IPTV
Four simple letters that push the 360 dangerously close to “Home Entertainment System” when I previously considered it to be merely the ultimate gaming machine. Out at CES in Las Vegas, Bill Gates and Robert Bach talked about the 360 a good deal, bringing up many points of good news: That the 360 has sold over 10 million units, that they expect the 360 to sell between 14-15 million units by the end of the fiscal year (In July), and a promise that the Xbox 360’s library of 160 games will double by year’s end. But the big news about the 360 was, indeed, IPTV.
IPTV will allow you to digitally record shows off your TV WHILE you’re playing your game. Basically, imagine having a TiVo that you could play Dead Rising on while the show was recording in the background, and you have a rough idea of what IPTV promises to be. But don’t think for a moment that Microsoft is thinking that this will be an immediate success: They stressed that they realize that IPTV isn’t something people have been clambering for. I know I wasn’t. But they hope that by getting more and more providers to work with them using IPTV software, they can make this available to as many people who want it as possible.
Personally, I love it. I know everyone has had that dilemma where you’re in the middle of a game, and you don’t want to put it down… but you don’t want to miss House, either. Now, if this works out you won’t have to. I can hardly wait.
January 13th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Yes I have heard of it sounds awesome! Now that my boyfriend got Lost Planet I will miss several of my fave shows at the time it is aired but atleast we have tivo! But it would be neat to watch Scrubs at the same time! Not much of a house girl:P
January 13th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I agree J.W., IPTV is going to be a great addition to the Xbox 360. If the prices are competitive to what I’m already paying for my satellite system, then you bet that I’ll be picking up the service. I actually have a video demo up on my site that shows off what we could expect from the IPTV service when it comes out later this year:
http://www.1pstart.com/xbox-360-iptv-in-depth-demo/