Microsoft Developing Low-Cost Xbox Streaming Dongle That Could Rival Apple TV

[progx]

This has been rumored for a while since xCloud has been in beta. It would be a really cool device, but I doubt it's going to put a hurt on Roku, Android TV, Apple TV, Vizio, LG (webOS), Samsung... and all the other options you have for media boxes and TV operating systems. Also, xCloud is coming to other smart TV platforms, so you won't even need their hardware.

Another thing, I tried streaming exclusively through my Xbox consoles... there are quite a few missing TV apps from the Microsoft store on the system compared to Roku, Apple TV and Android.

While I doubt Xbox Game Pass is going to put a hurt on Apple Arcade, they should just let Microsoft release the standalone app for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and macOS. They're being extremely obtuse with this situation.

 

[Bodhitree]

Next. no need to buy a pricey computer. Just log into your desktop in the cloud from a dummy cheap client machine.

This is coming, for sure. One of the things that was announced at Microsoft’s Build 2022 conference was a range of desktop-in-the-cloud options aimed at developers. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t expand that service to creative-professional-computer-in-the-cloud, etcetera.

 

[IamTimCook]

Watching movies with cheap sounding gaming headphones because in a cash grab Xbox doesn’t support Bluetooth audio and forces you to buy their licensed brands with Xbox proprietary audio format. NO, THANKS!

 

[jlc1978]

This is coming, for sure. One of the things that was announced at Microsoft’s Build 2022 conference was a range of desktop-in-the-cloud options aimed at developers. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t expand that service to creative-professional-computer-in-the-cloud, etcetera.

No doubt MS sees a future where almost everything is cloud based, ideally accessed via their hardware; essentially copying Apple's model...

 

[Powerbooky]

Microsoft also developed a portable music system to rival the iPod. That went well.
Stick to making proper consoles Microsoft, you do it well.

Don’t necessarily disagree in principle and I‘m no fan of Microsoft on the whole, but ~20 years ago people said they should stick to PC software and that the OG Xbox would flop. Just saying…

The Xbox worked well simply because at the time there was already a good base for gaming on the Windows environment. The basic hardware already existed and games could be ported quickly. It filled a gap in the console market. The Zune however didn't have such a base, it didn't fill a gap in the market, it was just too late. Apple had the edge with better user interface and were way ahead with means to fill the iPod.

An Xbox dongle probably will work too given the fact that there's already a whole Xbox platform to hook on to. But I'm curious how "cheap" it really will be. Will it be comparable to a regular Xbox or with degraded performance? Does it use cloud GPU? And of course, if the device itself is cheap will the subscription be more expensive then?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Next. no need to buy a pricey computer. Just log into your desktop in the cloud from a dummy cheap client machine.

Or perhaps no need to be a tangible computer. Just slip on your goggles/glasses and your next iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc are accessible and usable IN "there." The rumors of very high resolutions screens and "15 cameras" should bring an incredible level of detail and input capture. Would it be enough to allow us to swipe/touch/mouse/type on air in reality but see it all like we're using an actual phone/tablet/computer? Relatively "insane pricing" rumors might make more sense if Apple product prices are folded Inside the thing too.

Two ways to "maximize profits." One is to up prices in a time when people- some after whining quite a bit- opt to "just pay" more because they want the "thing" more than they want their dollars. The other is to cut costs further to expand margin at that end. There have been countless stories of Apple putting the pinch on the supply chains to drive down costs as much as possible. How could they meaningfully do more there? What if goggles/glasses completely eliminate the need for a tangible supply chain for those willing to glasses/goggle it? Zero out costs of the supply chain entirely.

Among other benefits: given the current situation of supply chains over "there" being pinched by covid lock downs, etc creating big delays in tangible stuff being able to be made & shipped in a timely manner, these virtual new machines could be delivered as soon as updated designs & code was ready- entirely in Cupertino- with no "over there" interactions/delays at all... and no shipping challenges from there to here.

I don't know if even 4K micro screens and 15 cameras would be enough for this to be possible (yet), but there is obviously much greater profit in selling virtual Apple stuff. Apple wouldn't even have to pay for the cardboard in a box. Demand pinches that can prevent Apple from booking revenue before shipping stuff would be completely eliminated as virtual inventory would be infinite and immediately go from zero towards infinity on final approval of latest code tests. Etc.

This too might be considered desktop (and phone and tablet) "in the cloud" but not even need the "dummy cheap client machine" because the whole thing seems to be IN there.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Well, they turned off a lot of Windows 11 business customers by having an intro video that played really heavy on Xbox game compatibility. I sat through it with my mouth hanging open. I would hope they had another video somewhere that showed what it could do for businesses outside of the game industry, but at the time couldn't seem to find on.

Comments were along the range of 'That's nice' to 'WTH!?!?'. Fumbled that one. They seem to be laser focused on the Xbox.

 

[lkrupp]

Son of Zune

 

[k1121j]

Gaming is garbage on apple tv it’s worse then Nintendo so this is apples and oranges as far as I’m concerned

 

[gnipgnop]

Struggle to compete? Revenue from mobile gaming is now bigger than console/PC combined. Apple is doing just fine when it comes to "competing" in the gaming market.

 

[blaureiter]

Gaming is a niche within streaming systems. Apple's real problem is taking one step back with Apple TV functionality. The current 4K has removed the audio optical output making it harder to have high quality sound precisely synchronized with video. Apple's bluetooth and Airplay frequently do not sync audio and video very well. Optical output is a much more professional solution (and would help gaming too)!

 

[kiranmk2]

Apple could have had this as part of the Apple TV ecosystem by just allowing the App without the ridiculous requirement for each game to be submitted individually. I can see such a dongle being launched at $99 (including an XBox controller) and taking a lot of Apple TV customers (and potential customers) with it. After all, I'm sure even a basic dongle would be able to offer the common streaming apps from the MS store and perform at a high enough level in terms of HDMI 2.1 bandwidth/HDR etc). At this point what is the point of subscribing to Apple Arcade for £4.99/month when for £7.99/month (or £10.99/month including Gold) you get access to a AAA games library?

 

[gnipgnop]

While I doubt Xbox Game Pass is going to put a hurt on Apple Arcade, they should just let Microsoft release the standalone app for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and macOS. They're being extremely obtuse with this situation.

Not really. Other developers on the App Store (like Feral Interactive) have taken the time/money to port PC/console games to iOS. Microsoft has always had the same opportunity...they've just chosen not to.

 

[gnipgnop]

At this point what is the point of subscribing to Apple Arcade for £4.99/month when for £7.99/month (or £10.99/month including Gold) you get access to a AAA games library?

The point is that mobile style games are the larger revenue source with the larger audience. Microsoft (and the author of the article) are in denial about that. They still think AAA game access is going to make mobile games irrelevant.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Not sure how anyone can sit there and try and say anything will compete with the Apple TV. It's a device in its own tiny little vanity category that serves no genuine purpose or reason for existing.

If you're buying it as a streaming tv box, you're overpaying as theres so many better options that cost a fraction.

If you're buying it for gaming well...why?

To think that it's "competing" with anything at this point is frankly delusional.

If "we" have anything with Apple DRM, there is ONE choice of streaming box unless you lean on (the compromises) of Airplay.

It competes with all similar boxes for the entrenched walled garden crowd because choosing anything else puts the owner of anything else outside the wall in various ways. All other choices are not as compatible with walled garden strategies.

Else, why buy iPhone when there are countless cheaper alternative smart phones? Why buy iPad with functionally similar tables for a fraction of the price? Why buy Macs when PCs still very much rule the world and can generally do everything Macs can do and then a whole bunch of niche-software (only for Windows) things Macs can't? Some of the answers to that is Apple-made OS vs. the others... which applies to AppleTV too. Some of the answers are in HOW Apple-made stuff works vs. the others... which applies to AppleTV too. Etc.

I own one hooked to EVERY TV in the house. I'm certainly no fan boy. Why did I "overpay" (and I agree pricing is too high)? They work really well and I'm deep enough IN with Apple to want full functionality with Apple-related services and DRM'd content than to save 50%-80% of $200 but then deal with this part of the stack being solidly outside of the wall.

 

[MysticCow]

Next. no need to buy a pricey computer. Just log into your desktop in the cloud from a dummy cheap client machine.

That is where it seems to be going. I’ll still be a Luddite typing on an iMac G3 or the 2011 mini. But I must admit that dongle to play my XBox games would be amazingly good.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Keyword here: "could", like Zune could but didn't.

 

[JustSomebody12]

This has been rumored for a while since xCloud has been in beta. It would be a really cool device, but I doubt it's going to put a hurt on Roku, Android TV, Apple TV, Vizio, LG (webOS), Samsung... and all the other options you have for media boxes and TV operating systems. Also, xCloud is coming to other smart TV platforms, so you won't even need their hardware.

Another thing, I tried streaming exclusively through my Xbox consoles... there are quite a few missing TV apps from the Microsoft store on the system compared to Roku, Apple TV and Android.

While I doubt Xbox Game Pass is going to put a hurt on Apple Arcade, they should just let Microsoft release the standalone app for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and macOS. They're being extremely obtuse with this situation.

They should have enabled also Stadia.

The Apple TV would have looked much better.

 

[jlc1978]

Well, they turned off a lot of Windows 11 business customers by having an intro video that played really heavy on Xbox game compatibility. I sat through it with my mouth hanging open. I would hope they had another video somewhere that showed what it could do for businesses outside of the game industry, but at the time couldn't seem to find on.

My guess is they simply assume the business community is locked into Windows because well, they pretty much are; and gaming is an area to grow, especially cloud based solutions. The "Cloud" is MS' future, judging by their moving Office and Windows aggressively there.

Comments were along the range of 'That's nice' to 'WTH!?!?'. Fumbled that one. They seem to be laser focused on the Xbox.

Again, probably because they see cloud based gaming as a growth area vs Windows/Office mainly cash cows. Numbers vary, but cloud based gaming is expected to grow from around 3Billion$ to nearly 30 - 40Billion$ this decade, a ~40% CAGR. I suspect business product growth is predicted to be much less spectacular.

 

[Orange Bat]

Is it just me, or is Apple really missing the boat on gaming? They jumped head first into making TV and movies for Apple TV+, but they still seem to be behind when it comes to games, which is weird. I would have thought they would have bought a gaming company at this point to make “near” AAA games for Apple Arcade. Imagine playing games on iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Apple TV, continuing where you left off from a different device. The Steam Deck is a portable device to play AAA games on the go and it’s got pretty decent reviews so far. Apple sells millions of pocket devices every year with the ability to play many similar games. The Apple TV could justify its higher price with some real, in-demand games. Apple Arcade is nice, but casual gaming is, well, casual gaming, and will never attract the types of gamers needed to be a successful gaming product. It always seems like gaming is a no-brainer for Apple and they never seriously pursue it.

 

[TSE]

Last year I had the latest AppleTV 4K and xBox Series S. I ended up selling the AppleTV 4k because the Series S does everything the AppleTV does, and more.

 

[The_Martini_Cat]

My tv already offers streaming with Netflix, Amazon, other buttons on the remote. And it’s years and years old. Speaking of which those buttons are a lot easier to use than the Apple TV remote. What’s Microsoft going to add besides unwanted hidden tracking (in case you missed the recent news about the duck duck foo browser MS$ tracking connection) btw supposed to have been @go@ instead of @foo@ but Otto Korrekt got me & im going with it!??

 

[Bustycat]

Is it just me, or is Apple really missing the boat on gaming? They jumped head first into making TV and movies for Apple TV+, but they still seem to be behind when it comes to games, which is weird. I would have thought they would have bought a gaming company at this point to make “near” AAA games for Apple Arcade. Imagine playing games on iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Apple TV, continuing where you left off from a different device. The Steam Deck is a portable device to play AAA games on the go and it’s got pretty decent reviews so far. Apple sells millions of pocket devices every year with the ability to play many similar games. The Apple TV could justify its higher price with some real, in-demand games. Apple Arcade is nice, but casual gaming is, well, casual gaming, and will never attract the types of gamers needed to be a successful gaming product. It always seems like gaming is a no-brainer for Apple and they never seriously pursue it.

Does anyone think Apple is serious about gaming? Microsoft not only has Xbox but is becoming the largest gaming company in the world.

 

[The_Martini_Cat]

Is it just me, or is Apple really missing the boat on gaming? They jumped head first into making TV and movies for Apple TV+, but they still seem to be behind when it comes to games, which is weird. I would have thought they would have bought a gaming company at this point to make “near” AAA games for Apple Arcade. Imagine playing games on iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Apple TV, continuing where you left off from a different device. The Steam Deck is a portable device to play AAA games on the go and it’s got pretty decent reviews so far. Apple sells millions of pocket devices every year with the ability to play many similar games. The Apple TV could justify its higher price with some real, in-demand games. Apple Arcade is nice, but casual gaming is, well, casual gaming, and will never attract the types of gamers needed to be a successful gaming product. It always seems like gaming is a no-brainer for Apple and they never seriously pursue it.

Good points, but it looks like apple is going with a lower price. The higher price will be on the VR glasses, and if games go there, hmmmm, we shall see??

 

[cocky jeremy]

No thanks. I'll stick to my $4k gaming PC setup.