More friends than I can count have Xboxes, but not necessarily for gaming. Mind you, many of them own at least a handful of games, but what they’re really using it for is to watch online streams on their televisions. They’re in good company — according to market research from Strategy Analytics, roughly 15 million U.S. households (i.e., 12 percent) are doing the same thing, making these consoles the number-one most popular streaming device for TVs.
According to the report, titled “Multiscreen Connected TV: Assessing Device Usage and Ownership,” PCs still reign supreme for general online viewing. But in terms of television viewership, there are more consoles than PCs hooked up to boob tubes. (A whopping 65 percent of the 25 and younger set in the U.S. who use an Xbox 360 on a weekly basis even favor the console-TV combo more than desktop or laptop viewing.) This is a pretty strong indication that the upcoming Xbox Live TV will absolutely PWN this holiday shopping season.
Console owners, weigh in: Are you using your device more for gaming or for streaming? And if you’re on the fence about getting one, would all the programming options that exist now (or are coming soon) be enough to get you to take the leap? Share your thoughts below.