Xbox 360 Dashboard update ...

The new Xbox 360 Dashboard update is available today upon sign-in to Xbox Live.

I've detailed features of note in my previous post, and you can also check the official Microsoft press release for more info.

Now, there's a lot of subtle goodness in this update, not the least of which is Xbox Live Marketplace getting its own blade, and the integration of Xbox and Windows Live Messaging. And there's the much needed (and slickly implemented) game and video enhancements.

But there's still room for improvement.

For example, I noticed in the new Marketplace blade, something's been added to the "Newly released content" category -- stuff that isn't newly released. I'm a little irritated having to wade through the (apparently chronologically sorted?) offerings to find stuff "available 07/17/2007" or "11/19/2007". Um, shouldn't this go into a "Coming Soon" bucket?

Also, it'll be interesting to see what "integration of Xbox and Windows Live Messaging" means, because the press release says, "Windows Live Messenger and Xbox LIVE will be unified on Xbox 360" (emphasis mine), implying it won't be unified on both platforms. The Xbox 360 isn't my chatting platform of choice. As nice as the new soft keyboard and USB keyboard support is, until the fingerboard peripheral comes out from Microsoft this summer, my preferred chat platform remains the PC. And right now, there's no apparent change to my Windows Live Messenger app -- no Xbox Live friends showing up as a new category, no new functionality under the "Xbox" tab.

But, in the scheme of things, those are relative nits. They're needed fixes for further the usability, penetration, and polish, but they don't detract from the other good stuff going on.

And the low-power mode then auto shut-off for downloads? Nice!