Microsoft has just announced that Xbox Live is set to receive a massive influx of TV and entertainment channels including BBC iPlayer, 4oD, LOVEFiLM and Channel 5 in the UK, UFC, Verizon and HBO GO in the United States, and a whole host of others around the globe, making for nearly 40 planned entertainment services for Xbox Live in all, pushing the total to over 50. "Today’s announcement is a major step toward realising our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy," said Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless." This translates to an absolutely huge wave of new on-demand entertainment services for Xbox Live Gold members, which makes that annual subscription fee even better value. Here's the complete list of services: Entertainment Partners on Xbox 360 (Existing and New) • ABC iView – Australia • AlloCiné – France, Germany, Spain, U.K. • Antena 3 – Spain • Astral Media’s Disney XD – Canada • AT&T** – U.S. • BBC – U.K. • blinkbox – U.K. • Bravo – U.S. • BSkyB** - U.K. • Canal+* - France, Spain • Channel 4 – U.K. • Channel 5 – U.K. • CinemaNow (Best Buy) – U.S. • Comcast – U.S. • Crackle – Australia, Canada, U.K., U.S. • Dailymotion – Available in 32 markets • EPIX – U.S. • ESPN** – U.S. • Facebook** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets • FOXTEL** – Australia • GolTV – Spain • HBO GO – U.S. • Hulu – Japan • Hulu +**– U.S. • iHeartRadio (Clear Channel) – U.S. • Last.fm**– U.K., U.S. • LOVEFiLM – Germany, U.K. • Manga Entertainment – U.S. • Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports – Canada • MediaSet – Italy • MSN with MSNBC.com – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, U.K. • MUZU.TV – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K. • Netflix**– Canada, U.S. • Rogers On Demand Online (RODO) – Canada • RTVE – Spain • SBS On Demand – Australia • Syfy – U.S. • Telefonica – Spain • Televisa – Mexico • “The Today Show” – U.S. • TELUS** – Canada • TMZ – U.S. • Twitter** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets • UFC – Canada, U.S. • Verizon – U.S. • VEVO – Canada, U.K., U.S. • VimpelCom** – Russia • Vodafone Portugal** – Portugal • YouTube – Available in 22 markets • ZDF – Germany • Zune**– Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S. Here's an illustration with a few salient details, as well as a map of the more than 20 countries getting the update of entertainment services coming to Xbox Live soon with Kinect functionality, alongside the upcoming fall 2011 dashboard update. Check it out. [Via Microsoft News Centre] The fall Xbox Live Dashboard Update is rumoured to be arriving on November 15th, 2011, with the official line being 'holiday 2011' for the time being. Check out the video to see what it'll look like.
