Samsung has their ‘Share Play’ and Smart TV technology. Now Microsoft is set to dive into the share content market with a new Xbox SmartGlass service that allows tablet computers and smartphones to communicate with an Xbox 360 console.Microsoft executives claim their new Xbox SmartGlass technology turns any TV into a smart TV. The announcement was made in Microsoft’s keynote presentation at the E3 video games trade show in Los Angeles.
“Xbox SmartGlass works with all the devices that you already own: the TV you already own, the phone you already own and the tablet you already own,” said Marc Whitten, head of Microsoft’s Xbox Live division.
Smart Glass also lets handhelds act as controllers when used with Internet Explorer. The technology will launch on the console later this year. Using a handheld device users can control games on a touchscreen devices and can show extra information about progress.
The BBC claims the new technology poses a challenge to Nintendo’s new Wii U Game Pad.
While the Japanese company’s product is specifically designed to enhance the experience of using its next-generation console, Microsoft is offering users a way to extend the functionality of its existing games machines via third-party devices they may already have.
A demo showed the highly anticipated first-person shooter Halo 4 using the facility to trigger maps and other data about its in-game environment.
Mr Whitten claimed that SmartGlass would also enhance television programmes and films streamed through the Xbox.
The demonstration also showed how the linked device could bring up details about the cast and characters while the user was watching a film.
“It lets Microsoft say that you don’t need to buy new hardware to have a two-screen experience,” Stephen Totilo, editor of gaming website Kotaku, told the BBC.
