Microsoft to bring Xbox Live to Windows Mobile

What if you could play all your favorite Xbox Live games on your mobile phone? You may soon be able to do just that, if a job listing from Microsoft offers any clue.

Based on recent job postings on Microsoft's site, it appears that Redmond is making moves to bring Xbox Live to Windows Mobile devices. The competitive differentiating capability may be available when Windows Mobile 7 debuts in late 2010.

Microsoft posted the listing on its Connected Entertainment job site on Dec. 23. The job title is Principal Program Manager - LIVE Entertainment for the Xbox Live product. The post outlined how Microsoft is connecting players via the Live services on new devices beyond the console.

"We need a Principle Program Manager who can help drive the platform and bring Xbox LIVE enabled games to Windows Mobile," the post said. "This person will focus specifically on what makes gaming experiences 'LIVE Enabled' through aspects such as avatar integration, social interactions, and multi-screen experiences."

The Mobile-Gaming Landscape
Could Microsoft be setting out to compete with Nokia and Apple on the mobile-gaming front? Microsoft would have some catching up to do, but with the popularity of Xbox Live, the software giant could make strides quickly.

Games continue to dominate Apple's App Store - there are currently nearly 950 games available. Apple has sold more than 30 million iPhones and iPod touch units, keeping pace with Nintendo's Wii video-game console. The iPhone opened up a new world of gaming potential for mobile devices that some call the smartphone games 2.0 market. According to media research firm Screen Digest, the iPhone accounts for 10 percent of the U.S. mobile-gaming market. For Nokia's part, the N-Gage is a made-for-mobile games service available in compatible Nokia Nseries and other S60 3rd Edition devices from Nokia. N-Gage aims to make it easy to find, try, buy, play and manage high-quality mobile games as well as connect to friends and other players in the N-Gage Arena, Nokia's mobile-gaming community. But Nokia is not making the same headway as Apple.

Microsoft's Mobile Opportunity
Market researcher DFC Intelligence predicts the global market for mobile and portable games will reach $11.7 billion by 2014 - and Apple will get most of the pie. Games sold for the iPhone and iPod touch could grab as much as 24 percent of the portable game software sales, DFC reports. That could change, though, if Microsoft gets into the game with its Xbox Live services.

Google Nexus One Mobile gets Launch Date

Google has sent out invitations for a January 5 "Android press gathering" at their Mountain View, Calif. campus. Everyone expects the event will be the official unveiling of the Nexus One Mobile phone, although Google didn't say as much in the invitation.

The final piece of the Nexus One puzzle fell into place when Gizmodo and Engadget posted leaked documents purporting to show the Nexus One's price: $529.99 "unlocked" or $179.99 with a two-year T-Mobile contract and a very specific, limited service plan.

If that is indeed the pricing, the Google narrative changes here from "are they going to disrupt the wireless industry?" to "do they want to sell any of these at all?" For an unlocked, high-end smartphone, $529.99 is pretty standard. Without a contract, the Nokia E72 is around $400, the Motorola Droid is $559.99, and the iPhone 3GS is $599.99. None of them are big sellers at those prices.

Gizmodo says that to get a $179.99 Nexus One you'll need to sign up for a single, specific T-Mobile plan (500 minutes, unlimited data), which makes absolutely zero sense unless Google doesn't actually want to sell any phones.

I hope that this phone will sell with the full T-Mobile range of plans, just like any other T-Mobile smartphone. So given that this is just like any other T-Mobile smartphone, why is Google making so much of a fuss over it?

On the other hand, they could have some sort of blockbuster surprise next week.