UPDATED: Microsoft to let Comcast, Verizon subs use Xbox to access TV Everywhere content

Update: Microsoft just announced the details of its Xbox Live service, noting that Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Rogers Communications subscribers will be able to access online video content through the Xbox.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced deals today with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) to allow their customers to access online video from their cable subscriptions through its Xbox gaming consoles.

While some industry observers had expected Microsoft to allow cable operators to use its Xbox as a tuner to deliver live video feeds from cable channels, the software giant and its cable partners will only allow subscribers to access TV Everywhere-type video, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Microsoft's Xbox strategy may appeal to cable subscribers who are heavy users of videogames, since they will be able to easily navigate between video games, online video from networks in their Comcast or FiOS TV subscriptions, and online video provided by Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and other providers. But since Xbox users must be able to authenticate that they are paid cable subscribers before they can access online video from HBO and other cable networks, Microsoft's strategy isn't one that will prompt consumers to drop their cable or satellite subscriptions.

For more:
- read the latest announcement
- see story in The Wall Street Journal

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