What's in Play

From my view, the past three months have been the most interesting time in high tech for quite a while. Within the same week in January we saw Apple unveil the iPhone and an in-home device called Apple TV as well as Microsoft announce IPTV capability for its wildly popular Xbox 360 game system.

These moves truly drive home the point that convergence is happening on a number of fronts, and the kind of capabilities we used to only dream of now are becoming reality.

As I’m sure you’re already aware, the iPhone is a combo cell phone, music/video iPod, and Internet access/e-mail device. And the wireless company formerly known as Cingular has an exclusive two-year deal to provide connectivity services for the iPhone — an awesome addition to AT&T’s “three-screen strategy,” which we discussed in last month’s cover story.

(A Verizon spokesman seemed shell-shocked when an audience member at a recent event I attended asked him about the AT&T-iPhones deal and how Verizon, with its V CAST music service and Chocolate and other “flavored” music/cell phones could compete. That’s going to be a toughie.) In our cover story this month, Executive Editor Bob Wallace offers an in-depth look at the Microsoft Xbox move.

For some time, many folks have recognized the Xbox as a potential Trojan Horse for Microsoft to offer a wider variety of services to — and get more control of the network in — the home. Now the horse is, er, officially out of the bag, so Wallace spoke with Microsoft and several other sources to present you with the details on what the IPTV-enabled Xbox means to telcos, set-top box vendors, IPTV and the world at large, and what’s expected to happen when.

Considering the Xbox already has an installed base of more than 10 million, the IPTV-enabled game device is expected to have an impact of epic proportions for home video.

Until next time,

Paula Bernier
Editor in Chief

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