January 17th 2012 11:32 am PT

New Apps now available for Xbox LIVE Members

Building upon an our catalog of live and on-demand TV shows, movies, sports and music and continuing to deliver locally relevant content to Xbox LIVE members around the globe, the following apps will be available* in various regions on Xbox LIVE starting today:

Astral Media’s Disney XD (Astral Media). Canada
Mediathek/ZDF (ZDF). Germany
Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports). Canada

At CES, we also announced a new partnership with News Corporation, and will soon bring FOX broadcast programming, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel and IGN to Xbox LIVE. News Corp. apps are scheduled to launch in 2012, so prepare to watch your favorite FOX shows, including “Family Guy,” “House,” “New Girl” and “Glee,” have access to Dow Jones Newswire and MarketWatch from The Wall Street Journal and enjoy game previews, reviews, gameplay videos from IGN, all on-demand.

I’d also like to share our most recent usage stats that illustrate our community’s excitement around Xbox 360 becoming more personal, engaging and social through Xbox LIVE:

The hours of video consumed globally on Xbox LIVE increased 140 percent from 2010 to 2011.
In December more than 60 percent of U.S. Xbox LIVE Gold members used entertainment apps on Xbox LIVE – for an average of an hour a day each.
The number of people using entertainment apps on Xbox LIVE increased by nearly 50 percent globally from November to December.

We are committed to enhancing and expanding our global entertainment offerings on Xbox LIVE in 2012. Moving forward, you can expect to see more of the world’s leading entertainment providers coming to Xbox and a continued rollout of additional entertainment apps.

*Xbox LIVE Gold membership and/or additional subscriptions/fees may be required. Kinect functionality available with select Xbox LIVE content and varies by feature and country. For additional details and availability, see http://www.xbox.com/live.

Xbox 360, Xbox Live By Larry Hryb, Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson

permalink: http://majornelson.com/2012/01/17/new-apps-now-available-for-xbox-live-members/

http://thetjhzone.blogspot.com Tylerh1701

Sorry, off topic, but when is the DotW going to post?

Thanks
http://twitter.com/scootermcgee Scott, eh?

Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports)
Uh… those two kinda contradict each other…
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3222VFCPLB6JJGXPXGLMICTKYM Brad
  
  What are you talking about? One of their teams made the playoffs just seven short seasons ago…
- http://twitter.com/Johnnymce john mcelligott
  
  really what does xbox think the leafs are canada’s team
  - Anonymous
    
    I’m not really sure I understand what you’re saying… Real Sports is a TV channel and Maple Leaf Sports is the name of the company that owns it.
    - Bryan Thompson
      
      yeah, but the Maple Leafs are like watching re-runs of the Bad News Bears…Like he said it’s an oxymoron…read between the lines.
      - Anonymous
        
        I was referring to the comment directly above mine. I understood the joke of the original post.
      - Anonymous
        
        I was referring to the comment directly above mine. I understood the joke of the original post.
      - Anonymous
        
        I was referring to the comment directly above mine. I understood the joke of the original post.
Anonymous

Woohoo! No The Darkness II demo in Germany, but we get senior citizen TV!
tabicat

Will the Fox TV shows be free? Will they have commercials?
- Anonymous
  
  I was wondering the same things. I am sure they will have some sort of sponsored commercials, not just Fox promos.
- Anonymous
  
  I was wondering the same things. I am sure they will have some sort of sponsored commercials, not just Fox promos.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Noah-Throop/1030695690 Noah Throop

i hope maple leafs sports free but i want crackle the most it haves free movie to watch from sony.
- Anonymous
  
  The app is free but most of the content in it is paid from what I experienced during the beta. Haven’t downloaded the full app and likely won’t for that reason.
- Bryan Thompson
  
  Man, you need an english class…
http://www.facebook.com/people/Noah-Throop/1030695690 Noah Throop

its not just maple leafs its other sports but its not free
http://www.facebook.com/people/Noah-Throop/1030695690 Noah Throop

i hope crackle comes to xboxlive next week eh
muzzymate

Can’t wait to hear news on HBO Go availability!
http://www.facebook.com/TriPham1982 Tri Pham

I WANT XFINITY.
http://www.facebook.com/TriPham1982 Tri Pham

I WANT XFINITY.
Anonymous

Is there an app to take my credit card off my Live account?
- http://twitter.com/zoon2084 Steven Zeuner
  
  Depending on the card, get a vitrual acct # from the CC’s website and input that. I did it and it ran out after a month or so.
Anonymous

Is there an app to take my credit card off my Live account?
Anonymous

i just want a game’s console…and yes the app’s are popular at the moment but they get old fast.
Give us the option to remove tabs we dont use and re arange the order “Games” should not be after “TV”
Anonymous

So when are we Time Warner Cable customers FINALLY going to get an update about live streaming in the ESPN app? Seriously, this constant waiting and dead update page is just beyond ridiculous now.
http://twitter.com/Navarin Bennijin Turbo

When will BBC iPlayer be out and will you be getting ITV on board at all?
- http://twitter.com/Inaba_kun Inaba-kun
  
  iPlayer is apparently “early this year”, but there’s no date on ITV, or any agreement to make it happen. Probably for the best though. ITV is 99% tabloid rubbish and the dash is already saturated with crud with Sky and Demand 5.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Adanac/100001237455741 Joe Adanac

“News Corp. apps are scheduled to launch in 2012, so prepare…” to have your phone and Xbox messages deleted by Rupert Murdoch if you’re ever kidnapped.
http://twitter.com/Inaba_kun Inaba-kun

The new video stuff has great potential, BUT… you really, really have to fix the bugs.

1 – In the new Metro dash, the gamma level when playing video is horribly broken. Blacks are grey, everything looks washed out. Digital Foundry did a big article on this, and it’s even all over the official Xbox forums. Please, FIX IT!

2 – Bing has no idea Netflix UK exists. Hard to believe, really, hard to believe. Bing can search Zune, LoveFilm, 4OD, and various others here in the UK, but clearly nobody has told it that Netflix isn’t just a US only thing anymore. Again, FIX IT!

3 – You really are going to have to lean on providers to put out better quality video. To just take ultra low end SD feeds intended to be viewed in little windows on little laptop screens just doesn’t make the cut on 50-60″ plasmas. 720p is the absolute minimum.

4 – And speaking of 720p, please stop capping all third party video at 720p. Let them do 1080p, as they used to be able to do and can still do on the PS3. That only Zune can do 1080p is anti-competitive at best, and also damaging your own platform for no gain. It’s retarded.

So yes, potential but problems galore. Please work harder.
- Anonymous
  
  In general playing any videos on 360 is less than ideal. I mainly use PS3 for anything video because of this, not to mention the advantage in codec support.
  - Anonymous
    
    For codec support use TVersity I stream mkv videos with it all the time now.
    - Jeremy Mossip
      
      Or something even better, ps3 media server, works on all devices and rocks anything else out there. free and transcodes if your xbox doesnt play it. beats tversity in every possible way.
http://twitter.com/lightsup55 Timothy

Nothing for us in U.S.A. = NO Xfinity

I think the title of the post should’ve read:

“New Apps now available for Xbox LIVE Members (Canada and Germany)”
- Hugoku
  
  Really, you guys get a ton of stuff.
  Let everyone else enjoy their day (one of very few) in the sun.
  - http://twitter.com/Und3rGrndKing Und3rGrndKing
    
    That’s irrelevant. He’s not complaining about you guys getting apps. He’s asking for a more informative title. Nonetheless it didn’t cost anything but a few seconds to skim to know anyways.
  - Anonymous
    
    Nobody is complaining that they didn’t get anything new, just that the title should have been more specific as there was no need for people outside of Germany or Canada to bother reading this post at all.
    - Hugoku
      
      Well, guess how many headlines everyone else has had to read just to get dissapointed again (and again).
- Anonymous
  
  oh, come on, what a whiner. the US, compared to the rest of the world, gets the most features and pays the lowest price for Gold. Over here in Europe, unless you live in the UK, you get almost nothing, and you pay 25% more for your subscription. so stop being a troll
  - Anonymous
    
    That’s the most un-American thing I ever saw.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephan-Tenspel/578534292 Stephan Tenspel
      
      Its true, the US gets everything and what do we get in Holland(Europe) Facebook/twitter/youtube/dailymotion yeeehhh, all free apps . There are 2 solutions, bring more things out in Europe or raise Xbox Live Gold in the US at 10 or 20% .
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=674106424 Devon Edwards
  
  agree on the title change – disagree that Americans should moan about ANYTHING to do with Xbox. You guys are already spoiled rotten compared to the rest of us.
- http://www.facebook.com/SpudimusPrime89 Andrew Falkenhan
  
  When are we getting that anyway? The “Coming Soon” tab has disappeared from the Apps Marketplace.
Anonymous

The Rogers app in Canada is a waste unless you subscribe to a Rogers TV service.. which why would you when there’s so many better deals/services out there for TV. I’m assuming the same thing from Astral Media.

Let’s hope the MLSE app is good. I got stocks in that.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=674106424 Devon Edwards
  
  It’s the same in Britain with the Sky app. Before it’s of any use you have to shell out at least £40 a month (if you want sports or films) before you can even use the app and it’s hardwired as Britains ONLY Tv app.
  - http://twitter.com/Inaba_kun Inaba-kun
    
    You don’t need to be a full fat Sky subscriber to use Sky Go on the Xbox. You can watch Sky News for free (why you would to is another matter), and you can subscribe to the Sky Go monthly service which is about £15 or so. You get a smattering of channels from various providers excluding the popular stuff such as anything from the BBC or C4. It’s all well below standard definition and compressed to within an inch of it’s life.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Rabbitc-Finklestein/100002063064487 Rabbitc Finklestein
      
      You can’t watch BBC OR C4 on Sky App. You know that. Only sky-produced and a tiny selection of other channels (Gold, Lifestyle)
      
      Face it – without the movies/sports, there’s no point to the app.
      And for bragging about watching Sky news for free – I lol’d
  - Anonymous
    
    £40 a month!? Wow.
- aStrangeDisease
  
  You don’t need a Rogers TV service subscription to use the Rogers app. Some content is free for everyone. Other content (not much) needs a Rogers account to access. That account can be for a cell phone, internet, OR television.
Anonymous

So I already subscribe to GolTV HD – have stocks in the company that owns this app as well. Is there a way for me to receive the programming that I’m already receiving on TV for free?

Also the title image for the MLSE app, with the (Real Sports bar in Toronto, near ACC) has digital noise through the roof. Get a professional photographer to take a look at that image or at least reprocess it through some noise reduction software.
Anonymous

Will FOX be U.S only?…love to see some Family Guy on my Xbox in the UK
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1473475486 Paul Downey
  
  News Corp that own fox own 60% of BSkyB (Sky Tv) so i say yes it will come to us in the uk prob not right away tho
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=674106424 Devon Edwards

wow. that was a big announcement, wasn’t it?
http://twitter.com/benwallis Ben Wallis

I don’t even use my Xbox 360 any more I won’t be renewing my Xbox Live subscription.

Keep burying your head in the sand Microsoft!
http://twitter.com/fcviotto Fernando Coli Viotto

As a Brazilian Live user I see Microsoft way ahead on media/multiplayer platform only rivaled with
Steam (that everyone knows there is no media features) but I can’t
understand how much time you will still lose market to Sony
Playstation in this country since we’re seeing no investment on Brazil Live content for ages!

Most of my friends are migrating back to Live US instead of staying on Live Brazil due to the lack of games, promotions and content.on this region.

I really would like to hear something back about this subject.
http://twitter.com/Dharmaville Dharmaville

Please add Amazon Instant Video!!!
Thomas Naumann

I am exited to try out the ZDF App from our good old public TV Station.
Anonymous

any news about lovefilm in germany?
Anonymous

any news about lovefilm in germany?
Anonymous

some information about lovefilm in germany ?…
Anonymous

some information about lovefilm in germany ?…
Lukas Baumann

i hate it . never come a update for AUSTRIA but we all pay the same for Xbox Live it is a impudence!
Anonymous

The hours of video consumed globally on Xbox LIVE increased **140** percent. LMAO!! i laughed so hard, i thought it was a joke
http://www.facebook.com/iamdanthaman Daniel Scott Cheney

Finally, a Fox News App is coming. MSNBC is a joke. I watched the analysis of the republican debate yesterday and the only thing they did was talk about how racist the candidates are for 20 min. What a joke.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3SA2XXK6NWAMFYN57B7LHO4R4M luke
  
  actually Fox News is a joke,and they are racist….any non racist watching that channel or the republicans would tell you that.
  - Anonymous
    
    that’s complete crap…fox is the only network that presents both sides.. MSNBC may as well be the soro’s liberal network…
    
    liberals just don’t like fox because they tell the public like it is and don’t cater to or show liberals in the great light other networks try to portray them as
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3SA2XXK6NWAMFYN57B7LHO4R4M luke
      
      presents both sides lmfao,yeah the side of the racist older white americans.
      
      keep watching Faux News then.
- http://twitter.com/Spokker Spokker
  
  MSNBC isn’t interested in thoughtful analysis. Neither is Fox News. Watch C-SPAN instead.
  
  That being said, I do like NBC Nightly News and the cute animal videos on The Today Show, as if Today was anymore relevant than cute animal videos.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Noah-Throop/1030695690 Noah Throop

will crackle come to xbox live next week
Anonymous

If I wanted to spend 20 bucks a month to watch an incomplete channel I would just get basic cable + the channel I want and not have it be incomplete.
http://twitter.com/Byyys Byyys

I recently purchased a smart 3D TV, that has FREE apps like youtube, dailymotion, muzu.tv, bbc – with no b/s about you must having a gold subscription first, before being able to use them.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_T7LOQAEEWPFE7UBMQGVCTNELQI huck
  
  yer, agree, multimedia should be a selling pont for the console, not for the subscription.
  
  …even just to watch an .avi off my computer my xbox wants to connect to the net to “download a codec”, yer right…. it makes them look !ike they care more about making 1 extra dollar than a decent user experience…. oh wait im talking about microsoft…
  
  4 dead consoles in 4 years, i should expect less, not more.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_T7LOQAEEWPFE7UBMQGVCTNELQI huck

yes and yes, me too please!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=816590612 Tom Stewart

i find the apps in canada are useless
- Bryan Thompson
  
  I hear you…I don’t live anywhere near the subscriber areas and even though we have high speed…our infrastructure in rural Ontario does not allow us to watch streamed video…I’m not up to downloading something for hours before I can watch it….
Anonymous

This whole turning the XBOX into a multimedia system is too little too late. As mentioned, new TVs have most of these apps for free now. Being a ‘tech junkie’ among friends I can’t tell you how many times I’ve got this same call, “Do I really need gold to watch YouTube?”

You guys are doing something right, you gained 5 million XBL subscribers during Q4 2011.. there’s so much more potential for profit though. If you were to cut margins to make it back on volume, and offer free services for free; that alone would be a good start. Microsoft has really lost its competitive edge in that last 8-10 years.
Scott Anderson

When is XBL going to restore 1080p video to non-Zune videos?
http://twitter.com/Spokker Spokker

We just got done watching Breaking Bad on Netflix and wanted to get season 4 right away. I went online to see if it was on Zune but instead I found articles reporting that Microsoft intentionally nerfed video output on all other apps but Zune. This is unacceptable and we bought the season on Amazon to watch on our blu-ray player instead.

Microsoft will not get my digital video purchases.
- http://twitter.com/AnXboxDude Xbox Dude
  
  Nobody cares what you do.
  - http://twitter.com/Spokker Spokker
    
    Microsoft crippled the functionality of other apps on its platform. If it’s going to be a media box, or whatever you call it these days, all apps should be able to use the capabilities of the system. This is unethical on its face.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bram-Lijb/1595445656 Bram Lijb

What’s there for the European market? I would love to watch Fox shows here in the Netherlands. Family Guy before it gets on CC and all.
aStrangeDisease

Create a Disqus account with your gamertag. Worked for me.
aStrangeDisease

I’ve been waiting for the Disney app. Not much content on it though.
Titas Venclovas

Make dashboard brighter!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/itsDavidAbraham David Abraham

Looking good….now about skype for a kinect
http://www.facebook.com/people/Noah-Throop/1030695690 Noah Throop

well i hope crackle comes to xbox tommorow i love to see free movies.
http://www.facebook.com/eric.whitsel Eric Whitsel

Still no NHL Gamecenter for Xbox yet!

January 17th 2012 11:32 am PT

New Apps now available for Xbox LIVE Members

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