Microsoft has struck deals with nearly 40 TV content providers to provide programming over Xbox Live, with upcoming deals with providers in the UK including BBC, 40D and LoveFilm.
Gamers won’t require a Gold (paid-for) Xbox Live account to use any of the new services, which are due to be up and running before Christmas.
‘Microsoft is very excited to be welcoming LOVEFiLM to Xbox Live. I feel certain that the opportunity to interact with LOVEFiLM’s amazing catalogue of studio and independent film releases using Kinect-enabled voice and gesture commands will be well received by Xbox owners here in the UK,’ said Xbox UK’s Stephen McGill.
Among the partners rolling out new TV entertainment services to different regions on Xbox Live are AT&T, Comcast, HBO, Rogers, Telefónica, Televisa and Verizon.
The software giant said Xbox LIVE currently has 35 million members worldwide who spend 2.1 billion hours a month on the service, which saw three times the growth in video consumption last year.
Xbox LIVE will now have a unified dashboard for easier navigation, whether customers use Kinect or a controller, Microsoft said.
With Kinect for Xbox 360, there is no need for remotes or buttons, Microsoft said.
“Gone are the days of managing a handful of remote controls, trying to remember what movies are available from what service, and hunting back and forth across television inputs. Using voice search with Bing on Xbox, easily look across a variety of branded services and play the programming you want without ever raising a finger,” it said.
Xbox will allow users to share with friends. Share recommendations, and show the Xbox LIVE community what games one is playing, movies one is watching and music one is listening to.
It also allows them to invite friends to join in, and even post game achievements and info about favorite movies directly to their Facebook walls.
