Xbox Live Gets Live TV

Microsoft is further setting up their XBOX 360 console for an all-around entertainment console. For the first time this fall XBOX 360 players will be able to watch t.v. through their XBOX console.

For now the ability is only granted to users in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The new functionality will allow viewers to talk to other fans or friends with their XBOX Live service while watching movies, television shows or news.

A deal with Sky, a pay television group, means that millions of XBOX 360 users will also be able to view live television. No channel lineups or pricing options have been made available to date. Microsoft recently announced that XBOX Live has reached 20 million players, although it didn’t give figures specific for Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Subscription services will be available on about 20 channels, along with a pay-per-view service. Users will be able to customize what’s offered to them and the content will be sent using their broadband Internet connection. This will completely eliminate the need for satellite dishes and boxes.

Nintendo and Sony have similar set-ups, using both the BBC iPlayer and a HULU type set-up that lets people using the PS3, Wii, Windows, Macs, Linux and even iPhones to stream old television shows onto their device.

Microsoft has yet to announce when the live T.V. will be coming to the United States, although it may not be long. The United States has already shown a craving and a valuable market for a video gaming console that can deliver a complete range of services. The introduction of video games on demand, as well as Netflix streaming on the XBOX, can be shown as proof of the industry’s competition in the country. Adding television to their consoles may even be a move that makes or breaks the deals between Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony and television studios.

According to Neil Thompson, head of the XBOX franchise in Ireland and England, users have said they want to be able to use their consoles to watch television. XBOX users in the United Kingdom and Ireland can expect to see live television capabilities on their XBOX consoles later this year.