Is Lost coming to my Xbox?

Lost is a Disney product. It's highly unlikely Jobs will let it show up anywhere but itunes and streaming from the ABC website.

LOL jobs has pull but he by no means decides what disney does and microsofts a pretty strong market group... i'd suggest asking this on larry's blog and find out...

personally i want house and scrubs :) im happy that i hear numb3rs is coming... oh oh anyone hear if supernatural is coming?

I don't know if there's much point to grabbing HD video yet. On a 20GB hard drive where only 13GB is free, you won't even finish a season of Lost before you have to start deleting things.

Assuming the drive is empty, of course.

I'm very happy about the news. I don't have a particular need to download my fav shows in HD since I have a dual-tuner HD DVR, but I would definitely like to see shows like Dexter (Showtime) or rent a movie for the weekend.

Too bad about the lack of external hard drive support though.

How does search work on xBox live?

I have Comcast OnDemand, and searching for anything really stinks on ice...

Eventually, it's a good bet that everything will be everywhere. But there's no Disney product in the first round of Xbox titles. Will Microsoft sign Disney before iTunes ups their resolution to meet your requirements? You can bet that Apple will be paying very close attention to the impact that HDTV downloads have in the marketplace.

I just wonder if this is too little too late. We have all been expecting XBOX/360 to do this for soooo long its not funny. really. but MS is late to its own party - apple will own this space.

And if you dont think iTunes wont have HD content soon you didnt pay attention to the specs of the iTV during the demo. HDMI and component video only ?? for SD (480p) viewing? i dont think so - that'd be a bigger blunder than new coke and windows ME combined. The movie trailers on apples quick time site are starting to appear with HD options, its not long now before we start seeing HD in the rest of the line up.

You might be interested to know that Lost is coming to Blue Ray, unless you've got an Xbox360 that is :)

The cost of the set aside, I'd much rather have the physical set than to have to wait for it to download (and then have to deal with not having enough HDD space).

scoble.. stop trying to use big words... media distribution platform? please.

this is iTunes. wait 'till version 3.

Furthermore, wait until downloading HD becomes a good idea.

Wait for Apple to show how it's done..

Apple doesn't have a device anywhere near a television set that's worth talking about.

If MS can "pass through" 360 downloads to a MCE PC, or visa versa, then this will be a *huge* deal for digital downloads. After all, "Live Anywhere" means Live... anywhere, right? (& hinges on the security of Vista, I think.)

I'm surprised at the breadth of the agreements with content providers that MS was able to secure this soon. But this is only the beginning. Where's NBC? It's OWNS Universal who is spearheading HD-DVD (and has a close strategic partnership with Microsoft - hence bundling the HD-DVD drive w/ King Kong).

Well I guess I can't complain about MS not understanding the content business now hehe...

This is an obvious attempt to try to lure young males back to watching TV. If this had been something connected to original content rather than another way to watch the same old stuff, it might have been a better service to embrace.

Who cares about watching more TV shows, no matter what the platform?

why would anyone want to keep movies on their comp/notebook? that's what dvds are for. I can use the valuable space for other things.
unless you are like me and scrooge enough not to spend $$ on a tv, why watch dvds on a comp/notebook when you're busy doing other stuff? At least it's on a decent-sized screen, unlike you weirdos out there who don't mind watching tc on a 2" screen.
why own stuff that you'll only watch o more than a few times when you canrent?

Isn't 640×480 higher resolution than NTSC?, in the States you've had it pretty bad for a long time with regards to TV quality, in the UK we use PAL which is significantly clearer, in fact I can barely tell the difference between PAL and HD on an HD TV (unless you get a huge TV and sit right in front of it).
I was always amazed watching TV in the States that you had to put up with such poor quality.

Mike?..."Wait for Apple to show how it’s done.. "
I certainly hope that you were just joking about that.

Don't think so - I already have it figured out, thanks.

One of the downsides to living in the Silicon Prairie (read, MidWest) versus living in Silicon Valley, is that the number of Angel investors or VC's here is pretty low.

We do a lot more bootstrapping here in Missouri, and have friends named Visa and MasterCard. They love me, especially when charging prime +14%

Scoble, as the vloggies have just recently been held, I'm a bit suprised that you wouldn't be more excited to have the independent media on your XBox, rather tha major media.

@Mike Johnson - Apple will own this space? The problem is this: Microsoft is offering the service on November 22nd. Apple's iTV isn't coming out until next year, maybe the end of the 1st quarter. I can't understand how you think that Microsoft is too little too late when they're offering HD downloads in two weeks.

I'm a huge Apple fan..I'm even typing this on a Macbook, but I have no problems giving Microsoft credit when they deserve it. The fact is, they've beat Apple to it. They're offering HD downloads before Apple and they're offering it in conjunction with a great gaming device as well.

I planned on purchasing the iTV (I may still depending on how Microsoft's service pans out), but it's going to be a lot harder for me to justify $300 for a device plus the cost of media purchases if I already have a 360 that will do the same thing.

Angel, your argument may hold for the earliest of early adopters, but it's not persuasive for the general market. First out the gate doesn't guarantee the race. If it did, we'd all be using Macs--or maybe Xerox Alto computers. And Zune would be a hopeless bet. HD downloads to Xbox is a great solution--if you have (or want) an Xbox. But not everybody does. We're still at the early stages of the total disruption of TV and video production, distribution, and consumption. We don't even know who all the players are, much less the winners.

(in fact, if first out the gate guaranteed a win, iPod would also have been a hopeless bet, since there were already a bunch of mp3 players already on the market.)

@Michael Markman - I think your comment should be directed at Mike Johnson. I never claimed that Microsoft would win. I was in fact questioning the comment that Apple would win or "own the space" as was said. I just stated the fact that Microsoft has beat Apple to the punch with offering the service before them.

I think the fact that they're releasing this right at the start of the XMAS shopping season is going to give them a nice little advantage over Apple's iTV that is not even released yet.

I guess I don't get it but how does having Lost on an Xbox help me? Is Microsoft trying to take on Tivo now?

@Angel/Mark

I think the thing about Apple is that it already has a market and complete user experience. I've been purchasing video content from ITMS for a year now for my video ipod and for my mac mini running front row. if you watch enough TV, you see links and blurbs afteward the shows are over about how to get this show from itunes. i havent seen any link or mention in the mainstream about MCE/Zune/XBOX 360 as a media center. none. zero.

I realize that MS has commitment to this but i think inertia is/has taken over. just like i think google instead of search, many out there think ipod for music/video when they arent flat out buying DVD content. this could change, and if anyone can its MS, but i havent seen anything compelling yet to make this happen.

From what I've seen, iTV brings nothing new to the table that XPMCE + Media Extenders don't. OK, iTV has connections with iTunes, but MCE has connections with CinemaNow.com, MovieLink.com, etc, which have much better selection and better service than iTunes does (for video content). iTV will still be successful because it has the Apple brand name, I suppose, but it's an inferior product at a higher price (twice the price of media extenders for XPMCE).

Plus, with the release of WMP11, one can stream content from PCs to Xbox 360 even if the PC isn't running MCE, so even there, MS beat Apple to the punch.

As for Xbox Live Video service, it allows downloading directly to the settop box (i.e. the Xbox 360 itself) with no need for an intervening computer connection. iTV lacks that. Xbox Live is also offering HD content, using VC1 (the best highdef encoder today) to cut down on file size and therefore cut down on download time. Apple, for political reasons, will refuse to use VC1, so their content will be of lower visual quality yet larger file size, resulting in longer download time.

Sorry, Apple fans, but MS has Apple on this one.
When it comes to technology, that is. As I said, iTV will still be successful just because Apple is "cool" or whatever.

Lost is everywhere. Hell, 5% of viewers watch it online already.

"@Mike Johnson - Apple will own this space? The problem is this: Microsoft is offering the service on November 22nd. Apple’s iTV isn’t coming out until next year, maybe the end of the 1st quarter."

Nov22nd? iTunes Store has been around for ages, is locked into millions upon millions of iPods... you really don't wanna talk about who got the market first pal.

HD downloaded over Broadband? Please! Apple has shown them the way, you buy a movie, and within 3 minutes you have enough of the movie to start watching it... as you watch, the download is completed. Brilliant.

Doing that with HD? Ummm..

Just wait 'till the next Stevenote... more studios will be announced, and it'll be all over. Again.


I mean.. basically the XBOX is an attempt to copy Apple. Again. Closed-architecture experience, etc... but.. the 360 has no where near the install base that Apple has with the iTS.

Sorry, Apple fans, but MS has Apple on this one.
When it comes to technology, that is. As I said, iTV will still be successful just because Apple is “cool” or whatever.

--

So.. basically.. you have nothing to say. Thanks.

PS. OS X is about 5 years ahead of Windows. MS does not have 'it' over Apple in terms of technology. Wake up.

@26-Mike - Obviously we're talking about downloading HD content, not just media content. Keep up pal.

I hope Apple does get more studios....that's great for me. I own a Macbook, Mac mini, and an iPod with video. It would suit my interests best. However, I'm not one of those Apple zealots who can't dare to give someone praise if they're not affiliated with Cupertino. The fact remains, Microsoft is offering HD downloads in two weeks. We won't have HD downloads until next year from Apple. They beat them with the HD downloads. I'm not sure why some of you are finding that hard to comprehend. I hope Sony makes a similar announcement....more competition is fantastic for consumers.

@Mike Johnson - Apple definitely has an excellent user experience, but the one thing that they seriously lack is video quality. I've been purchasing content from iTunes for quite some time as well and I've never been satisfied with the quality even with the latest update. On my 24-inch monitor, the TV shows don't look so hot especially if you're already used to HD quality. Even the couple of shows that I've purchased on the Amazon Unbox service look better than iTunes and I can stream those to my Xbox 360.

"I can’t understand how you think that Microsoft is too little too late when they’re offering HD downloads in two weeks."

On XBox, a loss leader with a relatively small installed user base. What will actually happen is that gamers will see getting some video as a bonus, but the general audience will not be persuaded to buy XBoxes just to get a source to download video. Besides, on XBox movies will be rentals available for only a short time, unlike iTunes movies which the user owns. Not to mention that the XBox hard drive is too small to hold much video content anyhow.

Of more importance, only 15.5 million households WORLDWIDE will have HDTV by the end of 2006. HD content simply is not yet a selling point with most consumers. (It is amazing to me that FACTS such as actual market share of technologies never besmirch Robert's blog. That is one reason one knows he is a public relations tool, not a journalist.)

Then there is the completely contentless babbling of the Larry type. An utter waste of space.

I agree, I can't imagine that too many people will buy the Xbox just to get a source to download. But I think that it may persuade some people who are on the fence that the device offers quite a lot for the price. Like I said, they're not too little or too late considering very few companies have entered the HD download arena.

As for the movies....I much prefer the rental model. I have absolutely zero interest in paying $14 for a movie that doesn't have everything that a DVD offers for a similar price. That's one reason why I've never purchased a movie from ITMS...not to mention I haven't bothered to hook up any of Macs to my TV and I imagine most ITMS consumers haven't either. Now renting a movie for a $5-$6 in HD quality...that I don't mind and it doesn't impact my hard drive space, since it's deleted once we watch it.

HD content isn't a selling point for most consumers, so that's why I'm assuming Microsoft and Apple offer the majority of their content in SD. However, for those of us who do enjoy the technology (we are a growing group), it's a factor. I'm not going to penalize a company because they're offering a variety of content. Considering HD will be the national standard in a couple of years (supposedly lol!) and considering that most TVs sold in stores now are HD, I think offering HD content alongside SD is important. Probably why the iTV has the specs to connect to a HDTV.

Wake up! HD Lost torrents are available within hours of broadcast.

Like it or not you can find torrents of them (without ads).

U MOTHERFUCKER

Omg your all nerds

I don't know is the short answer. But what I would say is that whilst Microsoft have plans for the Xbox, more and more will be made available for distribution, so you should soon be seeing greater choice.