The new features to be included in the forthcoming Spring Dashboard Update appear to have been leaked on the internet. The leak apparently originates from US gaming website GameSpot. GameSpot have since withdrawn the story and video, but that didn’t stop people uploading the video to YouTube (see below).
For those of you can’t be bothered to check out the video, here’s a summary of what will be in the Spring Update.
- Windows Live Messenger (WLM).
- You will now be able to add up to 600 WLM contacts to your Xbox Live Friends List (currently text only).
- You can now chat with up to six friends whilst playing a game or watching a video.
- Your WLM friends will be able to see if you’re playing a game and your gamertag. You will be able to see your friends status.
- Live Marketplace changes.
- The Xbox Live Marketplace will now have its own dedicated blade.
- The Live Marketplace’s theme will be independant of your custom dash theme. The Marketplace theme will also change dependant on season, events etc.
- When the “Achievement Unlocked” pop-up appears, you’ll now see what achievement you unlocked as well as the amount of gamerscore you just recieved.
- Downloads.
- If you have Auto-Shutdown enabled, your console will automatically switch off after 6 hours, or after all queued downloads have finished.
- There’s now a low power downloading feature which turns off all the fans and leaves the console to finish downloading.
- You can also now view partially downloaded videos. This will obviously come in handy to Video Marketplace users as you will be able to view the beginning of a video, whilst the end finishes downloading.
GameSpot originally stated that the Spring Update will become available on May 7th. Microsoft have yet to comment.
Update: Gamerscoreblog have since released a press release comfirming these new features.
Originally Written By: Scott Webber
