• Full details on the May 2007 Update
• Instant Messaging comes to Xbox 360
• Elle explains the May 2007 Update
• Xbox 360 May Update FAQs
• Windows LIVE Messenger on Xbox 360

April Showers Brings May 2007 Update for Xbox 360

At least it seems like April showers are not only bringing the spring season, but the new updates for Xbox 360™. There's so much good stuff in this update, I'm positively giddy. Marketplace, Messenger, video, games, you name it, it's in there.

Marketplace
The first thing to notice is check out the Xbox Dashboard after downloading the update. You'll see a brand new blade: Marketplace. Since launch, Xbox LIVE® Marketplace has become such a runaway success that we just had to put it front and center. Things were reorganized a little bit, too, so be sure to pop in and take a look.

Xbox LIVE Marketplace in all its glory.

On the topic of downloading, the console is a little smarter about letting you download items when you don't have room. If you run out of space, you now have the option of managing that space by deleting items. Keeps things tidy, don't you think?

Also, now you can let your console finish your downloads even after you've turned off the console. The console enters a low-power state and chips away at your active download list. Set up this feature over on the System blade, under Console Settings, Shutdown, Background Downloads.

Messenger
Do you ever wish you could IM your friends on your TV while playing a game? Well, now you can. The update adds the ability to communicate with your Windows Live™ contacts through Windows Live Messenger.

To set up Messenger, sign in to Xbox LIVE®, then select Chat and IM on the Xbox LIVE blade or in the Xbox Guide. You'll see the familiar private chat area for voice chat, plus a new area for Messenger. Select Sign Up for Messenger and follow the instructions. (If you're new to Xbox LIVE, you'll be able to set up Messenger during Xbox LIVE signup on the console.) After you set up Messenger, you'll manage all of your conversations in the Chat and IM area.

With Messenger, you can integrate your Windows Live contact list with your friends list. After you select the contacts you want during setup, they'll automatically appear in your friends list. You can see their status and send IMs, whether they're in Windows Live Messenger on their PC, or on an Xbox 360.

You may wonder why you have to enter your Windows Live ID to sign into Messenger when you're already signed in to Xbox LIVE. The truth is, we don't store your password on the service, so we have to ask for it to spin up a Messenger session. You can get around this by saving your Windows Live ID password. This stores your password, encrypted, on the local console. You can save it when you're setting up Messenger and change it later in Account Management in your gamer profile.

Video
A number of improvements have been made to video playback:

• Start watching your movie while it's still downloading, and reverse and fast forward through the content you've downloaded so far.
• There's a new progress bar in the info pane that pinpoints where you are in the video, and if you're still downloading, how much more there is to go.
• The console now bookmarks where you left off in a video, so you can resume from that point later.
• New display modes have been added for video playback. Auto lets the console pick the best mode. Letterbox expands the image to the size of the screen while maintaining the aspect ratio. Fullscreen fills and crops the image while maintaining aspect ratio (ideal for 16x9 video formatted to fit 4x3 screens). Stretch fills the screen without regard to aspect ratio. Native displays the video in its original resolution.
• Videos are now organized by folder structure on the device or PC rather than in a flat list.
• Xbox 360 now supports H.264 and MPEG-4 video and WM-DRM. See the video FAQ for more info.

Games
The Xbox Dashboard now shows the game in the disc tray. Some of the more eagle-eyed among you may have spotted this in early demos of the console before it launched. Yeah, it's been something we wanted to do for a while, and it's finally here.

Game info at your fingertips.

Not only that, but you can see your game progress right in the Xbox Dashboard. When you move to the disc tray on screen, the Dashboard displays the game, its icon, your earned Gamerscore, and your achievements. How cool is that?

Xbox LIVE Arcade
Do we love Arcade or what? Xbox LIVE® Arcade gets another boost with enhanced friends leaderboards. Now you can see how your friends are doing at Xbox LIVE Arcade games and compare achievements. Also added are expanded "Tell a Friend" messages. Boast about your latest accomplishments. We know you want to.

Be sure to check out auto downloads, too. This was expanded to help you stock up on all of the Xbox LIVE Arcade games you might have missed, in addition to new releases.

Family Settings
The communications setting for privacy and Family Settings is now split up into two: voice and text, and video. This will let you restrict video communications separately from voice and text.

You'll find the Family Settings for child accounts in System, Family Settings, Xbox Live Controls. You can change privacy settings for an adult account in your gamer profile in Edit Gamer Profile, Privacy Settings. Make the world safe again, one UNO game at a time.

And More

• The achievement notification now tells you more than just "achievement unlocked." It tells you the name and the Gamerscore value. No more hitting the Xbox Guide button every time the notification appears.
• Your friends list tells you whether your friends are in a game you can join.
• The screensaver no longer kicks off while you're viewing pictures.

Just like past updates, there are far too many changes to list each and every one of them, and many of them are behind-the-scenes updates. I think the Xbox team's done a great job on it. Thanks guys!

More Info
You can find out even more information about the May 2007 Xbox update at our special update page.

Article by Elle