It looks like the expected Xbox 360 Dashboard update is starting to make its way out to Xbox 360 owners around the world this morning.
Xbox Live’s Major Nelson just posted this on his blog:
I am happy to announce that the latest dashboard update has now been officially released and is in process of being rolled out across the LIVE service. For many of you, the next time you sign in to Xbox LIVE, you will be prompted to receive the update. A couple of things to keep in mind over the next few hours as the update is deployed:
- You’ll be prompted to accept the update when you sign into Xbox Live sometime in the next few hours.
- Regardless of what you have heard, it’s not geographically based. No one area of the world will get it before another.
- If you keep signing out and then back in again, this will NOT force the update…it will only anger people on your friends list who will keep getting a notification. every. time. you sign. in.
- Be patient, everyone will eventually receive the update
Along with the above he has summarized all the new features that are in this update.
I have been in the dashboard preview over the last few weeks and can say that they were doing regular updates of the console to get things tweaked in and working well – sometimes daily. I did not run into any issues at all during the preview and I find the new interface to be tweaked just enough and I really like the way it looks.
My favorite feature of the update – the ESPN stuff that is now available in the dashboard.
ESPN on Xbox LIVE*
3,500 Sporting Events A Year – Access more than 3,500 live and on-demand global sporting events from ESPN3.com a year, including college basketball, college football and college bowl games, MLB, NBA, international soccer and more.
Out of Market Games – Catch your favorite college team games. Check out the huge catalog of out of market games and enjoy them on the big screen.
The Best Ways to Watch – Enjoy HD programming, DVR controls, plus access to hundreds of clips from ESPN3.com, refreshed daily.
Games at a Glance – Keep up on real-time score information using ESPN.com’s score feed without leaving the game you’re watching. View scores for leagues and games currently in the ESPN.com feed and select “Watch Live” or “Watch Replay” to jump straight into that game.
Predict the Winner – Pick what team you think will win. While watching selected games in college football, college basketball, MLB, and NBA, you will be prompted to vote for your team of choice. You’ll also see the percentage of votes among the Xbox LIVE viewing community.
Voice Chat – Voice chat with up to seven other friends while watching the big game.
My Sports – To customize your ESPN on Xbox LIVE experience, click on the “Events, Highlights and More” slot on the homepage and browse by sport to pick a specific league that you want to follow for the season. The league that you select will now automatically display in your My Sports Channel.
Let us know what you think of the new interface when you get it.
