Microsoft's E3 press conference unveiling a piece of technology that could bring new competition to the way that smartphones and tablets interact with game consoles.
Mark Whitten, president of Microsoft's Xbox Live, demonstrated how his portable devices can update movies, television shows, music and even games in real time with the action on the screen.
"This is a breakthrough in entertainment that makes all of your devices worth together intelligently," Whitten said. "Movies are immersive, TV is more engaging, music is more interactive and games are more thrilling."
For instance, movies and shows can be watched on a portable device and transferred the exact stop point to an Xbox 360 and resume viewing on a home television as Whitten demonstrated with 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.' They can also offer additional information on a tablet or smartphone once the transfer is made.
Smaller viewing devices can also provide real time information on shows such as "Game of Thrones" to help the viewer keep on top of locations and plot points without interrupting an episode. Whitten's demonstration
As for games, SmartGlass is also in development with certain studios who are envisioning how they can harness this new interface. Whitten provided demonstrations of how SmartGlass can let armchair quarterbacks pick play from a tablet for a new Madden game or provide a new interface with the new Halo game.
Whitten's press conference also announced that Xbox 360 users would get Internet Explorer by the end of this year and can use smartphones and tablets to move through the web on their TV the same way they would on those devices.
Microsoft will launch SmartGlass later this fall.
