Xbox 360 Fall 2007 Dashboard update hands-on
By Ryan Block 
posted December 4th 2007 7:16AM
posted December 4th 2007 7:16AM
- Um, did we mention DivX / XviD support? For free? Oh, we did. Well, we're still reeling. (Yep, we successfully tested both codecs using .divx and .avi files.)
- Enhanced profiles is really exciting; you have to opt out of everyone being able to view your friends list, but given the permissions system Live is based on, that's not such a big deal. Browsing friends' friends lists adds a whole new layer. Microsoft, care to bump us up past 100 Live friends now?
- IPTV support is included! Unfortunately, you are still dependent on your service provider to flip the switch, so don't expect to be able to just start watching / recording shows to your 360. (Interface shots here, from way back when.)
- Family timers lets you specify the number of playable hours daily and weekly. For instance, you can enable between 15 minutes and 24 hours of daily play time (in 15 minute increments). We're not sure how this works if you're watching IPTV, though, although we presume the system is smart enough to know the difference between gaming and playing back media.
- Microsoft added its increasingly pervasive twist interface all over the place, including Xbox Live downloads, the media interface, etc. Browsing just about everything on the 360 just got way easier.
- Inside Xbox newsletter / feed is now available from the home blade, helping highlight new content and features. We kind of wish this wasn't so front and center though -- really, how often are you going to use this?
Ya, I was playing Assasins Creed and it froze up after playing for a minute. Tried a bunch of times. Then went to COD4, now its just all gone to hell. So, ya I called em up they're sending me a box, 2-4 weeks. Anybody got any crossword puzzles I could borrow for the next month?
Can anyone confirm IPTV working on the 360? If so, I'm getting me some Uverse this week! Was waiting for the 360 to finally do it, get the U100 package with one receiver, free HD for one year, and use the 360 as a DVR and receiver all for $15 more a month than what I pay now.
Where did that IPTV bullet point come from? It's not a part of this update at all. It's not in the Settings, not on the Media Blade, it's not in the update changelog, and Microsoft has stated that it's not coming in this update.
Also, those IPTV UI shots are OLD. It actually looks different now because they've launched Mediaroom (UI looks quite different - it's orange for a start) since the IPTV announcement.
"If you go into your console options, there is an option to automatically boot the game when inserted or sit on the dashboard."
No there isn't. You can set it to boot the disc or go to the dashboard at startup, but putting a disc in while the system is sitting on the dashboard still auto boots.
actually if you get on the xbox dashboard and can find the ad that talks about the fall update, you can watch a video from microsoft that confirms that IPTV functionality is included in this. HOWEVER, since its not very popular and nobody i know of (maybe that at&t uverse) is offering it yet, it's not going to show up on your 360. i am assuming you have to have whoever your ISP is come out and set it up so then IPTV will be displayed on your 360. microsoft said they were aiming for a holiday 2007 release date for IPTV on a video they did a while back (if you want the link to that tell me and i will find it) and they delivered by that time frame....
I love the update. It makes things seem less cluttered and much more organized overall. Added codec support is a huge plus, and the guide/blades being noticeably quicker is just the icing on the cake.
Uhhh, anyone else unable to get into games on COD4 after the live update? I've been having terrible issues with LIVE itself freezing and crashing me back to other windows when trying to use live messaging features.
Dashboard itself sits there with the xbox status indicator just spinning and spinning and spinning.
My box is seriously F****d after the update. Not able to play anything online, unless i wait about 45min to get into a game.
Hate to sound like such a noob, but is there any benefit to DivX or XviD in comparison to H.264?
Only that you might well have a file in xvid format, and this saves you re-encoding it to .mp4.
Anyone having problems getting NFL 2K5 working with this update? Mine keeps saying game encountered a problem.
Anyone know how to update a 360 that does not have internet access? Old updates could be burnt on a cd and loaded into the xbox, but I can't find one now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Has anyone witnessed any freeze of the dashboard or was that just me?
Freezes quite often, when pulling up the friends lists and such.
I was toying around within the update last night. I haven’t been this geek thrilled since gmail enabled IMAP.
For grins I created a brand new live account with a brand new email account before playing any content from my home box. After streaming a tv show, I started to stream the move Transformers and got through half of it. What do I find in my brand new email box this morning? Spam for some viral media Transformers teaser. Hmmm.
For now, I’m blocking traffic from the 360 to ‘net and looking for my tin foil hat.
Anyone else with a similar experience?
This is all great and all but when can we expect a web browser i know alot of you are asking that same question too.
I am having problems playing xvid files that are stored on my NAS drive. I get the message that the file is unsupported.
But the same file plays using a portable USB drive connected directly to the xbox.
Has anybody run into this issue?
I'm having the exact same issue... It caused me to buy a copy of Connect360 for my Mac....
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I have to download the codec every time I want to play an .avi file. It seems to be the same (updated) codec that I already had (for playing AAC files off an ipod).
So before I play a movie (streamed from my PC) I have to sign in to XboxLive and download the codec again. Then it plays fine.
While finally having the codec is nice, the whole thing is pointless as the console is so noisy (fans etc.) that it makes watching movies painful.
Reason why the PS3 update is taking so long is that supposedly the new PS3 update will let you blend Xbox Games in the disc tray....
Sure it will.
I downloaded the December 2007 system update and copied it to CD. When I tried installing it on my UK console, as per the instructions on xbox.com, it just didn't install. Has anyone in the UK got this update to work?
If not does anyone know how to get this working on a UK console or when UK users will be able to get this update?
Note: I don't have my 360 hooked up to Live and it is an unhacked console.