Watch Live TV in the U.S. on Your Xbox 360

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Watch Live TV in the U.S. on Your Xbox 360



AT&T is rolling out its U-Verse TV system that can stream and record TV shows, and it only costs an arm, a leg and your soul.

After years of announcements, tech demos and tests, Xbox 360 users in the U.S. will be able to sign up for AT&T's U-Verse TV this Friday, October 15th. The service was tested over the last nine months and allows AT&T customers to watch and record television shows without the need for a second box. The catch is that you must be U-Verse subscriber and have a U-Verse receiver, but if you meet both of those criteria, you can stream and record TV in another room. The service costs $99 for Xbox users to install on top of the monthly service charge, which ranges from $19 to $112 per month depending on what channel package you opt for. AT&T is also rolling out U-Verse Mobile for Windows 7 phones in November, which will allow you to manage your DVR and even watch some shows on the go. The whole service bypasses cable companies by providing TV over the internet.

"Now you can get our award-winning U-verse services on your big screen TV, online, on your mobile phone, and integrated with your Xbox 360," said David Christopher from AT&T. "Our IPTV strategy is putting AT&T at the forefront by delivering U-verse content where you want it. And now we're extending the U-verse experience to more AT&T smartphone customers with the upcoming launch of U-verse Mobile on Windows Phone 7 devices."

What is not clear is whether you need to be an AT&T customer in order to use the service or if there are any package deals with internet and phone service. I personally already pay an arm and a leg to Time Warner Cable, I don't know if I want to sell my soul just so I can get an extra DVR box in my 360.

It's worth keeping an eye on to see if the service is something I might want to consider grabbing. What do you think? Is U-Verse worth $99 to sign up and a potentially expensive monthly fee?

Incidentally, the U.K. has already had a system like this in place with Sky. Have any of you adopted it? How do you think U-Verse will compare?

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Virgil

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Jun 13, 2002
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Greg Tito said:
What is not clear is whether you need to be an AT&T customer in order to use the service or if there are any package deals with internet and phone service. I personally already pay an arm and a leg to Time Warner Cable, I don't know if I want to sell my soul just so I can get an extra DVR box in my 360.
U-Verse [http://www.att.com/u-verse/] is AT&T's fiber-optic service, loosely related to FIOS from Verizon. It's an equivalent service to internet/television/phone from Time Warner (or any other cable company), and only available in certain areas.

All this announcement means is that people that get their television service through U-Verse can now use an Xbox 360 as a cable box/DVR instead of an AT&T-supplied one.
 

OANST

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Aug 10, 2009
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This is a definite pass. I can't imagine even wanting this for free.
 

ANImaniac89

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Apr 21, 2009
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Umm........okay?
but I have Comcast right now but I am looking to switch it a different provider so maybe this is a good thing.
 

DTWolfwood

Better than Vash!
Oct 20, 2009
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Starke said:
Greg Tito said:
...this Friday, October 12th.
Uh... today's the 12th. Friday's the 15th... which is it?
my first thoughts

Um whats the difference than having a regular DVR+cable service? cost about the same, but instead it'll give my xbox360 more of a chance to RRoD... no thanks.
 

FinalDream

[Insert Witty Remark Here]
Apr 6, 2010
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Sky player in the uk on the xbox is...meh

There are no good live channels and they even block some live programs.
 

Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
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So... it's like Sky Plus? It's basically like a better version of Tivo, combined into your satalite box. Also, it's FREE for us, with your satalite package. Seriously, not worth what AT&T are charging.
 

thenumberthirteen

Unlucky for some
Dec 19, 2007
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Well I have PlayTV which is a box you plug into your PS3 that receives digital TV ad records it to your hard drive. This sounds similar, but with a monthly fee (I paid £40 for my PlayTV box). I find it useful, but if you already have a DVR it's not much extra use. That said it has the best user interface of any DVR I've seen, has good HD upscaling, and you can set it to automatically turn your PS3 on and off to record a show.
 

uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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U-verse is insanely expensive compared to time warner, at least where I'm from. Hardly worth it, my girlfriend pays twice what i do for cable and internet. Sure there are some cool features that time warner does not have, but they're hardly worth the extra cash.
 

dannymc18

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Dec 15, 2009
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Greg Tito said:
Incidentally, the U.K. has already had a system like this in place with Sky. Have any of you adopted it? How do you think U-Verse will compare?
It's like Sky's quite neatly implemented system in that it lets you watch TV. It's unlike Sky's in every other way.

Sky's is free for existing subscribers, and has packages for Xbox-only users. It also has quite a significant On-Demand offering - I don't believe it's to the full extent of Sky's own independant catch-up service, but you get the major shows from Sky One, Discovery, History, MTV, etc, as well as hundreds of movies.

There are also plans to bring Channel 4 and the BBC (subject to removing the need to have a Gold account) to the Xbox.

And all without a completely unnecessary and exorbitant set up fee - what exactly does that buy you? A software download? £35 will buy you a complete DVR solution to plug in to your PS3.

What a pointless service, AT&T.
 
Jul 22, 2009
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Skys pretty meh unless you already have a multiroom subscription... which I don't...

Still nice to see a lot more features being added, even if no one uses them, at least they're there just in case.
 

Ben Gepfrey

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Aug 6, 2010
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So since I already have U-verse I have to pay an additional $150 to watch U-verse on my other TV instead of the $7 a month I pay now? That is exactly what I want to do, lets burn up my x-box by using it even more. I'll pass and pay the $7 a month.
 

Colonel Alzheimer's

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Jan 3, 2010
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Awesome! So for an insane amount of money a month, I get to sit on my couch, turn on my TV and my 360, and watch and record live TV? Instead of just turning on my TV and getting a DVR? Sign me up!!!!
/sarcasm
This is retarded.
/not sarcasm
 

SelectivelyEvil13

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Jul 28, 2010
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I remember when my family and I were looking at cable/internet companies and we found that U-Verse was an overpriced gimmick. I can't remember the specifics, but on top of AT&T's generally poor service, the U-Verse was an additional layer of unimpressive and overpriced garbage.

This also has me thinking of the compiling costs for the 360 while not adding one iota towards the gaming aspect of it.
DTWolfwood said:
Um whats the difference than having a regular DVR+cable service? cost about the same, but instead it'll give my xbox360 more of a chance to RRoD... no thanks.
That is quite true.

I fail to see the practicality of the 360's many frivolous non-gaming features, this in particular, as it's just begging to overheat the bloody thing even quicker. This time it would be in the middle of recording an episode of Lost rather than in the middle of a death match in Halo...