Verizon Fios App to Debut on Xbox Live

The Verizon Fios team has confirmed its live-TV app will be included in the annual Xbox Live Dashboard update, scheduled for release Dec. 6, 2011. Fios is one of Microsoft's partners bringing live TV to its Xbox game console as part of the company's strategy to make the Xbox the center of home entertainment. In October, Microsoft announced it had signed similar deals with HBO, Comcast and other media providers.

 

The app will include 26 channels, but Verizon has not yet announced which ones will be available on the Xbox platform. To access the app, users must be Xbox Live Gold members and subscribe to both FiOS TV and Verizon's Internet service, according to a Verizon statement. The company will offer new customers a bundled service that includes Fios TV service with Verizon Internet and a landline, starting at $89.99 per month. As a bonus to customers who sign up by Jan. 21, Verizon will throw in a year's subscription to Xbox Live Gold ($60 value) and  a copy of the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary game.

 

The new Fios app has been integrated with Kinect , the Xbox motion-controlled sensor, so that users can control their TV with gestures or voice rather than using a remote.

 

Along with new TV apps, the free Xbox 360 dashboard update will include the Bing search engine so that users can search across content providers such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and ESPN. Microsoft has also added cloud storage for player data and "Beacons" that will let players post an invitation within the Xbox Live platform or on Facebook  to play a particular game.