HBO Go,Comcast Xfinity and MLB.tv launch on Xbox 360

Microsoft has confirmed that three new video apps are coming to the Xbox 360 today.

Comcast Xfinity TV, HBO Go and Major League Baseball will all be landing on Microsoft's console.

HBO Go brings the cable network's on demand offerings including Deadwood, Entourage and Game of Thrones, while Comcast brings its own catalogue of films and TV shows and MLB.TV offers up over 2,400 games.

All three of new offerings will feature significant Kinect integration, allowing content searches by gesture and voice. MLB.TV even lets users jump between two games in splitscreen by shouting "switch" at their Kinect.

The Xbox's entertainment offering has been steadily growing of late with the addition of big name apps including ESPN, Hulu, Netflix, Vudu and YouTube. Today's new additions bring the Xbox's tally of entertainment apps to 36.

Watching and gaming

According to Microsoft, the time users spend on Xbox Live is now devoted to consuming videos and music as well as the more traditional gaming.

Yusuf Mehdi, head of Microsoft's Xbox marketing and strategy division, said: "What we're seeing is that people are turning on the Xbox to play games and then keeping it on afterwards to get other types of entertainment.

"We've really seen this amazing explosion at Xbox the last four months that's honestly even surprised our own hopes and aspirations."

In total, households are spending 84 hours per month on Xbox Live – a 30 percent increase on last year.

Xbox Live now has more than 20 million paying subscribers.

Via Engadget, LA Times, USA Today