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Archive for the 'Xbox' Tag

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Ditching cable for Xbox saves Seal Beach man $70/month

April 8th, 2010, 5:12 pm by

This is the first in a short series about alternatives to TV service. More coming on Friday.
DITCHING CABLE: Jeremy Baker gave up cable after he lost his job. But he still watches the latest shows thanks to services like PlayOn, Netflix and others. Photo by CINDY YAMANAKA

Everything changed when Jeremy Baker lost his job in November 2008 — including how he watched TV.

The Seal Beach resident  didn’t watch a ton of TV but his cable bill had crept up to $130 a month. Scrambling to cut costs, he canceled cable and bought a Microsoft Xbox 360 game console.

Read more:

“I know it doesn’t make sense but I did the math. After 6 months, the Xbox was paid for,” Baker said.

It’s what he did with the Xbox that helped him save money. By changing the source of his TV service, Baker was able to watch most of his favorite shows on his TV for half of what he had paid the cable company.

He purchased PlayOn software for $30 and got a subscription to Netflix. For $8.99/month, Netflix offers unlimited access to its online video library, which includes thousands of movies and TV shows, plus one DVD rental at a time. PlayOn gave him access to several TV shows plucked from sites like the popular Hulu.com, ComedyCentral.com (including ”The Daily Show with Jon Stewart“) plus an assortment of on-demand shows from MTV, Food Networks, HGTV, SyFy and Discovery Channel.

The best part? He can still watch it all on his regular TV, thanks to the Xbox.

“I got really into watching the old ‘Law & Orders’ and every ‘SVU’ and ‘Criminal Intent,’”  Baker said. “I’m probably paying $60 a month.” Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Internet • Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 27 Comments »

AT&T U-verse coming to Xbox universe

January 14th, 2010, 1:08 pm by

CATCHING UP: Xbox univerese heading to AT&T U-verse.It’s true, AT&T U-verse subscribers with a Microsoft Xbox will soon be able to access all those U-verse TV activities on the game console.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive officer, mentioned the union during his keynote speech at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (yes, file this in the way-too-much-to-miss-at-CES folder). Gaming site Kotaku has been writing stories about it, see “U.S. Xbox 360s Get IPTV Through AT&T Uverse This Year.”

AT&T just confirmed the news to me so I wanted to share with readers, especially those interested in U-verse TV, an Internet-based TV service available in several cities in Orange County. See the list of Orange County cities HERE.

According to an AT&T  spokeswoman, U-verse TV subscribers will be able to use their XBOX 360 console as a TV set-top box.

“You’ll be able to watch U-verse TV programming using your new or existing XBOX receiver, including live, on-demand, HD and Total Home DVR content. It will enable the same viewing experience and same features that you get today with a U-verse receiver. As we’ve done with all the new apps and features we’ve added for customers over the years, we’ll make the rollout or upgrade option quick and simple for customers. We plan to make this option available to customers in 2010, later in the year,” Katie Keating  responded in an e-mail.

No mention on whether this will cost extra. Currently, AT&T charges $7/month for extra TV receivers. The first HD receiver is included with the plan.

For those wondering why AT&T teamed up with Xbox, that’s not a huge surprise. Microsoft’s  Mediaroom is the software inside U-verse set-top boxes. What’s next? Watch U-verse TV on Microsoft mobile phones?

Earlier on AT&T U-verse:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Playstation, Xbox are not only pricey but energy hogs

June 4th, 2008, 12:00 am by

Uh, ya, the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 are full-on computers that need a lot of power to operate. But interestingly, a study by the Australian consumer agency Choice discovered that these game consoles use up more power when not in use than a refrigerator! (I spotted this on Lifehacker, which honed in on this Reuters story, by the way.)

Who knew that an idle PS3 users more power than a Plasma TV playing a DVD or three iMacs or two CRT monitors? Choice offers some handy charts comparing energy use plus the damage to an Aussie’s electricity bill.

According to the Reuters’ story, the study concludes that “Our tests found that leaving a Playstation 3 on while not in use would cost almost… five times more than it would take to run a refrigerator for the same yearly period.”

That must be one energy efficient refrigerator! Turn those PS3s and Xbox 360′s off when not in use. Check out the study HERE.

Posted in: news • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Blizzard won’t team up with Activision in ‘Warcraft’ console games

December 3rd, 2007, 7:36 am by

ActivisionwithBlizzard

(Adds comments from executives during this morning’s news conference call starting in 5th paragraph.)

Don’t expect “World of Warcraft” games for Xbox 360 or PlayStation3 any time soon.

For now, anyway, “Warcraft” from Blizzard Entertainment will remain exclusively an online game even though the company is about to team up with Activision, which makes console games such as “Guitar Hero” and “Tony Hawk” skateboarding games, Blizzard’s chief executive officer said this morning.

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime discussed the issue during this morning’s conference call about the deal that Blizzard parent company Vivendi announced Sunday to buy a controlling interest in Activision for $9.8 billion.

“We have no current plans on the console side,” Morhaime said.

So far, the deal is being presented as a way to “unlock value” for shareholders by making Blizzard’s projected $517 million in 2007 operating income a prominent part of a new publicly traded company called Activision Blizzard.

Until now, Blizzard’s financial achievements have been buried within the overall revenue and earnings of its French parent, Vivendi SA.

This change won’t just matter to shareholders, it also will affect Blizzard’s 2,300 employees and its customers. For example, game developers at Blizzard should be eligible for stock options of the new company as part of their compensation.

“That presents us with an opportunity to attract and retain the talent that’s necessary to continue to stay competitive,” said Morhaime, who will remain as president and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment after the merger.

Robert Kotick, chief executive officer of Activision and future CEO of Activision Blizzard, said Blizzard’s experience in Asia will help with expanding sales of games such as “Guitar Hero” there. Blizzard is the only successful Western game publisher in the region, he said.

Blizzard has achieved that by investing $200 million to build a “best in class” game system supported by 2,000 game masters worldwide, said Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of Vivendi.

As high-speed Internet access becomes more widely available in India, Russia and Eastern Europe, Blizzard plans to expand there too, Morhaime said.

For more details on the merger, click HERE.

Posted in: Blizzard • Blizzard/Warcraft/Star Craft • WoW • • • • • • | Comments Off

‘Halo’ makes history

September 26th, 2007, 3:43 pm by

More Halo 3 coverage from ocregister.comA hero rose

True to Microsoft‘s words, Tuesday’s launch of “Halo 3” did indeed become “the biggest day in entertainment history,” ringing in $170 million at cash registers all over the U.S.

That tally eclipsed what until Tuesday was the one-day record for entertainment revenue: The “Spider-Man 3″ movie, which made $151 million on May 6 this year.

So, does this news from Microsoft surprise me? Yes and no. I had little doubt that “Halo 3″ would break the then-record of $125 mil in a day set in 2004 by “Halo 3,” but $170 mil! Wow.

Those are some big numbers. Granted, editions such as the $130 “Legendary” version assuredly helped boost these figures, but it’s impressive considering this game only runs on a still-relatively new console — The Xbox 360, which only turns 2 in November.

This tally is also significant because of its boost for the 360 in its battle as the king of the current generation of consoles. Looks like the rivals have some work to do, especially Sony.

– Matt Degen

Posted in: news • • | Comments Off

Halo 3 wrap up

September 25th, 2007, 8:18 am by

More Halo 3 coverage

If you missed today’s paper, here’s what happened last night:

+ Halo 3 goes on sale. See photos of Orange County fans.

+ About 100 people waited in line at the Best Buy in Fullerton. Watch the VIDEO

+ The business story: Halo 3 mission: Save Xbox (and the Earth)

+ Halo 3 review by Matt Degen: The ARTICLE (Halo 3 lives up to the hype) and the VIDEO

+ Earlier coverage on The Gadgetress Blog

Posted in: news • • | Comments Off

Who’s in line for Halo 3?

September 24th, 2007, 4:21 pm by

More Halo 3 coverage
+ OC’s Halo 3 midnight openings
+ Watch Matt Degen’s video review of Halo 3
+ Matt Degen’s Halo 3 review

Halo’s Master ChiefAs of 3 p.m.-ish, there was no one in line at the Best Buy store in Fullerton waiting to be the first to buy Halo 3 at midnight tonight. I haven’t seen other news stories about the lines either.

I know there are hard-core fans out there but maybe they’re pretty confident that Microsoft has supplied enough games to retailers that the game can be had tomorrow. At a decent hour.

Still, there are quite a few stories about retailers who have pre-sold the games and are expecting long lines. And online retailers like Amazon, Costco and others have been taking pre-orders and promising speedy delivery.

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow whether the launch of Halo 3 will outdo Halo 2 or whether it’s been over-hyped. Will gamers show up at Best Buy tonight to get a photo op with Master Chief? If anyone plans to stand in line tonight — or already is in line — let me know. Maybe I’ll send a photographer to the store.

Update at 5ish p.m.: Reader “Royce” let me know that about 20 people are waiting in line outside the Wal-Mart in Foothill Ranch. I wonder if they know that the store won’t start selling the games until 7 a.m. Tuesday?

Posted in: news • • | 3 Comments »

Video review of new Halo 3 game

September 24th, 2007, 12:58 pm by

More Halo 3 coverage
+ OC’s Halo 3 midnight openings

You read Matt Degen’s thoughts on Halo 3, which goes on sale tonight. Now, watch his video review for scenes from the game…

Video review of Halo 3

Posted in: news • • | Comments Off

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