A couple weeks ago Microsoft opened up the new Xbox dashboard features to people interested in previewing the new features.  You needed a Windows Live ID, a valid Xbox and a gold gamertag.  A week or so later I received and email I was chosen and my Xbox 360 received the new update.

 

The update consists of four major new features available now on the dashboard: Zune Marketplace, Facebook, Twitter and Last.FM integration.  So far I have had no issues linking my Xbox 360 to my Facebook, Twitter or Last.FM profiles.  The best integration seems to be Twitter since it is the simplest.  You can read people's updates and update your status with ease.  You can even see what are the most popular topics being posted about and read those.  I can see this taking over as my source for reading twitter.

 

The Last.FM integration is nice as well.  If you haven't tried Last.FM it is a online radio where you chose to listen to a specific channel that plays similar artists.  You can also choose a channel by genera.  This is a nice option for listening to music through your TV/sound system.  I tend to get bored only listening to my own music so this is a nice option to have.  It's probably only going to be used for parties.  I used it while I worked out the other day.

Facebook integration is very limited.  You will not be able to harvest your farm from your Xbox 360.  You will be able to view status updates, write on walls and view photos from your Xbox 360.  I have not tried uploading photos from the 360 yet.  This might make me more likely to log into facebook but who knows.  I'm not that interested in checking people's statuses on facebook. 

 

The Zune marketplace is really just the revamping of the existing video marketplace.  The major change is that now you have the ability to download or stream 1080p movies.  No every movie has this option and some are still only offer download at 720p.  I've heard you can now download the movies and watch them on your Zune but I have not tried this yet.  I will explore the Zune Marketplace more this weekend.  So far the marketplace is only providing purchase/rental of videos.  It would be awesome if you could purchase music from your 360 but that is currently not available.

 

So far I think these additions to the Xbox 360 only enhance the brand.  They are integrated well using the common UI framework that the Xbox dashboard provides.  I have turned on my 360 the last to days just to play around with Twitter, Last.FM and Facebook.  I have several games to play but just haven't played them cause of the update.