all the buttons on the remote do. Next year volume up/down will be mapped to numbers 2 and 7.
"Hi there! It looks like you're trying to find something good to watch. Would you like me to suggest something?"
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
We recently ditched our DirecTV service we have had for years due to skyrocketing prices, inflexibility, and lack of time or desire to watch enough TV to justify the cost. We've been using the 360 (and PS3, AppleTV) to watch Hulu and Netflix as well as renting some movies and the transition hasn't hurt us one bit. We've talked about it for a couple years I only wish we had done it sooner. It was cool when Red State was available to rent (at $10) before it hit the theaters. I hope this is a continuing trend.
Life==Jeopardy. All the answers are right in front us - the hard part is coming up with the correct question.
at a 800% markups over net cost for bandwidth, they sure can afford some upgrade, but they wont : http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5952/125/
Jehovah be praised, Oracle was not selected
Cable replaced transmitted TV just as the internet will (has) replaced cable.
Of course the cable companies will object, that changes nothing.
As for internet costs going up, they're already sky high here in Canada. I think we rank below #40 (price/bandwidth) for internet service in the world. Not very good.
My home is set up with a Ceton Cablecard hookup and Windows Media Center.
It is the best DVR I've ever had the pleasure of using, and the UI and usability far surpasses everything out there. What they will do with the XBox integration is beyond me, but I've saved over $400 a year by swapping to media center (2 boxes = $40 a month).
Granted not everything Microsoft does is great, but Media Center is one of their best products that nobody knows about. That said, I think if it's in the same vein, that their TV service will do well.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
And don't forget that, even when you're paying all that, you still need to watch ads.
That's what I hate the most. Last monday was "Terra Nova" premiere on FOX (Latin America), they had a FUCKING COUNTDOWN TIMER 2 days before, on the top left of the screen, during EVERY SHOW!
What the hell?
The easy way is to have patience. I just wait for the season to come out on disc.
[1] No commercials other than the stupid previews
[2] Can rip them to any device I own
[3] I know if the show failed or survived and whether to even bother
[4] If I want a nice copy of the show for myself, season box sets are often heavily discounted
This is why I scoff at the "streaming is hip and now and *with it* and discs are dead" folks. Not as long as streaming is buried under Byzantine legal rights agreements and I can't watch precisely what I want. It's like I'm supposed to poke through what some streaming source has available to find something watchable. Uh, no, that's not how those of use with limited and valuable entertainment time do things. I have a list of things I want to watch. Disc rental/purchases are the *only* way to fulfill that list right now.
And if I do get impatient, there's always the magic of "unofficial" downloads.
I work for a telecom company that has been providing tv service to parts of canada for the past 7 years. One of the options we give our customers is the ability to use an xbox as a digital set top box, this saves them the rental fee for a normal stb, and makes for one less device on the shelf by the tv.
The system generally works well, however there are some drawbacks, the first is boot time, stbs are somewhat "always on" and wake up near instantaneously. The xbox takes a moment to boot, and then another moment to launch our tv application. The second issue is the remote, xbox remote controls just arent as easy to use as our dedicated ones.
For those that were asking about bandwidth, our iptv service uses its own vlan seperate from the internet service, so although both go through the same modem, the iptv doesnt count toward bandwidth caps, nor does it interfere with your download speeds on the computer
I have no interest in extending Microsoft's monopoly into the Living room any more than I want to hand Apple the same monopoly on a silver platter.
Single vendor solutions ultimately do more harm than good.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.