Hasta La Gadget!

In addition to showing of its next-gen console, Microsoft also detailed changes that are coming to Xbox Live. The outfit has increased to 300,000 servers to power Xbox One users — up from 15,000 that handle the Xbox 360. Skype and Trending features offer social interaction while the online software will now feature a dedicated game DVR for uploading those Call of Duty exploits for all of your mates to see. In addition to being able to share highlights, searching for your next opponent has become that much easier. Music, movies, games and saved content are all stored in the cloud and devs will be able to leverage Live servers to offer more “living and persistent worlds.” Current Gold members won’t need to complete any extra steps as subscriptions will work on both the Xbox One and the 360.

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When Microsoft piled on the Xbox media channels last year, we didn’t realize just how long it would take for some of those channels to come to fruition. We’re quite possibly on the cusp of new hardware, and Machinima’s app is just now making its Xbox 360 debut. Still, it might be worth the wait for those who live and breathe gaming even after they’ve set down the gamepad. The app includes the full suite of Machinima channels and their associated videos, ranging from regular shows and specials through to game blooper reels. Machinima is available everywhere Xbox Live is active; if that isn’t enough to tide you over, Microsoft is teasing the reveal of a OneBeat electronic music app next month.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft

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Source: Major Nelson

Warner Bros.-owned social networking slash film service Flixster is now available on the Xbox 360, bringing with it the Rotten Tomatoes rating aggregation service and UltraViolet cloud integration. As Xbox 360 apps tend to be, Flixster costs nothing and only functions if you’ve got an Xbox Live account. Beyond simple controller or media remote input, Flixster’s Xbox 360 app employs Kinect for gesture and voice-based navigation. Special for this platform is the ability to play back those UltraViolet-linked video files in HD; it’s the first Flixster app to do so, although Vudu had that capability already.

With today’s app addition, the grand total of video service apps on the Xbox 360 is hovering just around a hojillion. Seriously, there are kind of a lot of different options, and we’re hoping Microsoft’s got a more cohesive strategy for the next version of the Xbox gaming console. The most recent rumors involve an HDMI-in port, allowing cable boxes to integrate with the console — codenamed “Durango” and / or “Kryptos” — but there’s no mention of a NintendoTVii-esque service to tie disparate video services under a single software umbrella. The 360’s Bing functionality aimed to solve that issue, but sadly never lived up to our expectations.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Microsoft

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Mo apps, mo couch entertainment, right? Well, in order to boost the attributes of its mature gaming console and Xbox Live, Microsoft today announced it’s bringing some additional content to the ever-evolving platform. To go along with the recent inclusion of Redbox Instant, Redmond this week — and just in time for the new season, shall we say — will welcome an MLB.tv app with a redesigned interface and other undisclosed features that, according to the company, should “make watching baseball on Xbox better than ever.” What’s more, Microsoft didn’t just have MLB lovers in mind, and is also giving film buffs, both young and old, something to look forward to with a few new applications, such as IndieFlix, PopcornFlix and Toys R Us movies — oh, and for those who fancy internet-based TV shows, there’s a Revision3 app, to boot. As is often the case, the countries in which they can each be enjoyed will depend on where you live (and a Gold subscription, of course), so now may be a good time to peruse the PR after the break to find out which of these you can expect to see on your Dasboard.

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Source: Xbox

Microsoft has just confirmed that a group of hackers have indeed accessed the Xbox Live accounts of several of its past and present “high-profile” employees. News of the breach was first reported by Ars Technica, which itself had been the victim of a DoS attack this last weekend, potentially linked to the same group. Evidence pointing to hacking collective Team Hype’s alleged involvement surfaced when videos depicting its efforts were found online; videos that demonstrated the group’s reported use of illegally obtained Social Security data to gain access to and sell off Xbox Live user accounts. According to Microsoft’s recently issued statement, the company’s working with authorities to “disable this current method” and cut off the possibility of future attacks. For now, it appears this security compromise is unrelated to a UK incident which saw Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Award voting app temporarily expose user data. We’ll update you as soon as we hear more.

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Source: Ars Technica