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Microsoft is set to roll out a new dashboard update for its Xbox 360 console tomorrow that places a greater emphasis on its media center capabilities rather than just gaming. It's based on the same Metro design paradigm as Windows Phone 7 and the upcoming Windows 8, using flat squares and live tiles. It'll be a mandatary update, but according to early reviews, that's a good thing. The Xbox has never looked better.
One of the biggest aspects of the update is that it'll bring new Metro-inspired 'apps' from different content partners, advancing Microsoft's effort to conquer your living room and beat out alternatives from Apple and Google. The initial lineup is not too different from what's available now, with Lovefilm and Epix joining options like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Sky Go. But there's a lot more lined-up for the few weeks and months.
This includes Crackle, Dailymotion, iHeartRadio, MSNBC.com, TMZ, UFC on Xbox Live, VEVO, Vudu, and Youtube later in December, followed by CinemaNow, HBO GO, MLB.TV, and Xfinity On Demand early next year. Non-U.S. Xbox 360 owners can also look forward to a bunch of new content available on their consoles -- check the full international listing after the jump to see what's coming to your country.
The Xbox 360 dashboard update also brings Kinect front and center, allowing users to swipe through screens by waving their hand or find content on their consoles using new voice commands powered by Bing.
It's a big update and Microsoft is pitching it as the start of a new era in entertainment where all your entertainment is together in one place. You can read more in the official press release.
Full list of content partners:
Dec. 6:
- EPIX. United States
- ESPN on Xbox LIVE (ESPN). United States
- Hulu. Japan
- Hulu Plus. United States
- LOVEFiLM. United Kingdom
- Netflix. Canada, United States
- Premium Play by (MediaSet). Italy
- Sky Go (SkyDE). Austria, Germany
- Telefónica España – Movistar Imagenio. Spain
- TODAY (MSNBC). United States
Later in December:
- 4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
- ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
- AlloCiné. France (AlloCiné), Germany (Filmstarts), Spain (Sensacine), United Kingdom (Screenrush)
- Astral Media’s Disney XD (Astral Media). Canada
- blinkbox (Blinkbox). United Kingdom
- Crackle (Sony Pictures). Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
- Dailymotion. Available in 32 countries globally
- Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
- DIGI+ (CANAL+). Spain
- GolTV (Mediapro). Spain
- iHeartRadio (Clear Channel). United States
- Mediathek/ZDF (ZDF). Germany
- MSN. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom
- MSNBC.com. United States
- MUZU.TV. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
- ninemsn. Australia
- Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports). Canada
- Rogers On Demand Online (Rogers Media). Canada
- SBS ON DEMAND. Australia
- TMZ (Warner Bros.). Canada, United States
- TVE (RTVE.es). Spain
- UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
- Verizon FiOS TV. United States
- VEVO. Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
- Vudu (Wal-Mart). United States
- YouTube. Available in 24 countries globally
Early 2012:
- Antena 3 (Antena 3 de Televisión). Spain
- BBC (BBC). United Kingdom
- CinemaNow (Best Buy). United States
- HBO GO (HBO). United States
- MLB.TV (MLB Advanced Media). Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States
- Telenovelas/Sports (Televisa). Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom
- Xfinity On Demand (Comcast). United States
User Comments: 6
Got something to say? Post a comment-
This is perhaps the greatest thing to happen to the Xbox, Xbox Live!, and Microsoft as a whole. Simply amazing looking and I can't wait to use all of those features tomorrow. Thank you Microsoft and the Xbox Development team for listening to your gamers/users to make the Xbox 360 experience richer than it has ever been.
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Xclusiveitalian said:
Look like a PS3 ripoff that got some zune and windows 8 in it, yeah, really bad.
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Mizzou said:
Looks decent, think I'll fire the XBox up tomorrow and check it out.
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My Xbox 360 is used for nothing but streaming stuff to the TV, something it does rather poorly. Especially when it comes to keeping video aspect ratio etc. I think this is a good move by Microsoft. Making the Xbox into something more than a pure gaming console will increase extend it's lifetime within the realm of usefulness. I'm hoping they will improve the streaming options/controls as well. And as always, I keep hoping we'll see Skype on the Xbox one day.
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i hate regions.. this is holywood bullshit!!!
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DanUK said:
All sounds very nice, looking forward to giving this a go later!
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