Okay, for all of you that were waiting for details on the new Xbox dashboard update, today is your lucky day! Microsoft is starting to roll out the updates starting today. For those of us in the beta-we can finally talk about it! Here are some of the major updates:
Lastly, the Xbox Smartglass feature won't be arriving until Windows 8 drops on October 26th.
Check out Major Nelson's full article here!
Check out this walkthrough video from Joystiq showing you the updates.
- Pinning - I love pinning. Now I don't have to dig through multiple menus to get to my most used or favorite apps. Initially, there weren't many apps and you didn't really need to dig through much to get to where you wanted to go on the dashboard. Obviously now there is so much more available on XBL, and as they add more and more features and apps, well, we're going to need some way of quickly finding our favorites! The link to your pinned items are right on the main dashboard, so it's super convenient to find and access.
- Xbox Video - So you used to rent and buy movies on Zune Video? Not anymore! Basically, this is just a name change. Zune video is the same thing as Xbox Video.
- Recent - Quick Play is now called Recent. What is this you Well, it will take you to the most recent things that you've accessed on your Xbox, allowing you to quickly get to that stuff without needing to dig around too much.
- Refreshed UI - You've seen how Windows 8 and the Windows phones, etc. all have that same user interface look to them? Yeah, well, the new, refreshed UI gives the Xbox the same feel to it. I'm liking it-It's clean, easy to maneuver, etc.
- Internet Explorer - It is what it says-You can now access IE on your Xbox for finding and viewing stuff on the interwebs. (Yes, I know that interwebs is not a "proper" word...I'm writing this; I can do what I want!)
- Recommendations and Ratings - Well, it sure sounds to me like the Xbox is getting cookies! You'll now receive recommendations on stuff that you may like, based on your previous purchases, ratings you've given other items, etc. In addition, you'll also now be able to rate stuff and, for instance when using Xbox Video, you'll see the movie's Rotten Tomato score as well to help you decide if it might be something that you'd be interested in watching. Although I personally don't put too much weight on the Rotten Tomato scores, as I find myself often liking movies they hate and vice versa...
- Enhanced Search - Now, along with the voice search capabilities that you're used to with the Bing voice search, you can also search genres and search results will search all over, including You Tube.
- International Voice Search - Woo-hoo! Not in the US? Voice search capabilities are now available in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Ireland.
Lastly, the Xbox Smartglass feature won't be arriving until Windows 8 drops on October 26th.
Check out Major Nelson's full article here!
Check out this walkthrough video from Joystiq showing you the updates.
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