[CoryB]

Just say this link/ about AT&T U-verse turning on the XBOX 360 as a STB for their MediaRoom clients. It would sure be nice if MTS would pick up this and the remote setting/changing of scheduled recordings like so many other MediaRoom providers offer.

I have a real love/hate relationship going with MTS, they seem to be willing to push the bleeding edge one day and the next they are trailing the industry...

 

[Dr.Dave]

Telus has had this since Aug. 4. From what I've read it seems to work fairly well.

Telus charges $5/month for the licensing fee. Considering that MTS only charges $3/month for a STB, I'm not sure what the advantage would be. Since MTS charges an extra monthly fee for "My Picks", I can't see them giving the Xbox software away for free. There would be very few Xbox users and I doubt it would be worth testing and training for installation and support.

 

[CoryB]

Microsoft seems to be a key partner of MTS lately and not just with TV services. I am pretty sure they are being encouraged to add the XBOX STB optition.

As for market demand, I am sure if the optition was available there would be enough demand to warrant the effort envolved. A significant population base has game consoles as part of their entertainment systems so allowing them to operate with one fewer box and one less HDMI input being used could be benefical.

In terms of cost recovery, perhaps a one-time setup fee of aproximately $25 would be a reasonable compromise. MTS would be slightly ahead on revenue for the year versus having to supply a rental box and the end consumer would save long term provided they remained with MTS.

Sitting back and hearing about the features we could have which MTS has not activiated yet is making me want to switch, however the optitions aren't all that better across the road...

 

[rotv]

These features and more are coming. It takes time to develop, test, etc. AT&T has been working on this for a long time.

 

[CoryB]

So off reading other web sites today and AT&T announced
UVerse Mobile available free on Windows Mobile phones to subscribes of its MediaRoom service. In addition to being able to watch anything by mobile you can also view your PVR content and make adjustments to it, all in an interface similar to our current boxes.

They also announced the pricing on the XBOX 360 STB $99 for the kit to make the unit a STB and a $55 installation charge. That is obviously a little higher than I had hoped for being the same is 50 (just over 4 years) of STB rental at the current MTS price.

So MTS, when are these features coming our way? I would be willing to change my cell service over to you if this was being offered...

 

[mediaroomrocks]

xbox

I have the xbox client and it just sings. If it had a pause buffer it would be perfect. I wouldnt expect anyone other than telus and at&t to have xbox client for a while. From what I understand MS is working on a new xbox client for mediaroom that wont be around for a while. I could be wrong just what I hear on the grapevine.

 

[Lorne]

Microsoft has big plans for IPTV and the Xbox

Nothing specific about MTS, but this post in Engadget today sounds interesting.

 

[CoryB]

The article basically speculates that Microsoft is going to use the XBox 360 to stream subscription tv style content to homes over the Internet in partnership with content providers such as HBO and ESPN.

This sounds more like the long term direction that Microsoft and content providers will take which will ended up cutting out the the distribution channel, aka MTS TV.