[Rotmm]

Originally Posted by Gerry

....and that's the ability to usual a virtual keyboard to type out those bloody codes you have to enter for MS points and game content.

That's such a simple and clever idea that I'm 99% convinced it won't be part of the SmartGlass offering.

[Rockster]

Virtual keyboard is definitely there. Already been shown along with the IE functionality. No official confirmation of working in the regular dash as well, but it only makes sense that its there in order to enable simpler bing and app searches for those without / not using kinect.

[RudeCurve]

Not sure where to post this but MS just released a new version of My Xbox LIVE app for iOS which allows you to control some Xbox functions from your iPhone/iPad...nice.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-xb...480914036?mt=8

[Rangers]

now to get that on android...not sure why ms seems more allied with apple than android.

[Gerry]

They did release an Android version as well. I'm not sure whether it includes all the iOS features.

[Shifty Geezer]

Originally Posted by Rangers

now to get that on android...not sure why ms seems more allied with apple than android.

Android is more trouble to support, so everyone's more 'allied' with Apple. Gameloft produces a lot more content for iOS, for example, and my ASUS eeePad isn't supported by quite a lot of Android content.

[tuna]

Originally Posted by Shifty Geezer

Android is more trouble to support, so everyone's more 'allied' with Apple. Gameloft produces a lot more content for iOS, for example, and my ASUS eeePad isn't supported by quite a lot of Android content.

I have not seen MS app, but what about it makes it more difficult to produce an Android version?

[holsty101]

Many more hardware/os configs?

[Brad Grenz]

Device stratification.

[Shifty Geezer]

Originally Posted by holsty101

Many more hardware/os configs?

Yep. Android is inconsistent, with plenty of per device incompatibilities for devs to struggle with. An Android app cannot necessarily be universally run on all Android devices of the same OS level, while varied OS levels means you have to target either a subset of devices or support multiple app versions (for Gingerbread, Honeycomb and Ice-cream Sandwich). iOS gives you multiple SKUs to worry about too, but identical devices. The result is an order of magnitude less complexity in debugging and support.

[dlm]

And of course on Android there are dozens of different screen sizes (in pixels) and aspect ratios to deal with. iOS is a pretty small set to worry about.

[BoardBonobo]

Originally Posted by dlm

And of course on Android there are dozens of different screen sizes (in pixels) and aspect ratios to deal with. iOS is a pretty small set to worry about.

They nerfed that one right at the beginning. Probably because Android was originally developed to compete with Blackberry before iOS appeared on the scene. The whole rendering engine is arse about tit which is why there always seems to be lag in the touch input.

[AzBat]

Now that Microsoft Surface & Windows Phone 8 have been launched, Microsoft is making their Xbox Smart Glass SDK available...

https://developer.xboxlive.com/en-us...martGlass.aspx

via Gamasutra

Tommy McClain

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by AzBat

Now that Microsoft Surface & Windows Phone 8 have been launched, Microsoft is making their Xbox Smart Glass SDK available...

https://developer.xboxlive.com/en-us...martGlass.aspx

via Gamasutra

Tommy McClain

To employees and partners ... still, at least they look serious about it.

[AzBat]

Originally Posted by Arwin

To employees and partners ... still, at least they look serious about it.

You expected different? This is touted as a premier feature, not just anybody will be allowed to develop for it. Only retail & XBLA titles will be able to use it. You won't see Xbox Live Indie Games OR XNA get access to it.

Tommy McClain

[liolio]

Just a side note. I finally boughht a computer ( hp pavillion with switchable graphics) to find out that I lost the wireless mouse I saved while moving from France.
In a search for cheap altrrnative (till I jump by whatever mall) I research what Android had to offer wrt to windows remote control. I'm not affiliate with tem but I found Unified Remote and I'm more than pleased with the service it provides me with.

Actually it's an understatment, I love it. Basically it turns my phone into a kb + track pad. It's incredibly convenient. I can sit (if not lay) on the couch while surfing or posting (short posts as it's not a productivity solution).

Definitely the idea of Smart Glass is nothing new but done properly I can definitely see it having success.
Imho that kind of solutions are going nowhere, they are meant to stay.

I pushed a bit further and went to play Diablo3 with it. It's troubling at first but I definitely got used to it though I would avoid any serious difficulty levels.
POint is that app is not intended to pilot such a game. Another point is that it made me a believer that actually that could prove the best way to pilot "comfortably" quiet some games (I mean without KB+M).

Basically you need the app to support some skinning. In case of diablo for exemple You would want to sacrifice (say on a smart phone) a 1/3 of the screen for the actions buttons + potion.
My belief is that it would fare pretty well, better than what a pad can achieve.
On top of it it comes with bonus: Kb, user configurable, etc.

So I definitely hope that MS allows and atually encourage some devs to design (or port) some games which would rely primarily on that kind of input. Definitely there are things that I believe neither a pad or kinect will be proper subsitutes for, KB+M. Touch screen are way better match.

Wrt to Nintendo, the experience with this apps kind of reinforce my belief that they should have gone tablet only (+triggers) for the Yuu mote (I trademark this term it makes so much more seense than Wii U, after the Wii the Yuu would have sounded natural) and multi touch. That would have given devs a clear orientation, they should not have passed on multi touch.
When the screen is use as a substitute for the tv and that the game actually use other controllers (wiimote or core pad) (which is set to happen) simply a stand ala Surface would have done the trick.

End of my rant for those that can try this app is a god sent for laptop/htpc users, imho.

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by Gerry

Smartglass will be great even if it only provides one bit of functionality to me - and that's the ability to usual a virtual keyboard to type out those bloody codes you have to enter for MS points and game content.

Just being playing with Smartglass for Android and, hallelujah, it does provide this functionality. When the keyboard appears in the Xbox UI, if you're synced with Smartglass then you can type in stuff on your phone instead.

Very useful for the IE integration of course as well as the 25 digit codes.

[Shifty Geezer]

That's a great little feature. I've used the PS3 clip-on keypad but it's a bit awkward and added cost. The ability to use a smartphones existing keyboard and just send a string over bluetooth or whatever is an example of a great synergy. Touch devices could be amazing for in-game editors, with drag and drop icons and path drawing all updating the map in the game.

[Squilliam]

How does smart glass compare to the native functionality promised by the Wii U?

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by Squilliam

How does smart glass compare to the native functionality promised by the Wii U?

Smart glass is basically a method for using a touch screen device as an additional input to games. In that sense it overlaps a bit of the Wii U functionality. But it is not likely to offer anything like the second display or stream primary display, merge webcam etc features that the Wii U has optimised everything for, as far as I know.

Still, there will be some serious overlap and the strength (and weakness) is in supporting as many devices as possible for this purpose. It will be difficult with lots of screen sizes and resolution, but Microsoft is one of the few companies I think that should be able to provide developers with an API that can pull it off reasonably well.

Sony are doing similar things with the Vita, but if they only let it work with the Vita, I think they will fall behind. They should probably look into supporting it through Playstation Mobile and or dedicated apps that use a blutooth protocol for communicating using a shared API, if possible.

I think Microsoft may benefit from Smartglass a fair bit, if they play their cards right. But it won't necessarily be very easy - Kinect, controller, smartglass, all together things can get quite convoluted.

Where Smartglass (and Vita integration stuff) has potential is that it would be easier for Microsoft to make it work both when the game is running on your console, and when it isn't, or you're 'on the road' but still interfacing with the game somehow. This kind of thing the Wii U controller can't support, but Smartglass could (either by connecting to your console, or more likely, connecting to cloud servers that games connect to)

[Brad Grenz]

I'm pretty dubious about SmartGlass actually catching on. Much of its functionality literally recreates functionality these devices already posses. The Game of Thrones E3 demo was literally built from an app HBO already sells. The Netflix apps on iOS and Android already allow you to control the Netflix app on the PS3. And the whole internet is on your tablet or phone so why do things inside the app that can easily be found on the browser? There's no incentive for companies like Netflix, Hulu, HBO and all the content creators to adapt all this Meta-data and bonus material that SmartGlass needs to be impressive. MS will money hat a few, trendy properties, but that kind of shit will just die on the vine for the vast majority of video, music and game content.

Gameplay-wise it has the constraint of needing you to literally switch devices you're holding to interact with. There will be corner cases like with Dance Central where you can build playlists while someone is playing, or the occasional asymmetrical gameplay scenario, but device variety and concerns about install base will limit the potential. The Vita shares that last problem, especially given its current sales trajectory.

Otherwise, I guess it's another remote control for your Xbox. Thanks to the IR port on the 360 I can already use my universal remote, in addition to one of my 2 controllers. So I guess that's cool if I have my phone, but my remote and controllers are all just out of reach and I don't actually want to play a game, or need to turn on the TV and stereo. If I had kinect I could use that, too.

[Arwin]

I'm pretty dubious about SmartGlass actually catching on. Much of its functionality literally recreates functionality these devices already posses. The Game of Thrones E3 demo was literally built from an app HBO already sells. The Netflix apps on iOS and Android already allow you to control the Netflix app on the PS3.

But doesn't that prove that the market-place is there for it? Then if you can make it easier for applications to support it using a standard API saving you a lot of work, that could be helpful ...

[Brad Grenz]

But why would you give it away through SmartGlass when it's easier to sell it yourself? Unless there are in-app purchases for this stuff, in which case you'd have both MS and Apple/Google taking a cut, instead of just Apple/Google. You're also adding the cost of supporting SmartGlass, even though that literally represents a subsection of your potential user-base. I don't know what API layer MS can usefully contribute that wouldn't be dependent on, and more usefully and directly available from Netflix and Hulu themselves. Consider this: Netflix added the ability to control PS3 playback from their iOS/Android app. We'd probably have the same functionality for the 360 if MS wasn't blocking it/saving it for SmartGlass. It's not really a solution; it's another MS "service" (like Gold) that oh so helpfully has inserted itself into your relationship with a third party in a way that only benefits themselves.

[NRP]

Just tried the Smartglass companion app on my phone. This thing is sweet!

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by Brad Grenz

But why would you give it away through SmartGlass when it's easier to sell it yourself? Unless there are in-app purchases for this stuff, in which case you'd have both MS and Apple/Google taking a cut, instead of just Apple/Google. You're also adding the cost of supporting SmartGlass, even though that literally represents a subsection of your potential user-base. I don't know what API layer MS can usefully contribute that wouldn't be dependent on, and more usefully and directly available from Netflix and Hulu themselves. Consider this: Netflix added the ability to control PS3 playback from their iOS/Android app. We'd probably have the same functionality for the 360 if MS wasn't blocking it/saving it for SmartGlass. It's not really a solution; it's another MS "service" (like Gold) that oh so helpfully has inserted itself into your relationship with a third party in a way that only benefits themselves.

Did they really do it themselves? Or did Sony do it for them? It's interesting that Sony's Youtube app also does it. Or didn't Sony make that one?

Netflix and Hulu would be primarily interested in getting people to subscribe to their service, and all the apps that are developed are only to get more people to subscribe. Anything that can help them make it easier is a plus.

While I get what you're saying, it is just a question of saying "do I want my voice chat through Live, or do I want to do it myself". It's not 100% the same question, but there are clear advantages to something like that being provided on the Microsoft side.