Xbox 360 becomes a TV with 40 TV Networks

Microsoft announced plans to roll out the next generation of TV entertainment on Xbox LIVE, the online entertainment service for Xbox 360. Nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers, including Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K., Telefónica in Spain; Rogers On Demand in Canada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and MediaSet in Italy, will begin rolling out entertainment services to the console this holiday, in more than 20 countries.

“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.”

Xbox 360 brings all your entertainment, friends and family together in one place. Now, easily switch from playing your favorite game with a friend out of state or even across the world to watching your favorite TV show with your family members on the same couch, all through Xbox LIVE.

Xbox 360 is the first console to offer access to TV properties, including BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and LOVEFiLM in the U.K.; Antena 3, RTVE and Telefónica in Spain; Televisa in Mexico; and Bravo, Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand service, Crackle, EPIX, Syfy, TMZ, “The Today Show,” UFC, Verizon FiOS and HBO GO in the United States. These new TV and video providers announced today join our existing lineup of great TV and video entertainment partners already on Xbox 360 — AT&T, Netflix and Hulu+ in the U.S., TELUS in Canada, BSkyB in the U.K., Canal+ in France, Vodafone Portugal, VimpelCom in Russia, and FOXTEL in Australia. 

With Kinect for Xbox 360, there are no remotes, no buttons, no worries. Consumers will prefer to experience entertainment on Xbox 360 because it allows them to easily search and discover content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE and interact and enjoy that content in extraordinary new ways. Gone are the days of managing a handful of remote controls, trying to remember what movies are available from what service, and hunting back and forth across television inputs. Using voice search with Bing on Xbox, easily look across a variety of branded services and play the programming you want without ever raising a finger. Having trouble finding last night’s episode of “The Office”? It’s now only a voice command away. Just say “Xbox, Bing, ‘The Office,’ ” and Xbox finds it.

This sounds like the Xbox 360 is going to be better than a Google TV box, no matter what Google comes out with as next version.

Updates

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