The shocking announcement about Microsoft pulling out of CES tended to overshadow their actual product and service news at the show. That's unfortunate, as Editor Chris Boylan and I received some impressive private-room demonstrations of what Xbox LIVE can do, today, for an entertainment-hungry world.
The company's new, all-under-one-roof approach to entertainment leverages their many strengths: a high-def, internet-connected set-top box--the Xbox 360 console--with built-in online storefront, made even better with the addition of the voice/gesture-reading Kinect sensor (we got a taste of this last spring), as well as the incorporation of Bing, Microsoft's search engine. Put them all together and we have quite the formidable interactive multimedia device, far beyond the games that made the Xbox 360 famous, the DVDs that also play in the disc tray and, yes, even the HD DVD add-on player that we just can't bring ourselves to get rid of.
Via the Xbox LIVE online entertainment platform, Microsoft gives customers access to TV/movie/sports and more from 30 current partners (on their way to 100) including Comcast/Xfinity video-on-demand, Verizon FiOS, the HBO GO on-demand portal for premium content, CinemaNow rentals, Netflix subscription streaming, live and on-demand sports from ESPN, plus Facebook social media.
These are different business models: some just free, some given as a bonus to cable/satellite subscribers, others a monthly subscription, and so on. But Xbox LIVE pulls them all together in a new way, instantly searching across the multiple providers, without a remote control. With Kinect, if we want to see a particular movie or TV show, we don't need to wonder who offers it and who doesn't. During our demo we said, "Xbox... Bing... Star Trek" and in a flash we were presented with a smorgasbord of the entire franchise. We were told who could supply the shows and movies (there were multiple choices) and how much each would cost. One more perk of all these options in a single multimedia box: no fiddling with various inputs on the TV or receiver.
Someday, we'll be able to tell it, "Xbox... San Francisco Forty-Niners Game" and it will find it for us. And coming soon will be facial recognition on the Kinect's camera for a more personalized user experience.
The Xbox LIVE flavors of the options above also offer a social aspect, as we can share our recommendations and show the community what we're watching/playing/listening to, and even invite others to join in. We can also post our in-game achievements and information about our favorite movies directly to our Facebook wall from the Xbox LIVE interface. Microsoft is quick to differentiate their suite of apps from, say, the Android Marketplace. Each app here must be vetted as high-quality, and could potentially be dropped in favor of a superior alternative in the future.
There are some 35 million Xbox LIVE members globally who spend a combined 2.1 billion hours a month on the service, representing a huge growth in video consumption just over the past year. Other worldwide partners will begin rolling out entertainment services to the console in more than 20 countries. It's all a part of what Microsoft proudly, and justly, refers to as the continually evolving television experience.
Where to Buy:
More News from CES:
