Microsoft Releases Xbox 360 Dashboard Upgrade

Microsoft has released the latest version of its Xbox 360 dashboard upgrade in a simultaneous worldwide rollout, following an announcement of its much-awaited features, including background downloading, earlier in May. One of the most important new additions is a new download manager, which allows for up to six downloads to be queued and prioritized, while allowing users to continue to use the Xbox 360 dashboard, play music or even games. As an added benefit, if gamers engage in multiplayer gameplay while downloads are in process, the new background download manager will automatically pause the download queue until the multiplayer session is complete, ensuring a continuously optimal gameplay experience. Other changes include the addition of fast forward and rewind functions to all new Marketplace videos, improved data retrieval for CD album names and tracks, and the ability to automatically resume playback of a DVD from where it was last stopped. It is also now possible to set the console’s default start-up to the dashboard and not a game, if a disc is present in the drive when it powers up. A new “idle” indicator has been added to user’s friend lists, as well as the option to have separate gamer pictures for friends and strangers. The update does not require a hard drive, but is instead flashed to the Xbox 360’s internal hardware - the full list of additional features is available at the official Xbox website.