Today sees the announcement that the team behind the popular console the Xbox 360 have sealed the deal with around 40 entertainment companies to provide the online entertainment service, the content you can access will be dependant on your location but some of the companies that have signed on to the service are 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.
“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.”
The service is set to offer live, on-demand TV, movies, games, sport and music and in some cases can be controlled via the Kinect with voice and gesture commands, the service may require an Xbox Live Gold subscription and in some cases additional fees and/or subscriptions and is scheduled for a release by Christmas.
Entertainment Partners on Xbox 360 (Existing = ** and New)
| • | ABC iView – Australia |
| • | AlloCiné – France |
| • | 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 |
| • | Canal+ (formerly Digi+) – 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 markets |
| • | Filmstarts – Germany |
| • | FOXTEL** – Australia |
| • | GolTV – Spain |
| • | HBO GO – U.S. |
| • | Hulu – Japan |
| • | Hulu Plus**– 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 – Canada |
| • | RTVE – Spain |
| • | SBS On Demand – Australia |
| • | Screenrush – U.K. |
| • | Sensacine – Spain |
| • | 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. |
