yerrrr XBOX rule the world
Ben Heckendorn over at Engadget has just posted pics and details about his second generation Xbox 360 laptop. Apparently this one is thinner and lighter and sports some essential upgrades. If you’re interested in (seriously) voiding your warranty then stay tuned to Engadget because he’s also working on an in-depth tutorial on how to build your own. Scary.
Freeview TV, Vista and Xbox 360 - Part 2
My endeavors in getting my Windows Vista PC talking to the Xbox 360 have at last made some progress. After trying four different TV tuners I’ve finally struck one that works under Vista. To be fair technically the first three tuners also worked under Vista in the sense they had digital tuners in addition to their analog ones — and it was the analog portion that doesn’t work under Vista.
Anyway, the Hauppauge Win TV-PVR 500 MCE ($250 from this website) is Vista certified and worked a treat.
Installation couldn’t have been simpler, I plugged it into a vacant PCI slot, booted Vista which then detected it, installed the appropriate drivers (no disc required) and was ready to go. I fired up Media Centre which promptly detected the fact I had a new tuner card and ran me through the tuning process. It even detected the dual tuner functionality and asked me if I wanted to tune both of them.
With this done I fired up the Xbox 360 in the lounge (which is connected wirelessly to my Airport Extreme wireless router), hit the Media Centre button on the remote that came with the Xbox and selected Live TV. It worked perfectly; I could record one channel while watching another, pause and rewind live TV all from the comfort of my Xbox 360 environment. The only thing missing is an EPG (electronic programming guide) so I could actually find out when my favourite TV shows were on. Who’d have thought the various TV stations in this country wouldn’t like us all to know exactly when they’re scheduling their content?
Getting back to the tuner, what the Hauppauge doesn’t have however is any kind of digital tuner, which means it’s no good for my Freeview aspirations. Fortunately the kind folk at Ingram Micro who’ve supplied the PVR-500 also sent through a couple of USB-based Vista-ready digital tuners which I’ll be trying as soon as Mr Sky-installer comes and puts a dish on the side of my new house.
Instant messaging comes to Xbox 360
When Microsoft roll out the Xbox 360 Fall update — which will of course be the Spring update for us southern hemisphere types — it’ll allow Xbox LIVE users to instant message contacts on a PC via their Xbox. As of May 7 Windows Live Messenger and Xbox LIVE will become one big happy family merrily chatting away via voice, video or text. Ironically it’s the text version that’ll cause keyboard-less Xbox gamers the most grief, but never fear consolers, you’ll soon be able to get your QWERTY on too when Microsoft release their teeny tiny keyboard. It attaches to your existing controller and looks pretty sweet to us. We’ll let you know for sure once we get hold of a review unit.
ere’s the list of other updates the "Fall" update will provide:
- A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.
- Enhanced family settings features for Xbox LIVE communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.
- A new Xbox LIVE Marketplace blade lets Xbox LIVE members access the content they seek from one place on Xbox LIVE.
- Updates to Xbox LIVE Arcade allow owners to quickly see which Xbox LIVE Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox LIVE members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded ‘Tell a Friend’ capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.
- A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox LIVE Arcade games.
- New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
- Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.