The Zune HD has been out for almost 6 months now, and has shown itself to be the definitive music player to rival Apple’s iPod Touch, but the idea of using Zune’s software and interface into a mobile phone operating system has been in development for well over a year.
Microsoft has recently revealed at this year’s Game Developers Conference that they are “attempting to offer a new, innovative and in-depth way to play games” with the newest Windows Phone 7 Series (ala. Windows Mobile 7.0). The mobile platform, which made it’s official debut at the 2010 World Mobile Congress, gave us an early glimpse of what to expect from the new OS. The Zune interface integration, along with the codenamed “Pink” mobile software, really showed how Microsoft plans to take their mobile software to the next level. A Microsoft spokesperson also released information of Xbox Live being integrated into the mobile platform which ”will allow users to find coveted ‘achievements’ while receiving push notifications for turn-based gaming.” Microsoft also announced that XNA Game Studio 4.0 will include new 3D APIs, which will allow developers to create better, more responsive 3D games on the mobile platform than the current traditional games. The ability to play online with these XNA games is still not known, but there is strong belief that online capabilities will eventaully make its way to the Windows Phone 7 Series at some point, creating an even more diverse and interactive way to play games with the integration of Xbox Live.
