24 replies to this topic

[Boges]

Microsoft Corp. has rolled out the new dashboard for its Xbox 360 console, bringing mainstream television programming to millions of Canadian Xbox owners.

The company, which has partnered with cable providers in other countries, announced Monday that the Rogers on Demand service, LeafsTV and DisneyXD will all be offering TV content to viewers through the Xbox 360 gaming console.

The initiative is another push by Microsoft to make the Xbox gaming console the heart of entertainment systems. The console has allowed users to play video games and DVDs since it was initially released in 2005.

It was updated early on to allow users to play music and movies stored on a nearby computer. In more recent years, Microsoft has added Facebook connectivity, Netflix and Internet radio to be streamed over the device. The announcement marks the first time the console has streamed TV shows from major networks and providers into the living rooms of Canadian consumers.

"It's been a passion in terms of how we've been evolving the Xbox platform," said Glenn Purkis, Microsoft Canada Xbox Live manager.

"It's about bringing it all into place."

Read more: http://www.ottawacit...l#ixzz1fm9Veucr

They still don't have a date for this, I'm hoping this month.

An XBOX Live Gold Membership costs like $60-$70 a year. I get it so I can do online gaming (Battlefield 3 is Fantastic). You can always buy content on Live but it has this ridiculous points system (With set levels) that makes you pre-pay for points instead of buying the products you want. (Like iTunes) You can currently buy current shows onDemand but it's pricey, similar to Apple TV.

But if you can get Rogers onDemand included with your Live membership, it'll be very difficult to justify your cable bill. Granted the bandwidth will be pricey. Also nothing can really compete with The Movie Network (at $19/month) unless you're a thief.

If Bubber Miley was pissed about DVRs then he must be really pissed about this.

They also say their offering a free movie service. This might mean Netflix is now useless to me. I'm very curious to see what these changes will mean for getting content.

Edited by Boges, 06 December 2011 - 10:35 AM.

[wyly]

They still don't have a date for this, I'm hoping this month.

An XBOX Live Gold Membership costs like $60-$70 a year. I get it so I can do online gaming (Battlefield 3 is Fantastic). You can always buy content on Live but it has this ridiculous points system (With set levels) that makes you pre-pay for points instead of buying the products you want. (Like iTunes) You can currently buy current shows onDemand but it's pricey, similar to Apple TV.

But if you can get Rogers onDemand included with your Live membership, it'll be very difficult to justify your cable bill. Granted the bandwidth will be pricey. Also nothing can really compete with The Movie Network (at $19/month) unless you're a thief.

If Bubber Miley was pissed about DVRs then he must be really pissed about this.

They also say their offering a free movie service. This might mean Netflix is now useless to me. I'm very curious to see what these changes will mean for getting content.

?..I'm not understanding all this, free movies on xbox live?

[Boges]

?..I'm not understanding all this, free movies on xbox live?

Ever used Netflix? It's unlimited onDemand Movies/TV with a $8 charge. The movies and shows aren't very current though.

Rogers onDemand is basically like Hulu in the US but you pay for it with your cable subscription. You can stream mainstream Television shows (commercial free) onDemand.

Well with this system, apparently, you get Rogers onDemand included with your Live Gold subscription. A Gold Subscription comes to less than $7/month so it's by far the cheapest way to receive content online other than, of course, if you steal.

Edited by Boges, 06 December 2011 - 10:48 AM.

[wyly]

Ever used Netflix? It's unlimited onDemand Movies/TV with a $8 charge. The movies and shows aren't very current though.

Rogers onDemand is basically like Hulu in the US but you pay for it with your cable subscription. You can stream mainstream Television shows (commercial free) onDemand.

Well with this system, apparently, you get Rogers onDemand included with your Live Gold subscription. A Gold Subscription comes to less than $7/month so it's by far the cheapest way to receive content online other than, of course, if you steal.

but what's the rogers connection? we have xbox gold with telus how does rogers figure into this?

[Boges]

but what's the rogers connection? we have xbox gold with telus how does rogers figure into this?

Rogers does cable TV too, it's not just a cell provider. You can only get Cable provided by Rogers in the immediate GTA. Otherwise it's something like Shaw or Cogeco, no where near as good.

Microsoft is clearly partnering with Rogers to provide content. Not sure what's in it for Rogers but I suppose they have access to a larger customer base than they have access to now, It also does an end-around to get to Bell customers. They can always sell ads that go on the interface as well as before each onDemand video starts.

[cybercoma]

Ever used Netflix? It's unlimited onDemand Movies/TV with a $8 charge. The movies and shows aren't very current though.

Unlimited until you go over the extremely limited upload/download caps our
ISPs have. Then you have to mortgage your house to opay your internet bill.

[Moonlight Graham]

If most of this is free, or at least a good chunk of it, then cool. If I have to pay it's useless since I already have cable plus don't want to waste bandwidth.

I don't have Netflix but it is popular on Xbox Live and a convenient idea, but most of the other stuff, like Facebook and Twitter, is just fluff I don't use.

Why don't they just include a freaking internet browser so I can just surf the web (i'm sure it has everything to do with media control and $$$). Even the Wii has web browsing.

[blueblood]

If most of this is free, or at least a good chunk of it, then cool. If I have to pay it's useless since I already have cable plus don't want to waste bandwidth.

I don't have Netflix but it is popular on Xbox Live and a convenient idea, but most of the other stuff, like Facebook and Twitter, is just fluff I don't use.

Why don't they just include a freaking internet browser so I can just surf the web (i'm sure it has everything to do with media control and $$$). Even the Wii has web browsing.

Thats where the ps3 comes in handy, just that the browser sucks. It is free however.

[Boges]

Thats where the ps3 comes in handy, just that the browser sucks. It is free however.

Part of this re-vamped Dashboard includes Bing Searches and Youtube so I'll assume there's some internet browsing capabilities.

[Hydraboss]

I never did get over MS screwing up the dashboard from the original. Just what I always wanted...a bobblehead character so I can look like I belong with the rest of the 8 year olds on WII. That, and it made my Arcade version useless (although the standard one still worked).

Xbox never had browsing capabilities and still doesn't (Bing doesn't count because it's garbage). I don't know why I ever bought three of these freaking things (1 original, 2 360s). The PS3 seems better (only bought it to play Blu-ray) but it's just kept in the motorhome. I liked the way it streamed video from the computer, but typical Sony machine won't play half of them for some reason (DRM?) Our WII is only used by my daughter the odd time - so it sits.

If there will be "free" movies on Live, you can bet your ass that there is an annoying catch. MS gives nothing away for free, or without bothering the hell out of you. Wouldn't surprise me to see them demand paid product placement in the games from their developers or something along those lines. XBOX could actually function as a "whole home" entertainment center, but first they would have to quiet it down from the 180dB or so it runs at...

[Boges]

I never did get over MS screwing up the dashboard from the original. Just what I always wanted...a bobblehead character so I can look like I belong with the rest of the 8 year olds on WII. That, and it made my Arcade version useless (although the standard one still worked).

Xbox never had browsing capabilities and still doesn't (Bing doesn't count because it's garbage). I don't know why I ever bought three of these freaking things (1 original, 2 360s). The PS3 seems better (only bought it to play Blu-ray) but it's just kept in the motorhome. I liked the way it streamed video from the computer, but typical Sony machine won't play half of them for some reason (DRM?) Our WII is only used by my daughter the odd time - so it sits.

If there will be "free" movies on Live, you can bet your ass that there is an annoying catch. MS gives nothing away for free, or without bothering the hell out of you. Wouldn't surprise me to see them demand paid product placement in the games from their developers or something along those lines. XBOX could actually function as a "whole home" entertainment center, but first they would have to quiet it down from the 180dB or so it runs at...

I don't mind the sound it makes. The newer onces are silent. I also think the Avatar thing is lame but oh well.

I'm not as interested in the movies, Netflix is pretty good. But I accidentally deleted my wife's recording of New Girl last week. If there was an onDemand option for TV shows included in my Live bill that's pretty awesome. They better not raise the price of Live though.

[Boges]

Total false alarm.

Downloaded the Rogers onDemand app for xBox yesterday. You have to be a Rogers customer to use it. Which is retarded because if you already have Rogers Cable then you already have Rogers onDemand.

I do subscribe to Roger's wireless services so I was able to register by entering my account number.

The content is crap. Stuff I already get on Cogeco on demand. It's just CanCon that I likely would never watch. I'll keep checking it to see if they actually put anything good on there but it's definitely not something that'll make you cancel your cable bill.

The RealSports thing is yet to be released, that might be cool. There's also a Bing App and a Youtube App that I still haven't tried but look cool.

They revamped Netflix as well and it appears they added more content.

[cybercoma]

Rogers onDemand is awful.

Rogers is generally awful. They say you get thousands of channels, but they repeat even without the timeshifting. Between the repeats, timeshifting, and HD versions of station, you probably only get about 100-150 different channels.

[Boges]

Rogers onDemand is awful.

Rogers is generally awful. They say you get thousands of channels, but they repeat even without the timeshifting. Between the repeats, timeshifting, and HD versions of station, you probably only get about 100-150 different channels.

Do you need more than 150 channels?

[cybercoma]

Do you need more than 150 channels?

It's deceptive advertising, that's all. I don't even have that many channels because I only have the most basic package you can get. Even then, I barely watch any television.