Verizon announced Tuesday that starting next month, FiOS customers will be able to access several live TV channels via the Xbox 360.
Customers with an Xbox Live Gold membership, as well as FiOS TV and Internet service, will be able to download a Verizon FiOS app on their consoles to access live TV. Users can control the content using voice and gestures via Kinect, and TV channels can also stream on devices hooked up to the Xbox without the need for another FiOS set-top box. The app should start appearing next month, Verizon said.
Initially, there will be 26 FiOS TV channels available on the Xbox, depending on a user's cable package.
"Joining forces with Microsoft and Xbox, we are breaking the boundaries between TV and gaming, and furthering the borderless lifestyle Verizon customers enjoy with our new offers and services," Eric Bruno, vice president of consumer and mass business product management for Verizon, said in a statement. "We are putting the controls in our customers' hands, and giving them the ability to watch TV on another dynamic device that they can control with voice and gesture commands."
Verizon is offering a bundle for new customers that includes FiOS triple play (Internet, cable, digital phone), a 12-month Xbox Live gold membership, and the Xbox Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary game. The deal will run $89.99 per month and will be available until Jan. 21.
Those who order FiOS TV and Internet, without the voice, will get Xbox Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and an Xbox Live gold membership token.
The Xbox Live TV initiative was first unveiled in early October, and will also extend to Comcast customers at some point (see slideshow below). A demo video released at the time showed users controlling an episode of Game of Thrones ("Xbox, pause") or searching Bing for information on The Fast and the Furious with voice controls. Another woman swiped through various options with her hand using Kinect's gesture controls and then switched to TV by saying "Xbox, live TV."
Microsoft discussed its Live TV efforts at this year's E3 gaming conference, and the feature has already kicked off overseas with Sky TV in the U.K., Canal Plus in France, and FoxTel in Australia.