January 18, 2010 8:21 PM PST

Xbox takes on cable, streaming TV shows and movies

If talks with Disney work out, the game console could stream ESPN content, making it that much easier to watch TV without cable.
(From The New York Times)

The story "Xbox takes on cable, streaming TV shows and movies" published January 18, 2010 at 8:21 PM is no longer available on CNET News.

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What I don't understand about the X-Box 360 approach is why users are forced to upgrade to the paid-for Live account in order to stream from Netflix, when the two competing platforms (PS3 and Wii) offer Netflix streaming at no additional cost. It puts the 360 at a disadvantage for people like me, who are only interested in the Netflix streaming feature of a Live account.

If changes aren't made by the time my Gold account runs out, I'll likely just hop over to a Roku for my Netflix streaming as I have no interest in paying Microsoft's additional subscription fee. Yes, the Roku may cost as much as two years of keeping my Gold account, but it's the principal of the matter.

I hope Microsoft comes around and begins seriously looking at either dropping the fees associated with the Gold account (and besting their competitors) or they move the Netflix streaming on all X-Boxes without having to pay for the premium service. The latter would at least allow them to equal their competitors.
Posted by funkyboot (202 comments )
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The point of Xbox live is to play games. Two maybe three years ago, you paid for live to do what? Play games! That was it, maybe you got a demo sooner then the rest of the world but that was it.

Now days you have more VALUE for your Gold Account. Not only can you play games online, you can also stream movies, from within xbox, (no disc required). You can access Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook. (Honestly the last two would be taken care of if Microsoft had put a browser in the XBox).

But the point isn't about paying for Netflix. Your paying for the feature with your xbox live. I'm sure Netfix could program a "game" like they have with wii and PS3, to offer it for free.
Posted by tubaloth (132 comments )
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390 Million world wide only able to stream to US customers.
Posted by wolivere (547 comments )
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sorry 39 million
Posted by wolivere (547 comments )
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What I would buy this year is the X-Box 720 with built-in N-class wi-fi, blu ray drive, and xbox live gold added for free... Until then I hope GOLD will be cheaper when I purchase the 360 Elite and a N-class router...

linuxglobe on twitter.com
Hudson, MA
Posted by Screenwriter40 (18 comments )
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Cable needs to die. It's expensive, inefficient and based on an antiquated model for delivering services.
Posted by The_happy_switcher (1977 comments )
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