on10.net— Yup, as suspected Microsoft is adding IPTV to the Xbox 360. They're way light on details, but during tonight's Microsoft keynote Robbie Bach gave a sneak peek at a new service called IPTV on Xbox 360...
Jan 8, 2007View in Crawl 4
If they announced it, people would probably wait for the updated version. Since the IPTV has DVR, a larger Hard Drive is practically confirmed. If the larger HD was right, HDMI may be right as well.
What Microsoft needs to do is reach agreements with content creators to provide a monthly, subscription-based IPTV service. The Xbox 360 has plenty of processing power to decode 720p H.264 high definition content at a bitrate of 3-4 Megabits per second. Microsoft can charge $20 or $30 a month for 20 to 30 IPTV channels in HD, along with a "virtual DVR" where Microsoft servers have a large archive of HD content that can be requested on-demand by an individual console. Millions of users already have the 360 connected to their HDTV sets, and Microsoft has the opportunity to essentially replace any current digital TV offerings from Cable/Satellite/Fiber companies. Microsoft can afford to charge lower rates than these other providers, because their costs of maintaining a fleet of geostationary communications satellites and servicing millions of individual direct-broadcast dishes, or the cost of maintaining a large underground cable infrastructure, are much less than the cost of paying for a fat pipe's worth of bandwidth to the internet.For anyone living in a decent-sized city, both cable and DSL providers likely offer 4-6 Mbps downstream for around $30-50 a month. Only those living faraway from the DSL CO, or in poorly developed rural areas will be unable to obtain an internet connection with inadequate bandwidth for HDTV.Services like these will push the Net Neutrality debate further. Current cable and DSL networks are not prepared for users to be regularly using the majority of their internet connection.All 35" or larger HD displays manufactured or imported for sale into the United States have been required by federal law to include an ATSC digital off-air tuner, starting in July of 2006. In July 2007, the same rule will apply for displays over 25". Most HDTV sets in the US currently do not include ATSC tuners, so a set-top box and a UHF antenna would be required. But 19.2 Mbps MPEG-2 unencrypted HDTV over the air could easily be decoded by the 360, with a simple hardware adapter necessary to transcode the UHF signal into USB which the 360 can support. So Television viewers could receive their local channels and network primetime HD programming for free over-the-air, and other content (HBO-HD and premium channels, ESPN-HD, IN-HD, HD-Net, and other currently provided channels could be included.
I noticed in the video the Xbox 360 he is using has a different and much larger device in place of the usual 20GB HDD. My guess is that much like your existing cable service an outside line runs directly to this device (which also contains a larger HDD ) which snaps into the top of your Xbox 360 through the serial ATA port. There is no way this IPTV service is coming in through your current ISP over your LAN connection.
Sorry I was thinking of internet tv not IPTV, two very different things"IPTV is typically supplied by a broadband operator using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet. This type of delivery is widely called TV over Internet or Internet Television."<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptv">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptv</a>
The problem is getting the content PROVIDERS on board.Traditionally these guys are absolutely paranoid of technology. They don't want you accessing content "anywhere" and certainly the mere mention of being able to record and archive their precious content sends a lot of chairs to their death.I see 2007 as the breakout year for this IPTV stuff. The battle is now in the living room and Apple and Microsoft will have the gloves off.
Who said anything about ANOTHER service. I will be droping my s**tty comcast DVR and SWITCHING to this if it pans out in my area.Your comment is like saying "TiVo is stupid, who would pay for another cable subscription just to watch it on a TiVo?"
nezzariJan 8, 2007
If they announced it, people would probably wait for the updated version. Since the IPTV has DVR, a larger Hard Drive is practically confirmed. If the larger HD was right, HDMI may be right as well.
pin0chetJan 8, 2007
What Microsoft needs to do is reach agreements with content creators to provide a monthly, subscription-based IPTV service. The Xbox 360 has plenty of processing power to decode 720p H.264 high definition content at a bitrate of 3-4 Megabits per second. Microsoft can charge $20 or $30 a month for 20 to 30 IPTV channels in HD, along with a "virtual DVR" where Microsoft servers have a large archive of HD content that can be requested on-demand by an individual console. Millions of users already have the 360 connected to their HDTV sets, and Microsoft has the opportunity to essentially replace any current digital TV offerings from Cable/Satellite/Fiber companies. Microsoft can afford to charge lower rates than these other providers, because their costs of maintaining a fleet of geostationary communications satellites and servicing millions of individual direct-broadcast dishes, or the cost of maintaining a large underground cable infrastructure, are much less than the cost of paying for a fat pipe's worth of bandwidth to the internet.For anyone living in a decent-sized city, both cable and DSL providers likely offer 4-6 Mbps downstream for around $30-50 a month. Only those living faraway from the DSL CO, or in poorly developed rural areas will be unable to obtain an internet connection with inadequate bandwidth for HDTV.Services like these will push the Net Neutrality debate further. Current cable and DSL networks are not prepared for users to be regularly using the majority of their internet connection.All 35" or larger HD displays manufactured or imported for sale into the United States have been required by federal law to include an ATSC digital off-air tuner, starting in July of 2006. In July 2007, the same rule will apply for displays over 25". Most HDTV sets in the US currently do not include ATSC tuners, so a set-top box and a UHF antenna would be required. But 19.2 Mbps MPEG-2 unencrypted HDTV over the air could easily be decoded by the 360, with a simple hardware adapter necessary to transcode the UHF signal into USB which the 360 can support. So Television viewers could receive their local channels and network primetime HD programming for free over-the-air, and other content (HBO-HD and premium channels, ESPN-HD, IN-HD, HD-Net, and other currently provided channels could be included.
cool8manJan 8, 2007
I noticed in the video the Xbox 360 he is using has a different and much larger device in place of the usual 20GB HDD. My guess is that much like your existing cable service an outside line runs directly to this device (which also contains a larger HDD ) which snaps into the top of your Xbox 360 through the serial ATA port. There is no way this IPTV service is coming in through your current ISP over your LAN connection.
rocke86Jan 8, 2007
Sorry I was thinking of internet tv not IPTV, two very different things"IPTV is typically supplied by a broadband operator using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet. This type of delivery is widely called TV over Internet or Internet Television."<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptv">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iptv</a>
pabsterJan 8, 2007
The problem is getting the content PROVIDERS on board.Traditionally these guys are absolutely paranoid of technology. They don't want you accessing content "anywhere" and certainly the mere mention of being able to record and archive their precious content sends a lot of chairs to their death.I see 2007 as the breakout year for this IPTV stuff. The battle is now in the living room and Apple and Microsoft will have the gloves off.
brandfJan 8, 2007
Who said anything about ANOTHER service. I will be droping my s**tty comcast DVR and SWITCHING to this if it pans out in my area.Your comment is like saying "TiVo is stupid, who would pay for another cable subscription just to watch it on a TiVo?"
Closed AccountJan 9, 2007
it's different because it's streaming, meaning you don't download it in literal terms (no cache content), it keeps streaming live content so it can't be rewinded (sp?) . If you're going for free, you'll find it won't match to pay services, but try <a class="user" href="http://www.freetube.us.tc/">http://www.freetube.us.tc/</a> <a class="user" href="http://www.getdemocracy.org">http://www.getdemocracy.org</a> (democracy p2p player) or tv tonic (ok, not that great)