Report: Xbox Live update is in the works
Players could watch video, listen to tunes and chat without playing games.
By Laura Dunphy -- Video Business, 5/6/2003
MAY 6 | Microsoft Corp. is expected to announce next week a series of upgrades to the Xbox Live interactive online gaming package that will turn the company's videogame console unit into a multifunctional entertainment device.
Planned changes, including an advanced chat feature and the ability to listen to music and watch videos, will be unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, according to the Reuters news service.
An Xbox spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Upgraded features reportedly will help turn the console into a more fully functional media center. In the works are options that would allow users to listen to digital tunes and watch videos using the Xbox. Customers would be able to transfer music and video files from their computers to the unit, where they can manage the files, then access them through their TVs.
In addition, the current Xbox Live version allows players to chat during play via a special headset and broadband connection, and the upgrade will bring the possibility of chatting without requiring the use of a game.
Such changes are possible because Microsoft planned ahead and included on its console a gigantic 8-gigabyte hard drive and a port for high-speed Internet connections, which allow for constant upgrades.
Despite that ability, the computer giant is still planning to release a next-generation gaming machine, CEO Steve Ballmer told Reuters.
Since its release in November 2001, the Xbox has emerged as the No. 2 videogame unit, sandwiched between market leader PlayStation 2 from Sony Corp. and Nintendo's GameCube.
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