 "Microsoft shuts down MSN TV in favour of Xbox One for entertainment")
In an effort to shift focus to the all-in-one entertainment aspect of its Xbox One console, Microsoft has now announced that its MSN TV service will be discontinued. Starting from September, MSN TV will no longer be around.
Users, however, don’t need to be worried for now as videos and music can still be stored once the device is hooked to the Internet. Entertainment updates for MSN TV can no longer be expected from the company, though. The service, which was originally known as WebTV and bought over by Microsoft bought in 1997 for $425 million, will now be moved to SkyDrive, both for the users and the content, according to SlashGear.
According to International Business Times, the beta version of the Live update for Xbox 360 started registration for users over the weekend. It can be assumed that the company is waiting for the launch of its Xbox One before rolling out a similar beta programme for the latest Xbox console.
MSN TV originally featured a dedicated hardware device that was hooked up to a television. Through the years, the service saw many avatars, including being rebranded as MSN TV in 2001. While some of its technology was later seen in the company’s gaming platform, the Xbox, for the most part, MSN TV struggled to keep its users interested.
Microsoft shuts down MSN TV in favour of Xbox One for entertainment (Image credit:newswhip)
Some of the landmark moments for Microsoft’s TV unit include coming up with Mediaroom, an end-to-end IPTV platform, which later saw application in set-top boxes used by AT&T for its triple-play communications service, U-verse. The TV unit is now in the process of shifting hands to Ericsson, which may be a big reason behind the timing of this announcement.
Interactive TV still has some big players, including companies like Apple coming up with devices that hook up to TVs and deliver content. Apple TV and Roku are prime examples for this platform. In an interview with AllThingsD, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was caught saying that the interactive TV arena, “continues to be an area of great interest to us.” While talking about this, the Apple head honcho said, “When you look at the TV experience, it’s not an experience that I think very many people love. It’s not one that has been brought up to date for this decade. It’s still an experience much like 10 years ago or 20 years ago.”
While the market may still have some strong players, Microsoft is definitely throwing in the towel for MSN TV. On the webpage, the company has said, “WebTV (later called MSN TV) started in 1996 with the goal to bring new people ‘online’ and to give those already online an easy, hassle-free means of accessing the internet from the comfort of their homes. Later, MSN TV 2 was released with vastly greater power and features. Since then, the web has continued to evolve at a breathtaking pace, and there are many new ways to access the internet. Accordingly, we have made the difficult decision to end the MSN TV service on September 30th, 2013. We are working with our customers to ensure the transition is as seamless as possible.” It now remains to be seen if Microsoft can get users to get hooked onto its Xbox One as an all-in-one entertainment unit.
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