SEPT. 15, 2011 • At a financial analyst meeting in Anaheim, Calif., Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said a new Xbox TV platform will launch this holiday season. Content will include live TV, video on demand, and content from hundreds of video suppliers. Ballmer said the service use the Bing search engine and voice input to make programming selections easy.
Impact: Long-term this is where the future of dedicated video game console systems probably depends. Microsoft and Sony need their boxes to deliver over-the-top services to the television. In the emerging age of Internet television this will allow them to have a compelling business model far beyond games. In coming months, DFC Intelligence will be releasing a series of reports on the connected living room that will analyze how game systems may compete with more standard Internet enabled TV devices and vice versa.
