Fall Dashboard Update on 360 Tomorrow

[bapenguin]

XBoxic (http://www.xboxic.com/news/1884) brings word the Fall Update to the 360 Dashboard will take place tomorrow. Among the 80 or so features including an overhaul for the Xbox Live Arcade and the Marketplace, 1080p, HD-DVD and Streaming Videos via Media Connect/Media Players/CD-Rs.

Finally streaming video for non MCE computers. Looks like it's only WMV though.

Thanks Morratut for the tip.

[soco]

yeah i made a post about this earlier when it was still a bit more rumour (which you can delete).

there's a few lists about some of the features that are there like automatic downloading of new XBLA titles and even some speedups and better audio quality over the headset.


Notable updates:
Automatic download for the new XBLA titles (free trial)
List of XBLA titles faster
Scoreboards for the XBLA titles without starting the game
Favorite XBLA title
Better sound quality for voice chat
Better management of the space on the hard drive, with some options when the empty space is low (?)
Added playback and remaining time for videos


Thanks to BlimBlim from Xboxyde @ neogaf (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4708692&postcount=128).

[NightRain]

I just want divx playback so I can move my Xbox with XBMC on it to my bedroom.
I have Windows MCE do this doesn't really matter.

[Heretic Machine]

Streaming over Media Connect? Fucking awesome! That was one huge complaint I always had with the 360, and now it is being fixed.

EDIT: Does anyone have a full list of the features?

[ilian]

pawsome =)

[ilian]

i hope you can turn off the automatical downloading. The autodownloading of commercials that happens right now is annoying.

XBLA improvements sound great.

[Double T]

Man, I hope a web browser comes out soon. That would be sweet. I like that they keep adding features, but that would be a big one in my opinion. OH yeah, and Party chat which I've been asking for since the beginning.

[Wslove]

Man, I hope a web browser comes out soon. That would be sweet. I like that they keep adding features, but that would be a big one in my opinion. OH yeah, and Party chat which I've been asking for since the beginning.

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?

I have a 30 inch widescreen LCD HDTV that runs 1280x780 (720p straight widescreen) and I hooked my computer up to it via the DVI port. Let me tell you, reading small ass text on it hurt my eyes. TVs generally have a lower refresh rate then monitors do and as such pound your pupils when reading small text. And if you are on a standard def TV don't even try, I did with my Dreamcast back in the day and it sucked balls compaired to sitting at my PC. Since resolutions don't change in standard def I imagine it would suck balls now as well.

Maybe the eye hurting problem is gone when you go 1080p, maybe it gets worse. But I'm telling you right now, no matter how cool you think a web browser on your TV is, from any source, the fact is that it sucks. Plain and simple. PC does it best, and will reign supreme in doing it for some time to come.

[Johan]

Where's the freaking BC update? Oh...they've "overdelivered" on that one.

Grrrr.....

[Vermillion]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?

I have a 30 inch widescreen LCD HDTV that runs 1280x780 (720p straight widescreen) and I hooked my computer up to it via the DVI port. Let me tell you, reading small ass text on it hurt my eyes. TVs generally have a lower refresh rate then monitors do and as such pound your pupils when reading small text. And if you are on a standard def TV don't even try, I did with my Dreamcast back in the day and it sucked balls compaired to sitting at my PC. Since resolutions don't change in standard def I imagine it would suck balls now as well.

Maybe the eye hurting problem is gone when you go 1080p, maybe it gets worse. But I'm telling you right now, no matter how cool you think a web browser on your TV is, from any source, the fact is that it sucks. Plain and simple. PC does it best, and will reign supreme in doing it for some time to come.

One word. Pr0n. There is hope for our society that you didn't think that was the sole reason for it :)

I like all these updates. Now, if they could a setting so that the system would automatically NOT notify me when I'm watching a movie, that would be great. I do not like switching notifications on and off based on what I'm doing.

[violentp]

Maybe they'll fix the stuttering video problem. Oh, wait, I'm the only one that seems to have it.

[joruussuun]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?

I have a 30 inch widescreen LCD HDTV that runs 1280x780 (720p straight widescreen) and I hooked my computer up to it via the DVI port. Let me tell you, reading small ass text on it hurt my eyes. TVs generally have a lower refresh rate then monitors do and as such pound your pupils when reading small text. And if you are on a standard def TV don't even try, I did with my Dreamcast back in the day and it sucked balls compaired to sitting at my PC. Since resolutions don't change in standard def I imagine it would suck balls now as well.

Maybe the eye hurting problem is gone when you go 1080p, maybe it gets worse. But I'm telling you right now, no matter how cool you think a web browser on your TV is, from any source, the fact is that it sucks. Plain and simple. PC does it best, and will reign supreme in doing it for some time to come.
I run my PC through my TV (Samsung 46" DLP 1280x720 through DVI) exclusively, and use it all the time for Internet and I have no problems. I sit about 10 feet back at it's great. At that distance and res, it is just like reading a regular monitor, and I've been doing it that way for 3 years.

[Chris_D]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?


Viewing this on my LCD Hitachi. Looks fine.

[ilian]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?

I have a 30 inch widescreen LCD HDTV that runs 1280x780 (720p straight widescreen) and I hooked my computer up to it via the DVI port. Let me tell you, reading small ass text on it hurt my eyes. TVs generally have a lower refresh rate then monitors do and as such pound your pupils when reading small text. And if you are on a standard def TV don't even try, I did with my Dreamcast back in the day and it sucked balls compaired to sitting at my PC. Since resolutions don't change in standard def I imagine it would suck balls now as well.

Maybe the eye hurting problem is gone when you go 1080p, maybe it gets worse. But I'm telling you right now, no matter how cool you think a web browser on your TV is, from any source, the fact is that it sucks. Plain and simple. PC does it best, and will reign supreme in doing it for some time to come.

I run my PC through my 43 inch Samsung DLP, at 1280x720 and use the WWW on it all the time, it works just fine. No eye straining at all thats why you turn up the text to be large.

As for WHY somoene would want to do this? An integrated media experience. Look up xbox360 game stuff online on your xbox360 withough dropping your controller or leaving your couch. As opposed to getting up and booting up yoru PC in your office.

[Kelegacy]

Streaming upgrade...still sucks but at least it's a step in the right direction.

[Aleman]

Is it possible to transcode Xvid/DivX into WMV in real-time? I'd love to stream movies/game trailers from my Macbook :)

[soco]

Maybe they'll fix the stuttering video problem. Oh, wait, I'm the only one that seems to have it.

i've had it recently and it's annoying. i actually had a really strange problem the other day on the media tab where the UI there was fucked up. it had the play/delete screen overlayed on top of the normal one, after watching the viva pinata interactive video. other tabs were fine, but that one stayed fucked up until reboot.

~~

i still think the only use for a web browser on my tv would be to pull up gamefaqs while playing a game, and none of them are going to offer that, so it's useless. if i want to browse the web, i'll use my laptop where i get a full experience, or i'll walk a few seconds to the desktop, which is faster than starting up the console, or quitting a game.

[Mdot23]

this may be the stupidest question ever asked, but bear with me: my computer is old and sucks, so it can't really run HD wmv's that i'd DL. but with this update, if I DL them and run them through Media Connect to my 360, are they going to run as they should or still crappy because of my computer?

[soco]

Is it possible to transcode Xvid/DivX into WMV in real-time? I'd love to stream movies/game trailers from my Macbook :)

from what i've seen elsewhere (i've never tried it), the WMV encoding is too slow. from what others are saying the MCE version works with MPEG2, which is how it can do it.

[Double T]

I think it's fairly obvious that running a web browser from a 360 and running one from a computer are going to be completely different experiences. If you think the text size will be the same as it is on a computer (which is not optimized for TV viewing) then I can see why you would think it wouldn't work well. As for the other million or so reasons I don't even know if it's worth explaining the painfully obvious or not, so I won't. :rolleyes:

[Telefrog]

Streaming wmv files? Awesome. Now all my 10-second porn sample files can get some more use.

[soco]

this may be the stupidest question ever asked, but bear with me: my computer is old and sucks, so it can't really run HD wmv's that i'd DL. but with this update, if I DL them and run them through Media Connect to my 360, are they going to run as they should or still crappy because of my computer?

so long as it's not like a 386 with an ISA ethernet card, the computer only needs to push the data to the 360, so it should be no problem. might have a few problems if you have like a torrent running or something that kills hard-drive throughput.

[Yeti2005]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?

I completely agree. While some people enjoy hooking their PC to their HDTV and using it to browse the web, you're really talking about a very small minority. A small percent of people own HDTVs (~8%) and of that percentage an even smaller amount use their PC to connect to their HDTV. I'm sure there will be a lot of posts like "I use my HDTV as web browser all the time" but in reality we're talking about very people compared to the big picture. I'd be pissed if MS took resources away from other cool add-ons to the dashboard to work on a web browser.

[nemyhlovecraft]

Where's the freaking BC update? Oh...they've "overdelivered" on that one.

Grrrr.....

Quoted because...seriously where the hell is the BC update??

[Johan]

seriously where the hell is the BC update??

I know where it is, nemyhlovecraft...it's on the PS3! ;)

*it hurt me to type that :(*

[Watership]

Maybe they'll fix the stuttering video problem. Oh, wait, I'm the only one that seems to have it.

Seriously? That sounds like a hardware issue.

[violentp]

Only happens with marketplace downloads.

[ilian]

My video stutters too with all marketplace downloads,they are unwatchable =(

[MrE]

I know where it is, nemyhlovecraft...it's on the PS3! ;)

*it hurt me to type that :(*

Not sure, but are all PS2 titles BC with PS3? Or is it the same nonsense of picking A list titles?

-E

[Zanzibar]

I like all these updates. Now, if they could a setting so that the system would automatically NOT notify me when I'm watching a movie, that would be great. I do not like switching notifications on and off based on what I'm doing.
I just sign outta XBL when I start watching a movie. Hit the guide button, choose X to sign out, confirm. Done.

[Johan]

Not sure, but are all PS2 titles BC with PS3? Or is it the same nonsense of picking A list titles?

-E

Supposedly all are BC, as initial PS3's will include PS2 components to run them...

eventually, Sony will go to an emulator and drop the PS2 components, but it's nearly 100%, if not completely 100% BC.

Unlike the freaking 360 (which I own and enjoy...but HATE the incomplete BC).

[Phades]

I've had the stuttering issue on 3 different 360's so it's not a hardware issue. It had something to do with the last update. On the newest 360 I got I slapped my hard drive on there and was able to watch all the videos I had with no problem. Then, I connect to Live and get the update.... suddenly I have stuttering. Mine isn't too bad, but it's still annoying. If you look at their forums it's a known issue.

Oh, and on a side note. For playing other codecs, this works like a charm. http://runtime360.com/projects/transcode-360/

[Norse]

From Gamerscore Blog (http://www.gamerscoreblog.com):

Expanded HD Display and Video Playback Options

* With 1080p resolution, gamers now have the ability to enjoy both game and video content in the best HD resolution currently available.
* Expanded video playback options increase the ways gamers can enjoy video content on Xbox 360. It is now possible to stream WMV video from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11 or Windows Media Connect.
* Gamers can now play video files from data CDs and DVDs, as well as from storage devices like USB 2.0 flash drives and Xbox 360 Memory Units.
* Xbox 360 will support 50hz HDTV display modes, providing viewers greater choice in how they watch DVD and HD DVD content.

Xbox Live Arcade Enhancements

* Keeping up to date on Xbox Live Arcade games is now even more convenient with the ability to automatically download newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games. This eliminates the need to manually search for new downloads on Xbox Live Marketplace each time a new game trial is released.
* Fast Enumeration of Games. You’ll see the games in your Xbox Live Arcade collection appear almost instantly. Get in and play right away.
* With so many games to choose from, Xbox Live Arcade added new sorting options such as “Recently Played” and “By Category.” These enhancements make managing Xbox Live Arcade collections faster and easier than ever.
* A new expanded Friends Leaderboard within Xbox Live Arcade allows gamers to compare themselves directly against their friends and view leaderboard details of their top-10 friends.
* A new expanded Achievements View within Xbox Live Arcade lets gamers view their full Achievement details for their Arcade games including descriptions, icons, allotted Gamerscore and more, right from the Xbox Live Arcade dashboard interface.
* The “Play Now” launch feature has been streamlined. Selecting “Play Now” after downloading a game in Xbox Live Marketplace now bypasses Arcade and takes you directly to the game.
* Xbox Live Arcade now offers a “Tell a Friend” feature. Select this from the game info screen to send any friend on your friends list a message telling them about the Arcade game.

XNA Support

* Amateur game designers will be able to test and play the games they create using XNA Game Studio Express on their Xbox 360s systems when it launches later this year (separate download and subscription required).

[MrE]

Supposedly all are BC, as initial PS3's will include PS2 components to run them...

eventually, Sony will go to an emulator and drop the PS2 components, but it's nearly 100%, if not completely 100% BC.

Unlike the freaking 360 (which I own and enjoy...but HATE the incomplete BC).

Damn, was afraid you were going to say that. I have over 50 original Xbox titles that I'd love know I can use my 360 to play them if I want. Oh well, just means I need to keep my original Xbox a bit longer.

-E

[Roman]

16:10 aspect ratio support would be nice...

[Norse]

Complete list (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate-completelist.htm)

[baz]

* Fast Enumeration of Games. You’ll see the games in your Xbox Live Arcade collection appear almost instantly. Get in and play right away.

Thats what I'm looking forward to. The way it was before was so crazy it frustrated me whenever I tried to play a live game. Not really for the time it took, but for the idiocy of the implementation.

[SymetriX]

XNA Support

* Amateur game designers will be able to test and play the games they create using XNA Game Studio Express on their Xbox 360s systems when it launches later this year (separate download and subscription required).
Holy cow! That's huge! So they're basically saying you can dev on the Xbox 360 after XNA gets out of beta? Wow! So this is basically the exact opposite stance that Sony is taking on homebrew.

Of course, we'll have to see what this separate subscription is all about...

[*Legion*]

Optionally disable notifications from Xbox Live while watching DVD movies

F I N A L L Y !

[bapenguin]

I can't wait to see something in 1080p. :)

[yerok]

I've had the stuttering issue on 3 different 360's so it's not a hardware issue. It had something to do with the last update. On the newest 360 I got I slapped my hard drive on there and was able to watch all the videos I had with no problem. Then, I connect to Live and get the update.... suddenly I have stuttering. Mine isn't too bad, but it's still annoying. If you look at their forums it's a known issue.

Oh, and on a side note. For playing other codecs, this works like a charm. http://runtime360.com/projects/transcode-360/

It's likely addressed by this (from the full list on xbox.com):
>>Improved playback of high bit-rate HD content on fragmented hard drives.

[Norse]

I can't wait to see something in 1080p. :)

Like what? The dashboard? :)

[bapenguin]

Like what? The dashboard? :)

Yup. Anything. The games will be too, remember it scales everything to your native res. I'm just curious of the difference between 1080i and p on my native 1080p TV.

[Norse]

Yup. Anything. The games will be too, remember it scales everything to your native res. I'm just curious of the difference between 1080i and p on my native 1080p TV.

How does 1080i look?

[51|RandoM]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?


...and somebody responds to you every time but you don't seem to listen.

A browser on a console isn't about surfing all the sites you could surf on your pc.

It is about accessing new content, specifically tailored to your console, content that Microsoft(or Sony, or Nintendo)aren't giving you access to with their service.

If you'd open up your mind for just a second, you'd realize that once this market is created, it *WILL* be aggressively addressed. 6 million Live users? Don't you think content providers would like access to that revenue stream without paying Microsoft tithes?

I really don't know why I bother explaining this each time somebody who doesn't get it brings it up. As soon as this happens on a mainstream console with a harddrive, it will be obvious how big a deal it is. Microsoft won't do it until they face extreme competitive pressure to do so. It makes far more sense for them to keep you shopping at the company store, and only at the company store.

...and to address his basicly invalid complaint, surfing at 1080p from a console isn't going to look any different than surfing at 1080p from my PC. I'm using the same panel for both.

[Norse]

...and somebody responds to you every time but you don't seem to listen.

A browser on a console isn't about surfing all the sites you could surf on your pc.

It is about accessing new content, specifically tailored to your console, content that Microsoft(or Sony, or Nintendo)aren't giving you access to with their service.

If you'd open up your mind for just a second, you'd realize that once this market is created, it *WILL* be aggressively addressed. 6 million Live users? Don't you think content providers would like access to that revenue stream without paying Microsoft tithes?

I really don't know why I bother explaining this each time somebody who doesn't get it brings it up. As soon as this happens on a mainstream console with a harddrive, it will be obvious how big a deal it is.

...and to address his basicly invalid complaint, surfing at 1080p from a console isn't going to look any different than surfing at 1080p from my PC. I'm using the same panel for both.
Even if X360 (or the PS3/Wii for that matter) had a browser I doubt you would be able to install anything through it. It would make all kinds of spyware/virus attacks possible. Virus/spyware on a console would be awful

[ChiHawk]

Yup. Anything. The games will be too, remember it scales everything to your native res. I'm just curious of the difference between 1080i and p on my native 1080p TV.


Your TV also scales everything to your native res. The only cool about the 360 scaling option is that you get to see who scales better, your TV or the 360. I'm excited for it and for the HD-DVD drive just so I can get some form of 1080p content onto my TV. Then again, I played all of Dragon's Lair on the Xbox just so I could have some real 1080i content.

[51|RandoM]

Even if X360 (or the PS3/Wii for that matter) had a browser I doubt you would be able to install anything through it. It would make all kinds of spyware/virus attacks possible. Virus/spyware on a console would be awful

I'll be doing it on a PS3, even if I have to run Linux to do so.

Boot linux, put ps3 stuff into the ps3 partition, boot ps3 OS... use new stuff.

Consoles won't attract that much in the way of virii or spyware, just because of the learning curve... and easier targets being readily available. It is the same reason there are very few Mac virii and only one or two for cellphones.

[Norse]

I'll be doing it on a PS3, even if I have to run Linux to do so.

Boot linux, put ps3 stuff into the ps3 partition, boot ps3 OS... use new stuff.

Consoles won't attract that much in the way of virii or spyware, just because of the learning curve... and easier targets being readily available. It is the same reason there are very few Mac virii and only one or two for cellphones.

If PS3 gets a 50m+ user base I would think some are tempted to give it a try. Virus/spyware programmers would love a chance to invade some home electronics

[see colon]

so will i be able to watch Terminator 2 in HD with this update?

[Barrapa]

I want a web browser on every media device. It is not for surfing for hours, but having quick and easy access to data. I use my mobile browser all the time (who cares if it looks like crap) when I need a quick update on somethiing, to define a word, or to check a fact . Why wouldn't you want one?

[Yeti2005]

I'll be doing it on a PS3, even if I have to run Linux to do so.

Boot linux, put ps3 stuff into the ps3 partition, boot ps3 OS... use new stuff.

Consoles won't attract that much in the way of virii or spyware, just because of the learning curve... and easier targets being readily available. It is the same reason there are very few Mac virii and only one or two for cellphones.

Right because security through obscurity is always a good defense ;)

[ChiHawk]

It's likely addressed by this (from the full list on xbox.com):
>>Improved playback of high bit-rate HD content on fragmented hard drives.

As well as this:
Improved video playback while downloading from Xbox Live.

It's also cool to see that the video player will now have the same interface as the DVD player, with a time bar and everything!

[ChiHawk]

I want a web browser on every media device. It is not for surfing for hours, but having quick and easy access to data. I use my mobile browser all the time (who cares if it looks like crap) when I need a quick update on somethiing, to define a word, or to check a fact . Why wouldn't you want one?


I agree, I would love a browser on the 360. But, I can understand why this isn't a priority to MS. It would be a significant expense that would be useful/attractive to a very small percentage of the market.

[bapenguin]

How does 1080i look?

Looks fucking gorgeous. That's why I can't imagine 1080p being THAT much of a difference.

[PsychoticVile]

If you read that article to the END it says they are releasing the update on 10-31-06 in JAPAN doesn't say anything about the US or Europe market so we may not get it tomorrow.

Also according to ebgames.com the wireless headset release was pushed back a week the reason being it won't work without this update so not all markets may get this update tomorrow.

[ChiHawk]

If you read that article to the END it says they are releasing the update on 10-31-06 in JAPAN doesn't say anything about the US or Europe market so we may not get it tomorrow.

Also according to ebgames.com the wireless headset release was pushed back a week the reason being it won't work without this update so not all markets may get this update tomorrow.

Official release from MS, in English, states October 31. (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate.htm)

[PsychoticVile]

Official release from MS, in English, states October 31. (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate.htm)

Ya just went to their website it does say the 31st so sweet.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/personality/elle/20061030-update.htm

Can go to that link for the official word on the update and all the features that it includes. There are 2 more links at the bottom of that page with even more info.

[Jack B]

Official release from MS, in English, states October 31. (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate.htm)

Thanks ChiHawk! Here's the complete list if your too lazy to read the whole article or just want the bullet points.

Here are the ones, that sound interesting to me.

1. Friends leaderboard: Compare yourself with friends and view leaderboard details right from the Xbox dashboard. (...could that be, sort friends by game played? See all my Chromehounds friends on one list?)
2. Improved support for games to better handle host migration in multi-player matches.
3. Improved voice chat quality in Xbox Dashboard and in-game chats.
4. Added ability to clear space from storage devices in download areas.
5. Added support for low-speed and full-speed USB keyboards.

Number 2 and 3 could be worth their weight in gold. Number 1 could be really helpful, but I can't tell exactly how it will work.

Here are the ones I didn't see, that I wanted.

1. 200 Friends instead of 100.
2. Multiplayer Live Chat instead of one on one.
3. Mouse support
4. Browser support

There are plenty in this list, that I'll use at different times, but many are interface improvements and tightening up the Live experience. It's all good. :)

Complete Dashboard Update Feature List


New Features

HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component cables.
Xbox 360™ HD DVD Player support.
Stream WMV video from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect.
Play video from storage devices such as USB flash drives, Xbox 360 Memory Units, etc.
Play video from CD or DVD data discs.
Xbox 360 Wireless Headset support, including battery level indicator in the Xbox Guide.
Video support for 50 Hz HDTV modes (DVD and HD DVD only).
Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel support.
Set up automatic downloads of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games.
Support for upcoming release of XNA Game Studio Express (separate download and subscription required.)
Stream music, pictures and video from a Zune device.
Xbox Live Arcade

Lightning-fast enumeration and listing of all Xbox Live® Arcade games on the console.
Find games quickly with two new sort options: Recently Played and By Category.
Have all new Xbox Live Arcade games at the ready with auto downloads. Auto downloads optionally adds newly released trial versions of games to active downloads when you enter Xbox Live Arcade.
View full achievement info in Xbox Live Arcade, including icons, achievement point details, and descriptions.
Friends leaderboard: Compare yourself with friends and view leaderboard details right from the Xbox dashboard.
Tell a friend: Send a message to a friend about your newest favorite Xbox Live Arcade game.
DVD Player

Optionally disable notifications from Xbox Live while watching DVD movies.
Improved support for audio streams on incorrectly authored DVDs.
Better handling of unreadable discs.
Updated count-down timer.
HD DVD player support.
Added zoom support for non-anamorphic content.
Added support to Family Settings to block Unrated Content
Video Player

Improved support for extended all black scenes in WMV content.
Added support for Windows Media Video 9 Advanced profile video.
Screen saver now becomes active when videos are paused.
Now shares UI and player controls with DVD player.
Improved video playback while downloading from Xbox Live.
Added skip controls (forward approx. 30 seconds, back approx. 7 seconds).
Improved messaging around unplayable video content.
Added time elapsed and time remaining displays.
Improved playback of high bit-rate HD content on fragmented hard drives.
Improved visual quality of video playback.
Added selectable display modes: default and letterbox zoom.
Localization

New locale setting for China
Improved German translations in console settings.
Improved German translations in memory area.
Improved Japanese translations in Family Settings.
Added localized text for all supported languages in pictures area
Improved Spanish translations in camera effects.
Improved locale-specific decimal denominators.
Added localization support for title menu and main menu in the DVD player.
Added localization support for “Attempting to Read Media” system message.
Memory Area

Added support for Xbox 360 HD DVD Player content..
Added new page for viewing content size by category.
Other System Improvements

Updated support for new Daylight Savings changes coming in 2007.
Improved support for games to better handle host migration in multi-player matches.
Improved Xbox Live Vision camera support for changing room lighting while zooming.
Background downloaded videos appear in video area
Improved Xbox Live Vision camera support while using VGA.
Playing photo slideshows from PC now maintains picture folder hierarchy.
Improved user experience when playing and deleting videos from the Games or Media areas.
Improved handling of invalid characters during Xbox Live signup.
Better handling of watermarks in gamer cards.
Improved text for Windows Media Connect..
Improved UI performance in Media Center Extender
Improved connection support for Buffalo WZR-G108 wireless router when using Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter.
Redownload of deleted Arcade Games no longer re-enumerates all games on the Arcade page.
Improved visual display of text in themes.
Improved support for CD playback after signing up for Xbox Live and losing network connectivity.
Improved support for long names of items memory area.
Improved handling of gamer pictures downloaded from Xbox Live.
Improved background download notifications when downloading many small items from Xbox Live.
Improved support for custom backgrounds after returning to the Xbox Dashboard from the Account Management area.
Improved network reliability between Windows Media Center Extender on Windows Vista and Xbox 360 consoles using Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter.
Improved voice chat quality in Xbox Dashboard and in-game chats.
Improved messaging when failing to connect to Windows Media Center Extender.
Improved USB keyboard support when using a USB hub.
Improved consistency of user experience when deleting various types of content.
Improved handling of low storage space for background downloads.
Improved handling of Picture streaming from attached Digital Cameras over MTP protocol
Improved error messaging for optional iPod support download when storage devices are full.
Improved handling of multi-key repeating for USB keyboards.
Expanded Family Settings to include support for blocking unrated DVDs and videos.
Added ability to clear space from storage devices in download areas.
Added support for low-speed and full-speed USB keyboards.
Improved CapsLock behavior for USB keyboards.
Improved look and feel in Xbox Live Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade areas.
Added redeem code option to Xbox Live signup.
Removed system message at the start of new downloads. Messages will be displayed for completed items.
Added support for CCV credit card validation field in Xbox Live Marketplace purchase areas.
Updated “More Information” instructions in the Xbox Dashboard for connecting an Xbox 360 console to a Windows PC to stream digital media content.
Added auto-scroll to long text descriptions in Xbox Dashboard UI.
Improved support for DVD insertion while playing a video file.

[Roc Ingersol]

That's a whole bunch of 'meh', with one kickass addition: XNA GSE support.

That's pretty fuckin exciting.

[NeoSuplex]

I'm really glad they fixed the keyboard crap. It was a minor annoyance, but an annoyance all the same. Also crossing my fingers that the Host Migration thing lets me play online more reliably. I've been getting alot of Disconnects as of late.
Also, maybe I'm reading it wrong, but it looks like you'll be able to stream Video w/out Media Center. Fingers crossed...
Lord knows I've been waiting to get a good game o' Ultimate Alliance in...

[Atorak]

Looks fucking gorgeous. That's why I can't imagine 1080p being THAT much of a difference.

Looks like the race is on between you and I tomorrow bap! I might have to take off work just so I can "see" the difference between 1080i and 1080p over component. :)

I've got the Oppo 1080p upscaling DVD player already, so I've never used the 360 as a DVD drive. But rest assured, I'll be popping in all the games I have tonight so I can witness the (positive?) difference tomorrow.

[dr_wily]

Added support for low-speed and full-speed USB keyboards.

I didnt know you could hook up a keyboard? I thought they werent supported?

its nice to see the commitment to the product like this. Makes me justify actually paying money for Gold.

[muddi900]

I said it before when someone was making a big todoo about having a webbrowser on the PS3 and Wii. What the fuck do you need a webbrowser on your TV for? Have you ever even tried looking at a webbrowser on a TV, even an HDTV, for more then five minutes?

I have a 30 inch widescreen LCD HDTV that runs 1280x780 (720p straight widescreen) and I hooked my computer up to it via the DVI port. Let me tell you, reading small ass text on it hurt my eyes. TVs generally have a lower refresh rate then monitors do and as such pound your pupils when reading small text. And if you are on a standard def TV don't even try, I did with my Dreamcast back in the day and it sucked balls compaired to sitting at my PC. Since resolutions don't change in standard def I imagine it would suck balls now as well.

Maybe the eye hurting problem is gone when you go 1080p, maybe it gets worse. But I'm telling you right now, no matter how cool you think a web browser on your TV is, from any source, the fact is that it sucks. Plain and simple. PC does it best, and will reign supreme in doing it for some time to come.


I just zoomed to 1000 percent on Opera, without any problems. If the browser is optimized for TV, it will work just fine.

[51|RandoM]

Right because security through obscurity is always a good defense ;)

i didn't say that.

it obviously isn't the best defense, and it obviously isn't a defense you would rely upon solely.

On top of existing defenses though, it helps.

I suppose you think there shouldn't be any classified documents, much less top secret documents, since security through obscurity is a poor defense?

[Stryfe01]

I just want divx playback so I can move my Xbox with XBMC on it to my bedroom.
I have Windows MCE do this doesn't really matter.


Damn! That's exactly what I was thinking....

[Sandman]

No divx playback makes me a sad panda....but the good news is the PS3 will play the same videos your PSP will play....so if you have PSPVideo9 you can convert almost any video you have to a movie that will play on your PS3....now if they'll just make a PS3Video9 that will convert to higher res.

[Tel Prydain]

As I said on the Joystiq forums:
I’m not sure why people thought that there might be an Internet update when both Major Nelson and Peter Moore both explicitly stated that there will be no browser addition, and they both consider it a waste of time. Unless there is epic consumer support of the PS3 and Wii browsers, don’t expect MS to even consider adding one of their own.
I agree with the Major and Peter that web on my gaming console is a waste of my time. I would be interested in Live RSS Feed support, but I’d rather have my Xbox dedicated to running games.

[Achilles]

I've had the stuttering issue on 3 different 360's so it's not a hardware issue. It had something to do with the last update. On the newest 360 I got I slapped my hard drive on there and was able to watch all the videos I had with no problem. Then, I connect to Live and get the update.... suddenly I have stuttering. Mine isn't too bad, but it's still annoying. If you look at their forums it's a known issue.

Oh, and on a side note. For playing other codecs, this works like a charm. http://runtime360.com/projects/transcode-360/They changed how their video playback worked with the last update, so most/all the videos made before they changed it stutter. They've updated a lot of the videos so if you download them again you won't see the problem.

On the other hand I've downloaded new stuff and seen the stuttering if I watch them while I'm downloading something else. Not sure what that's about. Sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't.

[GigaFuzz]

I'm really glad they fixed the keyboard crap. It was a minor annoyance, but an annoyance all the same.

What was the problem with the keyboard? I've only ever used it for some simple messages and filling out forms, but never noticed any problems.

I didn't know you could hook up a keyboard? I thought they weren't supported?
You've always been able to plug in a usb keyboard to type with (basically any time that the on-screen keyboard was up), just not play games with.

[GigaFuzz]

They changed how their video playback worked with the last update, so most/all the videos made before they changed it stutter. They've updated a lot of the videos so if you download them again you won't see the problem.

On the other hand I've downloaded new stuff and seen the stuttering if I watch them while I'm downloading something else. Not sure what that's about. Sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't.

I haven't noticed the video problem with anything except the Red vs Blue Out Of Mind series. Those stutter (every few seconds) like crazy. Maybe I ought to redownload them.

[Jack B]

As I said on the Joystiq forums:
I’m not sure why people thought that there might be an Internet update when both Major Nelson and Peter Moore both explicitly stated that there will be no browser addition, and they both consider it a waste of time. Unless there is epic consumer support of the PS3 and Wii browsers, don’t expect MS to even consider adding one of their own.
I agree with the Major and Peter that web on my gaming console is a waste of my time. I would be interested in Live RSS Feed support, but I’d rather have my Xbox dedicated to running games.

I knew it was a longshot, but I fall into the camp, that wouldn't mind a web browser as an option. I like seeing it on the PS3. The Wii, I'm not so sure about, because of the lower resolution. Mouse support would be nice as well. Currently I sit my laptop next to me, while using the 360 and surf with it, but it still would be a nice option for an HDTV user. Bigger fonts likely needed, but I believe it will be of some value.

I bought a Microsoft Web TV years ago for my parents, but they never used it. The browser was NTSC only, so the fonts had to be so big and the screen so crowded it was awful. It also had AOL only type content, so you couldn't just go to any website.

I believe with a slightly modified MS Internet Explorer or similar it could work. The resolution and refresh (not as good, I know) are getting good enough now to make it work. Also wireless keyboards and mice are cheap. I have both.

That's my take, anyway.

[Tyrant]

16:10 aspect ratio support would be nice...

While I don't know why 16:10 aspect ratio resolutions aren't available on component, if your monitor supports it, get a VGA cable.

[Schnoogs]

Excited about the XNA support...altough all my friends will need to pay $99 to play the game I'm working on. DOH!

[JimmyDanger]

This is great!

So easy to watch videos from my laptop now..

No zoom on image viewing still....

[JimmyDanger]

Marketplace - demos - game trailers and arcade downloads are much more easily accessed - Video Marketplace is a joke tho.