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Microsoft Explains Xbox 360 IPTV In Detail

gamedrift.com — Confused about what this IPTV stuff is supposed to be? Then watch these two videos, from 1up.com. Microsoft execs Chris Satchell and Albert Penello break it down and walk us through the shiny interface.

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  • popop, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4okay, I think i get it now. But, is this for the new xbox 360 only?
    • 1021, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9this means 360 will support bigger hard drive for sure!!
    • gwolf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I very much doubt that they would just ignore the 10 million customers they allready have, although you almost certainly will need a bigger hard drive.
  • 1021, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8Tried to play the video, here is some great irony: PS3 commercial before segment begins...
    • combustion8, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10was the ps3 ad using a 360 image? that would truely be ironic.
    • chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1LOL - I was about to pst the same thing.
  • Strabo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Anyone else start the video with a PS3 advertisement? Seems a little counter-productive
    • mscamara, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This actually is an advertiser's dream come true. The target is really well defined: mostly males, mid twenties, geeks, techies,...
  • dickeytk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3you can already do this with media center extender, correct?
    or does this make it do the PVR in the box, if so, how can it with no video inputs? is the IPTV a seperate box?
    or does it not connect to a cable box at all and download everything from the internet?

    i'm so confused...
    • 1021, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Definition of IPTV is using the internet to provide traditional "over-the-wire" (cabled) TV channels. So, no, there will be no extra box or inputs that are necessary to get xbox to do this.
  • shteinb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Wow. This looks really really sweet. At Harvard there are no cable lines to get TV reception. The only options are satellite or over the air broadcasts... neither of which are appealing. Our internet pipes are FAT though, so this seems like an amazing deal.

    • opiv421, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4county college > harvard
    • mageofdeath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5hobo lessons>community college>county college>harvard
  • mrn111, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The two videos were very interesting. It made me wonder if the service providers will be able get this to a fair amount of people before the end of the 360 life cycle. I think if Microsoft can pull this off, they could really be on the true all in one box.


    I have to give Albert Penello the Understatement of the Month Award. "We have a whole lot of work to do to beat Apple."
    • gwolf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Sounds more like humility or modesty to me. Beat Apple at what?
  • jdavid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3this has no further updates from the CES keynote, because it is still the keynote.
  • jcalaiaro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I like this, "there is a reason that the HDD is detachable" (In response to the query of whether 20GB would be enough storage for the 360 to function as a PVR.

    It's in the second movie, halfway through.
  • antidentite, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Does IPTV require another explanation? I thought what they showed at CES was pretty comprehendable (if the urban dictionary says that is a word - it is a word, damn it!)
  • sundancekid503, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm curious what exactly "-It's dependent on what service provider you have" means?

    Different content depending on providers? Or only available on some providers?

    (Couldn't watch the video - no audio on this PC)
    • imanihilist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"It's dependent on what service provider you have"

      That just means you are going to have to pay $70 a month to Comcast and they will choose what channels you can watch for which package you pick. Then you'll probably get some "code" to plug into your Xbox. So basically, it's crap. Same old crap just with Xbox 360 integration. I was really hoping for something where I could just move from something like Xbox Live Gold to Xbox Live Gold w/ IPTV.

      Futhermore, because it's ISP dependent, that means it's going to be different for everyone and somene that uses say, Speakeasy, isn't going to get anything at all.

      I was excited about this too. Oh well.
    • darthsnoopy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4um, no.
      Comcast would not be the best provider of IPTV formatted video...matter of fact IPTV would be the biggest threat to a company such as themselves.

      IPTV allows anyone that can distribut internet to distribute television, meaning that instead of the people who own the cable lines singlehandedly determining what you watch...it now provides an alternate data channel via those that own your internet backbones. Kinda moved it from one monopoly to multiple, but by simply providing an alternate source of revenue, and thereby creating (further) competition in that marketplace, it allows us all to benefit.

      The 360 is simply a client that can help with the chicken/egg problem. If they rolled out IPTV and had no client boxes to watch the programming, it'd fail. Now they have client boxes. 10mil of them. They have the wires (ISPs). The next step is getting the ISP's to license the channels/content and start distributing it.

      So no, this isn't comcast charging you 70 bucks. this is your current television provider dropping prices instead of raising them in fear that you'll dump over to IPTV instead. IT's the VOIP vs. standard phone companies all over again...
    • infinitespecter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Service providers for IPTV include AT&T for their U-Verse service and Verizon for their FIOS TV service. If you don't have fiber running to your house already, and if you aren't already a subscriber to these services (much like subscribing to Cable), then all of this is irrelevant to you.
    • bigturns, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what i've read implies you will, if it your provider offers such, order a different package than you already pay for.

      example: you have comcast digital plus and a set top box. microsoft releases IPTV. comcast in your area offers service for 360 users. you call comcast cancel digital plus and order comcast 360 digital (or whatever). you then return the comcast box... your 360, current and future, is now your gateway to TV + PVR.
  • markzhen, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Is it me or were the Microsoft guys acting like pompous assholes?
    • happyclam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10That's just the British accent.
    • Inverno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think I know what you mean. When dude was going on about how the consumers have to change their mentality in regards to storing data on their hard drives. I felt like saying, 'No, it's Microsoft's job to accommodate my desires and to cater to my perceived needs. If I say 20gb isn't enough for what I want my 360 to do, then it damn well isn't.'

      He obviously hasn't done much customer service work. :/
    • DrOct, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree, I actually found the American guy to be a bit more pompous than the British guy. "There is no reason to be storing music on your Xbox!" What if I don't have my Xbox hooked up to a network? What if HEAVEN FORBID! I don't have a Windows computer? (I actually know know there are ways around this, I actually use one, but the guy really does assume everyone is using Windows and is using Media Player).
      I'm also not clear on his statements about re-downloading things. Is he talking about the current pay-per download service or the coming IPTV service? Can you re-download stuff for free if you've already bought it? Or was he assuming everyone would be happy to pay for things over and over again simply to free up space on the far too small hard for PVR purposes hard drives in the Xbox?
    • Inverno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you bought an episode of (whatever) off the video marketplace you can delete them and download them again at no charge. Well, unless you believe Time is Money, in which case it'll cost you about half your hourly wage.
    • bigturns, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@markzhen, it was you.
  • MysticMaven, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4What I'd like to know is does this actually come over an internet connection? That seems like A LOT of bandwidth. Or is it basically a 360 being used as a tivo for cable service and they are just branding it IPTV?
    • bannonto, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1No, the content is coming through your cable, the overlay with channel description is coming from isp.
    • infinitespecter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The bandwidth comes from the fiber connections that virtually every IPTV provider uses to deliver their service. If you don't have TV delivered over fiber in your area, you aren't getting this. Check with AT&T to see if they have it in your area (99% of the country doesn't).
  • voltron, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Old CES content. Even worse, the ***** at "gamedrift.com" make you watch a PS3 commercial and then the feed dies. Nice. There will be more substantial info on this later this year, when we're a little closer to the actual launch of the service. Bury.
  • SuicideClown, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Unfortunately, those videos need to connect to ad.doubleclick.com, which I don't allow my PC to do.
  • raid517, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2What gets me is Microsoft telling it's users how it's going to be. How about for a change MS listens to it's users and just gives them what they want.

    So what do users really want? Well my guess is yes to HDMI, yes to (a lot) more storage, yes to storing lot's of content (both Music and Movies) on the Xbox hard drive.

    Why is it so difficult for these guys to see why anyone would want this?

    Their answer of course is that you can store all of this on your PC and access it via your network on your 360 if you want - but man that is a cluncky and cumbersome (and power hungry) solution. It is much simpler just to have a single nice, (reasonably) quiet solution in your living room with everything you might ever want already at your finger tips.

    And not all of us have ultra fast connections (and we may even have download limits or other restrictions) so just 'downloading the content again' isn't as much of a no brainer as these guys appear to be implying.
  • raid517, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Also I think it is very arrogant for them to assume that they can retrain everyone to access their media differently. We like local storage, we are used to it. Local storage works great. There is no real need to change it. So why should MS feel that there is a need to tell us to change?

    I still have an old chipped Xbox V1 - and that has a 500GB harddrive. It never gets full - because I do delete stuff - but all of the stuff I do want to keep it does a great job of storing it for me.

    Even now my 360 doesn't offer half the features that my old chipped Xbox V1 offers.

    It seems to me MS really need to get with the program - although going by the video they have their heads so far up their own asses I dowbt that they ever really will.
    • briansearles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You're absolutely right (raid517) to say that we ARE used to having our media stored locally and I personally am very hesitant to trust even tried and true iTunes with purchased media, but the guy in the video is correct in the idea that a finite storage capacity will never be enough for some and that some people just need to get used to the idea of paying for the content and re-obtaining it time and time again. It's not arrogant of them, it's just a sign of things likely to come, be it streaming through Xbox or through YouTube or whatever.

      Keep in mind, redownloading things we buy (ala Valve's Steam or Apple's iTunes) is still a very new idea to the consumer. If people can get used to it, a finite storage capacity will be acceptable.
    • raid517, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yes - but this still doesn't overcome the bandwidth issues (as in not everyone has the bandwidth to keep downloading their stuff over and over again).

      And anyway - as I pointed out 500GB has been more than enough for me for as long as I can remember now (before this I had 300GB in my old Xbox 1 and that was still more than plenty).

      My argument is that there probably is a limit to what's useful - but that that is probably better defined as a user selectable option.

      After all what have MS got to fear? if they sell a range of drives - be they 60GB, 120GB, 200GB, 500GB or whatever, the only real 'risk' they have is that they are likely to increase their profits.

      Also reducating the entire planet to do things differently 'just because you think they should', when the traditional methodology not only works very well - but is in fact superior anyway is both crass and short sighted.

      MS are just so used to dictating to the market how things are going to be, they have lost sight it seems of what it is that ordinary consumers really want.

      The winds may be shifting (slowly) (with potentially fewer restrictions on the horizon) but if they do, MS will probably (as ever) be the last to change - and will only embrace these changes long after everyone else has jumped onboard the ship. They will probably rebrand everything then and claim it was all their idea to begin with.
  • tarjan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2WHAT?! I CANT HEAR YOU! SPEAK LOUDER! MY XBOX 360 IS ON, IT IS TOUGH TO HEAR YOU OVER THE ROAR!
  • spidoman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+820 gigs is enough? You shouldn't have music on your 360? Just delete your stuff. W-T-F? Seriously, WTF?

  • zombie2473, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7is it just me or is the fat guy in the 2nd video kind of a douche to the interviewers at times? he gets all huffy when the guy was talking about music and was (all dramatic like) "WHY WOULD YOU PUT MUSIC ON YOUR XBOX HARD DRIVE?!".

    Microsoft has some mighty fine people representing them.... /sarcasm
    • GhostToon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Dude that guy is a douche. I rip music to my hard drive because you assholes decided to pamper the RIAA and not let me listen to DRM protected music. Its just easier for me to burn a CD-RW of any new songs I may have downloaded and then rip it to the 360 then to have to ***** re-rip them to my computer and enter all the ***** artist and genre info on the computer. Sure I have to do that with my 360 to but I can also just take my hard drive to another friends house and I can listen to my music on the rare occasions that my computer is off. I love my 360 and I can't wait for the IPTV but for gods sake you should never tell your costumers "Well they will just have to get used to the idea of deleting and re downloading." That just pisses them off. He obviously has never worked in retail or sales.
    • itsamix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Its cool that there integrating all this stuff into the 360 but I want to play games maybe store a ***** load of music or videos on it. ***HINT*** If the consumer is begging for a product that can easily produced and a whole bunch of people are willing to buy .... MAKE SOME MONEY! I have tv, I dont pay to download movies or tv shows, I just want to play games. If you put the energy you did in all that pay per view and IPTV ***** into video games maybe you would be miles ahead.(I cant even get that crap in Canada) So I might as well just trade in my 360 which I love and get a Wii(no i cant afford both)!
  • radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is about as credible as that detailed "technical explanation" Microsoft posted to their xbox blog a year ago claiming there's no difference between 1080i and 1080p (in response to the PS3 being 1080p) - then actually backtracking 9 months later by "adding" 1080p via a firmware upgrade.
  • smergs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I find it hard to believe that we can get this kind of service over the internet. You always hear about people complaining about bandwidth cost for streaming video. Wouldn't IPTV be a lot like that? How in the hell are they going to do high def video over the internet. I've got a pretty kick ass internet connection I think. It's about 768 up and between 8 - 18 down. I just don't see that IPTV thing working without a fiber connection.

    All that said, I want this thing. And I don't want to have to deal with Comcast to get it!
    • smiley2billion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2When they're talking about content providers they pretty much mean your local ISP. All of this content will be streamed into the CO of your local provider and then pushed out from there over IPTV. You will still need a fiber connection. SD video is anywhere from 1.5mbps to 3mbps, HD is 6 to 9mbps. Note how they watch one show and in the guide there's a little tiny PnP preview of that channel as well, this is going to require some major bandwidth.

      Providers are also going to need to use the Microsoft IPTV platform, as I'm not sure how this would work if they didn't.

      http://www.microsoft.com/tv/BroadbandProviders.mspx
    • bigturns, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i don't think the content will flow over the internet - as someone said in an earlier thread: your content provider, comcast, will still deliver the content over your existing, in wall, cable. ms will handle the software interface normally controlled by the comcast set top box which you'll now return as it's no longer needed.
  • Myst3r1o, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The question is... how much will IPTV cost? Will it be an extra fee per month? Or will it be based on per hour? Like for two hours of recording time, it'll be 400 MS Points, etc.

    I guess we'll see. Hopefully it'll be free though. haha
    • smiley2billion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3IPTV will replace your current TV connection. In general it should cost $30-$40 for the "basic" service just like your current cable connection. As you get more channels (either ala cart or premiums like HBO, etc) your cost will go up, of course.

      This is assuming that you get a provider in your area. You can't just stream all this over a 6mbps connection. You need someone in your area who is providing this service.
  • Dino451, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I WILL NOT CHANGE! YOU MUST CHANGE!
    Why would I store music on my 360? Because you put the feature their for me to do this. DUH
    Allow me to view divx/xvid and a reasonable HDD size and this will be my media center instead of having another power hungry device just to access my content on my PC with a much larger HDD.
  • hammyb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://www.masternewmedia.org/2005/06/04/iptv_vs_internet_television_key.htm

    explains why IPTV is just another way the telco's will get your money
    • GhostToon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well would you rather the telco's get it for the cable companies? DUN DUN DUNNNNN!
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