Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Dashboard Update Hands-On

Engadget writes "Well, that Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Dashboard update did land at about 2:00AM PST as expected, and brought with it a few fun features we were hot to test out -- but none more than the Xbox's expanded video playback capabilities. We were able to play back 720p and even 1080p MPEG-4 and H.264 content on our Xbox 360. Technically speaking the Xbox 360 now officially beats out the Apple TV in the digital video arena, both in resolution and bitrate. (At best the ATV only does up to 720p at 5Mbps, while the Xbox does 1080p up to 10Mbps; neither supports higher than stereo audio.) In other words, if you're an Xbox owner thinking about an Apple TV for playing back video in your living room, you might want to think again."

Comments

Does not brick modified 360s

[Durrok]

This update also does not appear to do any harm if you have a modified 360. Felt like I was playing Russian Roulette while I was updating though...

Re:Does not brick modified 360s

[Durrok]

To play pirated games or game backups.

Re:What about DivX?

[wilsonthecat]

transcode 360 does this, although the project hasn't been updated for sometime.

http://runtime360.com/projects/transcode-360/

The problem is rewind/forwarding doesn't work too well.

Re:What about DivX?

[blackmonday]

No Divx, either on disc or streamed. I hated the streaming features anyway, the rewind/forward is a pain. Get a cheap DVD player that supports DIVX, I have an Oppo but there are cheaper options, I think Philips makes one. Burn your files on a DVD/CD or copy to memory stick and watch, with much better responsiveness.

Try TVersity

[Nerdfest]

Check out the TVersity audio/video server. It's pretty cool in that it's free (as in beer) and does transcode on the fly for the xbox 360. It will even do HD transcoding if your PC has the processing power. It's also a lot more stable than Windows Media Connect.

Re:What about DivX?

[cptgrudge]

You know, the streaming performance would be a lot better if they just allowed native decoding through codecs on the 360, instead of us needing these damn hacks to transcode a simple file. For fuck's sake, we're being shoehorned into Microsoft's own little locked in world. Transcoding? What really grinds my gears is that it's so unecessary; there are just these artificial blocks set in our way by Microsoft.

XBMC on the original XBox has ruined any of the flaccid, crippled media functionality that Microsoft has deemed "appropriate" for us. The setup I have operates at a tenth of the hardware and software cost with ten times the functionality when compared to that which Microsoft has cooked up. Microsoft's attempts at wringing every last bit of money out of the consumer, while sorely lacking any sort of courage to support more media types that might offend the "content producers", has completely turned me off to the 360. Even to the point of me thinking less of the video games and the product as a whole, because the crippling is so blatant.

Why would I use Microsoft's lacking product, when I could just get something like this, and stream my media at will? I've put XBMC in three times already in other peoples' houses, and it's kept them from getting a 360.

Bloody hell Microsoft, get with the program.

Re:What about DivX?

[cptgrudge]

Note that MS is in the business of making money - and no one is making money doing what you mention - XBMC is a FREE program.

I understand that MS is in the business of making money, and I applaud it. They are certainly doing right by their shareholders. I'm sure they did a cost benefit analysis and came up with the setup that they offer as the one that can leverage the most money. But because of the way they have done it, there are four instances (that I personally know of) where potential consumers have skipped the 360 because it didn't do what XBMC could do. Instead, they will probably get Wiis all around.

This situation can't be unique, but I'm not sure how prevalent it is; I don't know the numbers. If MS had included the functionality of XBMC within the 360, codecs and all, I'd wager that they would have dominated the living room. Would that have been worth more? We may never know.

And yeah, I'm kinda angry, cause if I want a next-gen system, now I need two boxes to do what it took one to do before. I won't be pissed anymore when/if a decent softmod surfaces for the 360. I might pick one up at that point, if I don't have something else.