Rumor: 360's IPTV features spotted in dashboard

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Oct 27th 2007 at 9:20AM }

Several images of IPTV options being displayed in the Xbox 360's dashboard have made their way into the blogosphere, courtesy of our pals* at X3F. According to tipster Aaron, the console recently returned from the oft-visited Microsoft repair center, only to display several new and seemingly incomplete menu additions. Appearing under the Media and System blades, mentions of DVR storage, live television services and pause buffers all seem to imply that the Xbox 360's IPTV services are close enough for us to start using words like "impending."

If these images are indeed proof of premature tweaks to the console (which still shows an older dashboard version number), one can speculate that IPTV may be introduced with this Fall's dashboard update. We've already asked Microsoft to comment, but if they treat this anything like the Arcade SKU, we can expect them to deny it until well after everybody's started watching TV on their consoles.

*This status may change should those bastards fail to return our copy of American Ninja 4.

Gallery: Rumor: Xbox 360 IPTV Dashboard Options

Tags: Dashboard-Update, Fall-Update, IPTV, Video, Xbox-IPTV

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Kola @ Oct 27th 2007 9:32AM

Ok not to be fire starter but um... right right it's all about choice. But those 360 arcade owners without a hard drive, what are they going to do? Buy a hard drive for $180?

playwhutyalike @ Oct 27th 2007 9:59AM

That is assuming that the arcade owners don't have some sort of recording means already (TIVO, or DVR with thier cable/sat setup).

For instance, let's say that the arcade owner doesn't have any of the above (TIVO, DVR) he could justify buying a HDD if he is a TV freak. It might get him into other features like Xbox Live, who knows.

Synner @ Oct 27th 2007 10:13AM

you don't need the hard drive to stream tv.

Ignatius @ Oct 27th 2007 12:13PM

If you were cheap enough to get the Core or Arcade pack.. sucks for you. :P

I'm glad I bought the Elite now.

Oreo85 @ Oct 27th 2007 12:58PM

Well those people who bought the Arcade version CHOSE to buy a gaming machine. If they wanted to buy a multimedia machine they could have CHOSE a different version.

P.S. I'm not trying to flame anyone. I'm just trying to explain choices.

mfed3 @ Oct 27th 2007 4:08PM

shut up sony fanboy. yes they can still upgrade to get any features they want. not like the ps3 where if you get the 40 gig version you CANT EVER have backwards compatibility and play your precious god of war and final fantasy.

the_game_master @ Oct 27th 2007 4:50PM

I have an Xbox 360 core and I doubt a HDD would be needed for IPTV. I'm sure it will be a broadcast feed streamed to the 360 with no recording, but that's just my guess.

PS: I bought the HDD & Component cable for aftermarket value off ebay (cheap!). Also a month free Gold membership was also provided to my Core as well, which I though was only suppose to be for Premiums. See why us core owners say Premium was a waste?

ulovemikeroch @ Oct 28th 2007 10:16PM

Seriously mfed3, how old are you? You're probably worse then all of the stupid fanboys on this site, cause every comment you bring has, "Anger" in it. Especially when they pwn your console and you have no come back for it. Preciously God of War and Final Fantasy? I can see how they're precious when they are money makers for their respective consoles. I can you now, "Final Fantasy Announced for X360. 'OMFGLOLROLFLMAO!!! LOL I LOVE FINAL FANTASY!!"

Mighty Healthy @ Oct 27th 2007 10:10AM

I could care less about IPTV until I see something concrete...channels, who's on board, cost, etc.

Until then, I'm perfectly fine with using my 360 as a Media Center extension.

Slaziman @ Oct 27th 2007 10:12AM

***Extender

kilodelta @ Oct 27th 2007 11:14AM

could care less means you actually care.

Gavin Greenwalt @ Oct 28th 2007 1:24AM

"I could care less" Means I am incapable of caring any less... aka... I don't care at all.

GANNONSMASH @ Oct 28th 2007 9:28PM

"I could care less" means you care.

"I could not care less" means you don't care at all.

Learn grammar before you go on the internet.

SoxFan13 @ Oct 27th 2007 10:21AM

Ludwig-- If everything works out with the IPTV, you won't your copy of American Ninja 4. I'm dreaming of an all American Ninja channel!

Love your posts!

n2 @ Oct 27th 2007 10:22AM

We knew this was coming, as it was announced earlier in the year by Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-08IPTVXboxPR.mspx

okenny @ Oct 27th 2007 1:12PM

It makes me happy to see evidence that it's definately being worked on as they went all deep six on the information. Microsoft is really beginning to show maturity in this downloaded update space for the 360... they make a forecast months in advance and they deliver.... should this come out, it would be mark one of the most significant updates. Still, I wonder about pricing structure.

Superstar90 @ Oct 27th 2007 7:38PM

so that's what mario looks when he shaves? it takes years off him!

Rob Accomando @ Oct 27th 2007 10:23AM

if there is a horror channel, I might be interested. Otherwise, I just watch my cable TV that I already pay for.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 27th 2007 10:40AM

A horror channel would be great but only if they broadcast old good fashioned horror movies like Jason and some of the new ones like the Others.

I would get if it had some sort of anime channel like Funimation

Mr Khan @ Oct 27th 2007 2:35PM

Agree: America needs a dedicated Anime channel of some kind

Toonami and Adult Swim Saturdays certainly try, but its not enough

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 27th 2007 5:17PM

Let me rephrase that

America needs a good dedicated Anime channel of some kind.

Because I have Animax and they only show crap, the best they have shown is Getbackers, FMA,Wolf Rain, The show about that guy named Alucard I forgot the name and unfortunately Gantz.

The rest is Hungry heart, Dear boys and a lot of Captain Subassa rip offs and crap like that.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 27th 2007 11:06PM

@Word

It's Hellsing, and it's one of the few anime that I actually like.

Sorry kids, american cartoons>>>>>anime every time.

mocax @ Oct 27th 2007 10:36AM

Those who bought an xbox360 without harddrives are probably only interested in playing not-too-hardcore games.
Couldn't care less about some new-fangled features that you don't use 99.999% of the time.

NATO_Duke @ Oct 29th 2007 11:00AM

Speculate much?

There are also those that got core's when the system was first released and had to take what they could find at stores. People need to stop assuming the reasons anyone else buys a product.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 27th 2007 10:43AM

I wonder if the service would be international and if so how much it would cost.

If it offers any advantage over TiVo or at least is cheaper I will think about it,I dodn't have Tivo because I rarelly watch Tv these days,I haven't seen anything worth watching in a long time.

Iridium @ Oct 27th 2007 11:19AM

Well it won't be like a Tivo since you can't connect the 360 to a TV tuner.

I don't think Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Dish, and Direct TV would be very happy with Microsoft offering a lot of traditional channels. Unless of course they get paid a hefty fee. IPTV is going to be like Vonage, of course Microsoft's service will be backed by potential billions of litigation protection, something Vonage didn't have.

Korova @ Oct 27th 2007 11:28AM

can you imagine the antitrust crapstorm MS cable TV will cause?! All the intertubes will straighten out under the ground from the collective industry uproar.

But yeah, that would be a best feature.

okenny @ Oct 27th 2007 2:06PM

Let me throw this out there. Why do you think MS has pushed video market place. Why do you think MS has built an impressive library of on-demand asset and content-provider relationships. Did you know Microsoft sold servers that actually hosted IPTV to many content providers. Knowing all this, what do you think would be the next logical progression?

jake @ Oct 27th 2007 11:32AM

From Microsoft's press release in January 2007...

The Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform enables a best-in-class digital TV service that offers advanced features such as instant channel zapping, a rich and responsive user interface, video on demand with branded video-on-demand storefronts, digital video recording and high-definition television. Some of the world’s largest telecommunications service providers have chosen IPTV Edition as their IPTV software solution, with scale commercial deployments currently under way with AT&T in the United States, BT Group PLC in the United Kingdom, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, T-Online in France and Swisscom in Switzerland.

Seraphim @ Oct 27th 2007 12:50PM

IPTV edition? Where will that go next to Ultimate edition, Home Basic edition and Home premium?

Korova @ Oct 27th 2007 11:50AM

Verizon & ATT do IPTV in the US. And they are painfully slow to roll it out, especially in cities, where pulling cable through old buildings is excruciating.

so maybe in 4 years it will be a real choice

Ian @ Oct 27th 2007 11:55AM

A lot of you guys are SORELY mistaken as to what IPTV is. This isn't an MS TV service, its hte ability to use your 360 as an IPTV cable box. You need service from Verizon FIoS TV or AT&T Uverse, and you then use the 360 as a cable box/DVR.

Again, this is NOT an MS Supplied TV service.

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 27th 2007 12:03PM

:(

Too bad.

B1gC72 @ Oct 27th 2007 12:32PM

well thanks for clearing that up. i was just about to go into a rant about how as a PS3 owner, this is one 360 feature i am truly jealous of. but i was under the impression that Microsoft would be offering the channels (kinda like Joost is how i pictured it). either way it wouldnt be a feature that would make me want a 360 but it is a cool feature either way you look at it honestly. cant wait for PlayTV DVR though :-).

gonk @ Oct 27th 2007 1:10PM

how's Home working out for ya?

Stephen @ Oct 28th 2007 3:32AM

Thank god someone said it. People have NO idea what IPTV means. Even the original article makes it seem like this will be an upgrade everyone would be able to use.

Unless your local cable provider/Fios provider is offering this service...you will never see IPTV on your 360

ALH @ Oct 27th 2007 11:58AM

If this is worldwide i hope to god its something you can opt out of.

As someone who doesnt watch TV because of not wanting to pay for something that is never relevant to my intrests, I REALLY dont want to have to pay a TV liscence just because i own an xbox.

Its easy enough to just not plug in an arial into a TV/media centre PC, but i dont know where the grey area lies when it comes to streaming over the intertubes.

You have to buy a licence if you have a mobile phone capable of streaming TV, irregardless of if you use it to watch TV or not. If the same thing happens with consoles i will not be happy :(

Josh @ Oct 27th 2007 12:27PM

It's a pay service, like cable. It isn't opt out, it is opt-in.

misterhearn @ Oct 27th 2007 12:01PM

Dont care as much for "IPTV" when I have Tivo and Directv HD DVR,

Besides I'm one of the "bad people" who got banned from Xbox Live anyways so I'd have to pony up for a new system to put the service to use.

I also wonder how a 360 would hold up, it seems the RRoD reports have died down but as a person who had to personally repair his bricked 360. I think it would suck if someone paid near cable or satellite rates for such a service and its dependent set top box had a high rate of failure and the only way to get it repaired is to DIY or call 1-800-INDIA (1-800-4 MY XBOX) besides I'm pretty sure the best you're gonna get is 720p 1080i takes up too much bandwidth for now.

Dont get me wrong I love the 360 but this seems a little iffy to me. I still wouldnt trade my 360 for anything on the market but these are just my opinion.

Billiam247 @ Oct 27th 2007 12:53PM

1080i uses less bandwidth than 720p, so it's more likely .

James @ Oct 27th 2007 12:12PM

lol. IPTV.

My EyeTV says my TV video stream is 6mb. I'd love to see that on these more common broadband speeds.

Shape @ Oct 27th 2007 12:30PM

It isn't delivered over your internet connection.

It is delivered over the same wires, most likely, but the bandwidth used by IPTV isn't going to take away from your internet connection's bandwidth.

Either way, your EyeTV uses MPEG2, not MPEG4, which is a much better compression scheme.