Tag TV

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Microsoft Releases New Xbox Live Tomorrow, Promises Better Voice Control, New Features, And More Contents

Dec 5, 11 6:50 PM

Tech and gaming communities are buzzing with excitements on Microsoft Xbox Live’s new update which will be released by tomorrow.  It is being reported that Microsoft’s new Xbox Live will have enhanced voice control, Bing integration, mobile app for Windows Phone to act as enhanced remote control, and new contents.  It sounds great and all, but I think there is a but for me.

The but is about how Xbox users have to pay $60 annual fee for Gold Membership.  Without Gold Membership, Xbox users cannot even watch Netflix which they have already paid for anyhow.  Playstation 3 is different in this regard as in how Playstation users can watch Netflix through Playstation 3 without needing to pay anything.  In the end, as I do not care to purchase or waste a $60 for a Gold Membership, I think Xbox users who are in the same boat as me will excite little over the new Xbox Live.

Remember, even right after you pay for $60 Gold Membership, you still have to pay for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Verizon FiOS, and others before you can actually get to enjoy the contents.  The reasons for people to cut TV cord is not that they only want TV on demand, but they are interested in cost cutting, enjoying better TV experience, and then cost cutting.  I think Xbox Live has to rethink on how to help Xbox users save costs without sacrificing great contents, otherwise I think just subscribing to one awesome service such as Netlfix and stream it over computers will be just as great.

Source:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/microsofts-xbox-update-voice-control_n_1129104.html

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This Holiday Season, Microsoft’s Xbox Live “Metro” Attracts Users With Kinect, Bing, Live TV Show, And Video On Demand Deep Integrations

Sep 9, 11 1:57 PM

Gizmodo reports that Microsoft’s Xbox Live “Metro” will go live when this holiday season comes around.  It seems that Xbox Live “Metro” users will be able to use their Xbox 360 consoles as Cable and Video on Demand boxes.  Folks at Microsoft are suggesting that they are talking to more content providers so Xbox 360 users will be able to experience more contents such as live TV shows and movies.  Upon improving contents, Microsoft enhances Kinect features within Xbox Live “Metro” to allow users to control almost all aspects of Xbox 360 with voice recognition and hand gestures.  Bing will also integrate tightly with Kinect features within Xbox Live “Metro” so users can use voice recognition to search for things.

New features that Microsoft will release for Xbox Live “Metro” are definitely going to be awesome for Xbox users.  I totally vote for them!  Nonetheless, I think Microsoft has a narrow vision.  Why?  Besides Xbox 360, shouldn’t Microsoft allow users to experience live TV shows and Video on Demand and Kinect capabilities on Windows 7 or 8 and Windows Phone 7?  Unfortunately, I think Microsoft prefers to sell more Xbox 360 consoles at the same time they generating revenues from contents that Xbox Live “Metro” provides.  Whether that be more profitable or otherwise, I’ve no idea.  Still, I think more users will appreciate Microsoft if they provide such experiences on not one but more platforms.  I also think Microsoft will be able to sell more products such as Windows 8 OS if awesome features on Xbox Live “Metro” become available in Windows 8 and other Microsoft’s products/platforms.

If such vision is going to be realized, I think Microsoft needs to tightly synch the Xbox Live “Metro” features across products’ ecosystem.  For an instance, a user watched halfway of a movie on Xbox 360 console, but he got on his Windows 8 laptop to work and yet was able to watch the rest of the movie that he had watched on the Xbox 360 console earlier.  More features like that will make Microsoft’s product ecosystem seems coherent, enhancing the overall user experiences.  What do you think?

Source:  http://gizmodo.com/5838741/xbox-live-metro-brings-more-bing-kinect-and-cable-tv-integration-to-the-holidays

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Measuring The Effect Of The Inevitable Won’t Help Cable Industry Wins Back TV Cord-Cutters

Aug 22, 11 1:04 PM

Instead of finishing reading the article “TV Cord-Cutters: Who You Are And Why You Scare Bigwigs” on Forbes, impatiently I’m writing this article here to simply point out that there might be time still for Cable and similar industry to rebuild their foundations — that’s, rebuilding their backbone networks such as making a transition from cable to Internet TV.  Sure, the upfront cost might be outrageous, but in the end they can survive the dramatic changes in their industry.

We can take a look at Blockbuster to see that professing to an outdated business model can bring about a death knell to a business/industry.  Blockbuster failed to catch the trend and had allowed Netflix to accelerate its downfall (i.e., Blockbuster was sold to Dish Network through auction for less).  Netflix had never considered the video rental stores’ business model as it went ahead to send DVDs through mail and now stream videos through Internet.

Source:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhumphrey/2011/08/22/tv-cord-cutters-who-you-are-and-why-you-scare-bigwigs/

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