Xbox 360 Spring Update Looks Great and Could Be Great for Home Theater
Microsoft has released details of the spring update for the Xbox 360, to be released May 7th. Updates include integration with Windows Live Messenger to chat back and forth from 360 to PC (using the super cool keyboard attachment), a dedicated Marketplace Blade (not sure if we really need more blades) and better codec support for video playback (this is where things get interesting).
What really gets me excited is the improved codec support. As of now the Xbox 360 will only playback video encoded in WMV, which is utterly useless, closed proprietary systems are good for no one, those WMV encoded files will also play back on exactly… zero other devices I own. With this update Microsoft will be adding support for both Mpeg4 and H.264 codecs. Codecs that are high quality and worth your time, but also quickly becoming industry standards. Both Mpeg4 and H.264 will playback on a Video iPod, AppleTV and PS3. Like it or not, Apple and Sony are the major competitors to Microsoft for living room space, so Microsoft has to keep up. It’s nice to see that they are.
Now what really gets me salivating is the potential here. Imagine taking all those DVD’s you own (I’m not talking piracy here people, I’m talking fair use), ripping them to your computer (Mac or Windows) with a program like Handbrake and being able to watch the same video file on your Video iPod and on your widescreen Hi-Def television using the Xbox 360 (using Windows Media Player 11 or for the enlightened Mac users Connect 360 is amazing and actually works better than Microsoft’s own solution).
I love the thought of being able to select any movie I own without having to even leave my chair. I’m an Apple fan all the way, but I already own an Xbox 360 and by simply adding a little codec support Microsoft may have just built an AppleTV killer without even realizing it.
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