After more than three years in the works, AT&T later this year will give U-verse TV subscribers the ability to access the service from a Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming console -- but for now the telco isn't saying whether it will charge for the feature.
With the feature, customers "will be able to watch U-verse TV programming, including live, on-demand, HD and total-home DVR content, on their Xbox receiver," AT&T spokeswoman Jenny Bridges said. "The Xbox will enable the same viewing experience and same features that customers get today with a U-verse receiver."
AT&T said it would provide information on pricing and other details "as soon as we can." Subscribers may be required to have at least one U-verse TV set-top, with the Xbox serving as a node, according to a report by gadget blog Joystiq.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer mentioned AT&T's plans in his Jan. 6 keynote address at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. Also last week in Las Vegas, the software company demonstrated Mediaroom 2.0, which is designed to deliver TV services to a broad range of devices, including Windows 7 PCs, Macs and, in the future, smartphones.
The Xbox tie-in has been a long time in coming: Microsoft at CES 2007 demonstrated the Xbox 360 working as a client to the software company's IPTV software. AT&T at the time said it was experimenting with the capability but had no definite product plans.
Microsoft last week said Mediaroom 2.0 is scheduled to be available for operators to start testing beginning in February.
AT&T is the largest U.S. telco using Mediaroom, with more than 2 million subscribers. International carriers using the software include BT, Deutsche Telekom and Swisscom.
