Microsoft has made a major push into the gaming, TV and entertainment market with a substantial update to its Xbox software, bringing a wide range of on-demand movie and TV content directly to the console through Xbox Live.
The company has partnered with more than 40 film, sports, TV and music content providers worldwide, including services such as LoveFilm, ESPN, the BBC, Netflix and Sky, among others. Many of these partners deliver their catalogs through apps that users can install on the Xbox console, expanding the variety of available entertainment.
Microsoft is also introducing the first mobile app designed to connect directly with a gaming console. The free Xbox Companion app, available for Windows Phone 7 users beginning December 6, enables remote control of the console and lets users search the Xbox content catalog across all providers from a mobile device.
“A new era in entertainment begins where all your entertainment is together in one place,” said Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. “With this update, Xbox 360 system owners will experience Kinect voice control integrated with Bing search, making TV and entertainment experiences more social and personal than ever.”
The update introduces a range of new features and a Metro-style tile navigation interface that aligns the console’s user experience with the Windows Phone design language. This refreshed UI makes browsing apps and content more consistent and visually streamlined.
Xbox Kinect voice control now performs actions such as play, pause and content search. Integrated Bing search enables users to search across the offerings of Xbox’s content partners, making it easier to find movies, TV episodes and other media across multiple services at once. This cross-provider search capability represents a significant advancement for connected TV functionality.
Cloud services are another key element of the update: users can sign in to any internet-connected console and access previously saved games and content, improving convenience and continuity between devices.
Recent industry data in the United States shows Xbox outselling Nintendo’s Wii by roughly 400,000 units in November, a rise of about 5% compared with the same month the previous year. With approximately 35 million of the world’s 57 million Xbox consoles already connected to Xbox Live, this update has strong potential to accelerate Microsoft’s position in the living-room entertainment space, an area that has attracted interest from many major companies.
“This is now the benchmark against which all other living room initiatives should be compared,” said James McQuivey of Forrester Research. “With more than 57 million people worldwide already sitting on a box that’s about to be upgraded for free, Microsoft has not only built the right experience, it has ensured that it will spread quickly and with devastating effect.”
The update marks a clear step toward unifying gaming and entertainment under a single, connected platform, offering users more choice, easier discovery and tighter integration between console, cloud and mobile devices.