Good news for Xbox 360 owners, the new dashboard update will be available tomorrow, October 31. There are a number of changes coming, a few good ones to point out are 1080p support over VGA and component cables, Xbox 360 HD DVD player support, support for video playback from CD and DVD data discs and you will be able to stream music, video and pictures from your Zune! Personally, the Zune’s compatibility with Xbox 360 is extremely exciting, especially if in the future we will be able to get content we’ve download on the 360 onto the Zune. Now, if Microsoft could find a way to get Geometry Wars onto the Zune… Also, no more “Your Friend Is Now Online” notifications while you’re watching DVDs. It’s about time, it really sucks watching a serious movie and having a notification popping up on the screen telling you “PooInMouth Is Now Online.” With that being said, hit the jump for the complete list of changes coming to your Xbox 360.
New Features
HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component cables.
Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support.
Stream WMV video from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect.
Play video from storage devices such as USB flash drives, Xbox 360 Memory Units, etc.
Play video from CD or DVD data discs.
Xbox 360 Wireless Headset support, including battery level indicator in the Xbox Guide.
Video support for 50 Hz HDTV modes (DVD and HD DVD only).
Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel support.
Set up automatic downloads of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games.
Support for upcoming release of XNA Game Studio Express (separate download and subscription required.)
Stream music, pictures and video from a Zune device.
Xbox Live Arcade
Lightning-fast enumeration and listing of all Xbox Live Arcade games on the console.
Find games quickly with two new sort options: Recently Played and By Category.
Have all new Xbox Live Arcade games at the ready with auto downloads. Auto downloads optionally adds newly released trial versions of games to active downloads when you enter Xbox Live Arcade.
View full achievement info in Xbox Live Arcade, including icons, achievement point details, and descriptions.
Friends leaderboard: Compare yourself with friends and view leaderboard details right from the Xbox dashboard.
Tell a friend: Send a message to a friend about your newest favorite Xbox Live Arcade game.
DVD Player
Optionally disable notifications from Xbox Live while watching DVD movies.
Improved support for audio streams on incorrectly authored DVDs.
Better handling of unreadable discs.
Updated count-down timer.
HD DVD player support.
Added zoom support for non-anamorphic content.
Added support to Family Settings to block Unrated Content.
Video Player
Improved support for extended all black scenes in WMV content.
Added support for Windows Media Video 9 Advanced profile video.
Screen saver now becomes active when videos are paused.
Now shares UI and player controls with DVD player.
Improved video playback while downloading from Xbox Live.