Xbox 360 dashboard update hits a snag, release “slightly delayed”

By Tom Warren, on 6th Dec 11 3:19 pm with 82 Comments

New Xbox Dashboard

Microsoft revealed on Tuesday that its promised Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed.

Larry Hryb, Microsoft’s Major Nelson, revealed the delay over Twitter on Tuesday. “The timing for Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed. I’ll have a status update later today,” said Hryb. He later added that he doesn’t have full information on delay and will share details later today. Microsoft had originally promised to deliver the update to all consoles by 3PM GMT.

The dashboard update will bring Microsoft’s Metro style interface to the Xbox. Microsoft is also preparing to include YouTube and Bing on the Xbox. Bing users will be able to use Kinect’s voice recognition feature to search for movies, music and other content on their consoles. The new dashboard will also enable Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone integration with Xbox, see a video demonstration here. Microsoft plans to make its dashboard update available on December 6 for all Xbox 360 customers. We’ll update the article when Microsoft communicates any new timing for the release.

  • Anonymous

    Would rather them delay and have a good rollout than hear about RROD part deux.. or “failed updated before christmas” or whatever the news would be spun to be..

    • Anonymous

      It has nothing to do with something like a RROD issue, otherwise people in the preview would have that problem. There’s been a few issues with the apps, which I’m guessing is why there’s a delay.

    • Anonymous

      i know it has nothing to do with RROD, but the people unaware of such differences would just blame ms for another failure if the upgrade isn’t perfectly smooth.

    • Anonymous

      Clearly byronm was only speaking hypothetically.

  • Anonymous

    No one does anti climax like Microsoft

    • Anonymous

      I’m a Microsoft fanboy, but LOL :p

    • Anonymous

      I’m a big time MSFT fan myself, but come on when will something ever go exactly as planned.

    • Guest

      When Ballmer finally gets fired and there’s a new CEO who will dole out accountability for groups who consistently fail in that regard, which is most of them.

    • Anonymous

      @guest lol take a chill pill, no one needs to fire ballmer for a update being a few hours late

    • Guest

      @SizzlingFTW:disqus 

      Not talking about this one update. Talking about all of the mistakes as referenced in your comment. Nine times out of ten, MS ether misses the forecast release date, screws up the messaging, fails to follow up promptly with updates, it’s US only, or any of a dozen other things that ends of turning possible victory into guaranteed failure.

    • phil jay

      Well  I got my mango update from the day it was released. :P

    • BadManDuke

      Nothing wrong with a little teasing. ;)

    • Anonymous

      In fairness to microsoft its just a few hours late, but something in me wanted to believe that this would go perfectly.

      Atleast no one is as bad as google with updating, i hear they have people waiting over 6-8 months lol

    • Guest

      The difference between them and WP7 is “they have people waiting”.

    • Anonymous

      not true actually, Nokia Lumia 800 ”WP7″ just became the best selling phone on the largest network in netherlands KPN

      http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-lumia-800-tops-sales-charts-at-netherlandss-largest-mobile-operator/

      Momentum is building up rapidly (Btw that even includes better sales than the Iphone 4s)

    • Guest

      netherlands? What’s that, like twelve people? ;-)

    • Anonymous

      I think the difference is that all the waiting is causing people to start leaving Android, unlike WP7 which I keep hearing people say they will never go back to iOS or Android.

    • Thatguy123

      Microsoft wants the Xbox 360 to be the center of your home
      entertainment universe. Maybe that’s understating it a bit. They want
      the 360 to be your only device: a one-stop-shop for all of your digital
      entertainment needs. Over the past few years, we’ve seen them start to
      dabble in entertainment offerings including Netflix and Zune
      Marketplace, but the new Dashboard update coming December 6th marks the
      true beginning of their march to living room domination.

      The 360′s install base is already an impressive figure. On Black
      Friday alone, retailers moved 960,000 units, so Microsoft’s move to
      leverage those users makes business sense, but it also means a windfall
      for Xbox LIVE subscribers. On average, LIVE users spend 2 hours a day
      on their consoles, with 40% of them spending 30 hours a more per week
      watching television and movies. The push to make the Xbox your only
      home for the cornucopia of digital content available means implementing
      a ton of new, user-friendly features.
       
      Microsoft’s goal with the latest Dashboard update is to improve the
      experience, by not only offering you access to everything you want to
      see in one place, but by making it an easy, social, and personal
      experience. Adopting the “Metro Design” from Windows Mobile phones, the
      new Dashboard looks lean and mean. Content is divided up into hubs
      (Music, Movies, TV, Games, etc.), making it easy to quickly access what
      you want to explore. Everything was sort of pieced together before has
      now been seamless integrated into the new design, the most notable
      example of which is the demise of the Kinect Hub. It’s gone. Instead,
      Kinect is now incorporated from the ground up, and you can navigate all
      areas of the dashboard with voice commands. Just like in the
      now-defunct Kinect Hub, you start by saying “Xbox” followed by anything
      you see on the screen.
       

  • Anonymous

    Thought they originally said 10am? Ah well, since its for a free update I can wait. 

    • http://www.winrumors.com Tom W

      Yup, 10AM EST, 7AM PST, 3PM GMT

  • Impartial

    Good thing I signed up for the beta! Its awesome! You guys will love this update (shit my NDA!…:)

    • Anonymous

      I have the beta, but I hope they get this out soon because I would love to see the new Netflix interface and Bing+Netflix integration, which are not in the beta (shit my NDA as well!).

    • NuJunkie

      There’s still a bunch of bugs in the beta. The final release would have fixed all that. But, so far, the new dashboard looks to be a game changer.

  • Glitterboy2008

    Twats! This is exactly why I prefer apple. More realise compared to Microsoft!

    • Anonymous

      More “realise” lol , where are you from?

    • Guest

      I guess he must be from Jobstown. He prefers Apples.

    • http://www.timsmithmma.com Tim Smith

      Apple is so awesome you have to completely change the english language to describe them!

    • Anonymous

      Yep, Apple never had problems with their updates. The update to ios5 went smoothly, and everyone was able to update immediately without error 3002. Their servers did not go down for days after updating to iPhone OS 2, blocking people from activating their phones with Apple, bricking their phones until they fixed their servers. Apple never has any problems.

    • Anonymous

      *waves hand*  The iOS 5 updated debacle never happened. These are not the droids you’re looking for.

    • Guest

      Sure stooge, sure.

    • Guest

      Not to mention the battery issues. None of those reported /s

    • Emi Cyberschreiber

      i bet you dont even have a xbox, so what do you care?
      stay with you Apple gaming console then… oh wait, they dont have any! and not even they computers are relevant to gaming world!!!!!

    • Anonymous

      “More realise compared to Microsoft!”

      Nice sentence, Twat!  Here’s a pound. Why don’t you go buy a clue?

  • http://twitter.com/laserfloyd Lewis McCrary

    It’s a huge update.  Better to get it right.

    • SmokeMonkey

      Yep! I rather have it delayed than see it go all wrong. maybe the roll out will be around 8pm GMT – will be home from work then. 

      Tom or anyone – do you know if xbox will have BT Vision? One of the thing that’s troubling me is which video streaming service I should sign up to?  Pay as you go via Zune? or maybe LoveFilm? or Sky Movies? 

    • Kieran Kelly

      It’s only sky that has signed a deal with Microsoft right now

    • OctalMan

      and LoveFilm too

    • OctalMan

      Im not sure about Sky but LoveFilm will be available.

  • Guest

    I have beta, but can’t wait to try YouTube. I hope it’s much better than the Xbox Facebook or Twitter apps.

  • rojo

    I want them to get it right too. The delay is fine by me.

  • Anonymous

    does this also delay the mobile companion app?

    • Anonymous

      Yep I don’t see it in the marketplace yet. I don’t understand why they can’t just release it for those of us with the preview already!

  • Mofest

    I got my update after midnight… still disappointed that Netflix doesn’t have full swipe control (basically same as before) but I like the apps and layout.  So easy my 3yo can do it.

  • Gtzjeremeygtz

    omfg so much waiting :( first november 25 then today then??? next year :(  

  • Deadbolt1975

    Bwahahaahahaha. Microsoft, is this another Windows Vista? I got an email from them yesterday telling me to hurry up and jump on my Xbox to update my console. 
    “Updates to Xbox LIVE happen tomorrow”

    • Anonymous

      Because a delay of a few hours = a complete development reset and delay of 2-3 years?

      Friggin brilliant observation, winner.

  • Anonymous

    Ugh, I hope they fix the zune apps on the beta in the meantime… I wanted to watch some of the new movies tonight!!

    • http://twitter.com/alexh2o Alex H

      Wish they would make Zune part of the Xbox and not an app too! When you load the games marketplace, it stays as part of the native dashboard. When you load the video or music marketplaces, it has to load Zune as an app. Why??

    • BadManDuke

      Primarily due to other content providers. (like Live TV, Hulu, etc). I get what you’re saying and I agree, but in the interest of not alienating their partners it is understandable why they don’t go that route.

    • http://twitter.com/alexh2o Alex H

      I guess when you put it like that…

    • BadManDuke

      They posted a fix for that if you are having issues. Delete anything Zune related from your hard drive and reload the app. I was having all kinds of issues until I did that and now it works.

  • A1neroc

    same  o disappointments thanx xbox gotta love it b.s. playstation here i come

    • BadManDuke

      If you consider them delaying the update by a few hours a disappointment and a reason to jump to Playstation, than what would you call Sony’s epic fail to fully disclose the hacking of PSN?

      Troll logic is fail.

    • OctalMan

      haha! dude your funny, Sony have the most useless updates ever!(and don’t bring the “security is improtant” argument)..Oh and you want to change a console just because an update has been delayed??? haha :D

    • Anonymous

      Obvious troll is obvious.

    • Guest

      lol…ur dumb.

  • http://twitter.com/joepann Kitab

    Thanks G., me not on Xbox, but game on PCs. lol!

  • Micky Hamps

    Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh

    Why do we pay to be taken for idiots by Microsoft? They say it’s a “free” update but the fact of the matter is: I pay for my membership and I expect things that I’ve been promised to be delivered.

    This is an outrage, ps3 is looking more attractive every day

    • BadManDuke

      I bet you would also say that you pay for the updates to be done RIGHT.

      Relax, word is among some of the other beta testers is that it is only a few hours delay.

      Meanwhile PS3 is plagued with issues from their latest firmware release.

      http://www.gamezone.com/news/users-report-system-freeze-after-recent-ps3-4-0-update

      I guess it pays to be patient and ensure things get done right.

    • Kieran Kelly

      Lmao your moaning about the xbox dashboard update not coming out, the dashboard that is out just now is fine and well better than the shitty PS3 dashboard

    • Anonymous

      OMFGWTFBBQ!!!!!1!!!1  HOW DARE MSFT DELAY MY GRATIFICATION BY A FEW HOURS! *Massive nerd rage*

      Seriously hope your post was sarcasm.  If not, you need to get the eff over yourself.

    • Micky Hamps

      A bit of both but it is still a pain in the arse

    • Emi Cyberschreiber

      if your comment was serious…. you should get a life, just saying ;)

      couple hours or days wont killz you.
      and if you like ps3 then why dont you get one, so you can “stop” complaining like an idiot?

    • Avatar Roku

      You get this update regardless of whether you subscribe to Xbox Live or not.

      The dashboard,  Bing search, game marketplace, and Zune marketplace are all available without an Xbox live subscription. They even removed the Gold requirement for Zune Pass now.

  • http://datasafemag.com/ Bob

    I wonder if it will only be a delay of a a few days or if it will be more than that.

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous

    OMG!! im outraged that I have to wait for a free update. arrgggg

    • OctalMan

      lol

  • Anonymous

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    • Anonymous

      DIAF

  • Zikalify

    I think it is a bit more than slightly delayed.

  • Monkeymagic

    I have the peview got an update few days ago. And today i got love film and Zune and last.fm update… but i still have the pre-release section… not sure if i got full update? very strange

  • Joker82_10

    so has i day or time been said yet
     

    • Guest

      Yes. Unfortunately for you though, they’ve also implemented a minimum IQ requirement.

    • Anonymous

      WIN.

  • Mserrata42

    Dam I can’t wait for new dash

  • BigChiefSmokem

    where’s the love?

    #majornelson
    Sorry for the dash launch delay. Good news: first set of customers will be getting the Xbox LIVE update within the next few hours.

    OH YEAH

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6FN6HPENU7BJWABWCWFM3CDYDQ MikeD

    Sadly this just goes to show how un managed the xbox team is. You make an announcement for the date it launches and you work your ass off until you have it ready for the deadline. 

    I mean real world, you miss a deadline for a client, then have them wait through the day its due, most likely they won’t return, its just bad business. Free or not. They set the deadline, so meet it.

  • Guest

    which theme is that in the article picture? I dont like the default dark theme that comes with the new Metro dashboard.

  • Harlequin

    my console has 3 red lights after update, first it didnt connect my console to the internet and when it worked…it started than failed,restarted,3 red lights – pressed the tray n sync button – error code 0020, been off all day before that only turned on to update, so i don’t think it was an overheating problem…does anybody else have this problem?