Comcast’s Xfinity app for Xbox Live is still “coming soon,” but Microsoft gave a sneak preview on Monday as part of the TechForum event on the company’s Redmond campus.
It’s part of an ongoing effort by Microsoft to make the Xbox 360 more of a multipurpose entertainment device, expanding beyond its roots as a game console. The company added a slate of new television and video providers last fall as part of a revamp of the Xbox Live service.
Craig Mundie, the company’s chief research and strategy officer, said the broader initiative demonstrates Microsoft’s momentum in the living room.
People ask about Apple TV and Google TV, Mundie acknowledged, but he said the 66 million Xbox 360s sold to date are “essentially Microsoft TV people,” even if everyone thinks of them as Xbox users.
Aaron Greenberg of the Xbox team gives the demo of the Xfinity on-demand video service in the video above, using voice commands and showing how the system recognizes the user’s cable provider (after a one-time authentication) and displays the service under the TV section of the Xbox Live dashboard.
“This brings a massive, massive catalog from Xfinity to the service,” Greenberg said.
Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, also speaks toward the end.
