Microsoft's demo session of SmartGlass in action revealed
new details and showed off some of its potential, both for media and gaming.
LOS ANGELES--Xbox SmartGlass was one of the lone new
technologies unveiled by Microsoft at this year's E3, but its potential as a
second screen -- using your own smartphone or tablet running Windows 8, Android, or iOS -- is
fascinating. Xbox SmartGlass
was
demonstrated in more detail in a breakout session this evening, showing off
video, gaming, and remote control possibilities as well as running through
future concepts. I got as close as I could and took a few photos.
First off, a few things you should know: Xbox SmartGlass
isn't definitely intended for Xbox Live Gold members, but the apps and services
it works with suggest it will be. Also, on-hand reps said that DVD
second-screen functions haven't yet been in the cards: video content will need
to be either downloaded or app-streamed by apps that support SmartGlass.
Windows 8 tablets will work with SmartGlass, but there currently aren't any plans
to make the service work with older Windows 7 tablets.
To work with a video, the content or app will have to be
designed to interface with Xbox SmartGlass. Xbox Live has gained access to
Paramount's library of movies, and Paramount films could be among the first to
work. The movie School of Rock was shown working with SmartGlass,
skipping scenes and calling up biographical information and related videos.
Game of Thrones worked like the E3 keynote demo,
pulling up family trees and animated scrolling maps to augment the show itself.
The speed of reaction, in the demo, between touching the second screen and
triggering playback on the TV was fast, seamless.
SmartGlass was also shown working with the upcoming
game Ascend: New Gods, acting as a tiny map with animated features and
icons. A future baseball game called Home Run Stars was discussed as
well, where one player would call up plays on a tablet while another would
pitch in the air and swing a bat via Kinect. SmartGlass will work with up to four
connected devices at once, according to the reps, which suggests multi-player
games with dedicated screens or controls.
The presentation was clear to explain that apps would be
created on a case-by-case basis. The enthusiasm of developers for creating ways
to work with SmartGlass will be the challenge, and to have this type of
technology be simple and easy enough for the average user. The app will be
free, and while it sounds like an app that could have difficulty getting
approved by Apple for iOS, the reps on-hand sounded extremely confident that
wouldn't be the case, citing the existing Xbox Live app and their relationship
with Apple.
Why not use an iPad and search the web yourself for
information on an actor, or use regular controllers instead of SmartGlass controls?
To some extent, it's hard to judge right now in such an early stage. Also, the
app will be free, and will work with many devices most people already own. Even
if SmartGlass were just a clever couple-of-trick pony, it would be a free pony
for anyone who already owned an Xbox 360.
The SmartGlass app would have a small file size, since it's
a streaming technology. What's shown on the tablet or phone screen could be
swapped with what's on the large-screen TV, too.
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