Xbox Live Announcement

I received this update email from Xbox Live.  Xbox Live and the Live components of xbox.com will be down starting at 12:01AM Pacific Time on Monday, September 29th for around 24 hours.  It looks like this will be the full update and not just a preparatory update.  Take a look at the details here.

UPDATE:  Well it looks like it was just a prep update to the backbone of Xbox Live.  Oh well.  Looks like we will have to wait until November for the new goodies.  I myself can't wait until Netflix is accessible.

Video Of Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Leaked

Never underestimate the power of the hacker!!!

Such is the case with Xhavok87 who posted some video of the new Xbox 360 dashboard that's due out in the fall. He (or she) even posted the details on how they did it too. via G4TV]

[hacker's blog]

Thanks G4TV

Xbox 360 DivX/XviD Update Tested

Xbox Live released their fall update for the Xbox 360 today, with the DivX and XviD support that everyone has been waiting for. I can't wait to be able to watch my movies and TV shows that I have on my computers (all legal of course) on my TV set. I've just downloaded the update and haven't had a chance to really play with it, but the guys at Gizmodo have. And they are very happy with it, in fact they say it's nearly perfect. Check out all the listed details that comes with the new update, some of which even Microsoft didn't even tell us about.

Thanks Gizmodo for this info.

DivX And Xvid Support In Xbox Live Fall Update

Oh happy day for Xbox live users who would like to play DivX and Xvid files on their Xbox 360. Come the fall update for Xbox live, your system will now support these files. Check the press release below:

"15. What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile. These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files. Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4. Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc). The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file.

16. Why don't some of my older versions of DivX® files play?

Since we only support Mpeg-4 compatible codec implementations, we will not be able to play video files older than DivX® 5.0."

This is a major deal, and a step in the right direction to making the Xbox 360 a full multimedia system.

[Gizmodo]