SkyDrive Coming to XBOX For Gold Members

The SkyDrive team announced today that they are bringing an app to the XBOX for XBOX Gold members, allowing you to see videos and photos stored on the service via the XBOX.  Read on for details.

The SkyDrive team announced today that they are bringing an app to the XBOX for XBOX Gold members, allowing you to see videos and photos stored on the service via the XBOX.  The app is not yet available on the XBOX Marketplace, but it should be available after 1000 hours Pacific time.  Here is the announcement:

The entirely new SkyDrive experience for Xbox 360 spotlights your photos and videos. The app connects the cloud to your Xbox and TV: every photo, video, movie, and other file you put in SkyDrive from Windows or the web will be available on your Xbox-connected TV. Your Windows Phone is also now connected to Xbox and every photo you snap can be available on your TV automatically.

When we thought about all of the possibilities of introducing SkyDrive to the Xbox 360 environment, there were lots of features we could have tied together but we wanted to focus on the scenarios that people have told us they would find most valuable. So in building a SkyDrive experience for the living room, we’ve spent our time on making these three primary scenarios feel great:

1. Shared photos & videos. Share a meaningful event with your friends or family by viewing photos & videos on your TV, or view photos & videos others have shared with you through SkyDrive. Imagine being able to view cherished photos and videos shared by friends and family —like a musical performance, a kid’s birthday, or baby’s first steps—on your TV.
2. Snap and see. For Windows Phone users, snap a picture and see it appear almost immediately in your camera roll on the big screen. This feels like magic! For example, you could take a quick snapshot of your child making a funny face, fire up the SkyDrive app on your Xbox, and view it right away on your 50” screen. Just make sure you’re using the same Microsoft account sign-in for both Xbox LIVE and your Windows Phone.
3. Party slide show. Plan a great slide show to play in the background of a dinner party. For example, you could start a slide show of a recent trip for friends, or have holiday-themed photos and videos playing during a holiday party.

Plus, the SkyDrive app for Xbox supports Kinect voice controls and gestures as well as remote and controller input. Yes, this means you can view a slide show of your SkyDrive photos just by talking to your Xbox… which is very, very cool. (Kinect voice controls are not available in all languages.)

Get started now

Here’s how to get up and running with the SkyDrive app on your Xbox:

1. Turn on your TV and your Xbox.
2. Go to Apps, and then select Browse Apps.
3. In the Social category, select SkyDrive.

We hope you love this app as much as we do, and enjoy using it the next time you have friends or family over. As always, we’re excited to see how you use it, and we’re looking ahead to bringing you more SkyDrive coolness in the future.

They also posted this video to YouTube:

If you have an XBOX Gold membership and use SkyDrive, go ahead and check this one out.  It looks very cool to me!  Oh, Microsoft, how about a Skype client for XBOX Kinect?