TV, movie downloads launch on Xbox 360; PS3 in works
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 | 4:37 PM ET
CBC News
Related
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
Microsoft Corp. launched a digital video download service Wednesday that lets Xbox 360 owners buy television shows and rent movies, while Sony works on a similar PlayStation 3 offering.
Launched on the console's first anniversary, Microsoft's service — available only in the United States for now — lets people with a broadband internet connection purchase standard and high-definition content through the Marketplace store on its dedicated Xbox Live network.
The move makes Microsoft the first console maker to offer such a service.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., which launched its own network with its PlayStation 3 console on Nov. 17, currently offers short video clips of movies and video games for download, but plans to increase its offerings.
"The content will grow on PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Store," Matt Levitan, marketing and public relations manager for Sony Computer Entertainment of Canada told CBC News Online. "The plan will be to have full length content and make it a one-stop shop."
Levitan said he expects to see offerings increase weekly, with more substantial content debuting before the end of the year.
Nintendo Co. Ltd. has no plans to offer video downloads for its Wii console, launched Nov. 19, a spokesman told CBC News Online.
Television series being offered for download through Xbox Live Marketplace include crime drama CSI, remastered episodes of the original Star Trek and reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter, which documents athletes' training regimes for bouts of the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts matches. The fights are also available for download.
Feature length films to be available by the end of the year include Superman Returns, M:I:III — the latest instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise — and The Matrix.
Service tested in May
Microsoft's first public test of its network's ability to let people download video to the Xbox 360 occurred the week of May 7, when it offered through the Xbox Live Marketplace online store free, three-minute high-definition video clips of a documentary film about the making of the science fiction action game Gears of War.
On Oct. 31, the company sent a software update through Xbox Live to Xbox 360 consoles that added a range of video playback functions to the game machine.
The new capabilities include the ability to stream video in Microsoft's proprietary WMV file format from a computer running Windows Media Center software, the ability to play video files from CDs and DVDs, and increasing the console's video output to full high-definition resolution, known as 1080p.
Microsoft earlier this month announced agreements with television networks CBS, MTV, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.; movie companies Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which produces mixed martial arts competitions.
The downloads are available to Xbox Live members irrespective of whether they have a free or paid account.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- HMCS Corner Brook collision damage extensive
- The damage done to HMCS Corner Brook when it hit the ocean floor off B.C.'s coast last summer was more extensive than first reported, CBC News has learned by obtaining exclusive pictures of the submarine. more »
- Mandatory gun sentence struck down by Ontario judge
- An Ontario Superior Court judge has struck down a mandatory minimum sentence for a first offence of possessing a loaded firearm. more »
- O Canada! 12 Flag Day stories of patriotism
- Ahead of tomorrow's Flag Day celebrations, our readers shared some of their proudest Canadian moments. Here are some of the best. more »
- UN raises fears of civil war in Syria
- Syrian government forces renewed their assault on the rebellious city of Homs on Tuesday, activists said, as the UN human rights chief raised fears of civil war. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- Canada dropping the ozone ball, scientists warn
- Leading atmospheric scientists are warning that Canada's cuts to its ozone monitoring program are already having effects on the world's ability to monitor air quality and ozone depletion. more »
- Ban Wi-Fi in classroom, Ontario teachers union urges
- The Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association says computers in all new schools should be hardwired instead of setting up wireless networks, citing safety concerns. more »
- How to think like a Neanderthal
- A lack of creativity and the inability to innovate may have led to the extinction of the Neanderthals, two researchers argue in a book that aims to get inside the Neanderthal mind. more »
- FBI seeks social media data mining tool
- The U.S. government is seeking software that can mine social media to predict everything from future terrorist attacks to foreign uprisings, according to requests posted online by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Glacier Discovery Walk: Will the visitor centre enhance the view? Feb. 10, 2012 3:17 PM Environment minister Peter Kent has announced the construction of a new Glacier Discovery Walk and visitor centre on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. It raises the issue of how to balance commercial development in our National Parks against the preservation of the last refuges of wilderness.
Quirks & Quarks
- February 11: Inside the Mind of a Neandertal Feb. 10, 2012 4:01 PM Can we get inside the mind of a species that's been dead for 30,000 years? A new book, How to Think Like a Neanderthal, suggests we can. The authors reconstruct a creature like us in many ways, but with important differences.
Latest Features
- HMCS Corner Brook collision damage extensive
- Whitney Houston's body now at N.J. funeral home
- Online surveillance critics siding with child porn: Toews
- Mandatory gun sentence struck down by Ontario judge
- Stanley Cup rioter seen in brick attack on cop
- Whitney Houston estate value set to soar
- Man pleads guilty to murder of stepdaughter, 17
- Whitney Houston's body headed home to New Jersey
- HIV-positive B.C. man jailed for assault, child porn
