Microsoft Corp has teamed up with a handful of Hollywood studios to sell TV shows and rent movies that can be downloaded through the software maker's Xbox Live online video-game service and beamed straight onto television sets.
The company announced on Monday that beginning on Nov. 22, Xbox Live users with the latest console will be able to choose from shows including South Park, which airs on MTV's Comedy Central and CBS Corp's CSI, and movies including Warner Bros' V for Vendetta and Paramount Pictures' Mission Impossible III.
In addition to CBS, Warner Bros Home Entertainment and Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and MTV Networks, Microsoft has signed agreements with Turner Broadcasting System Inc and Ultimate Fighting Championship, a privately held Las Vegas company that primarily broadcasts pay-per-view fights.
PHOTO: AP
The financial terms of the part-nerships were not disclosed.
Ross Honey, senior director of Microsoft's media, content and partner strategy group, estimated that 750 hours of programming would be available as soon as the service launches and roughly 1,000 hours by the end of the year.
The programming -- most of it in standard-definition format and some in high-definition -- will be available through the Xbox 360 console to any user of Xbox Live's free or paid online service, which allows gamers with broadband connections to send text or voice messages to each other, and watch movie trailers and other product demonstrations.
Microsoft has not said how much the downloads will cost, only that prices for programs broadcast in standard definition will be "competitive" with those offered by rivals, including Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes store, Movielink and Amazon.com's Unbox.
TV shows through those services generally go for US$1.99 per episode, while movie rentals generally cost about US$3.99. Microsoft will sell TV shows for purchase only, and the only option for movies will be a rental that expires 24 hours after you start watching it.
High-definition content will cost more than standard-definition programming because it requires a lot more bandwidth to broadcast in the higher-quality format, Honey said.
A key advantage Microsoft is hoping will play in its favor is that consumers will be able to watch the content on their TV sets rather than on computers or portable digital devices, the standards for most of the competing services.
"Being able to watch on your TV, yeah, that's a pretty big deal," said David Cole, president of DFC Intelligence, a market research firm based in San Diego.
IPods and other devices can be plugged into TV sets with optional cables, though the picture quality usually suffers a bit. A handful of gadgets that act as a bridge between computers and TVs also are available but have not gained much consumer traction.
Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, recently showed off a compact set-top box, dubbed iTV, that will allow consumers to wirelessly send movies purchased online -- as well as other digital content stored on a computer -- to a television set. He said it will be available early next year.
Much like the Media Center edition of Windows XP, which Microsoft touts as an all-in-one PC and home entertainment center, the new Xbox service aims to bolster Microsoft's presence in the living room. Nevertheless, industry analysts are not predicting it will drive hordes of people to buy the Xbox console.
"This is already a game system -- so it's really going to sell to a presold audience,'' Cole said. ``People aren't going to be buying it for these features."
Some analysts said the initial variety of Xbox TV and movie programming struck them as a bit thin.
"The size of the launch library did feel a bit too small to be able to make a huge immediate impact," said Jason Anderson, director of research at San Francisco-based International Development Group. "But what it does is send out a signal flare to the rest of the industry that there's a commitment from Microsoft to be able to sell multiple types of content through the Xbox."
Analysts are not predicting that the new service will steal much business away from Sony Corp's market-leading PlayStation franchise, but the consensus seems to be that it will help Microsoft remain competitive.
The Xbox service will launch less than a week after PlayStation 3 video-game console hits store shelves in the US.
Sony has not said whether it will sell TV shows and movies through PS3, though company officials last month said the forthcoming online PlayStation Store is being set up so users could potentially download movies through the PS3.
It would be easy for Sony to sell TV and movie downloads, given its ready access to shows and films produced by its Sony Pictures division.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2