Microsoft to Bring Silverlight to Xbox Live

Media Post has the scoop on the imminent arrival of Microsoft Silverlight to the Xbox 360 platform. This cross-platform technology is Microsoft's response to the popular Adobe Flash format. The arrival of Silverlight aims to boost campaigns on Xbox Live by turning ads into interactive and interconnected experiences.

By bringing Silverlight to the Xbox 360, Microsoft will enable companies to build advertising campaigns that span four screens: computers, mobile phones, Surface and now televisions. MediaPost reports:

Silverlight-powered media on Xbox will have the same appearance as ads seen on a Web browser. Think technology that competes with Flash, only supported by 6 million Silverlight developers worldwide who now have the option to tap a variety of Microsoft tools and technologies and develop marketing campaigns for Xbox.

"Today, movie trailers are available in a high-definition (HD) format, but Silverlight will deliver 1080p HD and 5.1 surround sound without discs directly into the Xbox." Sean Alexander, director at Microsoft's Advertising Business Group, told MediaPost.

[Sonyslave3]

awesome.

[jack who]

yeah but can it make a sandwich?

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

LOL

[KingKionic]

What kind of sandwich?

[Godmars290]

The frame work, but the apps?

[FamilyGuy]

For what reason? There sure are a lot of deletions on this topic and i know my posts were on topic AND i read the article so what gives?

ALSO, does "deleted my mod" = minus a bubble each time or what? I had 9 bubbles yesterday and today i have only 5, how does that happen?

[SnuggleBandit]

ask why dis or i did not murder him (he should know)

*notice i did not say THEY*

[Jaces]

Wow...never saw this turning into a flamebait battle.

Anyway, this is cool. Just one more neat thing to add to my 360 come December. :D

[I did not murder him]

"Also more function and advanced features."

Thats what I posted. I guess you'll have to take the time to read the article. I'm sure the XBL update will be using the Silverlight graphical framework tech in ways not yet talked about.

[Christopher]

Not really a big thing.

Silverlight is just bottled .NET tools put together for optimization across various platforms. The thing is, NXE is already an optimized .NET framework specific to the Xbox 360. The functionality that Silverlight brings would be much better if ported for optimization within NXE.

More than likely Silverlight will be the 360 browser element, pulling Silverlight applications from across the Web into the standard Silverlight Showcase UI in NXE and making them available via your 360.

Would rather they implement a very trimmed down Internet Explorer browser with built-in flash and Silverlight capabilities.

[darthv72]

Netflix is supposedly adapting to use silverlight for their streaming service. I can see if that happened, then other streaming service sites might follow (like hulu) which would require the appropriate plug-in to be made available for other browsers.

By adapting it to the 360 could be the start of a simplified browser (not full on browser) in the sense that clicking on an ad will take you to a console friendly site to interact with that company. Maybe even lead to link based browsing as opposed to open browsing.

I want to see what it can do within the respected limitations of ISP services as it relates to streamed HD content. Netflix may be the first to showcase this on the 360.

[jdktech2010]

It's an extremely solid and stable internet multiplayer service that cost you 5 dollars a month....a whole 5 dollars......So you eat at home instead of going to taco bueno one night and that pays for Live....

I make 5 bucks in less than an hour and I get a whole month of Live.......

Let's (and by let's....I mean sony fanboys) blow this way out of proportion like we're having to pay 300 bucks a year....Would I like it be free? Sure, who wouldn't? Am i whining that it's 5 bucks a month.....absolutely not

People need to get their priorities straight

[BLaZiN PRopHeT]

because sliver light wasnt out when the 360 launched?

[yorkie]

300 bucks would buy youa PS3 and save you 300 bucks for the next 10 years

[Xi]

If so could we see MS providing silverlight web-games and silver light web apps for the xbox? Like bing maps(which is like 100x better then google maps for the isometric view)?

I know it can provide streaming 1080p.

[sunil]

Move to push silverlight to mainstream developers & kill Flash?

Consoles have spoken on 1 war (optical media), will they be the deciding authority again?

[Zhuk]

This is great for consumers and Xbox 360 enthusiasts everywhere, finally we will be able to combine the most powerful console with the most powerful and feature rich multimedia plugin ever created.

[Model]

you sure are full of sh!t

[likedamaster]

Just ask developers which one they prefer and how great it is to work with Silverlight.

[--POOR--XBOT--]

are you a poor xbot

[JockamoTwo]

He's just excited about this new service. Lord, Sony fanboys are becoming really really bitter nowadays...

[KILL-ALL-CURE]

Seriously are you on crack Zhuk? Do the laws of more and less not apply to you in your world? Or are they the exact opposite of what they are in the real one? This most powerful gaming console you speak of is not the crapstation 360, it is the ps3, the rich multimedia device you speak of is not the 360, its the ps3.
Please Stfu and Gtfo nao plox

[KingKionic]

Silver light is pretty cool . I wonder what other feature`s besides "ads" will benefit from this on xbox live.

If you can do this stuff on xbox live with content. This would b e cool.

http://silverlight.net/

[bjornbear]

Ehm...lol =P

Still, interesting iniciative =) lets see how it goes...although i thought they already had loads of advertisements on Live? o.O Someone enlighten me here as to why this is a good ting? Gratzie =)

[KingKionic]

Well from the silver light website it seems that Microsoft wants to make there partners more how you say "connected" with the viewer.

Im just interested what other apps will come from silver light . So far silver light`s looking good.

[Odion]

OOOH you guys are going to bring down the full wrath of a mod soon, there are three of you, who know who you are that need to go away or shut up.

I swear if I come back in the morning and this place is a mess again, I am slamming all of you with a long ban.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

So are you the one who deleted my comment?

I didn't think I was offending anyone and what I said was true.

Silverlight is being primarily used for advertisements. And the technology is buggy and lacks compatibility when compared to Flash. MS could adopt industry standards like Flash but instead chose to develop their own which has had a history of bugs and compatibility issues.

Anyway, it's not something that I feel will bring any new features that gamers are going to care about and I doubt we will see any Silverlight enabled games on XBL.

"Well, Silverlight will be a key component in streaming HD movies as well. There was an article a few days ago showing just that."

This is great news however.

If I offended anyone with my comment I apologize.

[KingKionic]

It would be cool if the next update uses silver light.

guess it woould be a

New New Silver Light Experience.

lol

[devilhunterx]

Sony: We have next gen media and processor.

M$: We have NEXT GEN ADS!!!

[AuToFiRE]

i lol'd

[Ardorme]

SilverLight is amazing. I love working with it over flash but of course doesn't have enough marketshare.

[callahan09]

More tech is always a good thing. Keep going! Push push push.

Side note: never seen so many deleted comments in the gamer zone before! Almost makes me happy - not that the usual suspects are still making off the wall comments, but that the mods are actually getting down to business for once! All too often in recent times I've seen clearly open-zone worthy comments left alone in the gamer zone.

[LinuxGuru]

Silverlight is pretty cool, I've seen what it can do.

Of what exact use it will be to 360 users...I don't know. But hey, if more features are added, why the hell not be happy for it?

[kewlkat007]

Pundits are never happy for anything coming to a competitors console.

[danfry]

SL is just a pain in the arse. Microsoft through and through.

[kewlkat007]

I agree, I like the competition but Sony's has not really kept up with the MS announcements.

Almost everyday something is coming to XBL.

Get on the Ball Sony.

[LorD]

Netflix uses silverlight, and they have by FAR, the best streaming quality/technology. Well beyond HULU and the other flash players.

Regardless, it only works in Microsoft Explorer, which is beyond silly.

Also, true 1080p + 5.1 surround sound is not possible on our current data infrastructure.

[darthv72]

I am wondering if the added support for silverlight in the 360 will make for better streaming from netflix? I was reading that they were working to switch over to using it. Right now they have an opt in to the new SL player instead of using the one based on media player.

Since I dont use my pc anymore I may be a little behind the times. I use my 360 for netflix and it works really well. Also, there are ways to get a 1080p 5.1 result without having the full bandwidth the spec requires. There have been advances in the tech to accomplish the same result using lower bandwidth. Like the advances in audio formats to achieve equal quality of one to the other but using smaller sizes.

If the end result looks like 1080p and sounds like 5.1 but is comprised of much smaller components then it will work with current ISP limitations.

[Trebius]

I dont see why gamers are getting excited over this...it's not going to improve your 360 in any way...and it's not going to entertain you...it's just a medium for companies to get prettier ads on your screen. As for the streaming, we'll see about that.

[likedamaster]

Good job Microsoft, keep pushing technology forward. We need it, and someone's got to do it.

[KILL-ALL-CURE]

If you are a fan of technological advancement, why do you support the 360?

[John HX]

What's the deal with the huge ammount of deleted comments to this article in the gamer zone? One of them was mine, and it wasn't even remotely offensive or inappropriate.

[zeppelin420]

what the hell is up with this? why are they bringing this crap to the xbox? its a game console not some advertising thing. so instead of trying to make the console work better or whatever there just trying to make advertising and movies better? In my opinion i think this is really lame.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Sorry, you can't make ads more interesting for me.

[air1]

some of you have such a hard time looking at the bigger pic.

[Gears_of_War_3]

If they can put a browser it will be awesome with this :D

[nice_cuppa]

or even game data !