Microsoft will be offering IPTV/PVR this holiday season, and I was able to find a video on the net with what it'll look like, etc. It pretty much looks like any other satellite system, with an EPG (electronics program guide) etc.

The details of how this will work or whether or not every one will be able to get the service aren't there, but I'm going to make a guess, based on information I've read about the system is that your phone or internet company will most likely have to be a part of the networks signed up to join.

Many of the channels will be 720p, which also brings the question of how the content will be played, with limited internet bandwidth. Some people on various forums wonder whether it will download the shows you want, to play later, or possibly cache a small percentage of the stream and then play, like many media players do now days.

From the video I saw, it appeared to actually go into a channel and play right then and there. This, of course, is a video from a microsoft presentation. It could have been simulated on a 360 or PC, etc.

I think it's probably a bigger possibility that providers will actually find a way to increase bandwidth for one port or set of ports that work on the service between the ISP and the 360 system. Some people have hinted that there will be an extra USB dongle/adapter of some kind to make the system work, but who knows? Either way, microsoft (and providers) would have to find a way to make sure video playback isn't choppy, or just cut completely off for several seconds, or even minutes at a time, due to internet lag. If not, this service could fail.

Many people are asking whether or not you'll be able to use this with old xboxes, or only the newer xboxes coming out later this year. I really don't see what the difference may be, with the possible exception of cooler-running cpus and maybe an hdmi connector, and very likely a bigger hard drive. There's a very good possibility that you'll need a hard drive on your 360 for the service, most definitely if you want pvr functionality.

Another thing people want to know is costs. There has not even been a hint at any pricerange for this service, other than the fact that there will be a fee. Judging by its likeness to satellite providers, it'll probably be in the same range of cable or satellite providers, but that depends on how many channels are out there. Some rumors are that they'll actually use a price per show download, but I have my doubts.

Unfortunately, I was really hoping that microsoft would also allow free IPTV channels, but it really doesn't look like they're headed in that direction. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of free IPTV stations of all countries and languages, albeit most of them offer crap programming.

Without knowing much else about the service, all I can say is that it looks cool, I wonder how well they pull it off, and it probably won't be any lower in cost than cable.

What does everyone else think?

Where the hell is the IPTV? I know it's not quite Christmas yet, but it would seem like big 'FALL' update would have included these features, but it doesn't appear to have, unless those features are locked away somewhere.

It MS going to take a big crap on everyone? I guess we can only wait until the holidays are over and see...

Well, I've done a little bit of digging, and microsoft definitely won't have IPTV available by the end of this year. They pretty much said something regarding an exploit or something in one of the current 360 systems, and from what I can tell, this may mean the end of IPTV for normal/retail xbox 360s, before it even gets started.

MS has hinted that you would most likely have to buy a 360 STB with IPTV enabled through an IPTV provider in each individual area. So, some thing, either hardware or software or both are probably going to be added to these IPTV 360s.

Of course, none of this is official, and things could always be misinterpreted, but it doesn't look good.

Who would use IPTV on an XBOX 360 any way? Probably not a lot of people, but companies are trying to make all-in-one systems now, for gaming, internet, shopping, renting movies, and more. Watching tv on a game system just may be common in years to come!