New Dashboard update

Star Lord

I got in the preview too, will have to update when I get home.

Parties - (Available Now, US Only)
Everyone loves to Party! Check out the new and improved party reconnections and streamlined party invites.
* Party Reconnections - If a user is disconnected from a party inadvertently, they will be automatically reconnected to the party without any user interaction
* Streamlined Party Invites - Invites are now just a click away! Never again will you have to navigate through multiple screens to get all your friends together.

Account Management- (Available Now, All Regions)
Been an Xbox LIVE member for a while? Check out some of the new features we've added just for you.
* Gold Member Veterans - Been here long? Show it off! Anyone looking at your gamer card will now know how long you’ve been an Xbox LIVE Gold member. And who knows, there might be other perks for you, too. Thanks for sticking around!
* Subscription Notification - If your Xbox LIVE subscription is about to run out, you will now be notified when you sign into Xbox LIVE. No more surprises the next time you hop in to frag your friends.
* Fixing Invalid WLID's - If the Winodws Live ID (WLID) you provided has expired, you will now be prompted to update it the next time you sign into Xbox LIVE. (This feature coming later in the Preview)

Account Recovery - (Available Now, All Regions)
Many changes have gone into the account recovery process to speed it up and to increase reliability.

Avatars - (Available Now, All Regions)
Avatars have seen lots of love! Check out the new Marketplace and Avatar Props.
* Avatar Props - You can now equip your avatar with animated items they can carry around and interact with.
* Avatar Marketplace - Reflect your sense of style with the new Avatar Marketplace. Download and purchase premium items, including branded apparel from your favorite fashion labels and Xbox 360 games.

Netflix - (Available Now, US Only)
Now you can watch movies with your friends and find new movies to add to your Instant Queue without leaving your seat.
* Party Watch - Catch a show with your friends! You can now bring your party into Netflix and watch a movie or TV show together.
* Find Content Faster - You can now browse through New Releases and other genre lists based on the types of shows you’ve previously watched, all from the comfort of your couch.
* Improved Playback Experience - Improvements have been made to ensure a better experience when adapting to changing network conditions.
* Improved Presence -Richer information is now displayed in the Friends channel and in the Guide showing what you and your friends are watching.

Video Display Options – (Available Now, All Regions)
Various improvements have been made to make it easier for you to see your game in the highest resolution possible when using an HDMI connection.
* Display Discovery - This feature allows you to override audio and/or video formats independent of the display's capabilities.
* How it works - By default, the console uses the information provided by the display (via its EDID) to determine the audio and video capabilities of the device. However, often the data is invalid or malformed, hence compatibility issues are encountered. When disabling display discovery, the EDID of the display is ignored, thereby, enabling the audio and video settings to be overridden with the desired format regardless of display support.
* Who should use it? - The Display Discovery feature is available for DVI and HDMI connections in the Display settings section of System Settings in the dashboard. Please note that Display Discovery should only be disabled if audio and/or video related compatibility issues are encountered - otherwise, the output quality may be compromised.
* Monitor Support - Additional monitor resolutions are now available for HDMI connections.

User Ratings – (Available Now, All Regions)
User ratings help you find content that other people think is awesome!
* How it works - Every piece of game content on Marketplace can now be rated using a 5-star system. Just open up the details on what you want to rate and chose the Rate button. Each time you press the Rate button, you add one star to your personal rating.
* Sort by Ratings - Now you can easily find great games that you might have missed out on. Just visit Browse All in either the Games or Video Marketplace and twist over to the Top Rated games to see what everyone’s been talking about.

Games on Demand – (Coming later in the Xbox LIVE Update Preview, All regions)
Enjoy the convenience of finding and buying new games right from your couch. You can now download full Xbox 360 games over Xbox LIVE.
* Purchase - You can purchase a game through the Game Marketplace and download it directly to your console. This purchase is also stored in your purchase history so you can delete it and download it again if you run out of space.
* Manuals - Game manuals will be available for these games on Xbox.com so that you will still have access to the full manual that comes with the boxed version of the game.
* Digital Rights Management (DRM) - Games on Demand titles follow the same licensing rights as all other forms of downloadable content. Users are granted a user license that will allow the purchasing Gamertag to play the game on any console, and a console license that will allow anyone to play on the console that the content was originally downloaded to. No physical disc is required to play these games!

UI Improvements – (Available Now, All Regions)
Some parts of the dashboard have been slightly re-organized to make it easier to find the things you’re looking for.
* Indie Games - We listened to our community and have decided to change Xbox LIVE Community Games to Xbox LIVE Indie Games. We feel this new name better represents the independent spirit of these titles. User ratings are also available for Indie Games, which will allow you to share your rating for a game and use ratings from others to find new content. We hope these changes will help people discover more games they love.
* Achievement Browser - You can now launch a game directly from the Achievement browser making it even easier for you to max out your Gamerscore.
* Achievement Tracking - A new All Games view inside the Profile panel includes a summary of Achievements earned across all the games played and shows off all your completed games.
* Achievements - Check out the changes to the Achievement browser while playing a game. It’s now much easier to read through all the achievements so you can rack up the Gamerscore faster.
* Streamlined Navigation - New entry points in the Dashboard for Active Downloads, Redeem Code, Auto Sign-In (via Profile), Create Profile, and Recover Gamer Tag, so that these features are much easier to find.
* Voice Messages - When recording a voice message, a warning is now displayed if no audio is detected so you don’t accidentally send blank messages to your friends.

Console Settings – (Available Now, All Regions)
We’ve reorganized the Console Settings menu with fewer, more intuitive categories.
* Memory - Time stamps now appear in the Memory Area. This is particularly handy when managing saved games.
* Friends List Sorting - It’s now much easier to find your friends! Sort your friends list by Activity, Gamertag, or Online Status (default). Just press the Y button while you’re viewing the friends list in the Guide to change the sorting order.

chavezychavez

Are we ever going to see a fully functional browser included in a dashboard update?

Slippin Jimmy

When is this update coming out?

Captain Chaos

chavezychavez wrote: »

Are we ever going to see a fully functional browser included in a dashboard update?

Go over to xbox.com and look in the forums, thousands of people have been asking MS for years for a browser and MS have constantly said out right many, many times that they do not want to or plan to included a browser in any Live updates.

You'll have to wait from the next console to see if MS change their plans.

MiCr0

Duffff-Man wrote: »

When is this update coming out?

11th of August

-osborne-

i downloaded the update but there hasn't been any changes to the dashboard yet

MiCr0

360 Twitter/Facebook "before Xmas" according to eurogamer @ least
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbox-live-to-get-twitter-before-xmas

Captain Chaos

Yeah, the update is out in August 11th and they are going to add a few thing up till the end of the year.

AdMMM

I kind of wish that every update didn't have to be big deal and at certain times of the year. If they'd add a new feature every few weeks then I'd be happy!

bucks73

The PS3 gets numerous updates each year and more often than not Sony dont even say what it is for. Thats much more annoying. Two or three a year is just about right.

arch_stanton

I applied for the preview of the update announced by Major Nelson. I've just turned on the console and it's installing now. I would be excited but all the changes coming in this release are very meh

mailrewop

just turned on the xbox now and its downloading the update but i haven't received an email and theres nothing on the connect site saying i got in

RAIN

They keep saying Twitter and Facebook are going to be seperate ''applications''

I have a feeling their gna charge for them. hmm actually was that allways the case?

avatar marketplace video

Fingleberries

Maybe, maybe not ... Photo Party is a separate 'application' that is free, even the Avatar Editor is an application (check on the items in your Hard Disk under memory Status).

I think what they are highlighting here is that third parties can create applications that can eventually be integrated with the Dashboard (Sky player, Twitter, Last.fm, Facebook, NetFlix) ... the charge, free or ad supported, would be ironed out between Microsoft and the third party.... That and the fact that the applications aren't coming with the dash update is not that MS didn't get the update finished in time, but the third parties are still working on it themselves.

ciano1

Wtf??

I just got another update?

jester77

ciano1 wrote: »

Wtf??

I just got another update?

That's what being part of the preview is about!

ciano1

Ah right:D

Were you always able to press X to eject the disc from the dashboard??
I just noticed that after the second update

bucks73

I noticed that too and wasnt sure if it was there before today. It definitely used to say A for Play and Y for details.

mailrewop

it came with the first update the other day, finally got my email confirming i was accepted two days after getting the update

ciano1

I got 2 emails and 2 updates!

tman

http://kotaku.com/5328027/xbox-live-preview-dropping-game-install-sizes

Can anyone on the preview confirm this? Fantastic news if its true... Even with a 120GB hd I'm still constantly looking for stuff to delete in order to free up some space...

jester77

tman wrote: »

http://kotaku.com/5328027/xbox-live-preview-dropping-game-install-sizes

Can anyone on the preview confirm this? Fantastic news if its true... Even with a 120GB hd I'm still constantly looking for stuff to delete in order to free up some space...

I re-installed Fallout 3, went from 5.9GB to 5.5GB, bit if a saving there!

tman

Looking at the comments on the article, some games could yield massive space savings (trivial pursuit goes from 3.4 to 1.5)

ciano1

I reinstalled Oblivion

6.7 --> 5.9gb

Not Bad

calex71

just go the update there, whats the deal with the awards under games tab when you press the guide button?

Kenny_D

Might be avatar awards. Some games (Splosion Man for example) have exclusive unlockable content for your avatar

rizzla

Like the little "Solutions" channel, second last window in the "My Xbox" channel. Just found out how to remove my credit card details.

RAIN

Major Nelson gives a list of everything via Twitter

LD 50

Does anyone know what games that are out, or coming out will have unlockable Avatar content?

rizzla

LD 50 wrote: »

Does anyone know what games that are out, or coming out will have unlockable Avatar content?

Splosion man has some.

Anyone tempted to buy the COG avatar armour?