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PSA: Xbox Dashboard preview applications now closed
Hopefully you didn't put off applying for Microsoft's Xbox Dashboard public preview, because applications are now closed. Major Nelson broke the news, noting that "we have reached our target audience volume." Those lucky enough to get into the program should be notified within the next two weeks. The rest of us will just be over here, kicking up some dust and letting out a collective "shucks."
New Xbox dashboard now has a name: Twist Control
Update: It sounds like "Twist Control" is a generic name for the panel-scrolling UI element which has appeared in various Microsoft products, such as the Zune HD, and not the proper name for the Dashboard. We thought it was a little fishy -- in an interview with Joystiq earlier this month, Microsoft's David Dennis said the company was calling the updated interface the "new dash," because "we didn't want it to stick like NXE did." We apologize for the confusion. During floor demos at Gamescom, Microsoft revealed the moniker of its new, Kinect-centric Xbox 360 Dashboard: "Twist Control." We think we can all agree that this is the best name that the platform's navigation tools have had thus far. Well, okay, "Blades" might give it a run for its money, but it'd be a pretty close race. Then again, we haven't seen much twisting from the interface -- isn't there a more context appropriate title out there? Something like "Space Windows" or "Wizard Buttons" or "The Telekinesis Engine" or "Intangible Frames" or "The Even Newer Xbox Experience" or "Minority Report" or "Bark Commands at Your Xbox Until Your Neighbors Think That You Are a Legit Crazy Person."
Video: How the new Xbox Dash watches your every move
Microsoft has released a new video about the upcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard update. There's not a great deal of new information to be had, though this is one of the few public glimpses of the new dash offered by the company. One worrying note about the video: There's a large emphasis on the revised Dashboard learning about the user. As Xbox Live corporate VP Marc Whitten forebodingly puts it, "It's not about you learning about our technology, it's about our technology learning about you [emphasis added]." In other words, you might want to stop gaming in your underwear.
