UPDATED 13:10 EDT / JUNE 14 2011

Xbox LIVE Integration with Windows 8, ‘Pervasive’ Across Devices Says Microsoft

windows-8-xbox-live With E3 just a few days back down the road, we’re getting buried in further Microsoft revelations, especially those pertaining to Xbox LIVE. What’s been unexpected is that there would be a connection to the eventual release of Microsoft’s next generation operating system, Windows 8—still on the horizon and probably more than a year out, but already getting press from multiple sources.

Engadget picked up on a few news stories involving an interview with Mike Delman, Microsoft VP of Global Marketing,

Speaking to The Seattle Times, Microsoft VP Mike Delman said that “Live has been successful on the Windows Phone,” and that “Live will be built into the PC. It will be the service where you get your entertainment.” Delman went on to add that “Xbox Live will the pervasive media service across devices,” and that “whether it’s us or Apple or anybody else, people want to be able to navigate through multiple devices in a certain ecosystem very seamlessly so we’re committed to that.”

There are already big expectations for an app store integrated with Windows 8 and a connection to Xbox LIVE, especially if it spreads between devices, wouldn’t be too out of kilter with where we see Microsoft going with their various platforms. Already, Apple has dominated the market in the ability to seamlessly shift user experience between PC, tablet, and smartphone using the personal cloud as a backdrop (and possibly it will be iCloud that drives that innovation.)

With the Xbox transforming itself from a simple video gaming center into an entire entertainment complex, and potentially a telecommunications center in the livingroom with the integration of Skype, we could see the next tech Big Bang coalescing right now as a twinkle in Microsoft’s eye.

Certain applications and devices will always be tied to places, but as entertainment and gaming gets more social, elements of those applications can be carried off by customers and Microsoft wants to be part of that long tail. Even now, Netflix and Xbox LIVE integrate nicely in order to permit multiple people to watch the same movie together even across great distances (and chat about it), while limited, this could be nicely implemented in a smartphone capable of streaming video. Imagine your own personal movie theater, with a friend, while riding the bus home.

People may compartmentalize their lives across multiple social contexts, but their phones always come with them when they walk out the door. Future OSes will have to take this into account as the personal cloud sphere begins to envelop the ability to connect back to our devices on the go. People want to be able to hop into the same social network (with similar user interface) no matter what device they’re sitting at.

Apple has already shown their hand in pushing towards this, Google is obviously pressing their advantage with the power of Android, and Microsoft has the near ubiquity of Xbox and Windows. Between these three obvious cloud-giants, we will see a revolution in the way that the wired society sees themselves, accesses their data, and communicates.


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