Xbox Live's fall 2011 Dashboard update: everything you need to know
Beacons, cloud storage, live TV... stay tuned here as we track Microsoft's latest revamping to the Xbox 360 dashboard!
Microsoft
Comcast's Xfinity On Demand for Xbox 360 won't count against subscribers' bandwidth caps
A big part of Microsoft's major revamp of the Xbox 360 Dashboard late last year was lots of new video content, such as Verizon's FiOS TV, Vevo, and ESPN, but a few selections were going to be absent until early 2012. One of those was Comcast's Xfinity On Demand service, but an FAQ on the Xfinity site seems to indicate that it'll be launching sooner than later. The biggest item of note here for potential users of this service is the news that Comcast will not count streaming of Xfinity On...
Microsoft
Verizon FiOS TV for Xbox 360 hands-on
The Xbox 360 has been compatible with IPTV systems around the world for a while now, but the new Verizon FiOS Live TV streaming app is the first time we can remember a US cable company allowing customers to jettison their set-top box and watch streaming HD content on their TVs. We just tried it out and it basically works as advertised: there's a decent selection of channels and the image quality was solid when the HD indicator clicked on, although our actual FiOS TV image still looked better....
Microsoft
YouTube, Verizon FiOS TV, and more now available for Xbox Live
Yesterday we got excited to see YouTube on our Xbox Live Dashboard preview, and now the video portal should be available to all Xbox 360 owners, along with Verizon FiOS TV, TMZ, MSNBC, and more. All should be available via the apps marketplace, and while anyone can download Verizon's app, you won't be able to use it at all without FiOS TV and internet.
Internationally, Microsoft also announced today Rogers on Demand for Canada, SBS on Demand for Australia , Blinkbox for the United Kingdom,...
Microsoft
YouTube for Xbox Live now available for beta users
Turns out "later in December" wasn't that long at all for YouTube. The video portal is now available as an Xbox Live app for beta users, rolling out less than one week after the new Dashboard. It should appear in the apps marketplace window. YouTube shares the same Metro UI look as the rest of the platform and features Kinect support as well as access to your Watch Later, Playlists, Favorites, and Subscriptions. You can like / dislike from within the video, show captions and get a glimpse...
Xbox Companion for Windows Phone now available: hands-on pictures and impressions
In addition to rolling out the new Xbox Live Dashboard, Microsoft today released an Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone users, and it's actually a pretty great virtual remote for navigating through the menus even while someone else is playing a game or watching a video. The phone can connect to your console whether or not it's on the same Wi-Fi network (although it helps if you are). From the main screen, you can quickly see how your Xbox 360 is being used, search for new games and media to...
HD & Home
New Xbox Live Dashboard update 'in process of rolling out'
After an unfortunate last-minute hiccup, Microsoft's Larry Hyrb, better known as Major Nelson, has announced via Twitter that the Xbox Live dashboard update is "in the process of rolling out to all Xbox Live members." We haven't seen the update land on our consoles yet, but reports have started rolling it that some users have.
We hope you like tiles — in addition to a new, Metro-style UI, the update adds Bing voice search, beacons, cloud saves, and more. Keep an eye for a much-improved...
HD & Home
Xbox Live Dashboard update 'slightly delayed,' should start rolling out in next few hours (update)
Bad news, slightly good news. After announcing a 10:00AM ET launch time for today's Xbox Live Dashboard update, Microsoft's Larry Hyrb — known more affectionately online as Major Nelson — announced via Twitter that it would be "slightly delayed." A new timeframe will be announced later this afternoon / evening — which sounds to us like it might miss today entirely. In the meantime, our preview build seems to have lost the ability to successfully do Bing search, but this might just be a...
Microsoft
Xbox Live fall 2011 Dashboard update video walkthrough and impressions
With the new Xbox Live dashboard update rolling out this week, we thought it'd be fun to make a video walkthrough to showcase some of the new features you'll be using December 6th: a new Metro UI feel (à la Windows Phone, Windows 8, and the now-defunct Kinect Hub), Bing voice search, "Beacons" for finding multiplayer friends, and the 511MB of cloud storage you can enable... which by the way, only seems to work with new save files and nothing that was saved prior to the update. Bummer.
O...
HD & Home
Xbox Live video partners listed in full, YouTube and FiOS TV coming later in December
Though Microsoft has been forthright with the Xbox Live dashboard update (due out this week) and its content partners, it has so far remained largely silent on when those service providers would be joining up. The company tonight released a schedule / roadmap that extends through early 2012. Of the over forty partners listed, less than one-fourth are making the launch this week — many of those already out and receiving visual refreshes, like a particularly nice one we saw from Netflix that...
Gaming
Xbox 360 to get 26 Verizon FiOS TV channels for subscribers starting in December
Microsoft said back in October that it would be teaming up with various TV partners to bring more streaming content to the Xbox, and Verizon's just announced that it will be adding 26 live channels to the Xbox Live TV for FiOS customers sometime in December. Kinect voice and gesture support will also be included, meaning that you'll be able to control things by speaking to your Xbox and waving about. The service will stream TV directly through the Xbox via a standalone application, without...
Gaming
Xbox Live update coming on December 6th
It's been a long time in coming, but the fall update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard finally has a landing date: December 6th. That's the word straight from Microsoft, who has been busy revamping Xbox.com, distributing this update to registered beta testers, and generally making sure things don't go "boom" when the new software is distributed universally.
The update is free to all Xbox 360 console owners and includes an overhauled Dashboard look, an expanded set of Kinect voice controls,...
Gaming
Xbox 360 fall Dashboard update now available to registered beta testers
Microsoft began selectively rolling out its Xbox 360 fall dashboard update to its public preview program members today, giving them a taste of Windows Phone 7's Metro interface on the big screen along with a host of new features. What's changed? Plenty: from cloud storage for profiles and saves, additional Kinect voice search and gesture support, live TV programming and new social tools designed to make it easy to let your friends know exactly what you're doing with your 360. Registration...
Xbox.com 'Social' revamp adds Metro style, Beacons, and Zune video market
In the lead-up to its annual Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update, Microsoft has announced it'll also be revamping the Xbox.com web portal over the next couple of days. Gone is "My Xbox" in favor of "Social" — though this is more of a symbolic gesture, as both sections largely serve the same function. The new "Social" section takes its design cue from Microsoft's new favorite Metro aesthetic and additionally offers an early look at Beacons, an upcoming Xbox Live feature that lets people "mark"...
Xbox 360 dashboard update now in public beta, 320GB HDD inbound
There's a lot to love in Microsoft's latest Xbox 360 dashboard update, including live TV, voice search, cloud storage and plenty of Metro tiles, and you can love them all in person quite soon if you make it into the company's Preview Program. Yes, as usual, there's an opportunity for lucky individuals to apply for an open beta of the new dashboard, and the link to that application is now live -- don't wait, head on down to our first source link and hope karma is on your side.
That's not...
Microsoft
Xbox Companion App brings console control to Windows Phone
As a part of its major Xbox renovation being unveiled today, Microsoft has introduced the Xbox Companion App for Windows Phone, which basically turns your phone into a supercharged remote — convenient now that the console is more of a media-savvy home theater box than ever. Once it's paired, the app allows you to search for content, mark it for download to your console, and control playback of music and video. Overall, it sounds a little bit like what Google is doing with its Google TV...
Gaming
Leaked Xbox 360 dashboard videos shows cloud storage and live TV options
Judging by the recent spike in uploaded footage of the new Xbox 360 dashboard, it seems the most recent update — version 2.0.14448.0 — just started rolling out for the console's developer kits. The Metro UI-influenced design is largely what we saw when first unveiled earlier this year at E3 — a much cleaner user experience that on the surface seems easier to navigate. What isn't nearly as exciting visually — but indeed is probably the biggest takeaway from these videos — is the...
Gaming
Cloud storage and 'Beacons' also coming to Xbox Live
We're not quite sure why this didn't make today's press conference — if they were really hurting for time, the Disneyland Adventures could've been cut short — but an email just went out from executive Marc Whitten announcing more Xbox Live details. And some of these are quite big.
In addition to the new dashboard design, live TV, and Bing-infused Kinect voice search, Whitten promises cloud storage for your gamertag that includes the full profile, Microsoft Points, and game saves....
Microsoft
Microsoft announces new Xbox Live dashboard: voice controls, YouTube, Bing, and live TV!
At the E3 keynote Microsoft just dropped its all new Xbox Live dashboard into our laps. The slick new tile-heavy interface (think: Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8) has Kinect voice search powered by Bing, which extends universally across Netflix, Hulu, games and movies — all at the same time. (You can search "X-Men," for example, and get video selections and the game adaptation of Wolverine.)
They've also outed Xbox Live TV which will bring (you guessed it) live streaming TV with content...
'Better with Kinect,' Halo HD, and other predictions for Microsoft's E3 2011 keynote
Microsoft may end up being the only console maker this year not to reveal new hardware — Sony has the NGP / PlayStation Vita and Nintendo has the Wii successor codenamed "Project Cafe" — but that doesn't preclude them from making a splash at their E3 keynote. As if to curb any potential apathy towards the event, the company released new data showing "dramatic gains" in Xbox 360 hardware sales in its fifth and sixth years (see the chart, above). The message is clear: Microsoft doesn't have...
