Tuesday, May 17, 2005

On Tuesday, Microsoft revealed that its upcoming Xbox 360 video game and home entertainment system with offer integrated Media Center Extender functionality that will allow the device to interact with a Windows XP Media Center 2005-based personal computer. However, this simple description only hints at the digital media prowess of Xbox 360. In addition to offering a Media Center interface that is, in some ways, superior to that of many Media Center PCs, Xbox 360 will also aggregate content from networked PCs running other XP versions, and will directly connect with Apple iPod, Sony PSP, and a slew of other portable devices.

Unexpectedly, Xbox 360 will include direct support for two competing portable devices, Apple's iPod line of MP3 players and Sony's Portable PlayStation (PSP). Xbox 360 will natively support music and photos stored on an iPod, and music, photos, and videos stored on a PSP. "Plug in an iPod or PSP via USB, and we'll give you access to all that content," Henshaw told me. "We'll play it right off of the device. Plug it in and stream that content through your stereo."