A new wave of social entertainment is coming to Xbox Live on Novemeber 17th. With the new update, players will have access to Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and instant on HD video from Zune will be available on Xbox 360 consoles.
“We’re delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members,” Xbox LIVE general manager Marc Whitten said. “Xbox LIVE’s differentiator has always been our community, and we’ve already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview. It’s the community that drives us forward and allows us to pioneer new ways of connecting people through the entertainment they love.”
Here is a breakdown from Xbox.com of what you can do with the new features:
- Facebook– Update your status to share what movie, game or entertainment you’re enjoying, connect with friends and view their Facebook stream, status updates and photos on the big screen – all seamlessly integrated and custom-built for Xbox 360. You can even compare your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on LIVE.
- Zune – Zune video on Xbox LIVE offers a full fidelity experience with instant on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. No waiting for downloads or buffering, it’s there at the press of a button. You can also share the experience with up to seven friends through voice chat and Avatar integration on the TV screen.
- Twitter– Stay in the know by discovering, posting and replying to Tweets right on your Xbox 360. You can even view friend profiles, trends and conversations, or search to see who’s tweeting about your favorite game.
- Last.fm – Discover more music and explore endless personalized radio stations with Last.fm on Xbox 360. Skip, “ban” or “love” tracks to create your perfect mix—we’ve even built in “Gamer Stations” with game-related types of music selected specifically for the gaming community.
Remember, you need an Xbox Live Gold membership to access these new features. Also, you must be over the age of 18 right now because there are no parental controls on these services yet. So, until Microsoft can build in these safety features, teens will be out of luck. Microsoft promises they are working to fix that as we speak and should be available in a few weeks.
What do you think about these new features? Will you use them? I personally am not a fan of social networking on a large scale, but I might send a tweet or two when I have the time.
