“Xbox fans are spending more time than ever on the console, spending more than five hours a day on Xbox One,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President, Devices and Studios at Microsoft in a statement. “Today as we announce new commitments from dozens of our partners, including deep integration with experiences like Twitter and Vine, we hit an important milestone in our journey to deliver unique experiences on Xbox. We’re thrilled to break new ground in social TV experiences like we’re doing with Twitter on Xbox One.”
Twitter is a funny notion -- after all, one imagines the best way to control it would probably be through smartglass, and if you've already got a phone, you may as well go with that. Microsoft promises that Twitter will be thoroughly integrated into the TV experience -- shows that are being tweeted about will appear on a "trending" screen and "A commercial break turns into a quick and easy opportunity to see what other viewers are tweeting about without pulling out your phone" -- but I'm not sure how much utility we're really getting out of that. At the very least, it could end up driving more people to Pretty Little Liars, and the world is most certainly better for that.
The entire list contains some solid partners, however, and the promise of more to come could eventually deliver on the Xbox One's promise as an all-in-one entertainment center. Microsoft is in a tricky position, of course -- it has gotten in trouble spending too much time talking about entertainment at events in the past, but its strong media partners remain the most important feature distinguishing it from the the PS4.
Expect more -- but not too much more -- about entertainment from Microsoft at E3. I've always said that the machine will struggle as an "all-in-one" device until it can actually serve as a cable box, but that seems unlikely just yet.
