New Xbox360 dashboard

You have probably seen the adverts on TV & the news articles online today but here it is anyway straight from the BBC site. Personally I love the look of the GUI on the new Windows phones with the "tiles" so I welcome this update with open arms. As well as the Kinect features etc. as well

The BBC iPlayer will be added to the Xbox in 2012 as Microsoft tries to centre its console on entertainment rather than just games.

The big update to support this change will start hitting Xbox 360 consoles around the world on 6 December.

Microsoft has signed up 40 media firms to provide both live and on-demand movie and TV services for the console.

The update also lets people control their TVs by talking into the Kinect motion-spotting gadgets.
Mainstream media

The most noticeable change made by the update will be to swap the Xbox's familiar tabbed interface for the so-called Metro look that is based around "tiles".

This uses square and oblong tiles that sit under different menu headings which lump together media and content relevant to that category. For instance, tiles under the "social" menu give access to Twitter, Facebook and Kinect video calls.
Nokia Lumia The blocky "tiled" look from Windows Phone 7 will be reflected on the Xbox interface

The Metro interface is also expected to be the default for Windows 8 when that debuts in late 2012.

Microsoft's Bing search engine is also being rolled out to the Xbox and it will be able to search for anything available on any of the tiles. Kinect owners will be able to use their voice to make queries.

As well as live TV programmes, other on-demand services will be made available via tiles under the "Apps" menu. Only Gold members of Xbox Live will be able to access them.

About 35 million of the 57 million Xbox consoles around the world are connected to Xbox Live.

From 6 December in the UK, Amazon's movie streaming service Lovefilm will be available through the Xbox.

Later in the month it will be joined by other on-demand services including 4OD, Blinkbox and Sony's Crackle. The iPlayer will be available via an Xbox Live app from early 2012.

Sky TV services are already available on the console. Microsoft does not mention ITV in its press release.
Competition

Gold Members of Xbox Live will also get access to a cloud-based service that mirrors their profile and logs which games they own. This means they will be able to use any Xbox 360 via their gamertag.

"This is now the benchmark against which all other living room initiatives should be compared," said James McQuivey of Forrester Research.

Mr McQuivey said the Kinect should help Microsoft differentiate the Xbox from rivals such as cable TV firms, Google, Apple and others who piped content through set-top boxes.

Talking to a TV would build a "new bridge" between people and what they wanted to watch, he said. It should make it easier for people to get at novel content and services in the future, he added.

Looking forward to this, think I will go out and get the hard drive for the slim in the sitting room which has the kinect. Means I don`t need flaff around with another Gold account if i want to use that Xbox!

I would imagine it wont be released until late tomorrow morning for us in the UK too.

Usually we end up having to wait until Microsoft US servers hit midnight.

Still, looking forward to tomorrow. I'm quite interested in the new cloud storage and the youtube integration

Yea me too, the cloud gamertag thing is something I have been waiting on for a while. It's really frustrating when friends come round and have to recover their gamertags because they are too lazy to bring HDD / USB sticks.

Well its 11:34, and nothing yet. Hope the dont leave it too long until releasing it!

Xbox's Major Nelson said it would be released about 3pm today, but it has been delayed.
We have no idea how long the delay will be.

In reply to a post by colesy10:

Xbox's Major Nelson said it would be released about 3pm today, but it has been delayed.
We have no idea how long the delay will be.

I'd heard that they started releasing at 11am today, but were doing staggered releases.

reckon staggered just means that it will take time to push out to all the servers gloabally.
in my opinion they should push out in order of xbox manufacturer date, i reckon i would be close to first in queue.

o well looks like tomoro for the uk then
latest nelson tweet

We are still working to get the release out. Stay tuned, we�ll have an update this afternoon (PT) on when it will begin rolling out.

Bit disappointed to be honest.

A lot of hype from Microsoft leading up to today, and now they've messed up.

Ahh well, will have to leave it tomorrow.

So looking forward to this too - been such a long time coming

Should imagine it will hit the UK when released to the MS CDN (Content Delivery Network), Limelight Networks

In reply to a post by nredwood:

So looking forward to this too - been such a long time coming

Should imagine it will hit the UK when released to the MS CDN (Content Delivery Network), Limelight Networks

I've heard over the last half hour that the plans to stagger the release is still going ahead..... its also been suggested that Microsoft will be launching the update in the UK/Europe overnight, when the servers will be quietest.

Who knows. I doubt it will even be uploaded by tomorrow knowing Microsoft.

well i got the update when i turned on this morning at about 9.30am, couple of restarts and its done.
only had quick flick through to find not even youtube is enabled yet, i understand iplayer etc was going to follow but nothing new in my opion apart from beckon and cloud ( 500 odd mb)

From what I understood from Microsoft, all the apps are going to be introduced from now until early 2012 with no guarantees on specific dates.
Quite interesting to see 4OD, Ch5, Vevo, all in the list of upcoming apps. Lovefilm is already enabled, and I believe a UK version of Netflix is also being worked on now.

Also, under the Xbox settings there is a new setting called "TV", nothing in there yet and it advises if you wish to watch live TV, go to the TV menu. Sounds interesting, live TV on xbox!

I wonder how Sony are going to react to this new apps on consoles concept, might start off another battle between Xbox and PS3. Sony really do need to update the PS3, its starting to lag behind.

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Dec-11 13:24:43)

Starting to? The interface on the PS3 has been pretty poor since day 1 in comparison to the 360 dashboard. The PS3 is a good console but for online content and visuals Xbox has it locked down.

Sounds very interesting about the live TV, I look forward to seeing the apps they bring out over the coming months. Has anyone tried the new Kinect commands yet? Going to be giving it a whirl this evening I think!

In reply to a post by Jaxx281:

Starting to? The interface on the PS3 has been pretty poor since day 1 in comparison to the 360 dashboard. The PS3 is a good console but for online content and visuals Xbox has it locked down.

I've always preferred Xbox, although I do own both consoles anyway. I always thought Xbox was much better at displaying the friends, enabling you to chat easily through parties, etc.

Sounds very interesting about the live TV, I look forward to seeing the apps they bring out over the coming months. Has anyone tried the new Kinect commands yet? Going to be giving it a whirl this evening I think!

I have tried the new Kinect commands, MS have basically made everything usable through Kinect now. Rather than having a "Kinect Hub", the whole dashboard is now the "Hub". Everything you see is usable through Kinect commands......

"Say what you see, if you see it, say it!"

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Dec-11 15:06:40)

PS3 used to look nice, but lacked the friends/messaging integration, which is where XBox would win.

The new interface feels much more modern, and the apps give an obvious hint that there is a fair bit more to come over time.