Xbox 360

Remember Inside Xbox? In the days of Xbox 360, the console's official video show was a fixture of its dashboard.

Microsoft has delayed the shutdown of its indie games programme for Xbox 360 until next month.

Microsoft shuts down its indie games programme for Xbox 360 at the end of this month.

Dead Island: Definitive Edition, Resident Evil 6 and The Flame in the Flood headline Microsoft's first round of additions to its Xbox Game Pass subscription.

Microsoft has launched an enormous Xbox One sale on backwards compatible Xbox 360 games, with more than 275 prices chopped down in size.

Xbox has launched an enormous spring sale, with some eye-catching offers and more than 350 game prices slashed.

Xbox One's backwards compatibility programme is one of the best features of the console.

Xbox Avatars will soon be able to use wheelchairs, Microsoft has revealed.

Xbox 360 games released on multiple discs can now be made available via the Xbox One's back compatibility service.

10 years and five months after its original launch, Microsoft has discontinued production of the Xbox 360.

Microsoft has a flurry of new Xbox One features on the way in its next console update, headlined by an increase in Party Chat size from 12 up to 16.

This larger number will apply to Parties either on Xbox One or on Windows 10 via the Xbox app. You'll also be able to include your Party chat with your Twitch broadcasts.

Backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games will now be listed on the Xbox One store, and achievements will now appear in your feed.

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The Xbox 360 turned 10 this week, and we've been reminiscing about the wonderful console each day with articles about its influence, its best games and even its dashboard. Now though, it's time for something a little different. It's time to go behind the scenes.

You could point to the console's library of games or Microsoft's groundbreaking technological spine of Xbox Live. You could even point to Xbox 360's Kinect (though it probably won't pick you up for a few seconds). In my mind, however, there's one thing every single Xbox 360 user could not fail to forget.

Kinect exec Kudo Tsunoda has moved to a new role outside of Microsoft's Xbox team.

Microsoft has unveiled its initial list of Xbox 360 games which will be backwards compatible on Xbox One.

A new update for the Xbox 360 - remember that? - has gone live, and it adds 2GB of cloud storage.

You can use cloud storage for game saves you want to bring with you to Xbox One for Xbox One compatible games.

Meanwhile, you can now connect your Xbox 360 to a network that requires a Terms of Use acceptance. These can be found in public venues such as hotels and hospitals.

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How's your Gamescore getting along? Nearly 10 years on from the launch of Xbox 360, Microsoft's gaming awards system has now passed the 100,000 available achievements mark.

Microsoft reported its results for the fourth quarter of its 2015 financial year, and while the company made a gargantuan loss, Xbox and the division it sits in made a tidy profit.

Video game executive Peter Moore has recounted the infamous Xbox 360 'Red Ring of Death' saga that cost Microsoft over $1bn.

After a week, more than a million votes for Xbox 360 back compatible games have been cast via Microsoft's official Xbox Feedback site.

The Xbox One's backwards compatibility tech will fully support Xbox 360 DLC as well as games, Microsoft has confirmed.

UPDATE 16/6/15 07.40am: Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed to Eurogamer that online multiplayer in Xbox 360 games will still work on Xbox One.

Streaming subscription service Netflix is testing the introduction of adverts for its own programming on Xbox 360.

Xbox account credit received during the Microsoft Points switchover expires at the end of the month, Microsoft has warned.

UPDATE 1/5/15 9.15am Microsoft is rolling out a new Xbox 360 firmware update that adds USB hard drive support up to 2TB.

The feature, previously available to preview program members, is joined by a couple of other new features.

Purchase history and password resetting are now more straightforward and there's a new network statistics screen to better see what your console is up to online.

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Disney will launch a six-film bundle of Star Wars films this Friday, 10th April, which will be downloadable via Xbox Video.

Its price? Ł69.99.

Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Disney Movies will also sell the collection, although buying them through Xbox Video unlocks several special bonuses.

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Microsoft considered the idea of providing the original Xbox console for free.

Microsoft has detailed further Xbox One enhancements due as part of the system's April firmware update, including voice messages.

Available to dashboard preview testers this week and all Xbox One owners soon after, voice messaging will allow you to leave voicemail-style audio clips in your friends' inboxes.

A popular feature on Xbox 360, voice messages have been one of the most-requested Xbox One features among fans.

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Games console subscriptions such as Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus will now be included in the UK government's consumer price index, a ranking of commonly-used goods and services collated to determine the impact of inflation.

Xbox 360 owners can now grab the free Xbox One titles given away each month as part of Games with Gold directly from the last-gen console.

The top reason for buying a PlayStation 4 over its competitors this generation is the console's perceived "better resolution", a new US survey reports.

Microsoft plans to update its ageing Xbox avatars with "gorgeous" new graphics and a number of new features.

UPDATE 21/8/14 9.30am: The Xbox 360 500GB hard drive will go on sale in the UK "starting this month", Microsoft has told Eurogamer.

Microsoft is offering Xbox Live Rewards members a special gift on their birthday - a PDF of a paper cake.

Sky is changing streaming app Sky Go on console - and making it more expensive in the process.

Microsoft has shown off its latest special edition Xbox 360 controller model - an Arctic Camouflage design.

Microsoft has quietly killed off its offer of a cheaper Xbox 360 console when bought with a two-year Xbox Live subscription.

Hardcore Achievement hunter Raymond Cox, aka Stallion83, has become the first person to hit a million Gamerscore - 1,000,000G.

Microsoft has pledged to improve its Games with Gold programme and make it "more true" to what people might expect from the service.

Microsoft has said it is "concerned" about fresh reports that UK spies considered using Kinect for surveillance.

The latest colours in Microsoft's Special Edition Chrome Series of Xbox 360 controllers will be purple and black, the company has announced.

Microsoft will launch the two new flavours worldwide in March, company mouthpiece Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb wrote overnight, priced $54.99 in North America.

If you live in the US, you'll be able to pick up the black design at Walmart and the purple design at Best Buy. Or you can buy either from the online Microsoft Store.

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UPDATE #2: Microsoft has spoken out against the government surveillance of its customers and joined other technology giants such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter by signing a jointly-authored document entitled 'Global Government Surveillance Reform'.

Microsoft has rebranded Xbox Live Marketplace ahead of the Xbox One's launch.

Xbox Live Gold Family Pack members will soon have all of their accounts changed to individual Gold subscriptions.

Fancy a Fluttershy hoodie? Or perhaps one with Pinkie Pie? Microsoft has today released a range of avatar items to tie in with cult animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Take out an annual subscription to Microsoft Office 365 and you'll get a free year of Xbox Live Gold, the company has announced.

Ex-Xbox chief Don Mattrick tried to tempt Microsoft bosses into buying Zynga years before his recent appointment as its CEO, a new report suggests.

Microsoft has opened its public beta registration for this year's major Xbox 360 system update.

The firmware refresh will "improve overall performance" and add in the ability to purchase Xbox Marketplace games, DLC and accessories with real world money.

Interested in signing up? You can't apply online this year, unfortunately. You'll have to select the Xbox Beta Program tile on your Xbox 360 dashboard, and enter in your details there.

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Microsoft will launch a special edition Gold Chrome Xbox 360 controller in the UK this August, the company has announced.

Microsoft's free Xbox companion app has been downloaded more than 17 million times across its Android, iOS and Windows Phone versions.

Xbox 360 is set to dethrone Nintendo's Wii as the UK's best-selling current-gen home console, new figures have revealed.

Sales of Kinect have topped 24 million worldwide - more than Nintendo's GameCube (21.7 million) and equal to the original Xbox - according to the latest stats released by Microsoft.

Microsoft also says it has now shifted 76 million Xbox 360 consoles - suggesting an attach rate of nearly one Kinect to every three Xbox 360s.

More than 46 million users are now described as Xbox Live subscribers, which is apparently a growth of 15 per cent year on year, although the release is not explicit about whether that means Gold subscribers only or the overall number of people who access the service.

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Microsoft has bought promising startup R2 Studios, which has previously worked on media-streaming and space-age home automation technology.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's and music streaming service Napster are among the latest brands to launch Xbox 360 apps.

Microsoft has launched its free Xbox SmartGlass app for iOS and Android devices.

The release on third-party platforms comes just a fortnight after SmartGlass first launched for Xbox 360 and Windows 8 devices.

Smartglass is available as an update to the existing Xbox 360 Companion app. Users who already had this installed should see an update already waiting for them.

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The free Xbox 360 SmartGlass app arrives this week and lets players stream and share content across Microsoft devices.

The app brings SmartGlass functionality to Xbox 360 on 26th October, Microsoft's Major Nelson stated, the day Windows 8 launches. Apps for other platforms - Windows 8 PCs, tablets and smartphones - will follow.

Initially you can hook up your Microsoft device while using the new Xbox Video and Xbox Music services. These are widely available from today, when the new Xbox 360 dashboard update begins the next and final stage of its roll-out.

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The latest Xbox 360 dashboard update goes live from today, with support for Internet Explorer, Xbox Music, Xbox Video, new personalisation options, improved search and more.

"Don't panic" if the system update takes its time to appear, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has reassured. It will hit three million consoles worldwide today and everyone else within the next two weeks.

Perhaps the biggest new additions are the Internet Explorer app and Microsoft's new Xbox Music service, which offers free, ad-supported streaming on Windows 8 PCs. Xbox 360 owners must pay Ł8.99 a month for the Xbox Music Pass.

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Xbox Live Rewards is now gifting gamers 20 Microsoft Points on their birthday. That equates to about 17p ($0.25).

UPDATE: Around four hours after it first went down, Xbox Live now appears to be back online.

An update for the Xbox 360 iPlayer app has added a number of BBC radio stations to the service.

You'll now be able to wake up to Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1, snuggle up with Steve Wright on Radio 2, and get all arty with Radio 3 and 4.

Sports? You'll want Radio 5 Live.

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Microsoft has announced a new public beta test for several upcoming dashboard features.

Those selected to join will be able to access work-in-progress dashboard changes, Microsoft spokesman Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb has announced, as well as the upcoming Internet Explorer for Xbox app.

The beta will test personalised content recommendations tailored to specific users, plus "enhanced search and discovery features".

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Microsoft has updated its free My Xbox Live app for iOS devices. The fresh version allows you to control your Xbox 360 via your iPad.

Microsoft has updated its My Xbox Live companion app for iOS devices, and launched it on Android for the first time.

Microsoft will team up with Virgin Gaming to launch Xbox Live Tournaments, a new range of paid-for and free-to-play multiplayer gaming tourneys.

Microsoft has announced a fresh range of entertainment apps for Xbox 360 in the UK, including Napster, Absolute Radio and AOL On Network.

Microsoft has announced Xbox SmartGlass, a set of new features for streaming content between Xbox 360, Windows tablets and phones. It'll launch this autumn.

Users can send an in-progress movie from tablet to Xbox 360 to watch on the big screen. Your tablet then shows information about cast and characters.

Watching episodes of Game of Thrones will show you an active map of the world, reflecting what you're watching the TV show.

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An upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update will add support for Joule, a new wireless heart rate monitor which will track your exercise across most Kinect games.

Microsoft will reportedly preview its new music service, code-named Woodstock, at E3 2012.

Microsoft is set to roll-out TV-style advertising for Xbox Live, with 15-30 second spots set to run within TV and video apps.

The deal also confirms new channels coming soon to US gamers, including anime-streaming from Manga Entertainment.

"With the growth of Xbox Live, advertisers no longer have to choose between digital and TV advertising - we're offering the impact of TV and the interactivity and addressability of digital in one platform," said Microsoft's Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox Live Entertainment and Advertising.

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Channel 4's 4oD streaming service is now live on the Xbox360 dashboard, Microsoft has announced.

Xbox 360 users concerned at the prominent placement of advertisements on the console's new dashboard have devised a number of workarounds to disable them entirely.

Indie developers have had their say on the new Xbox 360 dashboard, with some complaining that it buries Xbox Live Indie Games.

"Ch-ch-ch-changes," sang David Bowie, "Turn and face the strange". 360 owners around the world switched on their consoles this week to discover that the Xbox experience had indeed ch-ch-ch-changed and turned very strange indeed, as the latest dashboard update rolled out, bringing the Xbox in line with the Metro front-end used by Windows phone.

UPDATE: According to a Tweet from Microsoft's Major Nelson, "the first set of customers will be getting the Xbox Live update within the next few hours."

ORIGINAL STORY: Microsoft has revealed a last-minute delay for the autumn Xbox 360 dashboard update, which was scheduled to roll out at 3pm UK time today.

Xbox spokesman Major Nelson tweeted the news just 29 minutes before the Xbox 360 update was due.

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Tomorrow's Xbox 360 dashboard update brings Lovefilm to Xbox Live in the UK.

Microsoft will release a free Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone 7 tomorrow to coincide with the autumn 2012 Xbox 360 dashboard update.

Games! Music! Apps! Shiny!

Starring Kinect and Bing.

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So, the changelogs looked rather unimpressive, and key features promised at E3 were conspicuous by their absence, but having spent some time with the new Xbox 360 dashboard, I can't help feel it's actually rather good, and, as is often the case with these system software upgrades, there are one or two undocumented features added to the mix that should please the hardcore fanbase.

I'm not going to dwell too much on the new features: rather, I'm going to show them off in action via a pristine HD streaming video, complemented by on-screen captions commenting on the changes. While some of the info imparted may be somewhat old now, the implementation is the most important aspect, and the video definitely shows the speed upgrades coded into the new update. Make no bones about it, NXE was slow and laggy, particularly in the manipulation of downloaded items once they started to stack up on your hard disk. In this respect, the new update is somewhat extraordinary.

There are plenty of small but significant changes here that more than make the download worthwhile, even if some of the show-stopping stuff is reserved for the US audience only. The Netflix "instant on" video streaming and ability to watch movies simultaneously with other Netflix users might not sound too enticing, but the functionality is getting plenty of love from those able to access it.

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Buy more things for mini-you.

Microsoft is asking Xbox 360 owners what they want for their Avatars in the future.

Microsoft has produced some statistics to prove Xbox Live is more popular now the New Xbox Experience has launched.

Microsoft has served up the first batch of new clothes for Xbox Live Avatars.

Films by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures are once again available from the on-demand Netflix Xbox Live service.

Rare has said the Xbox 360 avatars were a feature originally intended to launch long ago, to help spread the appeal of the console. But presumably gardening bears got in the way.

"The concept of avatars is something that we came up with about four years ago now," Mark Betteridge, studio boss, told GamesIndustry.biz.

"We were thinking about how hardcore and spiky the previous Xbox was, and everybody was of a view that the new one was going to be more smooth and friendly. Everybody was in agreement that was the right thing.

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Microsoft has confirmed it's aware of the sound glitch occurring with HDMI connections to the New Xbox Experience.

Microsoft has said new clothes will regularly be added for Xbox 360 Avatars, and most importantly they will be free.

Microsoft has detailed the line-up, competitions and events taking place over the "Xtival" weekend, which runs from 28th - 30th November. We call that next weekend.

The Xbox 360 event will incorporate game playing and celebrity chatter over Live. Gig tickets, t-shirts with avatars printed on, music downloads and other stuff will be up for grabs.

Highlights will include chatting to bonkers musicians The Prodigy for a couple of hours on Friday, plus various musical battles in Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. There will also be music from Oasis and Franz Ferdinand to download.

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Microsoft's Major Nelson has admitted there are "a few issues" with the New Xbox Experience update release yesterday.

Netflix has pulled all content by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures from the on-demand New Xbox Experience film streaming service.

Microsoft has revealed that if you signed up for the New Xbox Experience preview programme but didn't get in, you're in anyway.

"Instead of adding another 10,000 people to the preview program like we did last week, we've decided to do something a little different: everyone who successfully applied to the preview program (and submitted a valid console ID) will be getting the New Xbox Experience sometime within the next few hours," wrote an excited Major Nelson overnight.

"If you signed up and are not prompted, that means you did not enter your console ID properly and you'll have to wait until Wednesday."

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Microsoft will have sold 25 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide by the end of the month, the company said this morning

"The future of home entertainment is Xbox 360 - it's on demand, it's high definition, it's always social, it's all in one place," said Xbox boss Don Mattrick.

“With the New Xbox Experience we will reach the next generation of Xbox owners, 25 million and beyond. We are at a watershed moment, backed by the largest entertainment brands, with an incredible line-up of entertainment unmatched in any industry."

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Microsoft will be giving away over a million MS Points this week - and all you have to do to be in with a chance is use the New Xbox Experience to download Marketplace content.

Microsoft has invited a further 10,000 people to the New Xbox Experience preview program.

This will be the third and final batch to join in, before the Xbox Live overhaul becomes available to the masses on 19th November.

To stand a chance at being picked, you will have had to fill out a Connect Program Survey. And unfortunately there's no way of signing up now if you missed the boat first time around.

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Microsoft boss Don Mattrick still believes he was the very first person to invent controllable 3D human avatars.

Four existing Xbox Live Arcade games and one new one are set to incorporate Avatars when the New Xbox Experience launches on November 19th.

Xbox Live product unit manager Jerry Johnson has told Eurogamer that Microsoft is prepared to do another New Xbox Experience in 2-3 years if there's demand.

The New Xbox Experience is almost upon us, and we've spent the last week playing around with the beta version on one of our office Xbox 360s. Make sure to check out our New Xbox Experience hands-on for a thorough dissection of the dashboard you'll be staring at for the next few years.

Needs change, and for this reason, six months ago, Xbox Live was in trouble. Once the brave, slick and - yes - innovative centrepiece of Xbox 360, it began by offering so much that developers struggled to do it justice. After three years, they had caught up and, in some cases, overtaken it, and the Live team was forced to start making concessions. Rock Band was allowed its own Music Store. Halo 3 was allowed its own matchmaking and party systems. Major Nelson's catalogue of notifications was no longer a hobby, it was a corporate imperative. The plasters and stitches of biannual dashboard updates were unable to contain a once-brilliant interface, voluntarily haemorrhaging uniformity to satisfy developers and gamers for whom it had crossed over from an obstacle overcome to an impediment to fun.

Microsoft has now notified everyone who has been accepted into the New Xbox Experience preview programme ahead of the service launch on 19th November. Bad luck if you didn't make the cut.

However, if you know someone who did make the cut and are thinking about slyly upgrading your system using pulleys, levers and borrowed hard disks, think again: according to the email sent out to participants, you'll be frozen out for doing so.

That's according to the notification email, dug up by vg247, which states: "In participation with this programme, you should not move your storage device (hard drive, or memory unit if you do not have a hard drive) to any other console as it will also update that console.

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Microsoft has announced the winners of the Dream-Build-Play competition for 2008, all of whom will now be invited to publish their XNA-based games on Xbox Live's Community Games channel, which launches with New Xbox Experience on 19th November.

Xbox Live's Major Nelson announced on Friday evening that Microsoft was opening up the New Xbox Experience early for a few thousand gamers - and then promptly closed the doors again after every place was snapped up in double-quick time.

The idea was to complete a survey and provide some information about yourself and your console, after which the "Live Service team" would choose a few thousand applicants for early access. Obviously this didn't take long, as an update on the original post quickly said the preview programme was full.

"Now it's time to go through the thousands of applicants," it said. If you were one of them, you should hear from Microsoft "in about a week" - giving you plenty of time to experiment with NXE before its 19th November release date.

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Microsoft has told Eurogamer that Primetime will not be a part of the New Xbox Experience on 19th November. Other features may also be absent, although there's no word on which ones they might be.

"The New Xbox Experience is a long-term initiative, and what we are rolling out on November 19th is only the beginning," a spokesperson told us.

"With the New Xbox Experience we will have the flexibility to roll out features and updates dynamically, unlike in the past where we were on a more biannual schedule. So, there are a lot more exciting features, including Primetime, that will be coming soon."

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Microsoft expects submissions to the NXE Community Games Channel to be cleared for download in just 48 hours.

Microsoft is offering Xbox 360 owners who don't have a hard disk a free storage device to get them ready for the New Xbox Experience.

The Xbox Storage Upgrade website asks for your console serial and ID numbers, and then offers you a refurbished 20GB hard disk, a free 512MB memory unit, or a combination of hard disk and Xbox Live time. It all depends on which console you have.

Owners of the Xbox 360 Core System fall into three categories. Active Live members with no storage, or a 64MB memory unit, are offered a free 512MB memory unit or a 20GB HDD for GBP 12.99. Active Live members with a 256 or 512MB memory unit are offered just the HDD, again for GBP 12.99. If your console hasn't connected to Xbox Live within the last 12 months, and doesn't have a hard disk, however, you're offered a 20GB HDD and three months on Xbox Live for GBP 19.99.

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Microsoft has revealed that Xbox 360 owners will be able to buy, queue up and set off Marketplace downloads remotely with New Xbox Experience.

Download stuff remotely from 19th November.

Microsoft's New Xbox Experience dashboard update will launch in 26 countries on 19th November.

Microsoft has shed more light on how the redesigned Xbox Live Games Store will work when it launches sometime in November, probably.

Microsoft has said Xbox 360 sales have increased by 214 per cent following the simultaneous price cut of all three models in Europe.

Microsoft has finished maintenance work on Xbox Live.

Microsoft has released new screenshots and information demonstrating how Xbox 360 themes and Friends will work in the New Xbox Experience dashboard revamp.

A Rock Band 2 advertisement in Xbox Live has given the first indication of when the Xbox 360 will receive its major interface overhaul.

In hindsight - particularly in light of Sony's occasionally cringe-worthy PlayStation Home demonstration the year before, when Jack Tretton showed us his "tricked-out apartment" and Kaz Hirai addressed us from a virtual balcony - introducing The New Xbox Experience with a party of executive E3 Avatars was a gutsy move.

"For the first time ever, a console will be revolutionised through software." That's how Microsoft's Xbox Live, software and services boss John Schappert introduced his segment of the company's E3 press conference. That's how he raised the curtain on Xbox 360's new user interface, due to arrive via a free update to the console on Live and game discs in the autumn ("and not as a beta", one Microsoft representative told us, in a dig at Sony's PlayStation Home).