How would you like if the next time you pick up the upcoming Xbox 720 and pay less than you did for the previous Xbox 360? To all you fans’ delight, this could be possible in the near future, probably because the console could be subsidized by a cable company contract.
As of recently, the current generation Xbox 360 has already become less of a video game console and more of an all-encompassing entertainment device for the living room. And, as expected, nearly all the consoles in the market are trying to bring that same functionality on some different level.
However, as per a TG Daily report, it is predicted that by the end of the year, the Xbox 360 will offer varied content ranging from live coverage of nearly every sporting event you can possibly imagine to streaming music, and even live cable TV.
This is the reason Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter thinks Microsoft will sign deals with TV service providers for the console's eagerly awaited successor.
According to Pachter, in an interview to the X360 magazine, “It's pretty clear to me that Microsoft intends to allow the Xbox 720 to function as a cable TV box, allowing cable television service providers to broadcast over the Internet through the box, with SmartGlass as the remote controller, and with the Xbox 720 using Windows 8 to split the TV signal into multiple feeds, allowing consumers to divert different channel feeds to different displays within the home.”
“There are 85 million households in the U.S. with either cable or satellite TV, and if Microsoft could sell half of them an Xbox 720 and collect a $5 monthly Xbox Live Gold fee from each of them, we're talking huge profits," he further added.
