It has been a long time since Microsoft was the hot topic on the lips of consumers and fingertips on the Internet, but with recent unveilings such as the Microsoft Surface tablet and Windows Phone 8, the company has done what Apple has been doing for years - be in the news. Windows Phone 8, Microsoft's smartphone platform that is gearing up to go head-to-head with Android and iOS this fall, is the company's latest and greatest effort in trying to get piece of the mobile pie, and we think we know how Microsoft plans on pulling it off.

Going about trying to push Windows Phone 8 by gaining carriers, hardware manufactures, and developer support, is not enough to push the platform into the mainstream. So, how will Microsoft do it? One word, "XBOX." The Xbox line of consoles is Microsoft's top consumer entertainment system, which makes it the perfect device to help drive Windows Phone 8 into consumer hands.

At the recent Windows Phone Summit developer conference, Microsoft outlined DirectX support for the platform, finally setting it up as the company's mobile gaming platform to go up against the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. This came as no surprise to us. Microsoft has long talked about bringing Xbox Live Arcade games to Windows Phone, but it has since failed to live up to that promise. With DirectX and native coding support, porting XBLA titles to the platform shouldn't be a difficult procedure. Imagine playing Limbo on your Xbox 360, then continuing where you left off on your Windows Phone 8 device, how awesome would that be? Damn right, it is, compadre.

Such a feature would surely bring over Xbox 360 gamers to the world of Windows Phone 8, not to mention if they get additional achievements, which could be the biggest incentive for 360 gamers to come along for the ride. Achievements is already front and center on Windows Phone, but the available Xbox Live mobile games are not up to scratch, this is why XBLA games on the platform with additional achievements would be a big boon for achievement hunters.

Do you remember SmartGlass? Microsoft demoed this at its E3 2012 conference. With SmartGlass, Windows Phone 8 users will be able to connect directly with their Xbox 360. SmartGlass allow users to stream content from their console via Xbox Live back to a Windows Phone 8 device, which includes video games. We're not sure to what extent video gaming will be supported since most Windows Phone 8 devices will be touch centric.

Another thing needs mentioning is Xbox Music. Zune is dead Jim, but Xbox Music will succeed where it fails because the Xbox brand more widely known. Xbox Music will bring to Windows Phone 8 30 million tracks, the Zune Smart DJ feature will stick around and there seem to be a friends list. Microsoft announced no additional feature, but one shoudn't expect much since Xbox Music is just mainly a rebranding from Zune.

Clearly, Microsoft is positioning Xbox as its primary consumer entertainment platform, and from this Windows Phone 8 will grow into its own. By pushing Xbox Live features in Windows Phone 8 heavily, Microsoft could potentially convince many Xbox 360 gamers to jump on the Windows Phone 8 train. Microsoft held back some of the platform's features that are aimed at consumers at the Windows Phone Summit developer conference, and we can be certain that new Xbox Live features are among the secrets. Heck, Microsoft could even make SmartGlass a central part of the platform instead of an app you have to download; we'd be down for that instead of the latter.