Microsoft Corp. may be preparing to take the good fight to Apple later this year with a new Xbox Lite model that would compete directly with the Apple TV.

News of the possible device first emerged at Petri IT Knowledgebase, where Brian Sams noted just before New Years Eve that he has heard from internal sources that the company is considering plans for a lightweight Xbox One.

Details are scant other than it would be a smaller, cheaper Xbox that would be significantly less powerful than the original, much larger than Xbox One, and would see a cheaper price tag attached to it as well.

Sams believes that the device would support Windows store games and would compete with the Apple TV.

A rumor that appeared in November 2015 stated that Microsoft might offer TV subscription services via Internet-based systems and set-top boxes, which could potentially be the same device being talked about here. If Microsoft wants to take on Apple, a device that offered streaming television, on-demand shows and naturally gaming would be an ideal play against the latest Apple TV, which unlike its predecessors has received strong praise and consumer demand.

Not mentioned, though, is the potential to stream games over the device versus downloading them, technology which is already years old, be it with early providers such as On Live failing to make a business out of it. If Microsoft could find a way to stream Xbox games to the device, if not all but say some of them along with older 360 titles, it would be a stronger offering than the Apple TV for gaming, a halfway point between the Apple TV and the full-blown Xbox One, and possibly with a more Apple TV-like price point.

Convergence

That Microsoft would be considering such a device makes a lot of sense, not only because the Xbox One has been arguably a bit of a disaster for the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant, but because that’s where the market is heading.

While Microsoft pushed to make Xbox One initially a device for many things without an emphasis on gaming is what damaged it, that belies the fact that device convergence is happening in the broader space, and Microsoft has the tech and the knowledge to grab a slice of this market as it starts to seriously take off.

This is a battle for the hearts and minds of the broader consumer market, not just those into serious gaming, and Microsoft will want to get in on it if only to make sure that Apple, and perhaps even Google with the rise of Android-powered TV boxes, doesn’t end up owning the space like they do in the smartphone space market today.

The device, if real, is not expected to debut until the second half of the year.

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