So, we finally got our greasy hands on the Halloween dash update this morning. Unfortunately, our LCD TV here at Fanboy Towers doesn't support 1080p, so we are currently unable to utilize it. We can confirm that the resolution is selectable, though. Marketplace is, um, different, but we're not sure we'd call it an improvement just yet. We have to admit, the images on the buttons are pretty slick. Live Arcade, on the other hand, has definitely improved. The list populates instantly, so you don't have to wait for your game of choice to pop up. You can now also sort your games by category, alphabetically, or by most recently played.In the end though, the real meat of the update -- in our eyes anyway -- is streaming video from XP. We spotted this feature in Media Player 11 last month and lamented that it didn't work. We're happy to say that it does now. All you have to do is set up media sharing in WMP 11 and you're done, instant video streaming. You know all those hi def trailers that look like crap on your little monitor? Well, now you can watch them on your HDTV. We can also confirm that you cannot stream video from an iPod, at least not the tiny videos that are formatted for the device -- and really, why would you want to anyway? We're pretty sure the Zune will work just fine, though. The video marketplace feature that has been bandied about the rumor mill is there as well. It is, however, not as exciting as many thought it would be. It isn't a video store or anything; it's just the video section of Marketplace.
All in all, it's pretty good stuff. So now that the update is here, are you satisfied? What features would you like to see implemented in the next update?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
10-31-2006 @ 11:08AM
Dave said...
Couple of questions...
Does a Mac running Windows thru Boot Camp stream video?
When you stream video from a PC is it still .wmv only?
Can you use an iPod in hard disk mode to play video?
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10-31-2006 @ 11:11AM
Dave said...
One more thing:
Now that video streaming is standard for XP, are the Connect360 guys going to add video? That would be hot. It sucks being a Mac guy with a 360....
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10-31-2006 @ 11:12AM
Giddieon said...
Oh well I will not get to see it... since I traded in my 360 last night for a PS3 pre order...
I am almost free of MS....
My 360 broke after 5 months and it was no sweat for SM to say pay 162 to get it fixed... so it is fixed and out the fing door...
No more MS stuff for me... OSX is awesome and vista can bit me....
Way to lose a costumer for every MS...
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10-31-2006 @ 11:13AM
Bontakun said...
DIVX support, H.264 support, and as of this update the 360 fill no longer read music off of my flash drive, I'd like that to be fixed too.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:15AM
Jason said...
Can you select your resolution? Or does it have to be either 720p or 1080p? Nothing in between?
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10-31-2006 @ 11:25AM
KineticOnline said...
Its a great update to the dash and marketplace, but MS still have alot they can improve.
So far anything i've tried to stream, play from disc etc hasn't worked other than WMV, which is good until you find out i have 3 wmv's in my 250GB video collection. (going to try and get the old way of transcoding (pre-transcode360) to work)
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10-31-2006 @ 11:27AM
Ed said...
Dave/#2:
I'm hoping for Connect360 to support it, too, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You can only stream wmv, so you'd have to transcode to wmv, which, of course, is not entirely easy to do on a Mac.
But maybe we'll see it happen.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:28AM
YLA G said...
"What features would you like to see implemented in the next update?"
-> a language fix for belgium (we see a mix 3 languages)
-> web browser
-> HD video marketplace (lost, saw 2, etc etc)
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10-31-2006 @ 11:31AM
CaptNink said...
@ Giddieon
If you are going to waste time lamenting about how MS has wronged you, at least use a spell checker.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:37AM
Michael McGuire said...
I have a question for anyone who might be able to answer. I'll be able to find out for myself later today, but I can't wait that long ;-)
Are there any new supported resolutions for VGA in this update? I'd been hoping for 1680x1050 as this is an extremely popular resolution for widescreen LCD monitors, and happens to be the native resolution for my screen.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:43AM
Neoxkc said...
BTW, when you go to choose videos from the hard drive, it shows different choices such as TV Shows, Movies(description says full length movies and trailers) etc.
Very interesting.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:46AM
stranger said...
Please let there be a internet explorer for the next update. PLEASE MICROSOFT. WII AND PS3 HAVE A WEB BROWSER. WHY MICROSOFT DIDNT PUT A WEB BROWSER? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD,WINDOWS HAS A INTERNET EXPLORER!
PLEASE!
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10-31-2006 @ 11:49AM
Neoxkc said...
@ stranger
Cool your jets, hot shot.
Let's just relax and turn off cap locks, eh?
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10-31-2006 @ 11:53AM
Player1 said...
"Can you select your resolution? Or does it have to be either 720p or 1080p? Nothing in between?"
What would be in between 720 and 1080? Those are standard resolutions.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:55AM
JRock3x8 - 2o2p said...
"5. Can you select your resolution? Or does it have to be either 720p or 1080p? Nothing in between?"
I viewed 1080p videos on my 1080i TV this morning so the 360 does all the work in changing one to the other.
"Are there any new supported resolutions for VGA in this update?"
Someone on Joystiq yesterday said no. They were similarly peeved.
So this is GREAT! Oh wait - you mean all that stuff on BitTorrent won't work without spending twice as long transcoding? What about my DVD's - can I rip those to WMV? iTunes TV shows - I'm gathering that's a "no"? TiVo files - not really, huh?
Hmmm. I thought this was going to be a good thing. Now I need to buy another PC just to transcode every last piece of video to WMV and pray that the transcode works when its done. Oh, and I'll have to break about 13 sections of copyright law as well.
Seriously, though - I think we'll be much happier with this once the Zune and associated marketplace get rolling. MS has just bungled one thing after another with that whole Zune launch. They almost look like Sony.
You have to wonder how much of this update was forced on them by Apple's "iTV" and Sony beating its chest about its PS3 "supercomputer". I don't think MS really wanted to offer video streaming.
How long they can go without some kind of browser, now? All the "cool" kids are doing it.
My favorite part of the update? Not looking at the tiny white square in the middle of my screen during the Halo 3 trailer after the Forerunner device erupts. Call me weird, but that little decoding mistake ruined the experience for me every time.
For a future revision, please fix the functionality of playlists in the music player - it is bloody awful. There's a freeware program out there called Rockbox that gets it just about right.
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10-31-2006 @ 12:01PM
Jason said...
@Player 1
I was thinking of the 16:10 ratios
1440x900
1680x1050
1920x1200
These are used for computer monitors.
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10-31-2006 @ 12:02PM
audioeric said...
I'm loving the new dashboard.. Finally the Arcade game list is not an issue at all, and everything seems a bit faster overall.. Streaming videos is definitely cool, even if it's just WMV's. I have different WMV's from a few years ago to very recent ones and they all seemed to work well and VERY quickly.. I was thinking that it might be like a computer to computer network where you have to start to copy the file, and it takes a minute to get a big file going.. Nope, this is all very fast..
Thanks MS.. My only wish is a web browser :-)
eric
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10-31-2006 @ 12:05PM
crym fytr said...
That's a bummer Giddieon as it's well known and confirmed on the xbox forums that repairs to the launch consoles are now free and if you already repaired, you will be credited the amount you paid.
all that said, i'd never trade a 360 for a PS3 pre-order
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10-31-2006 @ 12:14PM
J.Goodwin said...
How are all of you guys posting here, if you don't already have a web browser?
I mean, just as a historical note...
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10-31-2006 @ 12:15PM
jax sedrin said...
What the hell is the point of having video "categories" if none of my videos are in the right category?????
My Ultimate Avengers Movie clip is under "Video Games" and the Borat and TMNT trailers are under "Other". WTF??? Either fix the categories for each video or (better yet) allow me to move the videos between categories myself.
But yeah, they still have a LOT of stuff left to fix. Minor things, like how my custom guide background color resets everytime I try a new theme, or how I have to manually go through each subcategory in the "new downloads" category to see what's actually new since the last time I checked Marketplace... Minor, but still annoying, nonetheless.
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