Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Foxtel via Xbox?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Godzilla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Melbourne
    Age
    59
    Posts
    12,740
    Thanks
    16,580
    Thanked 7,201 Times in 3,648 Posts
    Rep Power
    2198
    Reputation
    79113

    Default Foxtel via Xbox?

    Here you go, another way to get your pay tv fix.

    Better have a good unlimited download limit.



    No unmetered access to Foxtel on Xbox 360

    Foxtel and Xbox 360 – is it the Xfox or the Foxbox 360? Whatever it is, because it’s definitely not the complete Foxtel TV experience, you’ll need plenty of gigabytes in your monthly download limit to truly take advantage of the Foxtelevisual experience.

    No big loss, some are on ISP's that unmeter everything (<3 TPG) and if they are not, 1TB quota's are fairly cheap…


    If you were hoping that Foxtel on Xbox 360 would provide the full Foxtel experience, you’re probably disappointed right now.

    Not all of the channels are available, and while there certainly are many there, if the channel or show you want isn’t… such as sporting content, other news channels available on the regular Foxtel and more... that’s a mark against Foxtel and Microsoft’s Foxtelivellian plans to sell more consoles and monthly subscriptions.

    Presumably licensing restrictions or the desire to pay less money to local or overseas content providers is stopping all the channels from being offered, but it's a pain for consumers who expect it to be there and will be shocked to find out it's not.

    But what’s more concerning is the lack of any partner ISPs offering unmetered access to Foxtel on Xbox.

    Just as ABC hasn’t managed to find ISP partners willing to its unmeter ABC News 24 service, so too has Foxtel failed to get any ISP to come to the party – not even its business partner in Foxtel, Telstra.

    That’s no surprise, of course. Telstra might own half of Foxtel but it’s vigorously competing with the subscription TV company.

    Telstra has its T-Box, as well as its BigPond movie, music and TV show download services, where naturally Telstra provided content is made available to most Telstra customers on an unmetered basis.

    Foxtel is taking a different route into the lounge, living and bedrooms of Australians, and is using Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console as the “set-top box” to deliver the goods. It’s a good idea, and with packages starting from $20 per month for a selection of channels, some will certainly find it a compelling offering and will happily sign up.

    But unless you have a download plan with hundreds of gigabytes, one of the new 1 terabyte plans or any of the “unlimited” plans, you’ll need to keep a firm eye on your ISPs usage meter to avoid the possibility of surcharges or slowdowns to Jurassic-era 64kbps speeds.

    Now, I wonder when Foxtel or Telstra will bring a Foxtel subscription to the iPad? Or sharing my Xbox 360 subscription with my iPad?

    It’s all possible, even with the same “danger” to your download limit whether over wired or wireless connections, although Telstra does currently unmeter its access to Mobile Foxtel as it is a subscription service.

    Hopefully, soon, and at a similarly nice price to Telstra’s existing Mobile Foxtel pricing for smartphones, with the top package offering 32 channels for $18 per month.



    Until then... Foxtel on Xbox 360 is finally available. All that's left now is for Microsoft to turn its Xbox 360 into a fully fledged computer with keyboard, mouse, Internet Explorer and Office 2010... but we might have to wait for the Xbox 720 or a Windows TabletPhone 8 for that!

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Godzilla For This Useful Post:

    cobra679 (19-10-10),porkchops (19-10-10)



Look Here ->
  • #2
    Senior Member porkchops's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Mt Gambier
    Age
    48
    Posts
    536
    Thanks
    168
    Thanked 95 Times in 81 Posts
    Rep Power
    203
    Reputation
    543

    Default

    Interesting, obviously a direct pitch against .

    Like most IPTV solutions, this is very heavily dependent on having high speed Internet, which not everyone has access to the sppeds required to get a parity similar to satellite/cable. Queue: NBN roll-out

    Personally, I would prefer a satellite/cable connection over IPTV as frees up the Internet connection for other purposes.

    Interesting to see where this goes, as I for one will be watching with a mixture of interest and optimism.

    Edit: For those living in Austar territory - forget about getting this service, as only applies to Foxtel areas!
    Last edited by porkchops; 19-10-10 at 01:17 PM.
    We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them - Albert Einstein

  • #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    1,040
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post
    Rep Power
    287
    Reputation
    2985

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by porkchops View Post
    Edit: For those living in Austar territory - forget about getting this service, as only applies to Foxtel areas!
    Good luck trying to enforce that based on existing Austar/Foxtel areas!
    Just set up a billing address in a Foxtel area and use it wherever you like from any Australian IP address. Unlike regular pay TV they never have to install anything so a physical location check isn't required. This new service could damage Austar significantly as people flock to using Foxtel instead in their area and as we all know Austar won't develop their own version for another 10 years or never due to their own slack development and funneling of profits into executive pockets rather than product development.
    The beginning of the end for Austar?

  • Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •