New Xbox Dashboard Rollout Has Begun

By Brian P Rubin | 16 October 2012 | 13 Comments

Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb posted an update on his blog yesterday to announce the rollout of the new Xbox Dashboard. The updated dashboard will include a number of cool features, not least of which will be the addition of the Internet Explorer web browser—finally. The Xbox 360 is the only major console of this generation not to have a built-in web browser, so its addition is notable for that reason alone. But on top of that, the IE experience will be supplemented in a very cool way when Windows 8 launches on October 26, since the SmartGlass app will finally be made available.

SmartGlass was the tablet and smartphone app that Microsoft crowed about during E3 this year, which would allow users to navigate their Xbox consoles with their touchscreens, allowing for much easier web-browsing on the TV than with the cumbersome Wii remote or PS3 controllers. The SmartGlass experience could potentially rival that of the forthcoming Wii U GamePad, not to mention the much-discussed but rarely-implemented cross-platform functionality of the PS3 and the Vita. In that regard, Sony sounds like it’s coming up last…at least, until SmartGlass is revealed to be a dud.

Anyway, enough jibber jabber. The new dashboard will appear on the consoles of three million gamers at first, and over the next two weeks it should hit everyone. “Don’t panic if you don’t see an immediate update,” writes Hryb, “just keep checking back in.”

Here’s the full bulleted list of what the new dashboard will offer, direct from Major Nelson himself:

Refreshed Xbox 360 Dashboard. We’ve updated the UI with a few things, including an updated layout with more tiles, a combined TV & Movies channel and, in the US, a Sports destination.
Internet Explorer for Xbox. With Internet Explorer on Xbox, you can easily find and view internet content on the biggest screen in the house, including HTML5 videos.
Recommendations and Ratings. Recommendations will allow you to discover new favorites, generated based on a number of variables including the content you previously viewed, what your friends are consuming and what is most relevant and popular with our Xbox community. You can now rate content yourself and also see Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
Pinning. Pinning lets you personalize the dashboard by saving your favorite movies, TV shows, games, music, videos and websites right to the home screen. It’s as easy as opening an app or a favorite movie and clicking “pin.”
Xbox Video. Formerly called Zune Video Marketplace, Xbox Video offers hundreds of thousands of TV shows and movies for buying or renting in instant HD streaming.
Recent. Previously called Quick Play, the Recent view gives you a list of movies, games, apps or other types of content that you most recently accessed on the console.
Enhanced Search. The last Xbox LIVE update brought Bing voice search to Xbox so you could use voice to search for movies, TV shows, actors, directors and artists. This year we added genre search to the list, so now you can search for action, comedy, romance, drama or sci-fi. Bing voice search now includes results for video across the Web, including YouTube.
International Expansion of Voice Search. We’ve expanded our Kinect voice search capabilities to 9 new countries – Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Ireland.

Can’t wait. Honestly, Microsoft may not be perfect, but out of all the consoles of this generation, their user-interface has been the best by far. At least, that’s what I think. Your thoughts? Any feelings about SmartGlass and Xbox-enabled web browsing? Keep it clean, you preverts.

Via Major Nelson

13 Comments

Posted by Prince Adam on 16 October 12 at 1:18pm

I’ve had this for a few months…
- Posted by SAK on 16 October 12 at 2:07pm
  
  Damn you must be some sort of super badass dude.
  - Posted by Brian P Rubin on 16 October 12 at 2:22pm
    
    Many users were able to enter a beta and test it out before the official roll-out started. Here we have one.
Posted by Mark on 16 October 12 at 5:47pm

Man I wish dashboard updates were optional, they keep shoveling crap that I don’t want to deal with it in every single update.

God I miss the original dashboard.
Posted by Robert on 17 October 12 at 8:19am

I agree Mark. I had not been online for a while and hopped on the other day and was bombarded with downloads. I could not even play for like 30 mins the first 2 I received were the terms of service change and the 3rd was the new dashboard. I only use xbox to play games and strream netflix. I do not understand why they have to add more stuff?

And as far as this article, so far its the most informative article I have found. They go into great detail on here about the new update. As far as the web browsing I will continue to use my laptop. I think it is a great feature for people who do not have a pc. The smart glass app is something interesting my question is how is connecting a tablet or smart phone going to enhance video game and entertainment?
You guys know what your talking about but what am I missing on this..
- Posted by Brian P Rubin on 17 October 12 at 8:39am
  
  Thanks for the kind words. Just to clarify, the bulleted list above is straight from Major Nelson himself, so the details are Microsoft’s. Just want to make sure that’s clear.
  
  As for SmartGlass: It’ll make navigating the console’s dashboard way easier and more intuitive. As it is, it’s kind of haphazard using the controller or even the remote. Using SmartGlass SHOULD make it far more natural, much like browsing on the phone itself. It’s kind of amazing how much UI has progressed since the advent of touch-navigation. SmartGlass might also appear in games much the same way the Wii U GamePad is supposed to, offering supplementary gaming experiences, like maps, play-calling, communication, hints, bonus items, inventory management…it’s all up to what developers decide to go with. Personally, I can’t wait.
Posted by Joe Doe on 17 October 12 at 9:13am

I’m not a PREvert, Brian! DON’T INSULT ME LIKE THAT. I’m only a PERvert. JEEZE.
- Posted by Brian P Rubin on 17 October 12 at 9:15am
  
  For the record, I totally know I wrote “prevert.” That’s because it is WAY more fun to say than “pervert.” Try it. “Cut it out, you prevert!” Man, that is fun.
  - Posted by Joe Doe on 17 October 12 at 9:20am
    
    +1
Posted by Mugenite on 17 October 12 at 1:19pm

I wonder if SmartGlass will make it through to tripple-A titles… All this seems very interesting.
Posted by Joh on 17 October 12 at 2:09pm

Is that a screenshot of the new one or the old one? It better not be the new one cuz it looks the same! I hope they make it easier to find stuff. I hate the current dashboard. I feel like everything is hidden. PS3′s XMB and the Wii Menu I feel are easier to navigate.

btw why does xbox live has so many ads when I pay for it? There’s less ads on PSN and it’s free!
- Posted by Landon Robinson on 17 October 12 at 4:36pm
  
  Well, let’s just say you’re in for one heck of a surprise.
Posted by ptofoc on 18 October 12 at 11:19pm

Personally I prefer the old dashboard (the second one). My home screen was not filled with ads and it was just a lot smoother.