Xbox 720 is not always online

Xbox TV, or XTV if you will

First up, Superannuation has dug up information pertaining to the TV services the next console will contain.

According to a resume dug up by the Internet sleuth, a Microsoft engineer noted he worked on the Video Cognition team which was the result of Microsoft’s acquisition of VideoSurf, which developed tech which “catalogued and tagged videos by scanning audio and visual content of videos.”

MS will supposedly be using the VideoSurf tech “to radically change the way we watch TV,” using gestue and voice control to “streamline the way viewers search, consume, and share content, minimizing the time spent searching for programs, while maximizing the viewing and sharing capacities.”

Super points out this could mean MS plans to integrate its next Xbox with television content leading credence to the rumors that there will be two-SKUs with the upcoming console: one which is a set-top box and the other a console with all the bells ans whistles.

A couple presentation images mentioning “xTV” were also dug up, stating it was part of “multiplatform ecosystem that will allow a user to finish a television episode they were previously watching on their train ride home,” wrote Super. This was also mentioned in the 56-page manifesto which was leaked much to the chagrin of MS and its lawyers last year.


No “always online”; new Xbox 360 add-on for backwards compatibility.

Durango, will contain the dreaded always-online internet component – plus, it will be backwards compatible with your old Xbox 360 due to an add-on coming to the aging consoles.

The site’s source told it that while it will have always-online functionality, it will not prevent the use of second hand games nor bar people from playing local content when they are without Internet.

Furthermore, a smaller, more stripped down 360 will be arriving on shelves for around $149 or less. This sku will act more like a set-top media box with Xbox 360 and XBLA game support and it may not have disc drive.

“Putting in an Xbox 360 disc into Durango will prompt the user to attach the supporting device that is sold separately. By separating the two devices and their functions it will ensure price competitiveness for both pieces of hardware,” says the report.

This means all content will need to be downloaded digitally. Should it be connected with Durango, users can use their disc-based Xbox 360 games on their Durango console with the small add-on Xbox.
Think of it as MS’s version of Google or Apple TV.

Source: VG247