Xbox evolved: Microsoft's master-plan to merge all media

There is a sense, if one stops to examine it, that a most significant transformation of the Xbox is happening right under our noses.
Numerous incremental updates, drip-fed across several years, have quietly and steadily re-shaped the console into a home entertainment hub. At face value it's bluntly referred to as "games plus Netflix" in the US and "games plus iPlayer" in the UK. Yet, at an infrastructure level, Microsoft is pushing Xbox into a sphere of entertainment that's so progressive there isn't really a recognised word for it yet.
It's not convergence nor is it dissemination. The future for Xbox is some kind of multi-channel, cross-location, self-interacting media ecosystem. And it's something that has clear signs of promise.
http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideo...mb_wide300.jpgXbox MusicPut it this way: Xbox will soon launch a music service that most people expect will carry the same curse/stupidities as Zune. Yet somehow it is clearly an authentic Spotify contender.Xbox Music will cost £8.99 in the UK - about the same price as Spotify's premium service - and it will allow customers to stream ad-free music onto five separate devices such as Windows 8, smartphones, various tablets, Xboxes and PCs.
A Windows Phone user, for example, will be able to listen on the go and then, when arriving home or at the office, can throw their playlist onto an Xbox or PC, or whatever really, in a manner that isn't quite seamless but is swift and straightforward.
When Xbox Music is playing on PC or Xbox, a SmartGlass device can sync up and provide information about the tracks, or allow users to create playlists to send across devices.
Everything's becoming a bit post-homogenous. The target customer in Microsoft's future will not easily perceive where their entertainment experience begins or ends.
And in a moment of modern shrewdness, Microsoft has revealed that the basic version of Xbox Music will be completely free to use.
Pawan Bhardwaj, product manager Xbox Live, confirmed to CVG on Monday that the free edition will be punctuated by commercial interruptions much like Spotify's free service. Unlike Spotify, however, it will support SmartGlass and boast about double the number of available tracks (about thirty million, apparently).
SmartGlass is coming to iPhone and Android for free too, though it's not clear whether the likes of Apple and Google will allow their devices to stream a major rival's music service.
Microsoft has a startling track record of misusing its resources and misunderstanding the market when trying to compete in music. By opening up Xbox Music to all (and, by the way, pre-installing it on all Windows 8 OSes), it may well have steadied its aim.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...rge-all-media/