Microsoft and Orange join forces to offer orange tv on the Xbox 360

ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX — Today Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Orange (Paris: FTE; NYSE: FTE) announced they have signed an agreement to offer an intuitive and innovative new service to Orange TV customers in the spring of 2012: voice and motion-activated television control using Kinect’s magical technology.

Microsoft and Orange: complementary expertise offering the best in digital entertainment

Microsoft and Orange signed an agreement on 6 December which allows for Orange TV broadcasts on the Xbox game console. This partnership came naturally to the two companies, which have been working together for many years both in business and consumer markets (in particular in the framework of Windows Phones) and illustrates their complementary view of tomorrow’s digital entertainment world.

Xavier Perret, Orange’s Director of Strategic Partnerships explains, “Today, Orange TV is not just present on the family’s television set, but on every screen in the home. This partnership therefore allows Orange to offer a service to its customers who want Orange TV on their game console. We already found the Windows Phone interface attractive and are now drawn by the technological opportunities of the Xbox and Kinect offer, and the changes they will enable us to make to create even greater services at Orange.”

For Microsoft, this partnership illustrates the strategy in place for the Xbox 360, offering all users connected to the Xbox Live, the broadest variety available of entertainment: video games, movies, music, and now live TV – a comprehensive content and entertainment offer.

Marc Jalabert, Microsoft’s Director of Consumer and Operators Division comments, “This partnership results from our close relationship with Orange. Together we will offer a unique digital experience to all Orange TV users who own an Xbox 360. This launch, which will take place in the spring of 2012, is the next step in our long-term collaboration.”

Kinect and Orange TV alliance: intuitive and innovative usage

Starting in the Spring of 2012, 30 Orange TV channels, including the major channels on the French market, will be available on the Xbox 360.

Orange TV customers will be able to experience a new way to use their television through voice and motion control thanks to Kinect’s magic. Users will be able to interact with Orange TV to change channels, launch a video, pause the video, etc., with no remote control required. To launch Orange TV from the Xbox interface, users will simply say “Xbox Orange” to the game console.

This content and service offer will grow progressively throughout the year to include the catch-up service and Orange’s video-on-demand catalogue.

A pioneer in the development of new media, Orange supports the different forms of customer usage and relies on its infrastructure, expertise and content, which it aggregates, and its preferred partners, such as Microsoft. Orange is therefore able to offer its customers multi-screen availability of Orange TV, with content that is rich, diverse, and available on demand whether in the home or when travelling.

With more than 57 million Xbox 360s sold throughout the world, including 35 million connected to the Xbox LIVE, the Xbox 360 offers novel social experiences in your own living room. With the combination of Kinect’s revolutionary technology, the power of the Xbox LIVE and major partners for content and services, Microsoft is transforming the world of entertainment.

(1) For customers who have the Xbox Live Gold option, invoiced at the rate of €5/month by Microsoft.