We have great news for you Xbox gamers out there: Microsoft has released an Xbox companion app that will connect your Windows Phone to your TV. On the Windows Phone blog, the company called the app a part of Microsoft’s attempt to bring “a new world of entertainment to your living room.”
Basically, Xbox Companion lets users search for content in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, learn more about the content that is currently being played on the Xbox, and control playback by turning your Xbox into a remote. Shedding more light on the new app, Ben Rudolph posted his experience using the app:
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a beta copy of the app to try out with my Xbox and I have to say that it’s really impressive. Here’s an actual scenario I ran through with the app and my Xbox the other day:
- Finding Content: Just like on your Xbox, the Xbox Companion gives you instant access to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace catalog of games, movies, music and TV shows. I used it to search “Featured Content” and pulled up the X-Men: First Class.
- Learn more about what you’re watching, listening to, or playing: Once I found the movie and touched the movie tile, the Xbox companion app took me to an info page that has all the related details about. And the content is really rich, too – for example, when I swiped to the “cast” page and touched an actor’s name, like star James McAvoy, I was taken to other movies starring him. From there, I could easily learn more about the other movies, their cast, etc. It’s an infinite road of interactive content.
- Control & Play: Once I selected the content and hit play, the Xbox Companion flips into “controller mode” in which I could navigate my Xbox, or control video playback of your video. The best part here is that controls are virtually instantaneous – easily as fast as using my controller or a TV remote.
This is a definitely a huge addition to the Windows Phone platform, as it should persuade many Xbox users to make the jump to its mobile OS. The new Xbox Companion app is free and is expected to appear in the Windows Phone Marketplace in the near future.
[via Microsoft]