Comments on: Xbox IPTV Announced at CES

By: Eyetelly IPTV

Eyetelly IPTV — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:46:31 +0000

Microsoft integrates IPTV with Xbox 360, an all-in-one home digital entertainment device…

Xbox Live®, the largest online social network in the living room, will be seamlessly integrated into the experience, providing consumers with a wide range of community-based features, such as voice chat, sending and receiving text and voice messages, …

By: Mr I Don't Like It

Mr I Don't Like It — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:48:04 +0000

I’m not sold on these multi-function devices. To me that the Xbox is a games box first and everything else second. If I wanted a cable box for movies, the games aspect would be a negative, because the kids would want to play on it while I want to watch a movie. Likewise as a games box, I don’t want them ordering movies on a games console I bought them.

Apple’s TV looks better, but the DRM iTune movies are a real turnoff. My one experience of iTunes was when the son of a friend asked if I could rip his CD and load it onto his iPod because he didn’t know how. So I ripped his CD into MP3, plugged in his iPod, which announced it was sync to a different PC and so could not retrieve music, and that I’d need a newer version of iTunes, which in turn needed me to accept an EULA, which I read, which I rejected.
So he didn’t get his music.

Sooner or later the DRM bites you in the ass and you avoid DRM’d products.

There’s also the privacy problem of linking devices, another turn off.

By: Nitin Gupta

Nitin Gupta — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 03:16:26 +0000

This is one of the most uninformed statements I’ve heard in regards to a CES announcement. The STB business and the gaming console business are distinct. You are not going to see a telco or an MSO ordering millions of X-Box 360s to sit at the edge of their network. The statement that the BOM is similar is just plane wrong.

By: Andrew Schmitt

Andrew Schmitt — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:04:13 +0000

Most of the revenue from SA came from the set top box business, and this was the reason Cisco bought them.

The Xbox360 BOM is comparable to the BOM of a set top box.

By: quack724

quack724 — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 04:12:35 +0000

IMHO, adding DVR functionality to the XBox is no different than having DVR on your PC. It’s just another thing you can do with the Xbox 360.
To me, a 360 won’t replace a set top box given how much a 360 costs. My understanding is that Cisco didn’t just buy a “commodity box” but rather also the head end devices as well as the “video expertise” within SA. Cisco sells SA boxes to cable companies, who in turn provide them to cable customers. A 360 box can’t offer cable content. A person who uses a 360 for DVR probably isnt a cable customer so it won’t affect the number of set top boxes Time Warner, Comcast, etc. purchases from Cisco.

By: Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection - Coming Soon To A Living Room Near You . . .

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 08:44:07 +0000

[...] IPTV support for Xbox 360 – Microsoft’s has spent billions of dollars and years of research trying to break into the living room, but so far has had limited success. With Microsoft Vista offering media center functionality and with the Xbox 360 set to take on a new role as a set top box for IPTV clients, Microsoft is in a strong position to make a play for the digital living room in 2007. As Microsoft’s IPTV plans continue to develop, it will be facinating to see if they use the Xbox 360 as a way to differentiate IPTV from cable. Is it possible that we could one day see Bellsouth renting the Xbox 360 as part of a triple play package? Given how lucrative video game sales actually are, I can see a powerful business model developing here. [...]