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New Features for Fall 360 Update

by on03 December 2007

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360 to get DivX support


News regarding the Xbox 360 Fall Update is just now coming to light. The Fall Update is slated to start rolling out to Xbox users on December 4th and will feature several notable enhancements.

The biggest news of the Fall Update was already hinted at in the middle of last month when DivX CEO, Kevin Hell, said that he expected the Xbox 360 to add DivX support to the console system in a future update. The addition of the DivX codec will allow 360 owners to play DivX encoded video content on their 360 consoles, and in addition, it will also be available to developers to use within their titles.

The Xbox 360 Dashboard will also offer a new “Inside Xbox” news feed feature that will allow owners to read the latest news about releases, events, and Xbox Marketplace offers. The addition of this new news feed is not a surprise, as Sony recently launched a similar feature for the PS3 in the version 2.0 firmware which was recently launched, as well.

New social networking features will be added that will give owners the ability to view friends’ lists of other Xbox Live members. While Microsoft does not indicate that it will be restricted by age in the release details, it is assumed that this will be the case. Enhancements to the online profile are also on tap for this update, which will allow details of the new expanded bio to be viewable by either the entire Xbox Live Community or restricted to just the user’s friends only.

New revisions to the Xbox Live Market place are also in store. Revisions include the additions of “Game Store” and “Video Store” buttons, which should make it easier for owners to access downloadable content for purchase. Of course, the new downloadable titles from the orginial Xbox will make their appearance in this update, as well.

Parental controls will get the addition of a new “Xbox 360 Family Timer” feature, which will allow parents to restrict and limit the use of the console by number of daily or weekly hours. This will permit parents to limit playtime without having to deal with a complicated interface and should help limit the offspring’s tirades about shutting off the console.

360 owners should be able to start applying the Fall Dashboard Update at around 2:00 AM PST on December 4th and, of course, Microsoft will not be charging for the update.

Last modified on 03 December 2007
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