When you switch on your Xbox 360 today, you might be prompted to download a dashboard update. If you’re not, then don’t panic; the update is being released gradually throughout different territories for the next few weeks. While today’s update is by no means a drastic overhaul of the console’s operating system, it does add a new feature that will help those of you who have grown tired of wading through categories and sub-menus in order to find what you want.
It’s called “pinning” and you can think of it as your customised list of favourite Xbox 360 bits and pieces. According to Mr. Xbox LIVE himself, Major Nelson, “pinning lets you personalize the dashboard by saving your favorite movies, TV shows, games, music, videos and websites right to the home screen.”
Wait a minute, saving websites? Yes, on top of being able to pin your favourite stuff right to the dashboard homepage, the update will finally add web browsing to Microsoft’s console; this was announced at E3 earlier this year. The caveat? It’s Internet Explorer. Boo! Fun fact: Internet Explorer is the world’s preferred web browser when downloading another web browser. Except if it’s on Xbox 360 – then you’re stuck with IE.
Expect a couple of other minor nips and tucks: the “Quickplay” tile on the bottom left of the home screen will now be labelled “Recent”; you’ll be getting new recommendations based on what you’ve played or watched in the past as well as what your friends have played or watched; there’ll also be more tiles per category, which hopefully won’t be used to push adverts into your living room.
As for SmartGlass integration, Major Nelson has confirmed that this won’t be happening before Windows 8 goes live. The date for Windows 8 is 26 October, so you can expect to control and consume Xbox 360 dashboard content via your tablet device sometime then.
Source: Major Nelson
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