Microsoft's new Xbox Experience dashboard doesn't officially launch until Wednesday the 19th. But if you signed up for the preview (and who didn't?) with a valid console ID then it's available now according to Major Nelson. What's more, Netflix has confirmed its Xbox 360 launch details: more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes and 300 streaming HD titles. Remember, streaming is free for Netflix members who are also Xbox Live Gold members. The HD video streams will be limited to SD audio, however -- multi-channel audio is in the works as are additional HD titles. Now get outta here kid, NXE awaits.

[Via Joystiq]

Read -- Major Nelson
Read -- Netflix

If you skipped Walmart's pre-Black Friday festivities pat yourself on the back, as -- despite its lawyers hard work C&Ding unauthorized early ad postings into oblivion -- CNNMoney reveals the "doorbuster" highlights probably not worth getting trampled for this year. Between 5-10 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving the already-discounted Magnavox Blu-ray player drops from $198 to $128 (a BDP-S300 might still be a better value), 50-inch Samsung plasma of unspecified resolution is only $798 (720p, bet on it), and Xbox 360 + Guitar Hero III & wireless guitar pack (all the real plastic guitar aficionados have moved on to Rock Band 2) drops in for $199. Slightly lower profile are a $398 HP desktop PC and $175 gas grill but c'mon, we all know it's the high definition (it'll be a lonely holiday without the suddenly too-good for us Vizio) that will have you shivering outside your local retailer with the soccer moms and other deal hunters.

[Thanks, Jason]

The Black Friday deals have already started to flow in over on the HD front, but now that we're closing in on America's most mayhem-filled shopping day of the year, we're beginning to see stellar deals from nearly every CE category. One that caught our eye here recently was from Dell's list, and it involves what's already the cheapest gaming console on the market today (the Vii notwithstanding). On November 28th, Dell Home's website will offer the Xbox 360 Arcade with seven games including Rock Band 2 for $199, and while we highly doubt you'll receive any guitars, drum sticks or sweat bands for that price, we suppose there's always a remarkably small chance that you will. Keep the faith and raise the horns, brothers / sisters.

It looks like the new Quantum of Solace game for the Xbox 360 has a little something extra bundled in with the package: according to reports, an explosive 48 hour Xbox Live Gold trial membership card with a secret "Netflix code" on the back is included. Nobody seems particularly stunned to hear that the companies plan to aggressively push the streaming movie service when the NXE goes live on November 19th, though no other details of the trial have emerged yet. There does seem to be ferocious agreement, however, that it's at least somewhat possible trials will appear with other high-profile games, too.

[Via Joystiq]

You've already been given the skinny on Microsoft's New Xbox Experience -- you know, that stupendous, sure-to-be-life-altering dashboard update that'll hit 360 owners on November 19th -- but one aspect that still hasn't been adequately addressed is the difference in load times between the DVD and HDD. If you're staring blankly ahead with a look of decided curiosity, here's a bone: the NXE will enable users to load full games onto their Xbox 360 hard drive for "quicker load times" versus the traditional DVD method. When tested on a variety of games, MTV Multiplayer found that the bootup sequence was between 9 and 15 seconds quicker via HDD, though loading a ~6.6GB title initially took around 11 minutes. Whether or not those precious ticks are worth it is totally your call, but avoiding the annoying hum of the optical drive has to count for something. A trio of comparison vids await you in the read link.

[Via Joystiq]

We keep waiting for "wireless" contact charging pads to blow our minds and revolutionize the way we use gadgets, but perhaps we're just being idiot optimists. Or perhaps not. We're seeing great possibilities with this latest implementation of WildCharger's tech, the TouchCharge Kit from Psyclone for Xbox 360 controllers. The kit includes a rechargeable battery pack with the appropriate contacts and of course the charging pad. If you need to keep four controllers charging simultaneously, the $69-per setup pricetag might put this out of reach, but the Federal Reserve wouldn't be dropping interest rates right and left if it didn't want us racking up hundreds of dollars in consumer debt for game peripherals, right? EB Games has this up for pre-order now, should ship on December 15th.

[Thanks, Ken C.]

We hope you're prepared to be menaced by the unstoppable, demon-like tech punditry and heart attack-inducing fear that only the Engadget Podcast can provide. This week, the team takes you on a hellish ride through the rancid underworld of the New Xbox Experience with Joystiq's evil kingpin Chris Grant. You can also hear Josh, Paul, and Nilay psychotically sound off on new Netflix happenings, explore the twisted nature of HP's Mini 1000, tear into the meaty gristle of Windows 7, and more. Enter at extreme risk of bodily harm to your personage!

WARNING: This podcast has been known to kill people. Engadget assumes no responsibility for injury or death.

[Thanks, JS and Rom for the image]

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, and Nilay Patel
Guest: Chris Grant
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Don't Fear the Reaper

00:01:08 - New Xbox 360 Experience hands-on and impressions
00:31:54 - Week of Netflix
00:51:39 - HP Mini 1000 hands-on
01:02:16 - Windows 7 details galore

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If you managed to pull in the reigns and hold off on Fanatec's wireless Porsche 911 Turbo Racing Wheel back in April, you can get a beautiful alternative right about now with even more utility. Today, the outfit has introduced the limited edition Porsche 911 Turbo S Racing Wheel for Xbox 360 -- which, contrary to its name, actually plays nice with the PlayStation 3 and PC. Of note, there are three variants from which to choose: a 911 Turbo S Edition, Clubsport Edition, and Pure Edition, all of which are licensed by Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH and feature a 900° steering angle. You'll also find a 6+1 shifter, and if you opt for the Clubsport Edition, you'll get high-end pedals that are actually crafted from aluminum and feature a load cell pressure sensor for the brake. The pain? $250, $400 and $150 in order of mention, 90% of which is totally paying for that logo in the middle.

There's some hysterical outrage out there right now over the New Xbox Experience's HD Netflix HDCP restrictions -- apparently it only works with HDCP-compliant digital displays, which is prompting a lot of hand-wringing about copyright restrictions and whether older 360s will get "locked out." Well, we're here to make it all better -- that's our NXE-equipped 360 connected over component, happily playing back HD Netflix at 1080i. See? Works fine. The problem is that some older LCD monitors don't support HDCP over DVI, so if you're in the minority of people using an HDMI to DVI adapter to drive an older display that doesn't do HDCP, HD Netflix won't work, since it can't authenticate. That's not the best situation, but DVI isn't a default supported 360 output, so we wouldn't expect 100 percent compatibility -- and besides, you can always run VGA. We're waiting on official confirmation from Microsoft of all this -- we want to get things absolutely right -- but in the meantime you can console yourself with another shot of HD Heroes over component after the break.

Update: Yes, it works with movies too -- we just tried it with The Orphanage (above), and it looked great.

It's something you can't get on the Roku. Nor on LG's BD300. Nor on Samsung's P2500 / P2550 Blu-ray players. Nor through Netflix's own "Watch Instantly" portal. It's high-def Netflix streaming, and it's coming first to Microsoft's Xbox 360. Just in case you glossed over this massively huge tidbit when digesting the new dashboard information this morning, we're here to remind you that when the aforesaid dash hits on November 19th, with it will come HD Netflix streaming for (US-based, presumably) Xbox Live Gold members. You should know that this is only a "soft launch" with about 300 titles available for now, and the litany of details you're surely craving simply aren't available at present time. At any rate, we'd say things just got a lot more interesting in the world of digital downloads, but there's really no need. The real question is: when will everyone else follow suit, and how quickly can we expect current Netflix streamers to get the HD upgrade?

Update: We're hearing this whole HD Netflix streaming thing may actually hit all those other boxes in late November as well. Guess we'll see in time, huh?

Thanks to a special blessing from the folks in Redmond, we've had an opportunity to thoroughly give the rejiggered Xbox 360 Dash (AKA, the New Xbox Experience) a serious run through, and we've got the lowdown on the future of your gaming life. As you probably already know from the numerous posts we've done and generally available info (Microsoft has been pretty forthcoming with this stuff), the Xbox team has completely revamped the Dash experience, giving the system not only a visual overhaul, but trashing the underlying tech and rebuilding things from the ground up. The result is a beautiful, intuitive interface which loses almost nothing from previous versions while adding a considerable new feature set to the mix. Read on for our first impressions.

Hints of a 60GB Xbox Live Starter Pack popped up in Europe in August, but according to GameStop and a leaked Circuit City ad, the $99 upgrade should land in American stores sometime next week. Just as we'd heard, the bundle will include three months of Live Gold, a wired headset, and a 60GB hard drive -- just the thing to meet that new 128MB New Xbox Experience storage requirement. Too bad Microsoft isn't going to discount this bundle quite as heavily as that $30 20GB package for Arcade owners, but we won't complain too loudly -- hell, if MS would just cut the price on that ridiculous $149 120GB unit, we'd be all smiles.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

You already know the Xbox 360 is getting new community features, a revamped dashboard, Avatars, and of course Netflix video -- all things we've been excited about since we saw them in action at E3 this year. There hasn't been much to go on since then, but we recently came across some short videos exhibiting Parties (which let users socialize and make plans while engaging in separate games and activities) and Avatar customization options; hopefully they'll hold you over until the features go live November 19th. We won't be held responsible for the brain deterioration caused by the vacuous marketing-speak accompanying the moving images, however. "It is where you get to enjoy entertainment -- that's the vision." Yes, it is.