Xbox 360 IPTV Initiative Isn’t Dead

In early 2006 I gave a paper at the Pacific Telecommunications Conference predicting the XBox would offer Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).

Like Chris Lanier, I’ve been disappointed in Microsoft’s apparent inability to deliver an IPTV solution onto the Xbox 360 platform… As announced during Bill Gates’ 2007 CES keynote. We’ve heard relatively little regarding the fate of Xbox IPTV since then, and I imagine the lack of deployment is related to both technological challenges and carrier deals. So I cornered a Mediaroom rep today on the show floor.

Before handing me off to the PR team, she confirmed this initiative is still alive and well with multiple carrier field trials in progress. When asked if anything was going on in the US, she suggested I question AT&T. Now, I can’t really speculate if she said that because AT&T is considering the platform, or because AT&T is their primary partner for television services here in the US (with U-verse).

Xbox 360 IPTV Initiative Isn’t Dead