TV shows available over Xbox Live

Microsoft 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.

Xbox Live users with the latest console will be able to choose from shows including South Park, CSI, and movies including V for Vendetta and Mission Impossible III.

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.

Microsoft hasn’t said how much the downloads will cost, only that prices for programs broadcast in standard definition will be “competitive” with those offered by competitors, including Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes store, Movielink, CinemaNow and Amazon.com’s Unbox.

The Xbox service will launch less than a week after Sony’s PlayStation 3 video-game console hits store shelves in the United States.

Microsoft Australia’s official response regarding localised content is, “These new developments once again firmly position Xbox 360 as the heart home entertainment and gaming. We look forward to unveiling the plans for our Australian and New Zealand customers in the coming months.”

Source: Yahoo! News

Related Links: Xbox Live on 360

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