Microsoft fighting for your living room with Xbox

Microsoft continues making a major move on the living room
as the company unveiled a number of ambitious expanded
offerings for the Xbox Monday in Los Angeles at the annual
E3 conference. It’s clear the company won’t just
settle for dominance of the video game arena.

“It’s not just a video game anymore, it’s a full fledged
entertainment center,” says tech expert Todd Bishop with
Geekwire.com

Bishop says the most significant announcement is Xbox
SmartGlass, a “second screen” feature that lets you
control the Xbox and view all sorts of supplementary
content on a mobile device or PC. For example, the
company showed how you could watch the hit show “Game of
Thrones” on your TV while viewing maps of the fantasy
world at the same time on your iPhone or tablet, all
streamed through the Xbox.

“In the old days, it would have been a Windows exclusive.
It’s an implicit acknowledgement that not everybody is
going to have a Windows phone in five years. It’s a big
risk
and it’s actually a sign of how Microsoft has changed in
some ways,” Bishop says.

Smart Glass will also allow users to take their content
with them, start a movie on their Xbox and sync it
to a mobile device for anytime viewing.

The company also announced a number of new content
partnerships, such as full broadcasts of ESPN, NBA, NFL
and
NHL games networks and a number of others that
Bishop says could be a significant attack on other
entertainment companies, especially Apple TV and cable
providers.

“Microsoft is doing whatever it can to meet consumers
where they are,” Bishop says.