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Coming to you December 4 will be an updated Xbox 360 Dashboard that will play your downloaded videos

The Xbox 360 Fall Update will arrive fashionably late on December 4, bringing with it a slew of enhancements to Microsoft’s console interface. Official details were released today, confirming previous reports speculating on what would be new.

The new Dashboard update will bring with it an “Inside Xbox” news feed from Xbox.com, where gamers can read about game releases, events, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace offers. This feature mirrors the Information Board recently introduced to the PlayStation 3 in the v2.0 firmware.

Microsoft boasts that its Xbox Live is "the largest social network in the living room." Expanding on that notion, the Fall Update will add the ability for users to view the Friends Lists of other Xbox Live members, which the company believes will boost the social networking experience on the service. While not mentioned by Microsoft in its press materials, it’s believed that the viewing of external friends lists will be limited by age.

Another new feature building on the social network aspect is an enhanced online profile, where members can share a few more details about themselves in an expanded bio that can be visible to "Friends Only" or the entire Xbox Live community.

Navigation throughout Xbox 360’s various features will also be upgraded with the addition of new "Game Store" and "Video Store" buttons, which will presumably take users to downloadable content on Xbox Live Marketplace. Those interested in purchasing video material will also find enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library to help in making buying or renting decisions.

Perhaps the biggest video-related addition in the Fall Update is MPEG-4 Part 2 video codec support, most popularly implemented in DivX and Xvid videos. Videos packaged in an AVI container encoded in either simple profile or advanced simple profile should play in their full glory on the Xbox 360. The inclusion of MPEG-4 Part 2 video support was a feature hinted at by DivX Inc. CEO Kevin Hell earlier this month, though its implementation will arrive sooner than most expected. DivX support will soon be added to the PlayStation 3.

Already announced by Microsoft, the Xbox 360 Family Timer will enable parents to set the amount of time the console can be used by members of the household on a daily or weekly basis. Parents will be able to limit the playtime of their children without actively interacting with them.

As detailed in an earlier story, Microsoft will be launching alongside the new Fall Update the Xbox Originals game download service allowing consumers to purchase previous generation games Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Halo, Fable, Fuzion Frenzy and Psychonauts for 1,200 Microsoft Points each. Microsoft promises that its classics catalogue will grow over time.

Just as how best-selling games eventually move to Microsoft’s "Platinum Hits" budget game line, Xbox Live Arcade will also be gaining its own "Hits" selection. The first games to become Arcade Hits will be Bankshot Billiards 2 and Lumines LIVE, for 800 Microsoft Points each, and Marble Blast Ultra, Small Arms and Zuma Deluxe, for 400 Microsoft Points each. The games already reflect the updated pricing on Xbox Live Arcade today.

The Fall Dashboard Update will be available for all connected Xbox 360 consoles free of charge beginning at 2:00 a.m. PST on December 4.

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You didn't mention Divx?
By Squibby on 11/30/2007 3:00:58 PM , Rating: 4
After a month of speculation (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9641)... MS finally announces Divx/Xvid support, and it's not in your story? That's...um...odd.




RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By jadeskye on 11/30/2007 3:15:49 PM , Rating: 1
i agree. i was rather excited by this, as a videophile i'm looking forward to streaming divx material from my PC.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By sxr7171 on 12/1/2007 2:36:28 AM , Rating: 1
Kind of an oxymoron. You can't watch crappy divx files and call yourself a videophile.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By subhajit on 12/1/2007 7:03:07 AM , Rating: 2
According to Extremetech "The Xbox 360 can now play files in an AVI container (or .divx container) that uses the MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple & Advanced Simple Profile. The max bitrate for these files is 5 Mbps with resolutions up to 1280x720 up to 30fps."So, if you want you can play high quality Divx videos.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By FITCamaro on 11/30/2007 3:15:52 PM , Rating: 2
I don't believe thats in the fall update. So why would they mention it in a story about the fall update?


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By therealnickdanger on 11/30/2007 3:24:56 PM , Rating: 2
It is in the update. The full feature list can be seen at Teamxbox.com. It's remarkably comprehensive. Tons of video codec support changes in addition to many, many GUI performance improvements. I'm actually excited for this update now!


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By FITCamaro on 11/30/2007 3:44:14 PM , Rating: 2
Touche. I didn't realize it was going in so soon. Not that I'm not thrilled. TVersity, I will no longer have need for you. Well, I guess I could leave it on there, but it won't have to transcode anymore thank god. It took all my video servers CPU power to do it (X2 3800+).


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By bob4432 on 11/30/2007 3:19:05 PM , Rating: 2
imho divx/xvid support is probably the most newsworthy upgrade here. if only they could make the 360 stream from another machine w/ the files that would be nice, but oh well, that is what my htpc is for i guess.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By MooseMuffin on 11/30/2007 3:29:10 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
if only they could make the 360 stream from another machine w/ the files that would be nice


Huh? Thats exactly what it does. It will stream from any PC with windows media player 11 installed, or if you're using one of their media center OSs.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By bob4432 on 11/30/2007 4:48:26 PM , Rating: 2
it streams horribly. i have 3 machines it should connect to but wont - all have wmp11 and see the 360, but the 360 won't see the machines, so i tried tversity - it worked a bit but no ff ability and could only do 400x300px since it was transcoding in real time - using 100% cpu on a x2 4200 on a GbE network, not that that matters but it is all real cable ethernet, not wifi.

for streaming, i would give the 360 an "F"

i would say 90% of the people i know w/ 360s have serious issues w/ the streaming ability.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By Radeon117X on 11/30/2007 5:24:03 PM , Rating: 2
Hrm. Weird that it streams badly for you. Have you tried using ORB? I use that all the time to stream files 640X480 to my 360 wirelessly and they play just fine. 1280X720 ones lagg a bit more, but Im pretty sure that's because my 360 is a whole two floors down on the other end of my house :).

Check it out:
http://www.orb.com/orb/

It's what i've been using for AVI's and MP4's for even before the support was added.

However, now that it will natively support it, it should be much easier for me to stream and hopefully it's better optimized (ORB still has issues, but it's absolutely great).


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By KingViper on 11/30/2007 6:29:00 PM , Rating: 2
Although the computers will see the 360, you do have to set the security in wmp11 to allow the 360 to see your media files, otherwise it won't.

It has worked flawlessly on any pc I've ever used it on.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By KingViper on 11/30/2007 6:34:24 PM , Rating: 2
I decided to throw the steps up just in case. These steps will allow any 360 or other device to see your media files, so if you don't want that, you'll have to only allow the 360 itself, but it really doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me personally.

Open WMP11
- Under Library, click "Media Sharing"
- click "Share My Media"
- click "Ok"
- click "Settings"
- check "Allow new devices and computers automatically"
- click "Ok"
- click "Ok"

DONE!


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By FITCamaro on 12/1/2007 12:22:11 AM , Rating: 2
I set up TVersity on my video box with a X2 3800+ and 1GB RAM. Takes 100% CPU load but it streams my 640x480 video to my TV just fine.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By OrSin on 12/3/2007 9:26:50 AM , Rating: 2
Transcode 360 has always worked great for me. Even on a old AMD 1800. But with native support I can steam to 3-4 TV now at the same time.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By Marcus Yam on 11/30/2007 3:23:15 PM , Rating: 2
At the time of announcement, Microsoft made NO MENTION of this new feature... but DivX support will be in here. Kind of funny Microsoft chose not to say anything about this.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By FITCamaro on 11/30/2007 3:50:50 PM , Rating: 3
Keepin it on the DL so the movie studios don't find out. They're pretty oblivious to technology. Unless it helps them sue somebody.


RE: You didn't mention Divx?
By Squibby on 11/30/2007 5:24:43 PM , Rating: 2
It was in the announcment, just not stated explicitly.

quote:
New video features: The convenience of full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support further expand the options when it comes to the Xbox 360 entertainment experience.


Other sources, like the Xbox Team Blog had the info in it though.


h.264
By DCstewieG on 11/30/2007 4:04:57 PM , Rating: 2
Now what about h.264? They already support it for HD DVD. Get a Matroska filter going, AC3/DTS support (again already supported for DVD) and they're gold.




RE: h.264
By FITCamaro on 11/30/2007 4:22:09 PM , Rating: 1
I would assume AC3 support would be added with the inclusion of Divx support since a lot of Divx/xVid video has AC3 audio tracks. I know I encode all my DVD rips of TV shows without altering the audio.


RE: h.264