Well the rumours were true and it has turned out that Microsoft has many new media partners to bring content to the Xbox “soon”. These media partners aren’t just from the US but are spread throughout the world, I count 15 media partners in total for the UK. The range of media partners is pretty broad from the BBC, Channel 4 and 5 all the way to LoveFilm. Then there will still be those media companies that were already partnered with Microsoft such as Twitter, Facebook and BSkyB.

I have asked a few people how the BBC’s content will be delivered to the Xbox as it will go against the BBC’s TV Licensing rules if users have to pay to be able to access the BBC services. I guess then that users in the UK wont have to be Xbox Live Gold members to be able to access the BBC app/services/content. I assume the same will also be true for YouTube access, I can’t imagine many people will be happy if they have to pay to watch YouTube videos on the Xbox.

This announcement and eventual rollout of the partners is very significant for Microsoft as it is increasingly pushing the Xbox to be *the* entertainment device to have in a living room. Along with these new media partners will soon be a new UI for the Xbox that incorporates Kinect’s hands free controls through the UI and utilises Bing to find content across all the various media partners’ services. The Xbox is no longer just about gaming but about all kinds of entertainment and Xbox Live makes sure all kinds of entertainment can be social.

Microsoft have released a new video of how the whole Xbox experience will be soon with the new Metro UI and the new content from its media partners.

But that’s not all the Xbox news from Microsoft as the company has also announced that it will be possible to control the Xbox 360 by using a Windows Phone. There will soon be a free app in the Windows Phone Marketplace that users can install to allow them to find content, learn more about the content and also play content on their Xbox. Microsoft have gone in to more detail about what this app can do over at the Windows Team Blog. Tom Warren has also been good enough to cut out of previously mentioned video the part where this new Windows Phone app makes an appearance.

There is thought to be even more news from Xbox later today with new Kinect and Windows Phone games announced.

What are your thoughts on these new Xbox announcements? I now want an Xbox 360 more than ever,

Update: The BBC has issued a post about the partnership with Microsoft and as it transpires the press release from Microsoft actually points out if an “app”, the media services in this case, requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription and the BBC doesn’t. In fact most of the new apps don’t require an Xbox Live Gold subscription but many will charge their own access fees.