Microsoft building an ‘Xbox Reading’ app for Windows 8
Microsoft has already built Xbox Music and Xbox Video apps for Windows 8, but the next target is books. A recent Microsoft job listing, discovered by LiveSino, notes that the software giant is looking to hire a software design engineer to build …
Context & Ripple Effects
The Xbox brand has been migrating off the console since at least November 2010, when a Microsoft job advert hinted that Xbox apps would reach beyond gaming, followed by the June 2011 confirmation that Xbox LIVE would be built into Windows 8. A CNET exclusive in February 2012 reported Microsoft was mulling a new music service — the work that eventually surfaced as the Xbox Music app.
With Xbox Music and Xbox Video already shipped for Windows 8, a job listing found by LiveSino and flagged as unconfirmed suggests books are next under the same banner. The story travelled unusually wide for a single job posting — pickups included PC World, Gizmodo, PhoneArena and Good E-Reader — reflecting how closely observers watch Microsoft's attempt to unify its media strategy around one name.
First-order effects
- Microsoft would extend its Xbox-branded media lineup on Windows 8 from music and video to e-reading, putting a first-party books client on Surface and partner hardware such as the $329 ASUS VivoTab Note 8 it began selling this month.
- Whoever fills the software design engineer role would own the reading experience's design language, making this hire a signal of how seriously Microsoft treats the category.
Second-order effects
- Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook and Apple's iBooks would face a platform-level competitor preinstalled in front of every Windows 8 user rather than one that must be downloaded.
- Publishers and e-book distributors gain a potential new storefront channel, but also another gatekeeper negotiating terms if Microsoft follows the Music/Video model of bundling content with the OS.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Microsoft's entertainment portfolio consolidates under a single Xbox identity spanning console, PC and tablet — trading the strength of individual product names for cross-device coherence.
- Operating-system vendors shipping their own media stores deepen the tension with third-party app makers over default placement, a recurring structural fight for every platform owner.
The trend: Microsoft is steadily folding its Windows 8 media experiences — music, video, and apparently next reading — into one Xbox-branded ecosystem that spans console and PC.