Home Gaming Microsoft wants you to care about SmartGlass

Microsoft wants you to care about SmartGlass

1 min read
48

smartglass

Microsoft unveiled its SmartGlass technology – whereby you can use a tablet you already own to interact with games on films on your Xbox or Windows 8 PC  – at E3 last year. Though obviously a stab at the Wii U’s second touch-screen tactic, it’s an interesting bit of tech…that close to nobody actually uses, or even cares about. Microsoft wants to change that.

Microsoft’s released a series of videos on its Xbox YouTube channel demonstrating SmartGlass – and why you should care.

Here’s a video of how Ascend: New Gods uses SmartGlass for nifty things like maps, inventory and stats.

Here’s another vide, showing how you can use SmartGlass to control your Xbox, even using it to search for content. Hooray!

Here’s yet another video, showing perhaps SmartGlass’ most interesting feature – by making all of the bonus content material you’d usually get on a Blu-ray or special edition DVD a little more interactive.

I think SmartGlass could potentially be used to augment games and films – but it has one major drawback. Until it’s available, out of the box, for just about every new game or feature film nobody is likely to give a damn. The list of games it works with right now, nearly a year after it was shown off, is pitifully low – and even within those games it doesn’t really do anything you couldn’t just do within a menu.

I can’t honestly say that it’s a feature I use too much, because right now its application is just too limited. Do any of you use SmartGlass much?

Last Updated: February 26, 2013

48 Comments

  1. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    February 26, 2013 at 09:53

    Smart what? #trolol

    It’s too gimmiky to be a valid option right now.

    But I can see the lure of it from a multimedia perspective. I’m sure this will pick up steam and become common place as it goes along

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Erwin

      February 26, 2013 at 10:05

      Only thing of interest on this page was STEAM, but I see you put it into another context

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        February 26, 2013 at 10:11

        Well, why not integrate steam? While playing games you can have your steam overlay view you’d usually see on screen appear on the second device instead. Could work right?

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Erwin

          February 26, 2013 at 10:20

          Make it so

          Reply

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 10:46

            Consoles are for pussies.

          • Admiral Chief Erwin

            February 26, 2013 at 10:49

            Ja, Picard be having it. Plus they have awesome cool HoloDeck

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 10:51

            With parental lock 🙁

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 10:53

            COMPUTER ON!

            See how easy they have it on the Enterprise. Not a single update, mandatory install or redeem code required.

          • Admiral Chief Erwin

            February 26, 2013 at 10:55

            Plus you can shoot at shit and go REALLY fast, don’t even get me started on the replicators! Tea, Earl Grey, Hot

          • Sir Captain Rincethis

            February 26, 2013 at 11:13

            No lemon for you then? I just want to replicate me a crate of Romulan Ale mmm

          • Admiral Chief Erwin

            February 26, 2013 at 11:19

            Won’t be as good as the original thing!

          • Sir Captain Rincethis

            February 26, 2013 at 11:13

            But that’s KINETIC 2001 man! LOL

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 11:15

            I dont remember the Captain jumping around like a full retard at an ANC rally to turn the computer on.

          • Sir Captain Rincethis

            February 26, 2013 at 11:17

            And THIS is what?

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 11:22

            ROFL THE FCKING 90s man, the 90s. Everything was so camp and cool. None of the DARK DARK DARK shit re imagined DARK DARKER to be re imagined to be DARKEST DARKEST darker than dark SUPER DUPER HEROs.

            P.S. SUPER MAN is a doos. He should hand himself over to Polsmoor if he really wants to be punished for being DARK.

          • Sir Captain Rincethis

            February 26, 2013 at 11:33

            You forgot edgy man, edgy is the new dark. Everything that is made has to have some gritty, edgy feel to it. Just waiting for the new ‘My Little Pony’s of SATAN’ to come out.

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 11:36

            That shit will be tame. The kids today watch proper satanic Cows and Chckens on morning TV with bums and udders.

            Gone are the days of grootbeck.

          • OVG

            February 26, 2013 at 11:22

            ROFL THE FCKING 90s man, the 90s. Everything was so camp and cool. None of the DARK DARK DARK shit re imagined DARK DARKER to be re imagined to be DARKEST DARKEST darker than dark SUPER DUPER HEROs.

            P.S. SUPER MAN is a doos. He should hand himself over to Polsmoor if he really wants to be punished for being DARK.

          • Tateboetie Malaaitie

            February 26, 2013 at 11:21

            Never go retard.

          • Admiral Chief Erwin

            February 26, 2013 at 10:56

            Perennial cock?

    • Luke Lange

      February 26, 2013 at 10:06

      I have it but dont use it. As for multimedia, XBMC on a PC with the android software on my phone is simply the best i have seen. Those who use it will agree.

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        February 26, 2013 at 10:10

        I do use XBMC and my android as a remote 🙂 Love it to bits. Queue my series I wana watch for the night and GO.

        Someone calls me? No worries. Appears on screen with the caller name and the video auto pauses 🙂 I think it rocks 🙂

        Reply

      • Mikhil

        February 26, 2013 at 12:17

        Yip, I’m using XBMC on an old Mac Mini in the lounge, the new iPhone app (which is now FREE!!) as a remote. Works brilliantly and can store multiple libraries. I can even walk into work and start queuing my music before I’ve gotten to my desk, as well as control media on any linked machines in the office.

        Reply

  2. Havok

    February 26, 2013 at 09:55

    I don’t use it all… and I have a Win8 tab… The implementation is atrocious.

    Reply

  3. Dooza

    February 26, 2013 at 09:59

    I use my phone as a remote when I’m watching movies or listening to music. I don’t have a chat pad so I use it to type as well

    Reply

  4. OVG

    February 26, 2013 at 10:13

    I called it. Integration, social, Advertising, DATA capturing, TELE Marketing, media control and full on media hub are the words on Microsofts main objective. $80 for XBOX LIVE is another one being thrown around. They dont give a shit about games anymore.

    Im an XBOT and I will even admit that SONY are doing what the hardcore gamers want while Nintendo and Microsoft go for the casuals.

    PC for the win, a close second is the PS4 but all that social shit just aint my cup of tea.

    MANDATORY KINECT 2… 🙁 I dont like Kinect either.

    WHERE ARE THE EXCLUSIVES MICROSOFTY

    Reply

  5. OVG

    February 26, 2013 at 10:24

    I do remember an Article back in 2003 that said all consoles will become PCs 10 years from now. Now if only I can find the darn thing.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Erwin

      February 26, 2013 at 10:56

      Find it find it find it!

      Reply

      • OVG

        February 26, 2013 at 10:59

        Arghhhh I think it was in Nintendo Power before the interweb took over our lives. Ill try and google but it seems they all had the internet integration planned from the start.
        Consoles only survived because of the war against piracy.

        Reply

  6. umar bastra

    February 26, 2013 at 10:27

    This is where the WiiU and even PS4 has the advantage. all PS4 games will be able to be streamed to the Vita or a tablet. All WiiU games on the other hand are obviously designed with two screens in mind. only way smartglass will work if it becomes a focus with the new xbox

    Reply

  7. Mathias

    February 26, 2013 at 10:31

    Well, they’re failing, because I don’t give a shit about it.

    Reply

  8. David Hecker

    February 26, 2013 at 10:34

    In my mind, SmartGlass is more than just a single application, but a framework for interaction between devices. For example, I was watching some PS4 launch videos on YouTube on my XBox last night, when I discovered that I can use my iPhone to search for content on YouTube, then push it to my XBox to watch on a much bigger screen. I found typing and searching for content to be so much faster.

    It actually impressed me more than the PS4 videos I was watching 😉

    Reply

    • Sir Captain Rincethis

      February 26, 2013 at 12:51

      Apple integrated with xbox? I have a windows phone, how do I set it up to do that?

      Reply

      • David Hecker

        February 26, 2013 at 15:17

        I was using the YouTube app on XBox and it came up with an option to pair a device as a remote. I had to browse to a YouTube page on my phone and enter a unique key. Only took about a minute. Now when I browse YouTube on my iPhone, I get the option to play locally or on XBox. Works really, really well 😉

        Reply

        • Sir Captain Rincethis

          February 26, 2013 at 15:18

          Oh, great. I’ll give it a shot with my win phone, though I am worried I need the latest 8.0 to be able to. Will see. Hate having to type in on my xbox controller.

          Reply

          • David Hecker

            February 26, 2013 at 15:25

            I love the keyboard on Internet Explorer, but the rest are not that fast to type with. Definitely quicker on my phone 😉

  9. Banana Jim

    February 26, 2013 at 10:58

    I’d care if the xbox had some games!

    Reply

    • Mikhil

      February 26, 2013 at 12:12

      We heard you the first 100867 times :p

      Reply

      • Banana Jim

        February 26, 2013 at 18:29

        And I have another 10 000 000 000 0000 in me 😛

        Reply

      • Banana Jim

        February 26, 2013 at 18:30

        But seriously, the one thing I’m not looking forward to is the fanboism… sigh!

        Reply

    • BeatzByChrisBrown

      February 26, 2013 at 12:39

      Fanboy wars be heating up! Them’s fight’n words!

      Reply

  10. Willem Swanepoel

    February 26, 2013 at 11:23

    Sony fanboys will hate it 😉

    Reply

  11. Willem Swanepoel

    February 26, 2013 at 11:23

    Sony fanboys will hate it 😉

    Reply

  12. Dawid Eduard Roestorf

    February 26, 2013 at 11:26

    The fact that ms can’t even go through the trouble of making it available in South Africa is really a big bummer, and another reason it is failing here.

    Reply

  13. OVG

    February 26, 2013 at 11:31

    The cable box 720. Kinect 2 required to press start.

    Microsoft wanted to take over the living room years before they made a console. They just never knew how to do it.

    Reply

  14. riaan

    February 26, 2013 at 11:53

    I haven’t tried it, but I like the idea of a map that is always open on another device. That way I don’t have to pause and navigate to the map screen every time i want to check something.

    Reply

  15. iPrimal

    February 26, 2013 at 18:37

    have a phone and tablet capable of this, I just never think to use it.

    Reply

  16. ilRadd

    February 26, 2013 at 19:00

    I think you will see tighter Smartglass integration with NeXbox games – much too late in the cycle for Xbox 360. I think it was just introduced as a foil to the Wii U.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Microsoft Replacing 1 vs 100 With Full House Poker

Remember how 1 vs 100 was going to revolutionise the way people spend their evening as wel…