Microsoft teases Tuesday’s Xbox update, promises BBC content early 2012

By Tom Warren, on 5th Dec 11 8:24 am with 25 Comments

Microsoft revealed on Monday that it plans to offer BBC content on its Xbox console in early 2012.

The software giant previously revealed that it was working with the BBC in October. The company confirmed BBC content will be available in early 2012 on Monday, alongside HBO GO, Xfinity on demand and MLB.TV. Microsoft will begin to push out its Xbox 360 fall dashboard update tomorrow to 57 million consoles. “We have something very special in the living room, and with our latest update to Xbox LIVE, it only gets better,” said Microsoft’s Marc Whitten in a blog post on Monday.

The dashboard update will bring Microsoft’s Metro style interface to the Xbox. Microsoft is also preparing to include YouTube and Bing on the Xbox. Bing users will be able to use Kinect’s voice recognition feature to search for movies, music and other content on their consoles. The new dashboard will also enable Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone integration with Xbox, see a video demonstration here. Microsoft plans to make its dashboard update available on December 6 for all Xbox 360 customers. Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE TV offerings will include the following channels at launch:

  • EPIX. United States
  • ESPN on Xbox LIVE (ESPN). United States
  • Hulu. Japan
  • Hulu Plus. United States
  • LOVEFiLM. United Kingdom
  • Netflix. Canada, United States
  • Premium Play by (MediaSet). Italy
  • Sky Go (SkyDE). Germany
  • Telefónica España – Movistar Imagenio. Spain
  • TODAY (MSNBC). United States

The major of content providers will slowly roll their applications out over the course of December, including Google’s YouTube application.

  • http://twitter.com/kid_jenius Daniel Paulino

    Hey Santa. There’s this realllyy awesome thing called an Xbox 360… do you happen to make one of those in your workshop? cuz i’d LOOOOVE to have one of those!

    i’ve been a good boy, i swear! i don’t use androids or iphones ;)

    Thanks,
    Daniel

  • http://twitter.com/warex3d warex3D

    this will be epic!

  • Candid Calum

    No Sky Go for the UK at launch?

    • SmokeMonkey

      Sky as been up Apple’s ass and pushing mobile so hard, they forgot about xbox… the wp7 sky news app was developed for free.

    • Ben Gudge

      Sky Go is available now

    • http://twitter.com/J88NYr Jonny Rose

      Its not needed, whats on SKY Go and more is already on xbox

  • http://twitter.com/mrguard2006 Guard Deals

    do i need to be a XBox Live Gold member to watch youtube? its not clear!

    • Anonymous

      Every service (netflix, last.fm, etc) needs a XBL gold membership; so, maybe.

  • http://doctorwhofan98.wordpress.com/ doctorwhofan98

    If only I had an XBOX 360…

  • http://twitter.com/abhi1manyu Abhimanyu Jamwal

    its like microsoft told apple and google, look people you have tried and you have failed, let me try it now….they went to every damn media i wanted on my TV and told them, look you are either winning with us or you are loosing with them and we are have some sick games too and the kinect”

    and the story ends here……all the talk about the next battle is for tv and living room, well hello people, microsoft has won it already, they have around 30 million xbox gold members which makes them by far the largest company sitting in the living room and now with comptt. actually built around them rather than against them, they are the winners :) cant wait to get back to xbox world when I am back at my place on 9th :) )

    • Deathmore34

      Sick games…….

      I would like to go against that. This is the thing that people don’t understand, that goes for both likers and non likers of the Xbox (hate is just being a hater), the Xbox has become the third party console, what that means is MS doesn’t need to focus on games, as the majority of Xbox users pretty much play third party games. They established that its the box to play with your friends, there is no arguing that fact. I am happy they actually did that since its such a smart move.

      Now then as a gamer, I don’t play on the 360, because like I said before there aren’t any more first party titles. That is a good thing for MS as they’ve established they have the largest online gaming market share and that their online service is great. Its a bad thing for people like me that actually want a reason to play on the xbox 360, because I could just play the third party games on either PS3 or my PC, which is what I do, because the online service is no different to me than that of pc online games and PSN.

      Great for Microsoft and current Xbox users but for people like me, it really hasn’t won the living room space. Look at it from a UK persons perspective, traditional TV is still staying here for a long time and pretty much my PS3 and pcs still offer more catch up content, which I don’t even use because I have catch up tv on my virgin media TiVo box.

  • http://www.about.me/AngeloGopaul Eingoluq

    I don’t get how the same company can have awesome ads for one product and mediocre ads for the next.
    It’s a paradox.

    • Anonymous

      What’s also ironic is that they can also put out such impressive online ads and the dumbest commercials on TV ever invented

    • http://www.facebook.com/MRWisbey Morgan Wisbey

      Ill tell you why. The online adds can be any length. TV ads are generally 30 second spots. With TV they try to pack too much info into one ad. Apple has this down to a science. One whole ad to show Siri. They dont try to show every feature on the phone in 30 seconds. MSFT needs to pick one feature and hammer it for each ad. When they figure this out they will be in better shape. Until then expect more confusing ads that only make sense to those who already use the product.

    • Anonymous

      Yes.  The Xbox’s “Jump In” TV ads made no sense. They never showed the 360 or what it could do. They just showed people jumping rope or playing cops and robbers. 

    • http://www.about.me/AngeloGopaul Eingoluq

      I personally think that those ads were great and effective, the mediocre ads I spoke of was for Windows phone 7

    • Guest

      Generally it’s because you have different groups, in different divisions, using different advertising agencies, with little central coordination (despite a company-wide VP of marketing) and zero oversight from Ballmer, who apparently doesn’t care if 3/4 of their $1 b/yr ad budget actually serves to detract from MS’s image and product sales vs enhance it.

  • Anonymous

    I just want a Zune Video Pass where I can get all of the TV Episodes and 5 movie rentals a month for $39/month or an Zune Ultra Pass for Both the Music and Video passes for $50/ month.  I would get it in a heartbeat and drop my cable subscription.

  • Anonymous

    I just want a Zune Video Pass where I can get all of the TV Episodes and 5 movie rentals a month for $39/month or an Zune Ultra Pass for Both the Music and Video passes for $50/ month.  I would get it in a heartbeat and drop my cable subscription.

  • http://circuitsoft.tumblr.com CircuitSoft

    Windows hires elves to make things for them, but Apple hires garbage men to “make” their “products”.

  • http://www.mainstreetchatham.com/ JimmyFal

    If I can search my live TV, and On Demand and Youtube AND Netflix for keywords like “Universe” and “Martin Scorsese” “Yankees” or “Documentaries on Banking Crisis”, and also play, pause, FF and Rewind, I am going to freak out.  I have seen a taste in the Preview, I really hope they deliver here. Big opportunity.

  • Anonymous

    The Bing search is very cool! I just told it “Huey Lewis” and “Back to the Future” popped up.  It is interesting what content the search feature will find for you.

  • Anonymous

    And nothing new for Canada. Some things never change. *sigh* We already have Netflix thanks, but with totally gimped content compared to what’s available in the states.

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