Microsoft to Unveil Xbox Branded Tablet?
Microsoft to reveal Windows 8 tablet “XTab” with enhanced Xbox Live features?
Rumors have been flying around that the secret meeting Microsoft has planned for Monday, will be the stage where the official Microsoft branded tablet running Windows 8 will be debuted. The better question is if the new hardware will have a gaming focus, and be related to the Xbox family.
The rumored “XPad or Xtab,” comes form the fact that gaming companies like IGN have received invitations to the event. Microsoft has never made a dedicated handheld, but their mobile platform Windows Phone 7, has Xbox Live features like games with achievements. A new tablet built by Microsoft is already a big deal, but integrating games that can be played to earn achievements and talk to your friends that are signed into Xbox live would make the tablet even sweeter. We already know about Smart Glass, and the Xbox Live app that will be included with Windows 8, but Microsoft has been very quite on the full details when it comes to the future of Xbox Live on devices other than the Xbox 360.
If Windows Phone 7 has any influence on the new tablet, gaming will without a doubt be a big focus. Microsoft has done everything in their power to make games for Windows Phone 7 to have enhanced Xbox Live features, but other than achievements the games have very little else that is different from other mobile platforms. Windows Phone 8 looks to bring even better enhancements to the mobile platform, and Microsoft is planning to make all of their hardware talk to each other with Smart Glass. Even if the new XTab isn’t gaming focused, Windows 8 looks to bring the Xbox 720 and all other Windows products together for a better experience across all platforms.
We will have to wait just a bit longer till the full details are revealed, but Monday could prove to a very big day for gamers and Windows 8.
