Over at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Microsoft is trying to whip everyone into a frenzy, announcing a whole bunch of new developments for the Xbox 360.
While most gamers wait for Microsoft to announce the follow-up to the Xbox 360, the big M is talking up the ability to control an Xbox 360 with mobiles, tablets, and Windows 8 computers.
The technology is called Xbox SmartGlass, and it hopes to offer an extra control method for the Xbox 360.
More than that, however, as Microsoft aims to show even more content on SmartGlass compatible devices.
If a game you’re playing can show you an interactive map, this can be sent to the screen, letting you explore your game easily on a tablet or smartphone. Theoretically, you could use it to send messages mid-game instead of resorting to the Xbox 360 controller keyboard.
These are just some of the possibilities we’ve come up with, and we’re pretty sure you can come up with some yourself.
Microsoft will also be joining forces with Nike this year for “Nike+ Kinect Training”, a set of tools that will create a custom exercise program that can be handled in one’s own home.
“Nike+ Kinect Training gives everyone access to the same training that we give our professional athletes,” said Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport at Nike. “It merges our understanding of the greatest athletes in the world with the amazing sensor technology of Kinect for Xbox 360.”
The program will watch you – like all Kinect games do – and work out if your movements are right, as well as analyse your strengths and weaknesses, arriving on a workout that evolves with you.
Microsoft also announced a slew of titles set to land on consoles in the next few months, including The Amazing Spider-Man, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, Forza Horizon, Halo 4, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, among others.
And finally, there’s Internet Explorer, a browser that has up to this point, never existed on the Xbox 360. Microsoft is betting on the idea that you’ll want to browse the web from your couch, a big screen browser with voice control waiting for you on every Xbox 360.
Most of these developments should be rolled out within the next few months, but we’ll keep you up to date as time rolls on.
