News
Xbox 360 Teams Up With Entertainment Leaders to Transform TV
AT&T, BBC, Comcast, HBO, Rogers, Telefónica, Televisa and Verizon are among providers rolling out new TV entertainment services on Xbox LIVE
REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 5, in the year of our Lord 2011
— A new era in television begins this holiday where your
entertainment becomes instantly searchable, easily discoverable
and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways from a single device —
Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft Corp. 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.”
“We are continually evolving the television experience to bring
Xfinity TV subscribers more personalized ways to search, find
and watch the content they love,” said Sam Schwartz, president
of Comcast Converged Products. “Our recently launched
next-generation Xfinity TV platform is enabling us to bring
Xfinity On Demand to a gaming console for the first time, and
Kinect’s voice and gesture controls will offer our customers an
innovative way to discover and enjoy Xfinity On Demand’s huge
library of top shows and movies.”
Live and On-Demand TV, Movies, Games, Sports, Music and
More
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. Ready to mix things
up? Effortlessly switch from games to music to live TV and more,
simply by telling your Xbox what you want to experience.
“Microsoft and Verizon share a common vision to transform the
ways people enjoy and interact with the entertainment they want
— what Verizon calls the borderless lifestyle,” said Eric Bruno,
vice president of consumer and mass business product management
for Verizon. “FiOS TV on the Xbox 360 is an excellent example of
how we’re working with market leaders to erase old technology
borders to expand the FiOS TV experience and taking advantage of
unique new features including voice- and gesture-control of live
TV entertainment via Kinect.
This holiday, Verizon will bring a selection of popular live TV
channels to Xbox 360 and will be a leader in delivering live,
multichannel streaming HD TV, integrated with Kinect, via the
Xbox.”
Xbox 360 is the first console to offer access to the world’s
greatest 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.
“We have been thrilled with the success of HBO GO. Our ongoing
goal is to deliver HBO’s acclaimed programming to our
subscribers wherever and whenever they want it, and this
relationship with Microsoft is another huge step in
accomplishing just that,” said Bernadette Aulestia, senior vice
president, Domestic Network Distribution & Marketing, HBO. “HBO
GO on Xbox is also a marriage of two pre-eminent brands — both
with a reputation for delivering the highest quality of
entertainment.”
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.
"Nearly a year ago, AT&T U-verse became the first TV provider in
the U.S. to launch live TV on Xbox 360. Now we look forward to
working with Microsoft to deliver even more innovative features
that will allow U-verse TV customers to use voice and gesture
controls to manage their TV experience," said Jeff Weber, vice
president of video services, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.
"Through our Microsoft partnership, AT&T U-verse TV has been a
leader in delivering a multi-screen and interactive TV
experience that offers customers more personalization, more
control and more integration across devices, all on the
industry's only 100 percent IPTV platform."
Sports aren’t just a game on Xbox 360. With live and on-demand
content from ESPN in the U.S., UFC in the U.S. and Canada, GolTV
in Spain and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports in
Canada, Xbox 360 completely changes how sports fans experience
and interact with their favorite pastimes. The all-new ESPN on
Xbox LIVE features thousands of live events and video highlights
with enhanced personalization features, split-screen viewing and
an updated interface content guide that makes it easy for fans
to find the highlights from the teams and sports they care most
about. UFC on Xbox LIVE gives fans access to live pre-event
videos, a catalog of on-demand video, an Interactive Fight Card
and pay-per-view events in stunning HD all together in one
place. The energy of the Octagon is coming right into the living
room.
In addition to adding the world’s largest TV providers and the
best names in sports, the biggest names in Web video, news and
music are also coming to Xbox 360, including AlloCiné,
Dailymotion, iHeartRadio, MSN with MSNBC.com, “The Today Show,”
TMZ, VEVO and YouTube. Whether catching up on the Web’s latest
viral videos, watching breaking news, sports and weather,
listening to your favorite music, or sitting down to enjoy your
favorite games, movies or TV shows — no other entertainment
device brings it all together in one place like Xbox 360.
Xbox Entertainment — Personal, Effortless, Social
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.
Not only is entertainment effortless on Xbox 360, it is more
social and personal. Everything in Xbox has been designed to
share with friends. Share recommendations, and show the Xbox
LIVE community what games you’re playing, movies you’re watching
and music you’re listening to, as well as invite them to join in
— even post your game achievements and info about your favorite
movies directly to your Facebook wall from Xbox LIVE.
It’s simple: With your social network along for the ride, the
world’s leading content providers and the magic of Kinect,
entertainment experiences are better on Xbox LIVE.
Entertainment Partners on Xbox 360 (Existing and New)
· ABC iView – Australia
· AlloCiné – France, Germany, Spain, U.K.
· Antena 3 – Spain
· Astral Media’s Disney XD – Canada
· AT&T** – U.S.
· BBC – U.K.
· blinkbox – U.K.
· Bravo – U.S.
· BSkyB** - U.K.
· Canal+* - France, Spain
· Channel 4 – U.K.
· Channel 5 – U.K.
· CinemaNow (Best Buy) – U.S.
· Comcast – U.S.
· Crackle – Australia, Canada, U.K., U.S.
· Dailymotion – Available in 32 markets
· EPIX – U.S.
· ESPN** – U.S.
· Facebook** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE arkets
· FOXTEL** – Australia
· GolTV – Spain
· HBO GO – U.S.
· Hulu – Japan
· Hulu +**– U.S.
· iHeartRadio (Clear Channel) – U.S.
· Last.fm** – U.K., U.S.
· LOVEFiLM – Germany, U.K.
· Manga Entertainment – U.S.
· Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports – Canada
· MediaSet – Italy
· MSN with MSNBC.com – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Mexico, Spain, U.K.
· MUZU.TV – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K.
· Netflix**– Canada, U.S.
· Rogers On Demand Online (RODO) – Canada
· RTVE – Spain
· SBS On Demand – Australia
· Syfy – U.S.
· Telefonica – Spain
· Televisa – Mexico
· “The Today Show” – U.S.
· TELUS** – Canada
· TMZ – U.S.
· Twitter** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
· UFC – Canada, U.S.
· Verizon – U.S.
· VEVO – Canada, U.K., U.S.
· VimpelCom** – Russia
· Vodafone Portugal** – Portugal
· YouTube – Available in 22 markets
· ZDF – Germany
· Zune** – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New
Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
U.K., U.S.
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system.
Thanks to the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 has transformed
social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play —
no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and
broadest games as well as one of the world’s largest on-demand
libraries of music, standard- and high-definition movies, TV
shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment
center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content
with a leading social entertainment network of nearly 35 million
Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience
that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information
about Xbox 360 can be found online at
http://www.xbox.com.
About Xbox LIVE
Xbox LIVE is the online entertainment service for your Xbox 360,
connecting you to an ever-expanding world of games, movies, TV,
music, sports and social entertainment. Xbox LIVE lets you play
the best games, enjoy one of the world’s largest on-demand
libraries on any console, listen to millions of songs and share
the fun with friends around the world. Xbox LIVE is also the
exclusive home of controller-free online entertainment through
Kinect, making your Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than
ever before. With an active community of nearly 35 million
people across 35 countries, Xbox LIVE, together with Xbox 360,
provides you with instant access to the entertainment you want,
shared with the people you care about, wherever you are. More
information about Xbox LIVE can be found online at
http://www.xbox.com/live.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide
leader in software, services and solutions that help people and
businesses realize their full potential.
* Xbox LIVE Gold membership and/or other subscriptions/fees
required. Kinect functionality varies by feature, provider and
region.
** Denotes existing partners on Xbox LIVE available today.