News - Revamped Xbox 360 dashboard rumoured for November launch

[HEXUS]

Dashboard update to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Xbox.

Read more.

[Stringent]

What we on, NNNXE?

[cheesemp]

And still no browser or iplayer and hence why my xbox is rarely on nowadays.

[crossy]

And still no browser or iplayer and hence why my xbox is rarely on nowadays.

I must be strange then - I only use the XBox for playing games with - I must've misunderstood when I read "games console" on the box. Especially with all the decent (to me at least) stuff coming out in the next two months: Ace Combat, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Forza 4, Battlefield 3 (although I think I'll do that on the PC), MW3, etc.

Joking aside, I'm not impressed with web browsers on keyboardless boxes, and I've got so many ways of getting iPlayer content that I'd never use the XBox for that. But I realise that ymmv.

No, what I'd like to see - especially with the "full Kinect integration" - is a way that Kinect didn't need a six-foot square area to work. Actually some form of "desktop" mode so you could just use it to drive the XBox with hand gestures and/or voice commands from, say, three or four feet away. Apart from that, surely all MS can do is minor tweaks on the UI - there's not going to be any new features until we see the XBox360 replacement surely?

Looks like the "panel" view is the "Microsoft look" then - because that's Windows7Phone doing it, Win8 (apparently), and now XBox.

[cheesemp]

I must be strange then - I only use the XBox for playing games with - I must've misunderstood when I read "games console" on the box. Especially with all the decent (to me at least) stuff coming out in the next two months: Ace Combat, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Forza 4, Battlefield 3 (although I think I'll do that on the PC), MW3, etc.

Joking aside, I'm not impressed with web browsers on keyboardless boxes, and I've got so many ways of getting iPlayer content that I'd never use the XBox for that. But I realise that ymmv.

I don't think thats fair. The Wii and PS3 have had both for ages. While a browser is pretty useless iplayer is not (and you need a browser for it). Truth be told I used my PS3 far more than the xbox purely because it had iplayer etc. In fact had it not YLOD on me I'm not sure i'd have kept the xbox.

Also to treat a games console nowadays as just a games console misses the whole media integration that MS/sony/Nintendo have been pushing.

I game mainly on my PC because its cheaper (lower game costs plus no subscription) so all I use my xbox for is the odd driving game with the GF and maybe a little kinect if i'm in the mood. I just feel the PS3 was a far better investment out the usage I got from it due to these two little features that MS continue to ignore...

[OilSheikh]

That looks like the Windows 8 Tech preview that was released recently???

[watercooled]

That looks like the Windows 8 Tech preview that was released recently???

I agree, the current dashboard looks similar, this looks identical!

[crossy]

I don't think thats fair. The Wii and PS3 have had both for ages. While a browser is pretty useless iplayer is not (and you need a browser for it). Truth be told I used my PS3 far more than the xbox purely because it had iplayer etc. In fact had it not YLOD on me I'm not sure i'd have kept the xbox.

Also to treat a games console nowadays as just a games console misses the whole media integration that MS/sony/Nintendo have been pushing.

I game mainly on my PC because its cheaper (lower game costs plus no subscription) so all I use my xbox for is the odd driving game with the GF and maybe a little kinect if i'm in the mood. I just feel the PS3 was a far better investment out the usage I got from it due to these two little features that MS continue to ignore...

Interesting line of thinking, well explained I'll admit to preferring iPlayer on my Bravia to that on the Vermin box, simply because the UI on the Bravia is faster and a heck of a lot more reliable.

The point on media integration is a good one - I'm left wondering if there's not some other features that could be put in the old 'box. Main one I can think of is to be able to act as a media server - either via video/audio on the internal drive or via USB storage. I thought iPlayer was blocked/dropped as an idea because the Beeb didn't like the terms that Microsoft were insisting they sign up to. Of course if Microsoft wanted to follow the herd, then they should be doing a Zune music cloud service for the XB - where you can mirror your XB-stored content into their cloud and then access via any XB you can log into, or via your shiny new Windows7Phone smartphone.

We're on one of these XBox Live "Family" accounts atm, and I'm impressed with how good value it's turned out to be. We've got two 360 slims in the house and effectively the second one is half price, there's "family" admin features, and you get special "Family Pack" offers too.

[watercooled]

I don't like the idea of using PS3/360 as a browser/media centre because of the horrendous idle power consumption - it's incredibly wasteful IMO. I hate web browsers on pretty much anything other than a PC, you either have a pathetically small screen you have to keep scrolling around or a slow+stressful interface. iPlayer I agree would be good if you can ignore power consumption, and it's MS's greed preventing the 360 from having it, last I heard; you cannot charge people to use a BBC service since you already pay a TV Licence, and MS wanted to offer it only to gold subscription customers.

[djnaff]

Youtube in that dash is a bonus