Microsoft is looking to expand its Silverlight web platform to Xbox 360, according to a recent job advertisement placed by the company.
“Silverlight is looking to hire motivated developers with a passion for creating ground breaking multiscreen platform experiences now targeting the Xbox,” the advertisement reads. Silverlight is used in “thousands of applications developed for Windows Phone 7, social network applications such as Seesmic, or powering the largest premium internet movie service through Netflix. With our next wave of releases we are looking to increase by an order of magnitude our usage, customer base and reach.”
Users are probably most familiar with Silverlight as a desktop browser plug-in for streaming video. But it’s also Microsoft’s primary development platform for mobile applications on WP7, and rich HTML5 webapps like Office Live.
Xbox 360 already has a handful of third-party rich-media web applications, including Netflix. Leveraging Silverlight could allow Microsoft to develop additional Netflix-like interactive video applications, port popular games and mobile applications from Windows Phone or the web to Xbox 360, or even open up a full-fledged developer marketplace for the console.
In particular, Silverlight’s proven strength with streaming video applications might be attractive to networks looking for a smooth, secure way to bring content to mobile devices, desktop browsers and television screens, reducing development time and offering a more integrated experience.
Less than a month ago, Silverlight’s cross-platform future appeared to be much more limited. Microsoft’s Bob Muglia told ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley that the company’s Silverlight strategy “had shifted.”
“Silverlight is our development platform for Windows Phone,” Muglia said. “HTML is the only true cross-platform solution for everything, including (Apple’s) iOS platform.”
Muglia did leave himself some wiggle room, however, pointing to “sweet spots” in media and line-of-business applications where Silverlight would still be useful. And Silverlight is still very much in active development; Silverlight 5 is on the way, and a “Future of Silverlight” conference is scheduled for early December.
Microsoft could have its cake and eat it too: Promoting HTML5 as a cross-platform solution for devices outside the Microsoft ecosystem, while extending its use for development within the company’s own devices and operating systems is a perfect application of the Ray Ozzie-coined mantra, “three screens and a cloud.”
It feels like a smart move. Xbox 360 is Microsoft’s most successful gaming and entertainment device. It brings content to the biggest screen in the house.
Extending Silverlight extends the range and variety of what that content might look like, and would allow Microsoft to bring products to the market faster. Having that versatility at the very moment when other companies are struggling for a foothold in the living room, and the shape and scope of computing in that space is up for grabs, could be a powerful advantage.
Image: Screenshot of Silverlight webapps from Silverlight.net.
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