Xbox + Windows Phone FTW!!! Coming This Holiday!
Xbox LIVE will soon be the center of attention when it comes to all our home entertainment. Today’s news that 40 leading global cable providers have signed on to make content available for Microsoft’s Xbox Live TV offering makes this holiday season one that Microsoft can expect to rake in the dough. Xbox’s will be in very high demand and flying off shelves faster than diet pills after gorging on Thanksgiving turkey.
Twitter is set ablaze with people noticing the cool Windows Phone cameo in the video. Microsoft first teased Windows Phone as an Xbox compatible remote control during E3 but now we get another appearance acting as a streaming video player to the Xbox. This is a feature that should not be understated especially as Apple plays up Air Play feature among its devices.
The technology (DLNA) has been around for a while and if you own a reasonably current flat screen tv you might be shocked to know that you’re already compatible with DLNA. Just browsing into several comment sections on various mobile tech related sights and quite a few comments are about the lack of media streaming on Windows Phones. Rest assured good sirs and ladies that DLNA is coming and be available on almost all new Windows Phones and a few 1st gen phones from LG and Samsung. So here’s the kicker, as Apple brings to light media streaming Microsoft and their OEM partners can capitalize big time on all the attention.
DLNA vs AirPlay will be part 2 of this series. Check back tomorrow for it. In the mean time please leave a comment as to which camp you are in.
Video courtesy of Microsoft News
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I LOVE the direction MS is taking with the addition of TV programming to XBox Live. The control options of motion/voice/remote/Windows Phone are an amazing combination of technologies almost bordering on a true NUI.
That said, I have a hard time picturing my sister, or my parents putting an Xbox in their entertainment center. I just looks to bulky and, well, too much like a game console, rather than a STB.
Microsoft should release a more traditional consumer electronics looking device that has only the media streaming features that cost less than an XBox. They could call it the Windows Live Media Center (WLMC) (seems like a complicated enough product title, which Microsoft usually loves)
You could still connect a Kinect to it, offer it with or without a slot-loading bluray player and control it with your WP.
Heck, it may even be an opportunity to resurrect the Zune HD. Slap Windows Phone on Zunes, add a dock to the WLMC and allow people to use it as a remote control and sync movies/TV shows/music/games to it for mobile entertainment. It should sync wirelessly with WP devices in much the same manner.
Using DLNA you could then view your downloaded, licensed content on a friend’s DLNA equipped TV.
WLMC FTW!