Archive for the ‘Dashboard Updates’ Category

From the MS press release (letter from Marc Whitten – corporate vice president of Xbox Live):
[QUOTE]
Just three months ago at E3 2010, I shared with you the latest entertainment experiences coming to Xbox LIVE, including ESPN and Zune music. Today, I?m excited that tens of thousands of you will receive an advanced look at these new experiences through the Xbox LIVE Preview program.

What you?ll find is that we?re continuing to bring you amazing content to enjoy on Xbox LIVE, we?re making your entertainment social and interactive, and we?re continuing to refine and build on our best experiences.

With this update, we are adding 3,500 live and on-demand sporting events per year, including out of market games, from ESPN3.com and 11 million music tracks from Zune at launch in the US. We are also adding Netflix search to existing features like movie parties to ensure Xbox LIVE continues to be the best way to enjoy Netflix.

With ESPN on Xbox LIVE, available to members in the US, we?re building in interactive features that will let you keep up on the latest scores from around the sports world without leaving the game you?re watching, follow your favorite leagues, predict a winner and see how the rest of the community voted on a particular game. The social nature of our LIVE platform will let you voice chat with up to seven friends on the other coast while watching the big game as if they were sitting next to you in the stadium.

Last year, we delivered tens of thousands of videos instantly in up to 1080p HD to Xbox 360 for the first time, and this fall with the expansion of the Zune music experience on Xbox LIVE, members in the US, U.K., France, Italy and Spain can enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of millions of songs via a Zune Pass music subscription and see what their friends are listening to on the largest screen in the house. What?s better is that you?ll be able to enjoy Zune music and video across your Xbox 360 console, PC and, this holiday, Windows Phone 7.

Also included in this Xbox LIVE update is the launch of Netflix on Xbox LIVE in Canada, a refreshed Xbox LIVE dashboard and updated Xbox LIVE Family Settings so you can help choose the right play and viewing settings for your family.

But this is only the beginning. With the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360, I truly believe that the best of Xbox LIVE will become extraordinary. This amazing technology will allow you, your friends, and family to navigate ESPN, Zune, Sky Player, and Last.fm on Xbox LIVE with just the sound of your voice and the wave of your hand.

I?m also excited to confirm that Video Kinect will integrate with Windows Live Messenger at launch, so Xbox LIVE members can video chat with hundreds of millions of PC users around the world. Video Kinect will use Kinect to bring the people you care about right into your living room without a headset, and adjust automatically to capture everyone in the room.

Every year we?ve pushed ourselves to deliver the best games and entertainment, and I?m incredibly proud of my team, and what we?re delivering to Xbox LIVE this fall. Our goal is to continue innovating and delivering experiences that are meaningful to you. So you can enjoy the entertainment you want, with the people you care about, in a simple way. Keep playing, keep sharing, and keep pushing us.
[/QUOTE]

From majornelson.com:
[QUOTE]
I am happy to announce that we?re doing an Xbox 360 System Update Preview program for our next release, and the opportunity to sign up is now available. The Preview Program will give you the chance to check out ESPN on Xbox LIVE, Zune music, Netflix search, the new Xbox LIVE dashboard, and new updates to Zune video and Family Settings on your Xbox 360*. Much like we did last year, you?ll need to visit the Microsoft Connect site from this link and sign in with your Windows LIVE ID that is connected to your Xbox LIVE Gamertag. Once you complete the survey that is presented to you, the Connect site will notify you immediately if you?ve been accepted. A couple of points before you head off to register:

* We?re looking for multiple thousands of participants, so your chances of making it in are good.
* This is not for Kinect. You will not be receiving a Kinect sensor if you are chosen to participate.
* This opportunity is open to all Xbox LIVE Members in regions where Xbox LIVE is available.
* To avoid any problems, read the survey carefully and double check all the information your provide.
* While both Xbox LIVE Gold and Silver members can sign up, Priority will be given to Gold members in the selection process.
[/QUOTE]

News-Source: majornelson.com

From 1up.com:
[QUOTE]
We know Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 will have access to Xbox Live, but it looks like their connectivity ambitions between the Xbox 360 and Phone 7 are even loftier than that, including not just turn-based gameplay but eventually real-time multiplayer between Phone 7 games and Xbox 360 games as well.

“So initially we’re turn by turn-based,” said a Microsoft representative to rgbFilter during the recent X10 event in Toronto (via Joystiq). “We are working on real-time phone-to-console, likely initially through Wi-Fi — again, operator networks are sensitive to that. That’s not on day one; day one will be turn-by-turn as well as companion-type gaming where you play a level on the phone and it may unlock a level or a weapon or some special achievement on the console game.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: 1up.com

It seems a new dash is on its way that will stop the ixtreme-lite touch firmwares.The news comes from a french source and is said to result in an instant ban. *Update* We now have a translation: “It simply says that the new dashboard update will be able to send DVD Drive information to Microsoft. So you’ll get banned with this update and a LT firmware.”
Here’s the source:

http://www.logic-sunrise.com/news-11…-detectes.html

Source Maxconsole.net

Yesterday, Microsoft had rolled out a planned update that allows the use of USB Flash Drives to be configured as memory storage on the Xbox 360 console; this allows for profiles, gamesaves, downloadable content and even games to be installed on any compatible USB memory device. All Xbox Live users will have to apply the update whether they want this feature or not as it is a mandatory installation.

The update brings the following memory enhancements:

* You can have 2 devices connected to the console at a time, enabling up to 32GB of simultaneous storage.
* The system won’t just configure the device once it is connected to the console. You’ll need to head to the memory area in system settings, select your USB Device, and choose from Configure Now (Format and Configure the Full Device), or Customize (you can choose how much memory you want configured for Xbox360 from the free space on the device.)
* You can now select multiple items to move or copy without needing to transfer each item individually from one device to another.

It has come to the attention of modding groups that once the Xbox 360 associated files are saved on a USB memory device they appear unreadable on any computer, with the folder list displaying itself as empty. Futher investigation by the group has revealed that a folder named XBOX360 is kept hidden, and all Xbox 360 transferred items contained within it are stored together grouped in files that are unable to be individually extracted. With the current USB update, Microsoft has made saved content more difficult to access than previous memory card methods which was to simply insert the card into a device that plugs straight into your computer and copy it across using drag & drop. Folders are now encrypted files, and content transferred to USB memory from the Xbox 360 are stored within the files together rather than listed individually as numbered content.

Within just a few hours of the update, a member of the modding group is already claiming to have hacked the security methods on the files to try and create a program that extracts content to a PC desktop.

Hey all, as soon as the update came out, I was sad to see there was no way to mod, so I have been busy writing C# and have finally made a tool for the job, it is not finished yet but I want to show my progress.

Edit: Having a problem with the Themes and Avatar Items..
Edit2: I just rang my friend up, he is coming over in a min to help me.
Edit3: My friend is here, we are investigating.
Edit4: Ok so.. the Themes are kept in Data0003 and Avatar Items in Data0002.. Wtf?
Oh well we are working on a patch to merge the files together.

Once such a program is made public, anyone with basic computer knowledge can start sharing gamesaves for modification including gamerpics and themes just for starters! In the coming months we could see an increase in scams for MS points or possibly even the resale of gamerpics and themes from the more entrepreneurial of hackers!

Remember to keep your account details safe at all times, and that modifying content could result in account suspension.

Get the app from http://xblog360.w3bz.net/?p=1072

Thanks to jumojn for additional info and corrections to this post

UPDATE!: New version released already.  Some crash fixes and bugs sorted out.  The new version is called  Release_Xtaf_Usb_0.013.zip.

Grab it from http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IG2U0135

Microsoft released the new system update (9199):
[QUOTE]
We’ve just released a system update for the Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE.
As previously announced, this system update contains support for USB Memory storage devices.

Sometime over the next few hours when you sign in to Xbox LIVE you’ll receive a prompt to accept this mandatory update. If you are signed into LIVE already, you may be signed out and asked to accept the update and you’ll be back online in a few moments.

Read the FAQ on Xbox.com which may answer some of your questions.
[/QUOTE]

Of course jtagged 360s shouldn’t update … they should wait for a new version of XBReboot/freeBOOT.
360s with modified DVD FWs update at own risk, as always
!Update! This update will also un-criple HDDs of banned consoles (but will NOT unban ur console of course)

So today it’s 6 april and we got a new update. The new update will let you format an usb drive and make it to work with the xbox as it would be an memory card. And then some one at TL did update this on a banned xbox had he got the install to hdd back . !! Without uncripple method! Why are microsoft doing this? Don’t know but mabey they have went from bad to good

//Jumojn

Xbox 360 product manager Aaron Greenberg recently said that the Xbox 360 will not be getting a web browser as the web browsing experience on a TV is a poor one. “you can go on the PS3 and go to Facebook and and try to navigate, but it’s an absolute nightmare.” he said

“No, we really believe that the web browsing experience on TV is a poor one, and the real magic is to take those web experiences and optimise them for the living room” he said. “That’s what we did with Netflix. So, sure, you can go on the PS3 and go to Facebook and and try to navigate, but it’s an absolute nightmare.”
“No disrespect, there’s things I love about the PS3, but that’s not one of them.” he continued. “We want the online experience to be fun and optimised for the living room, and we’ll continue to add more applications to get more richness”