During Microsoft's BUILD 2013 conference, Microsoft bragged about some of the numbers for their Xbox SmartGlass mobile app. The Xbox SmartGlass app for Windows 8 launched in October, and has also been released for Windows Phone, iOS and Android devices. SmartGlass offers a "second screen" experience for your Xbox 360 and figures to be a huge part of the Xbox One experience moving forward, as each Xbox One console can handle up to 16 simultaneous SmartGlass app connections, compared to the four connections for the Xbox 360.
Across all platforms, the Xbox SmartGlass app has been downloaded over 17 million times. I'm going to guess that Nancy Tellem, Don Mattrick and Yusuf Mehdi are responsible for 16 million of those downloads. Microsoft says a person spends about 16 minutes using the Xbox SmartGlass app for each specific app it controls on the 360.
I've used the Xbox SmartGlass app, and while I thought it was a nifty, alternative way to navigate my Xbox 360, I didn't really have any interest in using it as a "second screen" experience. I don't need a device to draw my attention away from what's happening on the TV, which is something a lot of next-gen games seem to want to do. For instance, Dead Rising 3 uses smartphones and tablets to launch different attacks, which I'm not fond of. However, games like The Division and The Crew allow you to use mobile devices as a way that enhances the gameplay. The Crew lets you customize your car, and The Division has mobile players controlling a drone, complete with its own abilities and progress.
Currently, the Xbox SmartGlass app only supports six games — Dance Central 3, Forza Horizon, Home Run Stars, Kinect Sesame Street TV, Halo 4 and Ascend: New Gods. There are also numerous apps and movies that take advantage of SmartGlass, though.
Like I said, SmartGlass makes it easier to type and navigate your Xbox 360, but I don't fall into the numbers that Microsoft touts.
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at [email protected]
