Players will be able to connect over the 360, PCs and Mobile devices through Windows Live messenger this Spring.
The service will be free to Silver and Gold users who send more than two million text and voice messages daily according to Microsoft. These users will now have access to the new service Starting May 7, the release date of the dashboard update. Compatibility between the two services will also be increased by allowing Windows Live Messenger users to see their friend’s gamertags in addition to what they can do while connected.
Messages from the service will display on the screen much like current messages with the placement and opaqueness being non-adjustable. Because this service will require a keyboard, Microsoft has also revealed a snap-on keyboard for the 360 controller.
In total, there are roughly 1,600 changes, large and small, being made in the spring dashboard update.
Some of the other major new features of the update include:
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. 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. Some smaller updates will be:
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. Video trick modes are enabled for content that is being
progressively downloaded from Video Marketplace. 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). Background downloads can occur after the console has been
turned off—the console will automatically power down when
background downloads complete (not enabled by default). Earned Achievement notifications now show Achievement and
Gamerscore details over the game without having to bring up
the guide or leave the game. Player and friends lists now quickly show session presence
information for quick identification of users that are
joinable. Marketplace has now been raised to its own Dashboard blade
to improve navigation. Added Windows Live ID management functionality to Account
Management. Finanlly, arcade improvements include:
“Friends Playing Now” feature: Quickly find your friends
in Arcade, see what they’re playing and join in the fun.
Friend information is displayed in multiple locations
throughout Arcade. Tell a friend: Send messages to your friends and boast
about your latest achievements and earned high scores. Three
new messages have been added to help you exalt your
accomplishments. Auto downloads: Have Arcade automatically all free and
trial games directly to your collection. Build your collection
quickly and easily through background downloads. A simple
press of the X button will bring up the queue for review. Expanded Arcade Leaderboard and Compare Achievements:
Scroll through your entire friends leaderboard list (up to
100) and compare achievements.