Not much was said in this year’s Microsoft’s E3 Media Briefing – instead most of the time was taken up by new releases coming soon this year, but also revealed was a new dashboard UI with more Kinect integration and plans to get live television onto your screens.
As much anticipated, Microsoft did announce a Live TV platform coming to Xbox 360. However, the Diamond rumour did not pan out as the company said it was working on it… and that’s about it. Though, it has said that it will work in the same way that Foxtel does live TV on the Xbox 360. The lack of that announcement could also be due to the fact it has no backers on that project as of yet.
The new dashboard is taking again some cues from Metro with the block interface, and will also integrate Bing search. Using the Kinect and say “Xbox Bing” will take you there, while “Xbox Bing Harry Potter” will search for Harry Potter-related results across the marketplace and other Xbox-connected areas.
In addition to the new dashboard and Bing-powered search engine, Microsoft has now finally brought in YouTube integration. You can now watch YouTube videos from the comfort of your Xbox 360-hooked television. Though, it most likely will have a limited catelogue at launch due to video quality.
What is indeed new is the new “apps” section of the dashboard – where services such as Zune, Netflix and other online content providers will now inhabit. As well, users will be able to access an app store via the Marketplace link. Though, we are still unsure what’s happening in that area.
Gallery of the new dashboard UI is below.
