2008 was going to be the year of IPTV, and while AT&T and
Verizon (actually QAM) have made great strides in the IPTV marketplace, Microsoft hasn’t done
much to push what was promised on their end (Note: Microsoft powers AT&Ts
IPTV DVRs). Of course the prime example
here is the concept of using your Xbox
360 as an IPTV DVR.
The concept had been thrown around online for some time, but
at CES 2008 Microsoft made it official and announced they were working with BT in
the UK to bring the functionality to life.
That’s about the last time I heard anything on that subject. I’m not sure if the service never launched
with BT, but to say the concept has been anything but a failure would be
pushing it.
AT&T is still the only [major] US provider using Microsoft’s
MediaRoom IPTV software, which means they are just about the only option for
this concept coming to life in the US. I
don’t see the concept that appealing for IPTV providers (I
actually said it would flop in Nov ‘07), but it will be interesting to see
if CES 2009 brings anything about Xbox and IPTV back into the spotlight.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at
http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/