Report: AT&T streaming TV finally comes to Xbox in November

by JC Fletcher on Oct 8th 2010 1:00PM

Remember three years ago, when IPTV for Xbox 360 was first announced? According to leaked memos obtained by Engadget, Americans with AT&T U-verse service will soon be able to enjoy it: The memo reveals that the wait for the Mediaroom service will finally, finally be over on November 7.

That's when, the documents say, an Xbox 360 Dashboard app will become available to allow the console to be used as a U-verse set-top box (provided you already have another AT&T-leased receiver or DVR-equipped box in the house). In addition, Engadget received slides like the one pictured above, specifying that only consoles with hard drives will work for the service.

Source: Engadget

Tags: att, dvr, iptv, mediaroom, microsoft, set-top-box, streaming-tv, u-verse, xbox

Reader Comments (41)

Sweet. Yet again, XB360 owners can pay for something only to be able to pay for something else!

@sammo21

It doesn't look like this necessarily costs extra, though it doesn't say for sure. I actually am pretty stoked for this, as I have my 360 hooked up to my computer monitor in a bedroom, and now I'll be able to watch TV up there if I felt like it - since I don't have a TV set up in that room.

I wonder if it'll have any DVR-like features.

@sammo21

Not to mention that it's not available in all areas.

@Jerk Face

It's going to be exactly the same as the extra set-top boxes they already have. You only have one DVR, which is your main set-top box. Everything recorded there is streamed to your other boxes, inluding your xbox when this comes out.

wooo more features for Americans!!! oh wait I live in the UK... DOH!!

@yoshieee

Technically this feature was enabled for Canadians a couple of months ago.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/455665-Canada_s_Telus_Pipes_IPTV_To_Microsoft_Xbox_360s.php

@yoshieee the UK has had this feature for a while through BT (which also uses MediaRoom).

@MDizzy not on xbox though

we could of had bbc iplayer but it would have been free and well, MS don't like giving us free stuff

Cool.....?

I'd sign up if ATT provided a waranty. I have experience with media boxes ylod'ing.

Devices that are supposed to log hundreds of hours of use from being used what they are designed for, sometimes daily, shouldn't break every two years or so. Otherwise lower the price of the units, because at that point it's just a rental service with 'renewal' fees served up in huge chunks.

@Lenticular I have 4 Xbox 360's that I use for TV now. I stream HDTV to them from a PC, the 360 does get pretty hot during the TV watching. I've been doing this for over a year now, not one of them have died and they all are different hardware revisions. My wife works from home, so she usually leaves TV on in the background with news and other shows.

I do see your concern since the 360 will actually be recording the shows, where as my set up records on a PC in a closet, I wouldnt worry too much. Its a damn cool idea, the only reason it works is U-Verse's cable boxes are basically running a modified version of Windows Media Center. I'm interested to see if you'll use the Media center shell or program for it. If you care at all about a good DVR system, build a Windows 7 machine, get a CableCARD and enjoy a really cool set up. Even if you just use a antenna its still a really great set up.

Assuming that set top boxes cost a monthly fee on U-Verse (I don't have it yet) this is a great value add.

I'm still not sure if I'll switch. It's supposed to be here next week or so, but I'm having a hard time letting go of my 30mbit cable internet (I was on 6mbit DSL for years).

@BananaBoat U-Verse is good from a TV perspective; I'm very happy with it. Even the max internet speed they over, though, doesn't really compare to what you have with cable. It's a hard decision.

@Softserve - That's what is really holding me back. I'm getting 30mbit, while paying for a lower tier thanks to the voodoo that is the way the cable company figures out how much bandwidth you get (I guess the people on my node aren't heavy internet users?). I can't even imagine what speed I'd get if I paid for the highest tier (50/10 mbit I think). The highest I could get with U-Verse is like 18mbit, and it costs more than I am paying now.

I have to weigh the inconvenience of lower internet speeds against the convenience of being able to record a show in one room, and watch it in another (as well as being able to record shows from my phone, etc). It's going to be a tough call.

U-Verse has a lot of limitations with their home DVR service, so I'm wondering how this will work with AT&T. Right now, you can only watch / record 4 channels in the entire house at once, and only 2 of them can be HD. Obviously, that sucks for people who have large families or record a lot of TV. I'm wondering if this will count as one of the 4 channels when in use, or if it's something else.

@Yeah TB
You record more than 4 shows at a time? I have U-Verse as well, 2 receivers, and record a ton of shows, but I don't think I've ever run into the problem of needing to record 5+ shows simultaneously. Other than that, I've never had "a lot of limitation" with U-Verse. How many streams can you record on a Tivo or Cable box by comparison? Just curious.

I would imagine, if anything, AT&T would charge you the $7 for the privilege of using it as a 2nd receiver, and then the software would just emulate their menu system and it would work like a normal receiver.

@Yeah TB - Only two of them can be HD? Meh....I often run into a Chuck/House/Monday Night Football (at the same time) scenario, and only being able to record two of them in HD is kind of a deal breaker. I mean, it's nicer than only being able to record two streams total (which is what I have now), but I can only imagine the fight that would ensue over which family members show gets to be taped in HD, and which doesn't.

@docholoday With cable, you can record 2 shows at once on the same box on one TV, which doesn't affect the rest of the house. U-Verse lets you watch / record 4 channels at the same time throughout the entire house.

The first night we had U-Verse we ran into problems. We had 2 shows recording, my brother was watching something, and my sister was watching something in her room. I came home, turned the TV on, and it interrupted my sister's signal without telling me. It just kicked her off. And while we're recording both shows in HD, I'm watching live TV in SD, which defeats the purpose of having an HDTV or receiver.

Like I said, it's a problem for homes with a lot of people. Other than that, I enjoyed the U-Verse service.

@Yeah TB I think I'm going to wait around for that Quad Tuner Cable Card device and use my Xbox as a media center extender instead.

@Yeah TB I didnt realize that about the 4 shows at once. Isnt AT&T's U-Verse IPTV? I dont know a ton about IPTV, but say you're recording 4 shows and trying to play online...will it cause lag?

Best DVR: Windows 7, 2 Ceton CableCARD tuners (8 shows recording at once), 2TB Recording drive, Xbox 360's around the house. Its a total win, you have the best DVR system around and you can play games in any room. I'm close..just need the 2 $400 Ceton cards hahah

Once again Microsoft is proving why I like Playstation better.

I don't get why they chose AT&T. U-verse in not available in all areas and you need to have a previous independent box in order to use the App. MEGA FAIL!

Because adding functionality, however useless or obscene is a mega fail. /logic

@DMG78 because they offer something playstation doesn't? I understand it's not for everyone, but hey if uverse was in my area I'd be all about it. I'm willing to bet having to have one AT&T box is their stipulation not microsoft.

@DMG78 Because AT&T is the only major IPTV service so far? Cable doesn't work in the same way, so you couldn't run it through the XBox (unless your XBox has a coax input?).

Man, I'm surprised it has taken so long to introduce IPTV to Xbox. There must be a lot of red-tape to go through.

Microsoft + Verison partnership involving FiOS.

DOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTT!

Verizon*. Such fail :(

What I want to know and can't seem to find anywhere is. Do you have to subscribe to xbox live gold level to use this. I never did go for gold since I don't have enough games that would benefit from it.

@shoan - I would imagine so. This won't be free for Microsoft to implement after all.

In Canada, you can already do this with Telus where their Optik service is available

Yes!!! Given that my roommates and I each have an Xbox, this means we can save $7/month per bedroom and get rid of our AT&T set-top boxes. Plus, I'll be happy to recover one of my HDMI ports on my TV. =)

For those complaining that this is only U-Verse and not "insert provider here", at least this is a start. Hopefully this will be expanded to other providers in the future (e.g., Verizon FIOS, Comcast, Time Warner, etc).

@devonair or not...the only reason it works with U-Verse is because they use Microsoft's Media Room Software and as far as I know are the only US provider that uses that solution.

I have U-Verse and a 360, so this is cool. Although my 360 is right next to my U-Verse set-top box, so it may not really give me any extra functionality I don't already have.

Well shit, I've been waiting for this for 3+ years and I dumped my ATT Uverse cuz of cost a month ago... I was hoping to get away with using my xbox as a receiver to save a few bucks but... oh well.

Oh man you really got me on that one!!

Look, this will be great if you have U-Verse but I'm not changing providers so I can watch tv on my XBOX. I think from a marketing stand point there isn't much to market unless you already have AT&T. Maybe AT&T is using Microsofts brand to boost sales for their service. I don't know. I'm not sold. P.S. Still a loyal PS fan.FTW!

@DMG78
so you don't have a 360 OR uverse? why the heck did you even look at this article much less take the time to make 2 separate fanboy comments??

@DMG78

It's not complicated. Current U-verse subscribers have another reason to get an xbox, so they can use it as an extra set-top box. Current xbox users get a bonus out of switching to U-verse if/when they want to change providers.

They aren't expecting everyone to use it, it's just an added feature. I don't get all the naysayers saying it's useless because it doesn't apply directly to them. That's like saying streaming netflix was a useless feature because you don't already have a netflix account.

Now if it was actually on a Cable system (cough...Comcast/Xfinity....cough) that actually mattered....this would be big news.

Good thing I have a Win 7 Media Center with a CETON Quad Digital CableCard Tuner :)

I don't ever recall saying that I don't have an Xbox. As a matter of fact I have all 3 major systems and 2 gaming PC's. When did having an opinion become so despised?

People are complaining about it not being for other services. This is because it is limited to the Microsoft Mediaroom tech. Because Telus in Canada and At&t in the US are both using Mediaroom for their PVR tech, you can extend it to the Xbox 360. Only companies that use Mediaroom will ever be able to enable this service on the Xbox 360. I also believe that SkyTV or something like that has enabled this in the UK.

Report: AT&T streaming TV finally comes to Xbox in November

Reader Comments (41)

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:04PM sammo21 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:10PM Jerk Face said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:25PM DMG78 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 4:04PM CaramelZappa said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:05PM yoshieee said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 4:02PM spid said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 7:21PM MDizzy said

Posted: Oct 9th 2010 6:34AM yoshieee said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:05PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:09PM Lenticular said

Posted: Oct 9th 2010 12:19AM AFATALERR0R said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:14PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:24PM Softserve said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:42PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:28PM Yeah TB said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:44PM docholoday said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:49PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:56PM Yeah TB said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 7:25PM MDizzy said

Posted: Oct 9th 2010 12:25AM AFATALERR0R said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:28PM DMG78 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:48PM BlackedOut said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:51PM brer said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:57PM snoopy369 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 1:32PM Tuxy79 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:05PM R Planteer said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:05PM R Planteer said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:08PM shoan said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:43PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:12PM KentBrockman said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:22PM devonair said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 7:28PM MDizzy said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:22PM Trojan said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:36PM Usr666 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 2:53PM DMG78 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 3:05PM DMG78 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 3:33PM chex said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 4:13PM CaramelZappa said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 3:27PM GoonieGooGoo said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 3:43PM DMG78 said

Posted: Oct 8th 2010 4:04PM Rinedog said

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