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Apr 9 / Ozymandias

Spring Dash Update + TID!

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Yep, as you probably saw around the web we have a new Dash update coming down the pipe for the Xbox 360. Lots of new features – I’ll point you to Major Nelson’s link for all the in-depth details, but will crib a bit of his text below:

  • The redesigned Achievement notification pop-up (toast) will show the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value. You’ll see this information the moment you earn an achievement. No more popping open the guide and interrupting your gameplay. (screenshot)
  • Enhanced family settings features for Xbox LIVE communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.
  • A new Xbox LIVE Marketplace blade lets Xbox LIVE members access the content they seek – whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States) – from one place.
  • Updates to Xbox LIVE Arcade allow owners to see which Xbox LIVE Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox LIVE members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. The Tell a Friend capabilities have been expanded as well.
  • A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox LIVE Arcade games.
  • New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
  • Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.

Probably the most exciting aspect to me is the Live Messenger integration (the artist formerly known as MSN Messenger), as well as the release of a TID (or Text Input Device – we’re nothing if not clever when it comes to naming peripherals!) Remember my earlier post on “Live Anywhere?” With this Dash release and the upcoming release of the first titles using Games for Windows – LIVE, we’re well on the way to delivering this vision. Looking forward to what you all think!

Oh, and before I go, a quick pic (again, with thanks to Major Nelson). For what it’s worth, the TID looks just like the picture and feels great – light but solid, with great tactile feedback on the keys. I’m also able to type on it pretty easily, and I can’t say that for other mini keyboards (as I have fat fingers). I think you’ll like it. Smile

Related posts:

  1. Spring Dash Update Available
  2. Panorama = Beginning of Live Anywhere
  3. Live Anywhere (But Even There?)
  4. CES News for 360: IPTV, 10M+ units sold, 5M Live Subs
  5. Crackdown Title Update and Downloadable Content

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  • MwC Rampage

    I noticed that the spring update enable video streaming for h.264/mp4. Can you comment on that?

  • http://www.gamingtrend.com Purge

    Sweet!!

    Looking forward to not interrupting games to see the achievements… and now maybe I can get rid of my$10 wireless USB keyboard

  • http://blogs.msdn.com/gclass/archive/2007/04/09/xbox-360-getting-messenger-and-windows-media-drm-streaming-features.aspx gclassy.com : Gregory (Gus) Class’s Media Technology Blog

    RE: Spring Dash Update + TID!

    Now I will be able to seem even more productive while playing 360 :) More info on Joystiq And on Ozymandias

  • Helvedeshunden

    I hope that mpeg4 part 2 includes most of it – QT, xvid, divx etc. (and streaming)

    If so I’m officially a happy camper.

  • Hasan

    Really frustrating, still no 1680X1050 support. we are at MS’s mercy as always.

  • Hasan

    Really frustrating, still no 1680X1050 support. we are at MS’s mercy as always.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll would also like to issue my disappointment on the lack of 1680×1050 screen resolution as that would have been something I was really looking for. On the other hand, its nice to see that I wont have to press the green X button for knowing what achievement I got and I am really interested in the H.264 suppossed support. Could it be possible to have more details on the H.264 addon? the Xbox.com statement is a bit… vague on that

  • Bad Shatner

    This looks like an answer to PC-vs-Xbox games like WoW and other keyboard intensive games.

    This could REALLY add a lot to consel gamming.  ;)

  • Deano

    The only interesting thing is the mpeg4 support though I’m not sure what kind of stuff this means I can now play.  

    The marketplace blade makes sense.  I wonder how far off the browser is?  I’m not asking for it but it surely has a place at certain times.

  • http://www.testtrack4.com Stuart P. Bentley

    Oh! One more thing from the Xbox.com Release Notes for the dash update:

    "The console will block the user who attempts to download content onto a storage device that will never have the capacity to store the item without deducting any points associated with the content item."

    What do they mean insofar as they say "block the user"? Simply stop them before they waste their money trying to fit Crank in HD on a 64MB Memory Unit?

  • imaginedbug

    One thing I’m wondering is that if any kind of official support in games or the dashboard gets added, will Microsoft force people to use this add-on keyboard over cheapo (wireless) USB keyboards just like they’ve blocked out all webcams other than the official one?

    My wireless USB keyboard works fine, and I’m not planning on replacing it with an expensive (I bet it’ll cost around $29.99) controller add-on that looks like it’ll make it damn near impossible to correctly hold the controller while playing games. And knowing the quality of the Xbox 360′s ‘accessories’ (headsets last a year before their connections go bad, wireless headsets are worthless due to them humming, controllers last 18 to 24 months before buttons stop responding) … let’s say I don’t have faith in it staying in working condition for more the console’s lifetime (18 months?).

  • veto

    Really like the ‘TID’ design , looks very sleek inline with the contrller , and very practical .

    the wife is gonna enjoy the MSN more than me tho id say .

  • http://technowledgy.spaces.live.com BackScatter

    Wow.  That TID attachment is pretty sweet. I’ll admit I’ve not been a fan of the whole keyboard\mouse\browser on a console idea – But this has certainly made me think more about the possibilities.  The fact that it integrates with the existing controller is a big selling point for me.  While I still question the usefulness of a browser in this space, I’ll certainly get a lot of use out of the Live Messenger integration.

    Very impressive!

  • Tezian

    Just wondering if the keyboard attachment will be coming in black also?

  • Maynard

    When will they set a price for the TID?  

    Please don’t screw us on this peripheral.  If it’s any more than $20, forget it.  I’m guessing it’ll be more like $70.

  • HelloWorld

    Peace people

    We love you

  • http://live.xbox.com/member/DevsterC DevsterC

    Pardon my ignorance, but re: "1680×1050" – is this just a request from folks use various monitors, or is this a TV aspect – and if so, for which tvs?

    also, @imaginedbug – "controllers last 18 to 24 months before buttons stop responding". Just how many folks out there have 24 month old xbox 360 controllers and could comment on this claim? Or for that matter 18 months, since I thought it’s only been out almost 17 months or so now…

  • WiNG C

    "Pardon my ignorance, but re: "1680×1050" – is this just a request from folks use various monitors, or is this a TV aspect – and if so, for which tvs?"

    1680×1050 is a popular resolution among widescreen pc monitors. The problem is that most widescreen monitors are not 16:9 but 16:10 (with a slight heigth increase over the 16:9 format) which result on deformed image when using the VGA cable with the provided resolutions at the moment

  • 10

    about screen resolution the thing is…anything above 740p is useless for this gen and would be use only for simple arcade game<gemetrywar> or maybe sport game like tennis.. you need to think about the amount of memory needed to display all thoses pixel…the 360 or the ps3 do not have enough video memory to make true HD usable…so I understand microsoft do not make to much resource on it…

    but a good support of the 1080p(with all subtility of resolution) would be cool for movie display… maybe on the next update…

  • Eizhale

    I really did expect more VGA resolution options right up to 1080p.  e.g.  2 most popular I’ve seen requested on multiple sites are 1440×960 (which I was most looking forward to) and 1680×1050.  Why microsoft ignores these requests is beyond me.  I do like the announcements in the update so far, don’t get me wrong, but it’s pretty ignorant to ignore the repeated requests of your user base for MORE RESOLUTION OPTIONS.

  • …

    it is ridiculous to see m$ offering connection to pc monitors when they can’t even offer pc monitor resolutions (16:10 i am talking about)

  • Anonymous

    The 16:10 could be easily fixed with just adding black bars in top and bottom of the screen to solve the aspect ratio problem to start with. Of course using proper 16:10 resolutions would be better but the black bars would still be a better solution than the current situation

  • http://live.xbox.com/member/DevsterC DevsterC

    Someone asked a question over on the GamerScore blog comments you might be able to address, Ozymandias – will the TID work on a wireless controller that is being used on a PC via the wireless receiver add-on?

  • tre

    They add useless stuff and dont bother with basic stuff.

    how about a vidoe market place for the rest of the world?

    how about being able to search for local lag free games only?

    how about more content?

    how about adding online gaming to silver and giving premium content on gold?

    where is IE X360?

  • http://grrargh.com/archive/2007/05/07/one-of-my-many-irrational-fears.aspx andrew @ grr, argh!

    RE: Spring Dash Update + TID!

    Mabster has decided that my fear of having privacy is irrational … and he’s probably right. My problem