Qtv unveiled plans to push its "all-in-one" streaming media player to home consoles at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show (NAB 2009), held yesterday in Las Vegas. While other streaming services exist in the current console market, Qtv will begin testing the service in the U.S. using the PlayStation 2 as its base platform, with plans to move to newer consoles at a later time.

Included in the Qtv package is access to YouTube and other streaming video services, as well as Internet radio. The Qtv media player will also allow users to grab and share content -- such as pictures, music and videos of various formats (DivX, h.264, XviD and more) -- from other compatible devices. With the service set to launch later this year, Qtv plans to turn PS2 users into HDTV set-top owners for "less than $50." An interesting proposition ... if we could remember which of our younger relatives we gave our system to.

[Via Engadget]

Zatz Not Funny! is reporting that IPTV is going through "multiple carrier field trials" and that U.S. 360 owners may be able to get IPTV access through AT&Ts U-verse. Though, that's only speculation. As far as Europe goes, BT is still the go-to IPTV carrier, but official launch details are still up in the air. All said, we wonder if anyone is still interested in IPTV functionality on the 360. Anyone?

[Via Gizmodo]

Puzzling details about Microsoft's partnership with UK telecom company BT Group have begun to trickle down. According to BBC, when used as a set-top box to deliver BT's television service, Xbox 360 "will not be able to receive or record live TV." Say what?

The report describes the subscription-based service (with 12-month contract) as a library of on-demand content – yeah, like this one – that includes "near-live" Premier League soccer matches. "The reason for streaming-only on the Xbox is because currently the console does not have the capability for live TV or enough hard drive [space] for practical downloading of content," a BT spokesman told BBC, seemingly hinting that a firmware update could be in the works to enable live streaming. [Update: BT's current service only offers over-the-air live broadcasts (and not via IPTV); without a tuner, Xbox 360 is not capable of receiving the company's live programming.]

Whatever the case, something ain't right here, so we've put a call into Microsoft for answers. Stay tuned.

We've finally heard back from MS; their statement is attached after the break:

Upon reading a BBC article published today, it seems that British Telecom's planned IPTV service is much less attractive than we had hoped. It turns out that the service does not support live TV or digital video recorder (DVR) functionality, but will be entirely on-demand. In other words, 360 owners will have access to BT's programming library, but won't be flipping channels or recording their favorite shows to watch later. Looking through the CES press release again, the only advantage we can see over the standard set-top box service (which offers live TV and DVR) is that gamers can stay connected to Xbox Live while watching on-demand programming through their 360s, allowing them to send messages and receive game invites among other things. We're not sure that alone justifies a 12-month contract. Of course, if you're interested in nabbing a BT set-top box and you just happen to have a 360 as well, it makes some sense.

Perhaps the most interesting quote in the BBC article is from a BT spokesman: "The reason for streaming only on the Xbox is because currently the console does not have the capability for live TV ...." Now, we know the 360 is capable of live TV, as it was demonstrated at last year's CES. Furthermore, all IPTV is streaming, which makes the quote a bit odd. As far as we know, the only thing keeping the 360 from streaming IPTV is a firmware update. For now, we'll give BT the benefit of the doubt and assume that's what the spokesperson was referring to. We've got a call in to Microsoft for clarification.

Update: After a helpful comment and some digging, we've figured out the basis for British Telecom's claim that the 360 couldn't support live TV. It turns out that BT's live TV offerings are all made over the air. In other words, live TV is received via an antenna, something the 360 currently can't do. The on-demand services, on the other hand, are offered through IPTV. Still, as the first official IPTV offering on the 360, it seems a bit lacking. (Thanks for the insight, mike.)

[Thanks, Scotty Turbo]

During their CES keynote, Microsoft took stage and also announced that British Telecom will be the first company to launch the Xbox 360 IPTV service in the UK. British Telecom is the largest telecommunication company in the UK and will eventually allow customers to purchase Xbox 360 consoles for IPTV service. No release date was announced for the program to be up and running, but if history is any indicator of future events then we should see 360 IPTV up and running by around ... 2010. We kid, we kid!

Having previously announced its intentions to have the Xbox 360 as a set-top box (STB) at last year's Consumer Electronics Show, Bill Gates told the audience at this year's keynote that British telecommunications company BT Group will be the first company to use the console as a set-top box, whose interface was most recently seen by accident in a repaired console.

Said Gates, "The final announcement, last year we talked about the 360 being an STB -- this year we're excited to announce that BT will be the first to provide that capability. Buy a 360 and use it as an STB for your TV." No other details are given (what about DVR?), but we're hoping to hear some more soon. Check out our hands-on with the service from last year's show.

Non-American PS3s are incredible. In Europe, you'll be able to get DVR on your system, so you can record TV shows. In Korea, you'll be able to watch TV through the new IPTV service available exclusively for that territory. Watch this video, taken from a Korean electronics show. With this, Korean PS3 fans will be able to really take advantage of the PS3's media abilities. Too bad an equivalent service won't happen in the States.

So, we know those IPTV screens are "unrelated" to the Xbox 360's Fall Update, but that's about all we know about the last of this year's major 360 updates. Last year's Fall Update (was that really the first?) included 1080p support, HD DVD functionality, XNA functionality, WMV compatibility, and more. Some pretty big-ticket items in there, to be sure. And there's been two Spring Updates ('06 and '07), both of which came with some huge improvements including background downloading and chat and IM functionality.

Just two days before the one-year anniversary of the Fall Update, we'd like to ask you Joystiqers, what should we expect to see in this year's Fall Update? We've heard rumors of DivX video support, an XBLA blade, and integrated clan functionality. Surely there's more up the sleeve of Redmond's oversized fall-themed sweater. Us? We'd love to be able to change the listed gamertag of 'xXsmokezmadbluntz420Xx' to the more frequently used title: 'Mom'. And what do you, dear readers, want to see in your Fall Update? Vote up the comments you like best and we'll compile the best answers later in the week.

Microsoft has now officially responded to the story we broke yesterday regarding photos we received displaying an Xbox 360 with IPTV features enabled (though unusable). Joystiq has learned that these features were "inadvertently exposed" to the Xbox 360 in question during repair. Microsoft adds that IPTV is not part of the upcoming Xbox 360 Fall Update, but will be made available to service providers by the end of the year. It will then be up to service providers to decide when and how to roll out the Mediaroom enabled boxes. So there you have it folks. It is IPTV, but not part of the fall update.

See Microsoft's statement after the break.

Turns out those images of an Xbox 360 with IPTV were legit. In a statement issued by Microsoft, the Redmond-based company acknowledged that the IPTV features "were inadvertently exposed while the customer's console was being serviced and is unrelated to the Fall Update."

The IPTV features, according to the statement, are part of the Microsoft Mediaroom services and will be made available to service providers by the end of this year, adding that it will be up to them to decide when the service is deployed. We've posted Microsoft's complete statement after the break.

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.

Update 2: Microsoft has responded to our screenshots saying that this isolated IPTV incident is not part of the Fall update and was accidentally exposed during repair. Learn more here.

Update: We just learned that Aaron just got his 360 back from Microsoft repair this week. We also know that his dash version isn't any different than the one that is already out (2.0.5787.0) leading us to believe that his 360 doesn't have the Fall update. But the new options are definitely related to the IPTV service as more options were discovered in his 360's settings. Need proof? Check out the two new screenshots we just added.

If the sweet, juicy, rumor friendly screenshots that we just received via our tipster inbox hold any water, then everyone can look forward to IPTV being part of the Fall update. Though, remember kids, this is all filed under the "rumor" tag ...

The two four screenshots you see in the gallery below were sent to us by tipster Aaron, who says that he turned on his Xbox 360 today and noticed a new TV icon with four text squares in his media blade and was wondering if we knew what it was all about. We investigated and noticed that this new TV icon option wasn't normal and replaced the "Video Marketplace" option that we see on our dash. The second thing we noticed was that, when hovered over, the description for the mysterious TV icon option reads:

Use television services.
• Live & recorded TV
• On-demand movies
• Chat while watching TV

Sounds like IPTV options to us. Once clicked, an error message pops up stating that it was "unable to start" and to contact support at www.microsoft.com/tv. That URL will take you to Microsoft's Mediaroom website ... also interesting. So, if everything is legit in these pictures and Aaron doesn't end up being a Photoshop God, we're going speculate that this random occurrence is related somehow to the Fall update. The square text boxes, error message and overall un-ready status of the dashboard option all smell of a Fall update that isn't yet ready for the masses. Maybe Aaron was online at the right moment when an Xbox Live engineer tripped over a cord sending Fall update goodness to his 360. Who knows. We'll try to get more information about this odd occurrence and ultimately find out if these screens are real and relate to IPTV or the Fall update. Until then, file everything into the rumor section of your brain and give the screenshots a look over.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Korea's primary telecommunications operator, known as KT, has teamed up with Sony to expand the multimedia functionality of the PS3. PS3 will gain the ability to broadcast IPTV, "an internet-based TV service," in November. IPTV is not available in many countries, meaning this service is unlikely to come to America. For now, the price of the service is unknown. However, this will undoubtedly be an attractive feature for Korean consumers.

[Via Engadget]

Remember Microsoft's grand announcement that IPTV would be available to Xbox 360 owners sometime in 2007 and all the excitement that followed? Yeah, us either, but our European friends may be getting one step closer to the promised IPTV function with the latest rumor hitting the web. Word on the street is that British Telecom may have cut a deal with Microsoft to exclusively offer IPTV to its subscribers through the Xbox 360 sometime this year. And it isn't all that far fetched seeing that BT is the largest and only telecom provider in the area and has already partnered with Microsoft using their Microsoft Mediaroom software. We'll just have to be patient and wait to see if the IPTV talk starts up again, because the topic has been hidden in the shadows for quite the long time. Wereez R IPTV doodz?

[Via Xboxic, Thanks DjDATZ]

We like the PS3, but we've often thought that it would be vastly improved if we could use it to figure out what sort of girl Bret Michaels goes for or if we were, in fact, smarter than a 5th grader. It appears that Sony has heard our prayers, with one marketing exec claiming that the system will receive a digital tuner that will allow the box to serve as a digital video recorder (a PS3-Vo, if you will) next year.

Warwick Light, who runs marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment in New Zealand, set the beans to spilling in The Press, saying "We're also hoping next year – about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service (expected to be in March) – to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder." When can you expect to hear more? Well, we're just guessing, but we've already heard we can expect some fireworks from Sony at Leipzig. Also, Microsoft's been talking about offering this sort of service this fall, so the timing would make sense.

[Via Engadget]