During the Bill Gates/Microsoft CES keynote, Entertainment Devices Division President Robbie Bach announced IPTV on the Xbox 360.

Microsoft has been expanding the Xbox 360 beyond gaming to make it a home theater hub through services such as Xbox Live Video. The continued push to become the center of entertainment is strengthened with the announcement of IPTV on Xbox 360.

IPTV delivered on the Xbox 360 eliminates the need for a Media Center PC in order to get TV content on your Xbox. Targeted at service providers, the service will allow the delivery of SD and HD TV content with the Xbox 360 as the set-top box.

The Xbox 360 IPTV solution looks as though it will have a similar interface to Xbox Media Extender without the need for a Media Center PC. The interface looks pretty zippy. 

Bach acknowledged the Xbox 360's 20GB drive is small for HD video, although no specific hardware upgrades were mentioned. Additionally, there was no mention for the obvious need to quiet the fan and optical drive noise in the Xbox 360 as it moves more into the home theater realm.

With over 10 million units out there, 5 million Xbox Live users, recently added Lions Gate Studios, gaming, media center extender, HD-DVD video playback, Xbox Live Video and now Xbox 360 IPTV, Microsoft looks to be poised to deliver a complete HD entertainment solution all out of the Xbox 360.

The service is scheduled to be available in 2007.

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