The announcements just keep pouring out of Microsoft’s press event at the Galen Center, so here’s another one to chew on — Microsoft has announced that a version of their Internet Explorer browser will make its way to the Xbox 360 some time “this fall.”
“Internet Explorer coupled with the power of Xbox will for the first time deliver a fast, fluid, intuitive web experience in the living room,” Microsoft’s Marc Whitten said.
Given that plenty of their announcements so far have made use of the Kinect, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this one does too. Saying “web hub” brings up the browser’s main landing page (seen above), and from there users will be able to call out search queries that are then plugged into Bing. The on-stage demo seemed to work very well, though it left one particularly weighty question unanswered — how will users input web addresses? Will they be able to shout out URLs for the Xbox to interpret? Will the act of punching in those addresses be relegated to another device entirely?
It’s certainly possible. The browser also makes use of their recently-revealed SmartGlass second-screen technology to bring Windows Phones into the mix. Users can fire up their WP devices — the on-stage demo seemed to use a Lumia 900 — to scroll through content, click on links, and even pinch to zoom in and out of content. Using a device like that as a keyboard could be a compelling way to unite Microsoft-powered hardware into a single experience, not to mention that SmartGlass as a whole has the potential to drive Windows Phone sales.