LOS ANGELES—Microsoft today announced new online media services for the Xbox 360, including a new music service.
The company also revealed 35 new content providers for movies and music over Xbox Live, including Nickelodeon, Machinima, and Univision.
Microsoft showed a sneak peek of Xbox Music, which will provide access to 30 million tracks available on Xbox 360, Windows 8, Windows tablets, and Windows phones. Rumors about the service first emerged in April.
Sports fans, meanwhile, will also get tons of new content. NBA Gamepass users will be able to access 2,400 games during the next basketball season, while NHL will also come to Xbox with 40 games per week when the hockey season starts back up. ESPN content will also be expanded, with 24-hour live Watch ESPN content, including shows and games from ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN3, and ESPN U. All services will support Bing voice control.
Kinect will offer new voice controls outside of sports services, by letting users search for movies by genre by saying "Xbox, Bing Sci-fi." If a movie is available under multiple services, the interface will let users select the applicable service after the movie is selected, so if it's on Netflix you can jump right into it. Spanish language support was also announced for Kinect voice controls, which will be available in over a dozen new countries, Microsoft said.
Finally, Microsoft announced that Nike will join the services supported by Kinect, with the new Nike+ Kinect Training. According to Nike, the Kinect will tap into the same analytical technology Nike uses when training athletes. It will integrate into Windows Phone and Xbox Live, and athletes will be able to earn Nike Fuel to track their progress with regular evaluations. Nike+ Kinect Training will come out this holiday season.