Okay Geek Farm
Xbox 360 dashboard update hits December 6th
Ricardo Trejo
If you unfortunately were one of the thousands who missed out on signing up for this year’s Xbox preview program then don’t fret, you won’t have to wait much longer to check out the even *newer* Xbox experience. Originally rumored to be released sometime in November, the official release date for the next Xbox dashboard is set to launch on December 6th. That’s only two weeks away, which is perfect timing for anyone who gets their hands on a Kinect this holiday season. What’s changed in this update?
A whole new layout
Styled after the Metro theme from Windows Phone 7, this year’s Xbox 360 dashboard will look a whole lot more like a touch screen — which makes sense considering how much Microsoft wants to implement the Kinect camera into the overall Xbox experience. Waving to the Kinect will no longer bring in an alternative styled dashboard, but rather will work both together either with your hands or your controller.
The new horizontal orientation has the same feel as Sony’s PS3 XMB, which is categorized by subjects; like games, video, social, and apps. Flipping through them is a lot prettier than in previous installments of the dashboard, though it does seem to be a little slower to navigate.
Bing
Using Kinect’s voice recgonition, you can use the newly added Bing search feature to vocally say what you’re looking for and Xbox will scour through its Marketplace for purchasable movies, games, and demo’s. You still can’t search the web, which is unforunate though understandable since using your console to get online is a horrible experience.
Beacons
You can now alert your friends as to what you’re currently playing and if you’d like anybody else to join you. Not only that, but configured with Facebook you can also have beacons send an update on your wall that’ll let anyone on the social network be aware and notified about your open invite.
Cloud saves
Ever have a save file become corrupted suddenly after investing hundreds of hours into a game? I think we all have shared that feeling. Well, now with the addition of Cloud Saves you can now back-up your save files to the Cloud and never have to worry about your game becoming corrupted again.
More to come…
While the December 6th update brings a lot to the table, there’s still a lot more that’s been announced that’s coming our way. One of which is the addition of Youtube, which was revealed at last year’s E3. Using the Bing feature to search, you’ll be able to look up videos on Youtube and watch them in HD (whenever possible) on your TV for everyone to enjoy.
Also, Live TV for the USA was also something announced back in July, though there’s still been no word on when we’ll see it happen. And finally, Comcast and HBO have been in talks with Xbox for a deal to make the console somewhat of a cable box replacement, allowing people with a cable TV subscription to access their favorite channels and shows on their Xbox.
