Significant Xbox News

KevinRB · 01-08-2004, 09:17 PM

Some interesting enhancements for Xbox are being announced at CES:

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"One of the key expected upgrades will be to the Xbox Live buddy system... This means that players will be able to see if their friends are online and initiate voice chat with them without starting a game - effectively giving the Xbox its own version of IP telephony, and giving Xbox Live users the ability to effectively make long-distance voice calls for free."

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"Microsoft is considering major upgrades to the Xbox Dashboard in the near future, including a possible integration of Internet Explorer and Windows Media into the console."

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"The Xbox is set to be integrated with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Centre Edition operating system, thanks to a new piece of software announced by Bill Gates at CES which allows remote media playback on the console.

Media Centre Extender (MCX) will enable Xbox owners to use their console as a remote viewer for movies, music and images stored on their PC, effectively letting them access their media on the television screen regardless of where in the house the PC is located, or whether anyone else is using it at the time.

Standalone versions of the kit will also be released, consisting of a set-top box that connects wirelessly to the PC. The Xbox version of MCX will consist of an Xbox DVD disc and a dedicated remote control for the console."

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"According to Gates, the next-generation Xbox (which many people speculate will be called "Xbox Next", based on recent domain name registrations by Microsoft) will be a much more broadly-focused multimedia device than the current console. Among the features touted for the system are "digital media capabilities such as video and photo editing" and "Internet capabilities without the need for direct connections through Wi-Fi."

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I'm jacked for photo editing on the Xbox2!

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...e=new&aid=2782
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...e=pub&aid=1229
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...e=new&aid=1613

Bill Griffith · 01-09-2004, 06:42 AM

Quote:

I don't know too many people with a windows media center.

"Build it and they will come"

Maybe I'll wait to make my HTPC now and see what these new upgrades are all about.

Chris Bardon · 01-13-2004, 11:46 AM

Quote:

The Remote media player kit only works with PC's that have the media center built in, as I understand it. I don't know too many people with a windows media center.

This really makes no sense though, since if you have a Media Center PC, you wonldn't really want to playback on your Xbox (unless you want to use separate rooms...). Regardless, I hope there's some way to get this to work with a standard XP install, since I have a whole pile of videos and digital pics that I'd like to be able to show on my TV, and would rather not go to the expense and hassle of building a separate HTPC.

Jay Mitchosky · 01-13-2004, 12:51 PM

Pretty cool.

Dave F · 01-13-2004, 07:14 PM

I really think this is just an experiment that is intended to serve as Xbox 2 R&D, and not intended to sell a lot of units. It serves the niche market of a niche market (Xbox owners that also have a Media Center PC, with both on a network but in different locations).

Still, it shows that they are paying attention the Xbox mod scene (Xbox Media Player and Xbox Media Center in particular). It's really puzzling that Media Center XP is required though, since XBMP and XBMC offer more functionality & they run with regular XP.

-Dave

**HTF Ads**

Aaron Copeland · 01-13-2004, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Still, it shows that they are paying attention the Xbox mod scene (Xbox Media Player and Xbox Media Center in particular). It's really puzzling that Media Center XP is required though, since XBMP and XBMC offer more functionality & they run with regular XP.

I love XBMP/XBMC. I use them all the time to watch anime I've downloaded (stream the videos from my PC).

KevinRB · 01-13-2004, 10:42 PM

Is it possible to upgrade a PC to have media center, or does it only come on brand new machines?

Brian E · 01-13-2004, 11:37 PM

XP Media Center Ed. is only officially available to select OEM's.

Jay Mitchosky · 01-14-2004, 03:42 PM

Quote:

XP Media Center Ed. is only officially available to select OEM's.

That makes these new features more odd then. I could understand if it was Microsoft's intent to sell more software at the same time, but if it's not commercially available then what.