Microsoft Adding Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm to Xbox Live

Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm all will debut on the Microsoft Xbox Live service beginning on Nov. 17, Microsoft officials said Thursday.

Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten made the announcement at the NewTeeVee Live conference on Thursday, according to a company spokesman.

Users will be able to update their Facebook status or send and read Twitter tweets directly from the Xbox Live interface, the company said. Last.fm stations will also be available, complete with gamer-specific stations, Microosft said. Microsoft will also enable Zune Video on the Xbox 360 interface, with up to 1080p video available instantly. A “News and More” section will add content from MSNBC, The New Yorker, and the cartoon “Dilbert”.

“We’re delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members,” Whitten said in a statement. “Xbox Live’s differentiator has always been our community, and we’ve already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview. It’s the community that drives us forward and allows us to pioneer new ways of connecting people through the entertainment they love.”

Users need to have an Xbox Gold account. For those that don’t, however, beginning on November 20 at 9 PM PT, Xbox Live Silver members can enjoy a free upgrade until the end of the on Nov. 23.

Facebook app developer rejects App Store, irony ensues

We always said that if Apple’s arbitrary, inconsistent, and quite frankly baffling approval process didn’t get straightened out soon, the defections were going to pick up pace — and what do we have here? Joe Hewitt, the developer of the well-loved and highly regarded Facebook iPhone app, has flipped the script and rejected the App Store. And, as you’d expect, our man is not mincing his words, stating that his “decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies,” and that he’s “philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process.” While Hewitt can’t comment on specific future projects (he’s still at Facebook, but the app itself has been handed off to another developer) he has mentioned that he’ll be devoting his time to web development for mobile devices. As you know, there is no approval process for the world wide web (which is apparent if you’ve spent any time on Geocities back in the day). Way to give ’em hell, Joe!

[Via TUAW]

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Facebook app developer rejects App Store, irony ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked Shots: PlayStation 3 to Get Facebook in Next Update?

These dashboard screens—reportedly found directly on the UK version of PlayStation.com—suggest the PS3 will soon have Facebook integrated into the Cross Media Bar interface, plus a new photo viewing option, and the ability to change gamercard colors.

OK, the last one isn’t super interesting, but the Facebook feature would be nice. Looks like Sony caught on before we had the chance to confirm the pics ourselves, but ScrawlFX says it found the them here, here and here. [ScrawlFX via Kotaku]

Leaked PS3 XMB images hint at Facebook integration, new image layout

Although we were too late to verify for ourselves, both Joystiq and Scrawl swear up and down that the above three images, each of whom unfortunately lack a higher-res version, all hail from the official Sony Computer Entertainment Europe website, and each showing a feature of the PlayStation 3‘s XMB we haven’t seen before: some form of Facebook integration, the ability to change gamercard colors, and a new method of photo organization / perusal. None of these would be too surprising or earth-shattering, really, and the juiciest question of them all — exactly when we might see these additions — is still a mystery. Just in case the pics come back up, their respective URLs are just below.

[Via Joystiq and Scrawl]

Read – Image one
Read – Image two
Read – Image three

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Leaked PS3 XMB images hint at Facebook integration, new image layout originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video)

Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you'll probably never get it (video)

What do you do when everyone’s talking about the competition’s exciting new take on navigation? Why, you come up with your exciting new angle that’s way cooler than theirs then sit back and guffaw while high-fiving your co-workers. That seems to be what Symbian Foundation is attempting here, with a teaser of a tool that would let you not only easily interact with Facebook events but also get real-time augmented reality navigation straight to them. It looks fancy enough, but there’s a big catch: the company has no current plans of making it a reality, saying it’s “not part of the Symbian UI Roadmap.” Carry on, then, nothing to see after the break but a mobile Web 2.0 pipe dream.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video)

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Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox Live update preview program now rolling out

Xbox 360’s resident spokesman Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb wants you to know that the Xbox Live update preview program is now officially a go, with the first wave of registered participants getting automatically prompted to update upon sign-in (you should also receive an email, but apparently they’re behind on the notifications). More people are said to be getting the update “in the coming days,” so don’t lose hope yet — not that waiting for Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm integration, and 1080p instant-on streaming should cause ultimate despair, but we digress. The only thing you don’t get is the Halo Waypoint preview, which doesn’t join the preview fun until next week.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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Xbox Live update preview program now rolling out originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WrapUp: Zune HD on Sept. 15th, Xbox 360 Elite Price Drop, and More

This article was written on August 17, 2009 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

netscape founder.jpgNetscape Founder Backing a New Browser
Netscape helped kickstart the Internet revolution, but it didn’t take long for Internet Explorer to drive it to extinction. A start-up called RockMelt is being backed by Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape, who says that other browsers have not kept pace with the evolution of the web. Apparently RockMelt will be different though. It will be interesting to see what they come up with… even if their name does suck.


computer ram.jpgWindows 7 64-bit Supports 192GB of RAM
If you’ll be sporting Windows 7 Home Premium, Enterprise, or Ultimate you’ll be happy to know that you can stuff up to 192GB of RAM into your 64-bit machine and still have Windows use it all. Now that’s one way to ensure that you’re getting the smoothest gameplay out of Solitaire.


zune hd.jpgZune HD Coming September 15th
I’ve never been a big fan of the Zune, but I have to hand it to the people who came up with the design for the Zune HD. Appearance-wise it looks unbelievable, and in a month everyone will be able to find out for themselves just how good it actually is. Pre-orders are now available.


mac snow leopard.jpgMac OS X Snow Leopard Goes Gold?
Rumors are floating around that the latest developer release of Snow Leopard will become the final version that ships. Apple said that their next OS will be released in September, but some sources are saying that it may be available as soon as August 28th. In the meantime the build in question (10A432) has been leaked to your neighborhood BitTorrent site.


chrome sync.jpgSync UI Appears in Google Chrome
We knew that Chrome was going to let users sync bookmarks soon, and the first glimpse of the UI has found its way into the development releases. Download Squad points out how you can enable the feature, but at this point it’s more of a “look, don’t touch” kind of thing… you can see the options but they don’t actually do anything yet.


facebook lite.jpgFacebook Lite to Compete with Twitter?
Facebook accidentally rolled out a “lite” version of their site to a large number of users last week, and quickly retracted access once they caught their mistake. Facebook Lite, from the sounds of it, is inching even closer to Twitter by placing a heavy focus on status updates.


microsoft office mac.jpgOutlook Coming to Microsoft Office for Mac
The next version of Microsoft Office for the Mac OS is due out late next year just in time for the holidays, and it will finally include what is the most requested application: Outlook! This could be pretty big news in the corporate world.


xbox 360 price drop.jpgXbox 360 Elite Dropping to $300?
The Xbox 360 has done pretty well for itself, and part of the reason is due to its competitive pricing. On August 30th it could be getting even more interesting. According to a leaked photo of a retail ad it appears as though the Xbox 360 Elite console (with a 120GB hard drive) will shave $100 off its price tag bringing it under the $300 mark.


android multitouch.jpgMultitouch will be in Android 2.0
CNet is saying that Google might be including multitouch support in the Android 2.0 release that should be available later this year. Motorola is expected to have a phone ready in time to showcase the new software as well.


ebay car dealer.jpgeBay Targets Car Dealers
Things haven’t been looking good for eBay, and now it appears that they are branching out to new markets. They’ve teamed up with General Motors to launch a new site, gm.ebay.com, which serves up vehicles from car dealers. Right now it’s limited to California while the system is tested out, but if you want to see what it’s like just use zip code 90274 to get some results. I noticed that the vehicles listed with Buy It Now prices aren’t really a bargain, but you can always name your own price with the Make an Offer option. Of course it’s up to the dealer as to whether they want to accept that price.


google.jpgGoogle Tests Under-the-Hood Search Improvements  
Last week Google announced a new search system they’re testing called Caffeine, which at first glance is no different than their current search system. The changes, however, are all behind-the-scenes. They say that the new system focuses on size, indexing speed, accuracy, and comprehensiveness. They also provide a special URL where you can test out what the results are like.


–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

windows 7 media center.jpgWindows 7 Review
Engadget has written up a pretty nice review of Windows 7, and they outline all of the most notable features. It’s definitely worth a read if you haven’t played with the Beta/RC yourself. I also plan on writing my own take on Windows 7, but I’ll be focusing mostly on the Media Center aspect.


freefilesync.jpgFreeFileSync: Another Backup Utility
Man, there’s definitely no shortage of backup utilities out there! This is another free (and open source) solution that has quite a few advanced options to pick from, and does it all in a fairly clean interface. If you haven’t found the backup utility that fits you just right this is one you should definitely check out.


mycollections.jpgMyCollections Organizes Your Media
I’m not really the type of person who buys a lot of physical media (DVD’s, CD’s, books, etc…), but I know plenty of other people are. This app will help you organize all your stuff so that you know exactly what you’ve got. Even though it’s free I can’t help but think that they could have made the interface a bit better.


dvd flick.jpgBurn Any Video to DVD
Once you’ve downloaded some television shows or movies you might be wondering how you can watch them on your TV. Some people just stick with watching them on their computers, but with the right tools you can burn just about anything to a DVD.


thundbird mac theme.jpgGood Thunderbird Themes
To be honest I never even thought to look for themes for Thunderbird, and I’m not sure why. This article covers 10 different themes that can be used with the email client… some of which are better than others. Mac users will definitely like the iLeopard theme though that makes the app fit in better with the Mac operating system.


url shortener.jpgCreate Your Own URL Shortening Service
Bored? If so maybe you’ll find some enjoyment in creating your own URL shortening service. That way you won’t have to rely on some other service to manage your URL’s, but the downside is the lack of integration from third-party applications. It might be fun to do regardless.


–Downloads–

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Facebook, Twitter, Zune and Last.Fm on Xbox Live Hands On: Hrm, That’s Interesting

Twitter and Facebook, on your Xbox. It’s weird, like people who put ketchup on their eggs.

Tweet Tweet

Twitter actually makes the most natural jump to the Xbox. It’s a really basic app, with your timeline, search, and trending topics, but it works, largely because the vertical stream is preserved, even if you can only see four (very legible) tweets at a time, so you won’t be power-browsing, TweetDeck style, by any means. It’s slow, and typing’s reeeeeeeally frustrating, like having your eyeballs poked out one pinprick at a time, if you don’t have the chatpad (part of thinks this entire update is all a giant conspiracy to sell more Xbox 360 chatpads). Updates can sometimes take forever to hit your Twitter stream, too. Still, it’s pretty, and works the best of the new apps.

Facebookin’

Facebook uses the standard Xbox tile UI instead of rolling its interface, like Twitter did. Which is disorienting (and disappointing), since you’re browsing through a stream horizontally, one choppily-animated tile at a time. Why is the tile-sliding animation so terrible on a monster console like the Xbox 360? We don’t know. Like Twitter, it’s basic—focused on Newsfeeds. Your groups are ported over, so you can browse their newsfeeds individually, but you literally have to browse one post at a time, which is agonizing, making you far less inclined to comment on updates.

The interface works much better, and feels way more natural, with photo albums. What’s interesting is that, at least in the preview, your friends have to link their Xbox Live and Facebook accounts together themselves in order to show up in the “Xbox Live Friends on Facebook” (and vice versa) pages—you can’t manually go in and link Jason Chen’s accounts so you’ll see them together in your app. That might change though, with the final rollout. (Here’s some video of it, from Kotaku.)

Last.fm

This would be would be waaaaaay better if it could play in the background. It can’t. Meaning once you link your accounts and all of you stations are nicely and automatically ported over, to listen to Last.fm, you just have to sit there and leave it running, with band pictures floating up to your screen every once in a while. Lame. (You can see it in action on Kotaku.)

Zune Video Marketplace

Not a whole lot to write home about yet besides 1080p streams—it’s a video store on Xbox, with movies for rent or purchase, TV shows, trailers—but Zune Video is here and it, um, works. You browse through the standard Xbox interface, like Netflix. We didn’t get a chance to use the possible killer feature—Party mode, where you can watch stuff with your friends—yet, but if anything makes the Zune video store really stand out, that could be it. Previews, alas, didn’t come in at 1080p, even over FiOS, which clearly has the bandwidth to deliver.

All in all, the new apps, they’re interesting, they add something, but with the exception of Zune Video Marketplace, aren’t critical. At least for now.

Xbox 360 Dashboard Update… updates: Preview program reopened, Sky TV due Oct. 27

Just as it did earlier this year, Microsoft has opened the preview program to let the most hardcore of Xbox 360 owners poke around the updated dashboard — presumably with access to all the 1080p instant-on streaming, Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm add-ons we’ve been expecting — ahead of its official release in order to shake out any remaining bugs. While worldwide console owners should scrape together console IDs, make & model of your TV, router and more in hopes of receiving an invite next week, a little more concrete news is in order for the UK, with the console launch of Sky TV nailed down for October 27. You’ll have to wait until then to find out exact pricing and channel line up availability, ’til then it’s a matter of finding out who on your friends list is most suited for the inevitable football viewing party.

[Via Joystiq & NeoGAF]

Read – Xbox Live update Preview Program
Read – Xbox.com – Set a date for Sky Player!

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Xbox 360 Dashboard Update… updates: Preview program reopened, Sky TV due Oct. 27 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox 360’s new Zune, Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter features detailed on video

We just got a pretty detailed look at Microsoft’s upcoming Dashboard update for the Xbox, which brings with it the Zune Video Marketplace and Last.fm music streaming, along with Facebook and Twitter social functionality. We were most impressed with Facebook, which includes a feature for spotting which of your Facebook friends have Xbox Live — a great way to grow that friends list and bring a bit of “synergy” to your life. Last.fm was a bit of a downer, since you can’t do anything else while listening to the music, but otherwise there weren’t many minuses to the presentation other than the lack of a firm release date. Check out Joystiq‘s full impressions at the read link before, or watch the whole demo on mind-blowing video after the break.

Continue reading Xbox 360’s new Zune, Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter features detailed on video

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Xbox 360’s new Zune, Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter features detailed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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