Cloud storage, improved Kinect voice support, a new invite system and the integration of the Bing search engine will head to the Xbox 360 in a dashboard update later this year, Microsoft has confirmed.
The firm touched on the new features during today's E3 press briefing, but Xbox Live mouthpiece Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has since gone into a little more detail on Microsoft's plans to further integrate Kinect with its console.
Saying it is "simpler, cleaner and easier to navigate," Hryb confirms that voice control can be used throughout the dashboard, and voice support will be duly expanded, rolling out to a further eight countries before the end of the year. "We are also exploring some innovative new ways to enable the Live community to help us accelerate the refinement of voice models in new markets," he adds.
The firm has pledged to greatly bolster its media catalogue, increasing media partnerships "by a factor of ten" over the course of the year, making a search facility essential. An integrated Bing search engine, which also supports voice control, searches online services like Hulu and Netflix as well as Microsoft's own Marketplaces.
The new invite system, called Beacons, lets users flag their desire to play a game even when watching or playing something else. Hryb says the feature, which can also be used on Facebook, is " about making it easier for you to share and discover games and multiplayer opportunities with friends."
Cloud storage sees Microsoft keep pace with Sony by offering remote , secure saving of save files, and also profiles. " Gone are the days of gamertag recovery," Hryb writes. "Now all you need to do is sign in, no matter where you are."
To read our full report of Microsoft's Kinect-focused E3 conference, click here.
Comments
6Vice support? Does that mean that you can order drugs and hookers straight from the dashboard?
Argh, fixed. Thanks for the spot.
Any word on whether the renewed forcus on entertainment will mean a review of the stance on BBC iPlayer? If not, then we have to assume YouTube will be restricted to Gold members too.
It's possible to get iPlayer on Xbox? I did not know that.
I feel small.
No its not possible, MS want to include it with Gold only but the BBC can't do that because of the terms of the licence fee.
Why are MS so obsessed with removing all traditional methods of interface from their products (like the controller with the games console, and the keyboard and mouse from PCs)?
Can't imagine private Google/Bing searches with voice commands being popular.
Also nice to see a big focus on games in the new dashboard update!