The coolest concept that Microsoft showed off at E3 2012 this year was SmartGlass, a technology that connects a mobile device to an Xbox 360. It offers extra content that can’t be shown on the television such as a map of Westeros when watching Game of Thrones on HBO Go. Microsoft will be supporting all tablets and operating systems with SmartGlass so it only makes sense to start getting everything compatible now.
The first step to our Xbox SmartGlass future is the My Xbox Live app for smartphones. It connects with your Xbox Live account to display all your account information such as achievements, messages and recent activity. The app was first built for iPhone, Android and Windows Phones, but now it’s getting a native iPad app.
Now users can control media on their Xbox 360 with their iPad. Users can now play, pause, fast forward and rewind videos on Netflix and other media that’s available on the console. It’s also far more friendly to changing up how your avatar looks then on the tiny screen of the iPhone.
Users of the iPhone version will just get a few bug fixes. There are some complaints via the reviews that say the newest update breaks messaging on the iPhone version, but it seems to be a limited occurrence. You should be fine if you have iOS 4.3 or later.
You can grab My Xbox Live for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch at the App Store. It’s free so you have no reason not to.