The rumour that Microsoft is planning to release a hand-held gaming device have long been doing the rounds in cyberspace, but now corporate vice president Shane Kim has increased that speculation by confirming that it's not a matter of if it enters the portable market, it's simply a matter of "when."

In an interview with Kikizo, Kim responds to a question asking if Microsoft is keeping an eye on the hand-held market and whether it thinks there is room there for the Xbox brand.

"Well, I do, and especially with respect to Live, said Kim. "We talked about Live Anywhere a few years ago. Live is the connective tissue. You're starting to see that now - we integrate Netflix, we integrate Facebook, we integrate Twitter - because we understand that customers don't want an island experience, they want to be connected to the rest of their lives. For us, it's a matter of focusing on 'when', because if we chased after a mobile or handheld opportunity, we would not have the resources and ability to do things like instant-on 1080p HD, Facebook, Twitter, Project Natal. "

"And so we've chosen to focus on the living room experience from a hardware standpoint, if you will, but we're building a service in Live that will... will extend to other platforms. No question about it. So the question will be, how do we enter into that market - do we do our own device, do we create our own phone - that's a question for the company itself - do we continue to go down the Windows Mobile path, which is that path that we're on today, etcetera, etcetera. But believe me, we understand the importance of that device in people's lives. And the more we make Live about valuable service and add more content, and add more ways to connect with your friends through it, we're going to need to make sure that it's on all the important platforms in people's lives, including PC.

So, it appears that Microsoft is thinking about making the Xbox Live brand portable in someway and won't necessarily devise an actual Xbox hand-held. It seems like we''ll have to hold tight a bit longer though to find out the company's definitive long term plans.

Source:: Kikizo