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Tag: Xbox Video

  • Windows Phone 8 Gets Xbox Video, Xbox Music Today

    Are you a Windows Phone 8 user that desperately needs official Microsoft apps for everything in your life? Well, the last two holdouts – video and music – are finally getting official apps.

    Microsoft announced today that Xbox Video is finally available on Windows Phone 8. Like the app on PC and Xbox One, Xbox Video for Windows Phone 8 allows users to stream or download any number of movies and TV shows to their device. The app also pulls Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic ratings for those who just aren’t sure if they would like Pacific Rim (Spoilers: You will).

    As for TV shows on Xbox Video, Microsoft touts the ability for users to purchase a season pass. This allows to pay a single upfront fee and download each new episode of a TV series as soon as it airs.

    Finally, Xbox Video for Windows Phone 8 offers SmartGlass functionality with Xbox 360 and Xbox One. You can use the app as a remote or to pull information about the film while watching it on your TV via your console.

    Xbox Video isn’t the only app hitting Windows Phone 8 today as a preview of Xbox Music will also be made available to Xbox Music Pass subscribers. The current offering is strictly a preview as the app won’t be ready until 2014, but it will give you a taste of the Xbox Music experience Microsoft is building for Windows Phone 8 devices. The app is available in all 22 markets that Xbox Music is currently available in.

    If you need the above apps in your life, you can find the Xbox Video app here and the Xbox Music app here.

    Image via Xbox Wire

  • Xbox Video Comes To The Web, Lacks HD Playback

    Xbox Video is Microsoft’s one stop destination for all things movies and TV shows on Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows 8 PCs. Now the service is expanding, but with one very big caveat.

    Microsoft unveiled its new Xbox Video Web app today ahead of the launch of its Windows Phone app. With the Web app, you’ll be able to watch your purchased Xbox Video content on any browser that supports Microsoft’s Silverlight plug-in.

    That’s all well and good, but what about that “one very big caveat?” Well, the Web app won’t play video in HD. The same goes for the upcoming Windows Phone app. Why is that the case? Microsoft only offers the explanation that HD playback is only available on Xbox 360, Xbox One and the Windows 8.1 app. There’s really no reason that Microsoft can’t offer HD playback on browsers so it really seems like they’re reserving HD playback for their own consumer products and services.

    While it’s certainly a bummer that Xbox Video doesn’t have HD playback on the Web, the app will be your best friend if you’ve bought into Microsoft’s collection of services, like Xbox Video and Xbox Music. All the movies that you’ve bought on your Xbox 360 are now available to watch on the Web at no extra charge. That’s certainly a good thing. It’s just a shame that Microsoft had to be a scrooge and keep HD playback exclusively on Xbox and Windows 8 devices.

    You can check out the Xbox Video Web site here.

    [h/t: The Verge]
    [Image: Xbox Video]