Microsoft said to be building Apple TV adversary
XTV XTC?
Microsoft has an Apple TV-style set-top box in its labs, it has been claimed. The gadget it said to be an inexpensive Windows 8-based unit designed to provide access to Xbox Live entertainment services and run casual games rather than major releases.
"Multiple sources" who claim to be close to the matter say the Microsoft set-top box will launch in 2013. The technology on board the gadget could even be incorporated into an Xbox TV set, The Verger reports.
When it was whispered that the next generation of Xbox console could roll out as a download platform, it's possible the set-top box was the hardware blabbermouths may have spied.
We'll hold our judgement on the validity of this report, but if it's true, Microsoft had better be planing something special. It sounds like everything this home entertainment hub would offer can already be found in the Xbox 360, which could surely be pushed to shelves at an even lower price when its replacement rocks up.
More to the point, we're constantly reminded by Microsoft of its pledge to extend the life cycle of its current games box anyway, something it failed to really do with the original Xbox.
The moles claim the architecture for this Apple TV alternative would be scalable enough to run full Xbox Live services. A sign of SmartGlass 2.0? Watch this space. ®
COMMENTS
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Still think a Raspberry Pi with XBMC is gonna be hard to beat..
oooh
I can hardly wait for something I dont need & if I did, would have bought an entirely different product anyway.
Microsoft made an iPod rival called Zune (Dead)
Microsoft made an iPhone rival called Kin (Dead)
Microsoft made an iPad rival called Surface (Not doing well according to Microsoft)
Now they want to build an Apple TV rival?
Microsoft should put more effort into their software (to make it better than it has been), and stop trying to compete with Apple's hardware.
@AC 12:03
*cough* 10+ years in the wilderness before the iPod *cough*
RaspBMC.com
I have a RaspberryPi running XBMC (RaspBMC) and have installed CatchupTV, EyeTV and Plex add-ons ... just added a £3 IR remote control today. Tweaked the config.txt, bought the £2.40 MPEG2 hardware decoder licence and I'm even using a Class 10 SDHC card to get it to run a bit quicker.
I would however say that the Pi is noticeably slower compared with my AppleTV2 (which I have jailbroken and added CatchupTV, Plex and XBMC etc to give comparable flexibility). However the AppleTV2 was twice the price of the Pi setup .. so for the price a RaspBMC setup is rather good.
