Not only do we get the crazy keyboard controller, but we also get some crazy new features in the Xbox 360 Spring Dashboard Update.
Of particular note, H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 2 (read DiVX, XViD) support has been added. I am ecstatic over this! This is something people have been begging for with the Xbox 360 for a long time. No longer do we need to use Transcode 360 over Media Center to watch these videos.
No official word on having a VGA output level select in the dash with the new update, as was rumored by an HD-DVD insider. I hope that makes it into the update, since I’d love to get full 1080p without having to drop $480 clams on the Elite.
Full details after the jump.
From xbox.com:
Beyond Windows Live Messenger, the Spring Update for Xbox 360 includes hundreds of new features and enhancements including:
- A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.
- Enhanced family settings features for Xbox Live communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.
- A new Xbox Live Marketplace blade lets Xbox Live members access the content they seek—whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States)—from one place on Xbox Live.
- Updates to Xbox Live Arcade allow owners to quickly see which Xbox Live Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox Live members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded “Tell a Friend” capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.
- Expanded “Tell a Friend” capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.
- A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox Live Arcade games.
- New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace.
- Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.
The Spring Update is free beginning the week of May 7 and will be easily accessible to every Xbox 360 owner through Xbox Live or on Xbox.com.
You may not even notice all the new features, but they are all designed to enhance your Xbox Live experience. Some of the other features in this upgrade include:
- The name of game in tray is now displayed in the dashboard.
- When the tray icon is highlighted, a list of achievements, game icon and gamerscore for that game is displayed.
- Playback progress bar indicates download completion.
- Improved skip forward, skip back functionality during video playback.
- Switchable aspect ratio now available during video playback (Auto to Letterbox, Zoom, Stretch, Native).
- Player and friends lists now quickly show session presence information for quick identification of users that are joinable.
- Support for streaming WM-DRM protected content from a PC
- Folder view for video content on connected devices
- H.264 video support: Up to 15 Mbps, Baseline, Main, and High (up to level 4.1) Profiles with 2 channel AAC LC and Main Profiles.
- Added MPEG-4 Part 2 video support: Up to 8 Mbps, Simple Profile with 2 channel AAC LC and Main Profiles.
- Show folder hierarchy for video content played from all devices.
- Bookmarks are stored for each video that the user plays remembering the users last location in the file as well as the aspect ratio that the user choose for that file.
- Video trick modes (fast forward, rewind, chapter skip) can now be used while downloading Video Marketplace content.
- Skip forward and backward functionality has been improved to skip to the next or previous chapter. Each video is divided into 10 “chapters” allowing you to quickly skip around video content.
- The information bar that is turned on via the On Screen Display (OSD) now shows you exactly where you are in the playback of the video file. In addition it will also show for Video Marketplace content how much of the file has been downloaded and where the “chapters” exist in the file.
- Windows Media protected content (WM-DRM) can now be streamed from the PC to the console. If the WM-DRM license is missing or corrupted then a specific error message is displayed to the user. Bookmarking is also stored for protected content.
- When the user is in the dashboard and an Xbox 360 game is in the console then the name of the game is displayed in the tray icon of the dashboard. If the user highlights the tray icon then achievements and gamer score are displayed for that game based on the signed in user. Xbox1 games show the name and image of the game.
- Bookmarks are stored for each video that the user plays. The user can delete all bookmarks but this will reset all bookmark information for every video that the user has played. The bookmark database is exposed in the system/memory/system items
- When a user selects an item for download from Marketplace then the system will determine if there is sufficient disk space for the item and, if not, will ask the user to delete content on the HDD. The system provides a sorted by size list of videos, game trailers, demos and arcade content to aid the user in the deletion process. The same list of items are also available from within memory so that users can quickly see which items are consuming the most disk space.
- The console will block the user who attempts to download content onto a storage device that will never have the capacity to store the item without deducting any points associated with the content item.
- The screensaver is disabled when playing photos from any source
Tears come to my Eyes when I heard this. I can now hook up my hard drive up to the 360 and watch my Anime. Sweet, Bloody Sweet
Still waiting for 4 person private chat! I beleive it was promised to us in the last fall update?
WHERE IS THE BROWSER I WANT A BROWSER I NEED A BROWSER PS3 AND THE WII GOT A BROWSER WHY CANT I HAVE A BROWSER DONT MAKE ME BUY A PS3 JUST TO HAVE A BROWSER I WANT A BROWSER MICROSOFT I HOPE AND PRAY IT’S IN THIS UPDATE BECOUSE IF YOU GUY’S HADE A BROWSER I’M SURE IT WOULD KILL PS3′S BROWSER…
Wow, someone likes the caps lock key and the word “BROWSER”
Wow, somebody likes pointing out the obvious.
Wow, somebody likes point out the obvious about the obvious.
Because the pc you just typed that message on isnt good enough? Would you really use a browser on a console?
[...] Full Article on this link… [...]
No browser for the 360 please. I have a computer for that.
Why would you buy a PS3 or Wii for the browser? Sounds like you need a PC more than a game console.
Correct me if I’m off base here, but just b/c Microsoft is going to support MPEG-4, does that necessarily mean it will support the DiVX and XViD implementations? Are they going to implement the codecs to work for both the extender and local access? I mean DiVX is a public company, wouldn’t MS have to mention them by name if they’re going to support decoding their files?
(I hope I am off base!)
@doofus
Only a few specific codecs are supported as explained in the updates.
Don’t expect it to play all your videos heh.
Folder view in the Videos section is what I wanted!
Anyhow seems like a nice update with many nice little improvements.
Its all about the little things…
do downloaded the update and it says mpeg 4 advanced profile yet I pop a divx file burnt to cd in and all it comes up with is mixed disc and it wont play. I havent tried to open it via media center, cause 360’s over at a friends house and my pc isnt. was hoping to play divx discs.
The spring update MPEG-4 was a huge bonus. Make Vid watching killer.
[...] Xbox 360 Spring Update: DiVX, XViD, H.264 Support: No longer do we need to use Transcode 360 ove.. http://bit.ly/UmaeU RT @xbox_news "Highly Anticipated Xbox 360 Exclusives – Techtree.com [...]
Why the hell does this show up in Google News when it is over 2 and a half years old? And this is not the first time I have seen this from this website. Get your s*** together Loot Ninja! Yeesh.
We have absolutely no control of over Google decides to publish on Google News. They post what they want, when they want. We don’t submit articles or anything of the sort.
Would you really use a browser on a console?