Following a period of public beta testing, Microsoft has started rolling out a firmware update to the Xbox 360 which brings several new improvements and enhancements. Due to the large scale of this update it may take several days before it reaches the over three million Xbox consoles around the world.
When the update is available for your device, you should receive a notification which will allow you to initiate the update.
The update brings several improvements to your device including an improved user experience. One of the first things you will notice is that the Zune service has now been re-branded to Xbox Music and Xbox Video. Xbox Video will offer users a catalog of high definition movies and television shows, which can be either rented or purchased by the user for instant streaming. Meanwhile Xbox Music offers a library of over thirty million tracks, which can either be streamed for free (like Spotify) or by paying $9.99 for an unlimited ad free listing experience. You can read more about Xbox Music here.
Rotten Tomatoes integration was recently introduced by Apple on Siri in iOS 6 and is now available on the Xbox, Users can easily find new content through the new Recommendations and Ratings area which helps makes selections based on criteria like previously viewed and what your friends are viewing. Users can even rate content which will be shared with your friends and family in the Xbox Live network.
Microsoft has also introduced a new pinning feature which allows you to pin your favorite websites, movies, TV shows, games and more directly on your Dashboard for quick access, a feature quite similar to what Windows 8 has to offer. Internet Explorer is also a part of the new firmware update and offers internet connectivity with seamless HTML 5 support.
The search features have greatly been improved along with improvements to voice search. Users can now search through carious genres using Bing Voice Search and Kinect voice search has now been expanded with support for over nine additional territories including France, Germany and Mexico.
Last but not least, users in fact will be treated to an entirely enhanced Xbox experience which has borrowed properties from Microsoft's tile based Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. A dedicated channel for television and movies has been included along with a sports channel which will only be available to subscribers based in the United States.
source – MajorNelson