Xbox TV is Coming This Holiday Season – It Will Broadcast Live TV

Ever wish your Xbox 360 did “everything” in your living room?  Tired of having to switch HDMI inputs to do silly things like watch television?!  Well, wish no longer – XboxTV is coming this holiday season!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave a presentation wednesday and claimed Microsoft would be working with “hundreds of video content suppliers” to grow the content choices available on your 360.

In addition to video on-demand, Ballmer said there would be live TV offerings which include, “news, sports, and your favorite channels.”

Microsoft believes the big difference between the XboxTV platform and their “failed” competitors (Google TV, Apple TV) will be its voice and motion search options.  Using Kinect, users will be able to navigate through content with voice commands. The search function will be powered by Bing.

Hey… stop laughing!  There’s nothing funny about Kinect and Bing!  You stop that right meow!

“The vision is kind of simple,” said Ballmer. “You should have any entertainment you want with all the people you care about, really simply and on any screen.”

David Wertheimer, executive director of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California (some sort of expert) believes that instead of trying to license content from providers like Comcast, Disney, and CBS, Microsoft will instead use a “TV Everywhere” model which will allow existing cable and satellite subscribers to access their content on 360.

“That’s the opportunity here for Microsoft — can they work with the content owners to innovate on top of the content itself and provide a higher-value experience to consumers?” Wertheimer asked. “If they can, this could be big and meaningful.”

I know one thing for sure, if I can replace my cable box with my Xbox, I’m all in.

For instance:  Last night I’m trying to watch “It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia” and play Renegade Ops with our NY writer Chris Carlson.  In order to do that I have to keep switching HDMI inputs with my TV remote and keep turning on my 360 controller every time it goes into sleep mode.  Fuck that!  If my Xbox could stream content from my cable box I’d be able to stay on my HDMI 2 output forever!  Until I want to use my PS3 that is… I keep that on HDMI 1.  ^__^

Stay tuned to RipTen as this story unfolds.  Expect to hear more details, including pricing and an exact release date very soon.