E3 2012: SmartGlass to be Integrated into Every First-Party Release

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Lee Bradley

SmartGlass support will be integrated into every single first-party release once the new app is released this fall, Microsoft has announced.

The app, detailed on stage at E3 last week, allows users to access ancillary information and functionality via Windows 8 and Windows Phone, as well as third-party portable devices such as smartphones, PCs and tablets. Yup, even iOS devices can get in on the act.

Among the examples given were using your phone as a remote control and using your tablet device to display a map of the content you’re consuming. 

“It just makes so much sense for a developer who wants to supply, maybe not time-critical information, like ‘that enemy is getting ready to shoot you,’ but information that augments what’s happening on screen,” said Phil Spencer, corporate VP of Microsoft Studios.

Spencer used the Halo Waypoint Atlas app as an example of this, outlining how SmartGlass can provide information without getting in the way of your game.  And that’s not the only way it will work.

“You’re even going to see situations like with Ascend, where there’s actually gameplay that happens on the phone, even when you’re away from your television and that interacts back with the online game that’s happening,” he said. 

“So I think you’ll see information sharing, context sharing while you’re in the room, with video and with games, as well as gameplay happening in more distributed environments.

“You don’t have to log in and out of each app – you know, ‘I’m gonna start the Mass Effect app, and now I’m gonna start the Game of Thrones app.’ So you have this surface, this smart surface that sits on any device that you already own that’s always in sync with what’s happening on the television, and it knows where to go and grab the right content to display at the right time, to make sure that if you’re playing Halo, then the Halo surface is available on SmartGlass.”

[via Joystiq]

Comments
50
  • Just looks expensive to me. Very expensive. I used to think VMUs were expensive though! Who remembers the noise they made when those battery's ran out? Jesus a nerve in my ear died every time I turned it on.
  • Assuming Direct Control
  • This, like Kinect, looks really cool. Microsoft is probably going to mess this up however by making it shitty and gimmicky.
  • @1 what do you mean expensive? Can't I just access on my smartphone for free?
  • @4 are smart phones and tablets not expensive!? That reminds me iv sent you a message , check your inbox.
  • I can't see many people using it whilst watching TV - if I'm watching TV I'm not going to stop paying attention to the program to look at my tablet. Regarding using the tablet as a remote track pad for the browser on the console - why wouldn't I just use the browser on my tablet?? (Depending on your handset this might make more sense for phones I guess). I like the idea of game integration - either extra stuff that can be played away from the console that affects the main game, or extra info (like a map etc) whilst playing. I could see me using my tablet for that kind of thing.
  • So long as it isnt forced on me I'm fine, no locked out content or achievements related to this please.
  • Cant see how it will be expensive if its an app for tablet/smart phone.
  • @7 agreed. I can't see their being any cheevo's relating to this. Microsoft won't even allow developers to assume that the console contains a hard drive (as some SKU's don't), so I'm pretty sure they won't let them assume that the user has a smartphone/tablet.
  • @1 Most people own a smartphone or tablet now anyway. So this essentially should cost nothing. If you don't own a smartphone then that is obviously where you would incur a cost. But then again if you don't have a smartphone by now then WTF? I also agree with what others have said about not making this a forced thing for achievements etc.
  • @9 you would think they wouldnt assume that but some devs, assume you have kinect...
  • Meh to this, I don't want to stop what I'm watching/playing to look at a map or some other guff.
  • this will be good but microsoft will find 1 way or another to mess it up like just look at kinect for example
  • Looks like Wii U has Microsoft running scared...
  • I don't have a smart phone or a tablet, so lets hope they don't tie in achievements like the forza 4 kinect achievement
  • Oh and these fucking spammers are really getting annoying
  • @17 What gets me is hes trying to sell a serious product yet chose the user name mrfart?
  • Sounds great, now all Microsoft needs are some first party titles...
  • Also I know they mention it will work on IOS but will it be coming to Android too?
  • So first MS and Sony rip off the Wii... Now MS rips off the WiiU....
  • Enough with the gimmicks. Just give us the next Xbox.
  • "SmartGlass support will be integrated into every single first-party release once the new app is released this fall, Microsoft has announced." It will be like Kinect when Microsoft showed it on Jimmy Fallon's show. That could be used on every past and future games...oh wait...after an year and half that still not happen.
  • So, instead of looking only at my tv, I have to have my phone with me, which rings and tells me "He is gonna shoot you", my kinect so I can shout "grenade" as my controller doesn't support this function anymore and a tablet to show me a map of the area, because the map is a locked on cd content which would cost another 400MSP to unlock ..... *brrr*. No thanks
  • @10 I don't have a smart phone, because phones are for phoning people not all this social media and app crap, and I can get a phone for phoning about 10 times cheaper.
  • I love to learn useless crap. I'll enjoy this I think. I'm being serious too! I love to learn lots and lots useless crap.
  • @13 Way to copy and paste from wikipedia, you douche.
  • this is one more step before the Terminators destroy us.
  • @#10 - Most people... MOST people. I get the tech, but I'm not most people, so for me, I have absolute ZERO interest in this. I don't have a smart, stupid, genius or average phone, nor do I have a tablet, with or without a lower cased "i". If I had say, a Galaxy Tab, and could stream my game, in real time to it (like the WiiU tablet), and play on that (even just Arcade games), then that would be something I'd be interested in. All the extra add on bullshit just doesn't interest me. I wish they'd focus more on gaming, and not all this other garbage like the Music shit, and Movie apps and TV apps. Not... interested.
  • Can't we just play games with a pad like the good old days?
  • every first party release... well the good thing about that is there wont be much support then..
  • @5 good point. I just assume that everyone who has an Xbox would have a smartphone lol
  • "xbox: play list: chillout" generic rock music continues playing :)
  • @25 Yeah, good point. A phone is for phoning only. I guess you don't bother listening to music in your car either as a car is for transport only. Oh and your TV, i guess you don't bother with streaming apps etc as the TV was only meant for watching TV. And your bed, I guess you only sleep in that as that's what it was meant for, no sex huh? So many people get butt hurt with new technology it's unreal. You don't like it? Fine. But don't bitch about it. Take #29 as an example he has "ZERO interest". Whoopedy doo. Don't get a tablet/smartphone. But don't bitch on like you're missing out. It's an option that is there to use or not use as you see fit. Other people will use, and like, this idea.
  • @#10 - This might seem a little odd, but: Not everyone has or wants a smartphone or a tablet. In fact, I'll blow your mind even further and let you know that there are still a lot of people who can't access the internet. And some of them even own and XBOX...
  • I loved how after the MS conference Peter Molyneux was less than thrilled about Smartglass because as a developer now they're not developing JUST for a console but now have to integrate smart phones and tablets. I could care less about using a smart phone OR a tablet so I have neither and it looks like now I'll be missing out on certain aspects of video gaming because I don't own them. I too am not exactly thrilled with this direction of gaming...
  • @35 That's fine. People have a choice thats the point i'm making. Own a smartphone/tablet? Great. Then here's some extra features you may use. Don't own one? Fine. That's your choice but don't bitch on on some internet forums like you have been forgotten about. It seems almost everytime some new features/tech comes out people love a good whinge about it. YOU HAVE A CHOICE.
  • @34 I use my iPod for music, I don't stream stuff to my TV if i'm streaming I use my PC and I don't actually own a bed since it broke doing something that according to you it shouldnt be used for. I wouldnt really say I was bitching I'm just saying that IMO they are pointless. But at the end of the day each to his own. Also I took you comment 10 as abit of an insult 'But then again if you don't have a smartphone by now then WTF?'.
  • I want to see this for Minecraft, all I want it to do is be a map so I know where my house is or other players are.
  • Have no interest in this whatsoever. I usually ignore my phone when gaming; I don't need it beeping at me more than it already does. The article also said that it would alert you to in-game information while you are away from the console. Does anyone else remember the woman who died when she wrecked her car after her Tamagotchi keyring beeped and she looked away from the road to feed it? I can see the news stories now:"The young man drove off the bridge when his smartphone rang, informing him to new dlc for Call of Duty. The police say he was setting up an online match when his car left the road."
  • @34 I was being facetious. My comment about bitching wasn't aimed at you. It was aimed at 25 and 29. The point I'm making is people seem to complain and optional additions. You have an ipod. There was an update on 360 a long time ago for ipod support. By these peoples arguments it would be like complaining that they don't have an ipod and the update is not wanted. People DO have tablets/smartphones and those people (mostly) DO want this feature. Me included.
  • 41: I'm with ya. My Transformer is screaming for some Xbox compatibility. lol
  • I already bought a Kinect, now they want me to buy another expensive accessory? Unlike Microsoft, I'm not made of money as much as they might like to believe otherwise.
  • I'd rather have the next Xbox than another Micro$oft gimmick.
  • I really love this, kills the wii u's hopes of being the only ones with a tablet functionality, this is all up to developers to make this great and not just some cool e3 thing that we all hate in a year.
  • I can see some ways this would be useful but most of the demo'd uses were just dumb as they require you to stop watching the movie/tv show to read ancillary crap that will actually reduce immersion and not improve it.
  • @46 Most tech demos are dumb. I love when this stuff goes out and then gets hacked by really creative people. Consumers are the ones that always seem to figure out how to make this stuff useful and fun... The only use I can think of is a map on your tablet...but I am not a clever man
  • Hmmm, actually just thought of a couple! Inventory screens on your tablet--using fingers to select, move around and rename items could make that part faster. Also, custom-level editors for the same reason.
  • why would i want to select stuff with my smartphone, why dont i pick up an xbox controller and do it from there. pointless investment IMO.
  • I threw my smartphone at the wall whilst playing my xbox360. If I actually had a phone, or cared to have one, I would throw it somewhere else next time. There is a hole in my wall. My tablet still works....for now....
  • Only one of those people was using their console properly. Can you guess which one? The only person that was playing a f*cking game! If I wanted a 'media center', I would throw a PC into a blender with a surround sound system along with some Wi-Fi.
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