Microsoft is rolling out the new Xbox 360 dashboard today, which comes Internet Explorer, Xbox Music, Xbox Video, new personalization options, improved search and more.
Company spokesperson Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb announced that three million consoles are getting the new dashboard today, while the rest are expected to receive the update sometime within the next couple of weeks.
The additions that mark the biggest change are the Internet Explorer app and the Xbox Music service, which will let you listen to an unlimited amount of tunes for $9.99 a month ad-free. To use Xbox Music on the Xbox 360 you’ll need an Xbox Live Gold subscription as well as an Xbox Music Pass (which is what you get for the $9.99 fee). Notice a little brand reinforcement there?
Also in the update comes Xbox Video, which replaces the notably unsuccessful Zune Video Marketplace. It’s basically the same thing.
The TV and Videos tabs have been merged into a single section named TV & Movies, and a US-exclusive Sports destination has been added.
There’s now the option to “Pin” content to the Home screen for fast access to your favorite stuff, it can even be an Internet Explorer link.
Bing has been given a video search function, though currently while it will search YouTube, the videos on the most popular destination for moving pictures won’t play (though there is a YouTube app for that). Voice searching has been added for Ireland, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Austria.
