Turn your WinPhone into an Xbox remote
xBox xmas
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Dashboard update this week will introduce a smart phone application that turns your Windows Phone handset into an Xbox system remote.
The Xbox LIVE for Windows Phone application will let you browse and search through films, TV programs, games and other content available via Xbox 360.
The app will let you also select a searched result, launch a film, TV show, or game and – apparently – give you standard remote staples of play, pause, fast forward and rewind.
The update was mentioned on Major Nelson, a Microsoft blog maintained by Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox LIVE. But it has been somewhat buried in an avalanche of content-related aimed at drumming up console and games sales in the run up to Christmas. The app is due to be released on December 6.
On Tuesday titles for Xbox 360 will come on tap from, among others, the Amazon-owned Lovefilm – which recently ditched Adobe’s Flash Player for Microsoft’s Silverlight player – and Netflix in the US and Canada. Netflix in recent months has haemorrhaged users thanks to a series of errors on pricing and an unpopular attempt to split its DVD and web streaming businesses.
Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings, a member of Microsoft’s board, has apologized personally for the DVD-streaming split if not the price increase.
Back on content: later in December, Microsoft will make available content through the Xbox 360 catalogue from ABC, MSN and MSNBC, and TMZ in different countries. And it will give customers the ability to stream cats playing videos courtesy of global access to YouTube. The BBC throwd its lot in with Xbox 360 in 2012. ®
COMMENTS
As opposed to one of those shiny new gaming consoles that has just been relea.....oh, wait a minute...
I have read (can't remember where) that is the reason the BBC do NOT make iPlayer available through Xbox. They want it to reach as wide an audience as possible, but not if the customer has to pay a premium to access it.
Pffft
I have a WinPho handset and it's freaking awesome. This only helps to cement the usefulness of the handset.
big news duh
I have been using my Android to do much the same thing with XBMC and my dreambox for a couple of years already ....
Very interesting
Having a Windows 7 PC (which I'll probably upgrade to 8 when it comes out), a new Nokia Lumia 800 and an XBox 360 means I'll be rather enjoying 2012 by the looks of things.
It's very much what Apple have done, however I won't pay the premium for Apple products (and I just dislike their ethics).
Zune is great in terms of UI, performance and being a few thousands times better than iTunes, the 360 is a decent console still and my main PC is a media centre Windows 8 box under my TV (Windows Media Centre for telly).
Nice little ecosystem!
