XBOX 360 Dashboard Fall Update Beta is Live

[jaw04005]

So the XBOX 360 Dashboard update for Fall is live for beta participants. I downloaded it this morning.

The gist of the update:

- Zune Music
- New “flatter” Dashboard
- Netflix Search
- ESPN 3
- Kinect compatibility

Thurrott has a good preview on his Web site.

http://www.winsupersite.com/xbox/nxe_2010.asp

Zune Music is really cool. They offer a free 14 day Zune Pass trial (no credit card required). I wish music videos were included in the Zune Pass. It’s also too bad they don’t have an iPhone/Mac app.

Overall it’s a very nice refinement update. I’m glad Microsoft continues to invest resources into updating the UI. Sony has pretty much quit and Nintendo never bothered.

[Gumbercules]

that looks great, any idea when it will be out of beta?

[jaw04005]

that looks great, any idea when it will be out of beta?

It’s required for Kinect, so you’re looking at sometime before November 4.

[SevenInchScrew]

When they did the "Preview Program" for the NXE update a while back, it was about 2 weeks before it went live for everyone else. So, I'm guessing this will be available for everyone in a couple weeks, and like jaw mentioned, a little before Kinect launches.

I really like the look of this as well. I quite like the look and setup of the regular NXE setup, but this new square-edged look, and the new motion of the menus looks great. I wanted to sign up for the beta, but if you did, you could only party chat with people who are also using it, because of the new voice settings update. And since no one else I play Halo with was doing that, I have to wait. But, the higher bitrate chat is supposed to be quite good, so that will be nice.

[macfan881]

I signed up for the beat got in realized i had my console ID wrong cause i was able to read the forums "off topic the 360 forums are god horrid compared to Sony's " so I hope I get the beta over the weekend or Monday.

[sikkinixx]

So being in Canadia I get the Netflix search (already on my Wii and PS3), ugly new avatars and Kinect... Sweet. And the "new" look still means being flooded with ads for Halo and Doritos.

Does it default to "My Xbox" yet?

Oh and Thurrott "The Xbox 360 is obviously the best video game console on the market" :rolleyes: Right, just like Apple has lost the phone "battle" to Android already.


edit: http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-the-new-nxe/17-3290/

Meh. I think it's ugly. Avatars look awful.

[SevenInchScrew]

Oh and Thurrott "The Xbox 360 is obviously the best video game console on the market" :rolleyes: Right, just like Apple has lost the phone "battle" to Android already.
I agree with him on both those things, but that is just my opinion.

[macfan881]

Got in too I like it the new Netflix is awesome and I'll be intrested to check out the ESPN3 this weekend with CF and Yankees/Redsoxs on sunday.

[SevenInchScrew]

The official update is now out. Everyone should be prompted to update to it the next time they fire up their Xbox. My initial thoughts...

Looks pretty nice
Seems pretty snappy
New boot-up animation is nice
Newly proportioned avatars look better
ESPN is awesome
I've used ESPN3 for a while now, but this is a much better implementation. Having it on my TV, as opposed to just the computer, is much better as well. This will get a LOT of use in my house. Good dashboards/UIs are the ones that just work, and then get out of your way. I haven't noticed any glaring problems as of yet, so I'm pretty satisfied with the update.

[StruckANerve]

Personally I think the flat look and all of the white used in the dashboard is ugly. And ESPN3 doesn't support Qwest so I don't get to use the new features. Overall the update was quite pointless and somewhat disappointing for me.

[rezenclowd3]

Personally, I was happiest with the blade dashboard, however, I still think access is too slow when in game, but at least its faster than the PS3 XMB while in game...

[MacRumorUser]

Personally, I was happiest with the blade dashboard, however, I still think access is too slow when in game, but at least its faster than the PS3 XMB while in game...

Agreed on all accounts. :)