Game on

The latest news from the Microsoft camp at CES is that users of BT's combo broadband/movies BT Vision service will be able to view their service through Xbox 360s by mid-2008. The plan is that the XBox will become a media hub over time, although the lack of a Freeview Tuner still needs to be addressed.

Convergence of gaming platforms and IPTV is something that could potentially take-off, especially with younger audiences, with one box solving all your media needs. However, BT’s platform has yet to reach initial projections in the UK so the tie-up could struggle from the out set. This does, however, leave plenty of opportunity for other gaming companies to get in on the action early through their own strategic partnerships.

BBC says IPTV hot for 2008

The BBC has named IPTV as one of the hot technologies in the UK for 2008.

More than half of homes in the UK now have sufficiently speedy broadband connection for IPTV services according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

BT and Virgin Media have both established services but O2, Orange and Tiscali UK are expected to follow according to the BBC.

For its part the BBC will continue to push its over the top iPlayer service which allows users to view to catch up TV programmes over the web.

The UK now has the potential to catch up with successful high-profile European deployments such as France Telecom and Telecom Italia.