Sky on the Xbox and Other Things

27-10-2009

The battle to get some sort of connection to the outside world continues, but yesterday I heard of a new thing coming online that might make getting said connection a little easier.

We are still waiting to get any form of broadband into the house (SmartTelecom seem to take as long as Eircom to just send you an appointment date) but once that comes in we can start looking at this new fangled feature that is on offer.

This feature is Sky on the Xbox 360. I have had the console for about a year now. I used to be big into playing games but over the last few years this has died down. In fact I only got the Xbox because A) I had just gotten paid for a nixer and figured I might as well blow it on something stupid and B) my youngest brother has one and it would be a handy way to keep in touch since I don't live at home anymore. We could play games online and what not.

They also do all the usual bells and whistles, dvd player and the likes.

But apparently Sky will be launching a service were you can get a Sky television package, but use the broadband and Xbox 360 to play it.

Meaning no need for a dish on the wall outside or even a cable going from the television into the wall.

Those that have been following the endless battle of the apartment on The Bauble will know that we are having no end of trouble.

From Eircom giving us backwards information to the "Premier Entertainment Provider" (and I use that phrase extremely loosely) that wired the building looking for 120 euro to just get connected, it's becoming tiring.

This would circumnavigate all of that crap. Plug the Xbox into the television and hook up the broadband and away you go. Smaller connection fee, same service.

Or at least possibly.

It only goes online today (as in the 27th of Oct) so I will be waiting for some reviews to see if it is worth going down this route. But the early stuff indicates that it wouldn't be all that bad. One or two minor concerns but since nobody has had any time to actually play with the service properly only time can tell.

Not to mention that I still have no broadband yet, so I can't exactly just order this now and play with it later.

But it would be great if it was a decent alternative to the shitpile that we currently have on offer.

In other news I am getting a submission ready to send off to that literary agent the lady friend found. Spooky Jones has been fully finished now, all nineteen chapters of it, so it is entering stage two of the rewrites and a proposal package is in the works. Just to see what might happen.

Also it is the lady friend's birthday today, so happy birthday (because you will read this at some point).

Now back to the grindstone.

Stupid grindstone.

Blue_jester