Is Microsoft’s SmartGlass smarter than a 5th grader?

With all of Microsoft’s announcements lately around Windows 8, Surface RT and Window Phone8, I’m pretty sure the next thing that will get more press coverage will be “SmartGlass”.   In case you missed it, in a nutshell, SmartGlass is an application that can be loaded on all Microsoft devices and even iOS and Android devices, that allows control, management and companion capabilities to your Xbox360 console.

Check out Microsoft’s video here:     

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/xbox-smartglass-microsoft-s-approach-to-multi-screen-entertainment/qm9fe0lz

With Microsoft’s big “eco-system” push on the new smart tile interface, across all platforms, SmartGlass adds another interesting set of capabilities to allow all of your devices to play one or many roles. 

It took me a couple years to finally break down and pickup my own Xbox 360…   Yes, I purchased the limited edition Halo version and new game!!!

After ordering a Windows Phone 8 this weekend and upgrading to Windows 8 on my home machine, I thought it was a good time to give the new Microsoft “eco system” a try.   That’s where SmartGlass really shines.  SmartGlass is built into the new OS update on the Xbox360 and also has a majority of the components built into Windows 8 on my home machine (still need to load the app from the store onto Windows 8).

Every time I use SmartGlass from either my home machine or other devices (smartphones & tablets), I like it more and more…    Playing music, watching movies or viewing pictures from my home machines onto the Xbox could not be easier.  Controlling the Xbox from the remote control feature on your devices is a “no brainer”.   Launching apps, viewing movie information and seeing a majority of your Xbox profile from your smartphone, tablet or Windows 8 PC is “SWEET”.

What would I like to see next offered through the xbox360:  email integration (hotmail, gmail, etc), Twitter and Facebook native apps.  I’m not sure I’m a big fan of going into the built in browser on the xbox360 to get access to Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Once my HTC 8X Windows phone comes in, one of the first apps I load will be SmartGlass…  I can’t wait to see how it integrates into my new Xbox…

Now I need to figure out how to get some Microsoft points and achievements!!!!