Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Verizon FiOS Customers Can Now Sign Up For New Xbox 360 Service, Will Let You Control Live TV With Your Hands

 

FiOS TV - Xbox Program Guide

Last month, Verizon and Microsoft announced a partnership that will bring live HD TV channels to Xbox 360 customers who have active Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. Through the agreement, customers who sign up for the service will be able to watch live TV via their Xbox, without having to purchase any additional hardware. Of course, the coolest part of the news was not that you could watch live TV on your…well, you know…your TV, but that you could control it via the Xbox 360 Kinect. Yep, prepare to channel surf with your hands and your voice!

The offer is now ready to order, says Verizon, which has just launched the sign-up form here for new FiOS customers. Existing customers can just call Verizon to add an Xbox to their current service. (Note that in addition to Xbox Live Gold, you’ll also need to subscribe to both FiOS TV and FiOS Internet in order for this service to work).

To encourage new sign-ups, Verizon is offering an $89.99 “triple-play” package with TV, 35/35 Mbps Internet and Verizon voice service. They’ll even throw in a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold and the “Xbox Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary” game. The offer is good through January 21st.

OK, now for the bad news: the sign-up form is live, but the service itself is not. Verizon says the FiOS TV app will not be available for download until next month. This is how you’ll be able to magically control the live TV channels using voice and gestures.

The live TV offering will launch with 26 channels on board, including MTV, Spike, Food Network, Comedy Central, HBO, CNN and Nickelodeon.

As a part of the deal, Verizon is also running a promotion with gaming network Machinima to sponsor the Gamers’ Choice Award for the Inside Gaming Awards. Voters can vote via Facebook or Twitter (using #FiOSGamers) for a chance to win two years of the trip-play service, a multi-room DVR, Microsoft Kinect and 40,000 Microsoft points.

 

Verizon FiOS Customers Can Now Sign Up For New Xbox 360 Service, Will Let You Control Live TV With Your Hands
Sarah Perez
Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:12:08 GMT

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