TopTV on Xbox One?

A representative of TopTV has told MyGaming that the company has no finalised plans or strategies around supporting the Xbox One console and its television controlling interface.

The Xbox One (unveiled on 21 May 2013) boasts entertainment features that extend beyond gaming. It is being touted as an all-in-one central unit for home entertainment systems. Some of the announced television features of the Xbox One include the ability to control a set-top box (STB) from a satellite TV provider, as well as interact with program guides. Microsoft confirmed that this TV initiative will be rolling out to 41 countries.

A TopTV representative told MyGaming that “Any plans regarding the business of the TopTV platform and details regarding strategies and plans (including future technology developments) will only become known and finalised once the new investors are on board, and in consultation with the company’s new strategic equity partner, StarTimes.”

TopTV is currently under business rescue status, and have sold a stake in the company to Chines Pay TV operator StarTimes as part of their business rescue plan. With TopTV treading water at this stage, one might suppose that Xbox One support is rather far down the list of the company’s priorities.

Xbox One is shown during a press event unveiling by Microsoft in Redmond – click to enlarge

The Xbox One supports HDMI passthrough technology, but simply plugging in your television provider’s STB likely won’t be enough to utilise the features boasted by the console, such as voice navigation of a TV service provider’s digital guides and voice controlled changing of TV channels.

Controlling something like TopTV’s digital program guide using the Xbox One will likely require software integration on both the TopTV decoder and the Xbox One. We asked Microsoft SA to confirm this supposition, but the company told us that due to the secrecy around the Xbox One reveal, they learnt about many of the features at the same time as consumers, and therefore cannot provide details at this stage.

A Microsoft SA representative told MyGaming that now the information is public, they will be working to open discussions with potential television partners to get their services integrated and functional on the Xbox One. However, no commitments could be made at this stage.