The New York Times interviewed Microsoft’s Shane Kim about what the company has in store for the Xbox 360 beyond just a gaming platform.
In the interview, Kim said that while the recent addition of the Netflix streaming service was a major partnership to broadening the 360's capabilities, it's merely "scratching the surface" for what they want to do down the road.
“The work we are doing now is trying to understand what is of interest to the broader set of customers beyond the traditional game audience that would take advantage of the interactive platform we have,” he said.
Kim didn't get into specifics, but suggested some ideas we could see, such as a music service or the ability to chat with your friends while watching sports clips, for example. (um, yay?)
But don't go thinking this means they'll be adding an Internet browser anytime soon.
Kim said there are "no plans" to release a browser, saying they'll likely focus on doing specific partnerships with websites like Youtube and Hulu and find ways to integrate the 360 that way. Their fear is that if they open up the console too much, the consumer's focus might shift away from what they want the most: Gamers plopping down $60+ on a video game.
“We don’t want to become just a carriage provider,” he said. That would tend to commoditize what we do.”
What Xbox Wants to Be When It Grows Up (New York Times)