1080p Xbox Movie Streaming Works as Advertised

Zune Video, streaming on Xbox 360 from Ars Technica on Vimeo.

The next Xbox Live update will bring a bevy of new features, including Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm access. I’m particularly interested to see if Last.fm works as well all the previews say. Another feature that’s getting less press is the ability to stream 1080p films from the renamed Zune Store. As an owner of an original 20GB Xbox 360, the notion of downloading 4GB+ files is becoming more and more of an impossibility, so a good streaming solution is key for MS.

I’ve been wondering if the service is as instant as Microsoft says it is (the fastest streaming we’ve seen on the Xbox thus far is 720p HD Netflix content), and according to the Opposable Thumbs blog at Ars, it definitely works as advertised. Video proof is above, and while it may be blurry, you can clearly get a sense of how fast the streaming works. Let’s just hope this quality keeps up when released to the public.