Canadian telephone company Telus will now give Microsoft Xbox 360 owners the chance of using the game console as a backup or a secondary TV set-top box in the home.
Subscribers must have a Telus-approved HD DVR already, and need to schedule an appointment for a tech to configure the Xbox 360 for Internet Protocol TV (IPTV).
This is the first time a broadband/cable provider has offered IPTV service through a game console -- and could begin a trend that other providers might follow. I'm hoping that this type of offering will be launched by US television providers as well.
"We are blazing a trail as the first provider in North America to offer this innovative capability with Xbox 360 and Optik TV," said David Fuller, Telus Chief Marketing Officer, in a statement. "The integration of the Optik TV service, powered by Microsoft Mediaroom, with the Xbox 360 will deliver increased flexibility and enhance our customers' entertainment experience."
This is a very interesting move by Telus and Microsoft, as it seemed like only a matter of time before using the Xbox as a set-top box was a viable option.
Telus already offers new broadband Internet subscribers a free Xbox 360 gaming console and the company hopes that the addition of IPTV support will convince additional Xbox 360 owners to sign up for service.
I'm somewhat disappointing that a Telus tech has to come out and custom configure the Xbox 360 for each subscriber. I'm sure tech savvy consumers would rather be given detailed instructions for configuring their Xbox 360 on their own. Regardless of overall difficulty of Xbox 360 configuration, scheduling an appointment and waiting for a technician to visit seems silly, if its not avoidable.
This isn’t the first time an Xbox-related IPTV effort was started, but this is the first use that actually made it to market as a consumer offering. We heard about a DirecTV 360 blade that would have given Xbox Live users access to the custom DirecTV content, but the project was never launched to the public.
With the processing power and internet connectivity packed inside both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, it seems inevitable that they would be used for more complicated tasks such as IPTV and cable set-top box work. Could the PS3 be next?
