Microsoft announced this week the availability of the Xbox 360's spring update expected in early May. The main attraction in this update will be the Windows Live Messenger for Xbox 360, which is expected to work seemingly with the already established network of 26 million PC Live Messenger users, allowing interaction between systems including voice and video chat. Other improvements that will come as part of the update include a richer achievement notification pop-up, updates to Xbox Live Arcade that will allow owners to quickly see which Xbox Live Arcade games their friends are playing, and enhanced family settings.
Bringing the largest IM community in the world, Windows Live Messenger, to Xbox 360 makes sense, as Xbox LIVE has really become the largest social network on television," said Jerry Johnson, product unit manager of Xbox LIVE at Microsoft. "For our growing community of 6 million on Xbox LIVE, using Xbox 360 is a very social, connected experience. They are using Xbox 360 to play games, music and movies while simultaneously communicating with one another through video, voice and text chat. With this announcement we are simultaneously expanding the access of Xbox LIVE users to existing friends and family while introducing Windows Live Messenger users to the benefits of Xbox 360.
Microsoft also announced an attachment for the Xbox 360 controller which adds a complete QWERTY keyboard. If this is something you are interested in, there are a few pictures posted at GameSpot.