Microsoft Movies & TV
Microsoft Movies & TV (US only),[1][2] or Microsoft Films & TV (Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand),[3][4] previously Xbox Video and Zune Video, is a digital video service (app) developed by Microsoft that offers full HD movies and TV shows available for rental or purchase in the Video Store as well as you can watch and manage on the app your own videos from personal digital collection.[5] The service is available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 8 and later, and Windows Phone 8 and later.[6] Movies & TV is also accessible on the web.
Computer icon | |
Screenshot of Movies & TV app in Windows 10 in light mode | |
Launch date | October 16, 2012 as Xbox Video |
---|---|
Platform(s) |
|
Website | www |
Zune Video Marketplace was released in 2006, and was replaced by Xbox Video on October 14, 2012. Renamed Movies & TV in 2015, the service is Microsoft's answer to and competes more directly with similar online video stores including PlayStation Video, iTunes Store, Google Play Movies & TV, and Amazon Video.
History
Xbox Live Marketplace's original video store was replaced by Zune Marketplace on September 15, 2009.[7]
At E3 2009, Microsoft announced their 1080p streaming video service, which allows users to stream video over an internet connection.[8] This technology is a key part of Xbox Video for their video streaming service.
With the announcement of Xbox Music services which would replace the Zune Marketplace music service, speculation arose about "Xbox Video", a potential service that would offer movies and television series, because the term "music" in the name of the service gave the impression that Xbox Music will offer strictly music, thus excluding films and television series.
With the launch of Windows 10, Xbox Video appears under the name of Film & TV in the apps, with the shopping for the content merged into the Windows Store as a whole as part of Microsoft's universal apps initiative.[9] However the name and branding of Xbox Video remains active on all the previous platforms and the official website.[10]
On September 17, 2015 with a system update for the Xbox 360, the name of the app changed to reflect the new branding.[11] The Xbox One app had also changed in a previous update.
After previously being linked with Movies Anywhere in the past, Microsoft Movies & TV announced that they would be rejoining the service on August 6, 2018.[12]
Geographical availability
Country | Movies Store | TV Store | Closed Captioning |
---|---|---|---|
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | No | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | No | |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Supported formats
The app in Windows 10 supports a number of formats[14], including:
References
- Microsoft Movies & TV, microsoft.com. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- Movies & TV – Apps on Windows, microsoft.com. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Microsoft Films & TV, microsoft.com. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Films & TV – Apps on Windows, microsoft.com. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
- Your movies, microsoft.com. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- Makuch, Eddie (9 September 2013). "Xbox Music app hits iOS, Android". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- Wingfield, Nick (June 4, 2012). "R.I.P. Zune". The New York Times Bits Blog. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- Simpson, John (June 1, 2009). "Xbox gets 1080p video service". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
- Warren, Tom (March 31, 2015). "Windows 10 new Music and Video apps finally drop the Xbox naming". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
- Xbox Video's official website, Microsoft, archived from the original on 4 August 2015, retrieved July 30, 2015
- Hryb, Larry (September 17, 2015). "Xbox 360 System Update Adds New Features Including 2GB Cloud Storage". Major Nelson. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- Moon, Tim (August 6, 2018). "Microsoft Movies & TV rejoins Movies Anywhere". Neowin.
- "Xbox on Windows feature list". Xbox.com. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- "File formats supported by the Movies & TV app in Windows 10". Microsoft Support. Retrieved 2019-09-23.