Helmers Blog

Microsoft Corp. today launched the Xbox 360 Family Timer worldwide, available for download via Xbox LIVE in 26 countries. This is great news for parents because Microsoft research reveals that children’s media consumption and time spent playing video games are universal concerns for families.

A Microsoft survey conducted throughout Europe found that parents embrace the idea of support from the gaming industry, with 75 percent of them welcoming built-in technology or software to monitor the time their children spend playing video games. A similar Microsoft survey conducted in the United States last month found that 62 percent of parents say they would use a timer if it were available to help them manage their children’s interactive entertainment use. Both surveys were the product of the company’s ongoing commitment to responsible gaming and the start of year two of Microsoft’s “Safety is no game. Is your family set?” campaign.

In line with the research, Microsoft today has made available worldwide to Xbox LIVE users a new Family Timer feature that will enable parents for the first time to set the appropriate amount of gaming and entertainment time on the Xbox 360 console for their kids — on a daily or weekly basis. A list of countries with available Xbox LIVE service is at http://www.xbox.com/live/countries. X

“As a leader in interactive entertainment, it has been our priority to innovate and improve our Family Settings technology to help parents worldwide manage their children’s video gaming and online experiences,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.

In addition, the European study found that content of games and the time spent playing video games are important issues to parents. Similarly, in the U.S., 66 percent of parents have rules about the amount of time their kids can spend playing video games and 86 percent have rules about the type of content their kids have access to.

The Xbox 360 Family Timer is an addition to the console’s existing set of industry-leading parental control features. Similar to the parental controls in the Windows Vista operating system, the new Xbox 360 Family Timer can restrict children’s activity time.. Helpful notifications will appear to warn gamers that the session is nearing the end so they have sufficient time to save their game, and the feature will automatically turn off the console when the predetermined time limit has been exceeded.

Source : Microsoft.com

The XBOX Team announced on their blog that it will be possible to play Divx (and Xvid) movies on the XBOX 360 after the Fall update (which will be available at Dec. 4th). They announce the following about the video playback on their website (only the new features will be mentioned here) :

What exactly does the XBOX 360 support for AVI?

XBOX 360 supports the following for AVI:

• File Extensions: .avi, .divx
• Containers: AVI
• Video Profiles: MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple & Advanced Simple Profile
• Video Bitrate: 5 Mbps with resolutions of 1280 x 720 at 30fps. See question number 11 for more information.
• Audio Profiles: Dolby® Digital 2 channel and 5.1 channel, MP3
• Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions. See question number 11 for more information.

What specific features of Mpeg-4 Advanced Simple Profile does the Xbox 360 support?

The Xbox 360 supports Bidirectional Frames (BVOPs), Interlaced Frames, Quarter Pixel Motion Compensation, Global Motion Compensation, and MPEG Quantization.

What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile. These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files. Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4. Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc). The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file.

Does the Xbox 360 support video artwork when browsing my collection from a USB 2.0 FAT32 removable drive or optical media?

For all video types we will search for a corresponding .jpg file and use that as the artwork. For example video1.avi would display the artwork in video1.jpg if it existed. In the absence of this file, for the mp4 container, we will search if the video file has embedded album artwork and display that instead. Please note you cannot use this method when streaming from Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune PC software.

How does the “Sort by Type” and “Sort by Title” option work when browsing my own generated video content?

The “Sort by Type” option is the typical Windows Explorer view that a computer would show your files in. It will first alphabetically sort your folders and then alphabetically sort your files. The “Sort by Title” option allows you to sort all folders and files alongside each other. Both of these sort options are persistent and linked to your profile so that you do not need to set them every time.

What shortcuts can I use with my gamepad while using the Video area?

LB skips backward one chapter. RB skips forward one chapter. RT fast forwards. LT rewinds. Start toggles between play and pause. X and Y bring up the On Screen Display for more advanced options. While browsing through your lists of videos you can also push Start to automatically begin video playback using the bookmark if it exists bypassing the Resume/Restart page. You can also use RT or LT to page up or page down through lists of items.

Why do I see the message “Updating content. This may take a few minutes. Please wait.” the first time when entering the Console video area?

To support grouping television and game videos your content metadata needs to be updated. Once this process is completed subsequent entries into the Video area will be very quick. Please be patient during the update process and allow it to complete updating all of your content metadata.

What changes have you made to selecting the source for Videos, Music, and Pictures?

The source selection is now mapped to the X button for each of these areas. The Xbox 360 will remember the last source that you picked and default to that. We have also removed the computer affiliation from the System Blade and we now show a list of all the computers that you can connect to directly in the Select Source scene. This allows you to quickly jump between Windows Media Player 11 and Zune PC software media shares.

How can I play music from my iPhone® and iPod Touch®?

Unfortunately the iPhone® and iPod Touch® uses a different mechanism for storing your music then a traditional iPod®. We are currently unable to play music from the iPhone® or IPod Touch®. You can still browse the pictures stored on these device through the Pictures area in the Xbox 360 dashboard.

Can I play videos from my iPod®?

The Xbox 360 does not support playing videos from an iPod®.

The XBOX Team announced the complete featurelist on their blog that will be included in the Fall Update which will be available within the next few days :

Hello Everyone!

Coming shortly is our December 2007 System Update, one where we’ve added a lot of new features that you guys have been asking for. You should be prompted for the update early next week on December 4th.

This is the seventh system update I’ve been responsible for and I recently went back and reviewed the previous major updates we published in June ’06, November ‘06, and May ‘07. It is amazing how far the console has come since 2005! And knowing all the work that has gone into this current update I stand back and feel super-proud of the Xbox Console Team.  The incredible innovation and efforts they continue to put into the platform each day is unbelievable.

Maintaining a twice yearly ship schedule is difficult.  Launching major services like Video Marketplace is challenging.  Designing and launching an external HD-DVD player from scratch in 10 months is difficult.  Growing our library of backwards compatible titles to almost 500 supported games is demanding. But hearing feedback from our users and seeing our platform succeed makes it all worthwhile.  And it makes us want to tackle even more.

Did you know our system update package is only 7MB in size?  Or that the entire 360 O/S resides on a tiny 16MB filesystem and when running it is only given 32MB of system memory?  I mention this as our developers and testers do an amazing job of coding for performance, and that is overlooked by a lot of people.  Each day they are faced with adding more features, improving performance, and creating magical experiences with those hard-capped limits.  And release over release they are able to pull off some magic to make it happen.

I feel really lucky to work with such an amazing team. We love the 360, and we are passionate about making it better!  Remember the team is listening to your comments on Xbox.com and on Major Nelson’s site so please continue to provide the feedback!

The team is already thinking about the next update and after some well deserved time off for the holidays we’ll again be working to improve your 360 gaming experience.

Daryl Welsh (GT: IndieGames) -Xbox 360 Group Test and Release Manager

Click here to see the complete featurelist.

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Microsoft is making it even easier to expand your Friends network on Xbox LIVE®, starting with the Fall Dashboard Update on December 4. You’ll be able to check out the friends lists of fellow Xbox LIVE members right from the Dashboard. With this new feature, members can find old friends or connect with new ones within the community of more than eight million people on Xbox LIVE around the globe and send messages and game invites, as well as compare games and Achievements.

With the prevalence of social media websites such as MySpace and FaceBook, this type of capability has largely come to be expected from consumers as a means to relate in an online community. Xbox LIVE continually seeks new ways to better serve the expectations of its members, which often result in free enhancements made available through the bi-annual Dashboard updates.

Friends List Settings When the Fall Dashboard update is distributed on December 4, the new default setting on Xbox LIVE will be active, enabling members to see the Friends lists of other Xbox LIVE members. If you’d like to keep your friends list private, you can take the following steps to change your settings beginning today:

Log in to www.xbox.com/fof and select one of the three options available for your Gamertag:

• Everyone (only available to members 18 and older)
• Friends only (available to members 13 and older)
• Blocked (available to all members, and automatic for anyone under the age of 13)

Xbox LIVE invites you to Xtival ’07: a three-day extravaganza of FREE Xbox LIVE Gold gaming. For 72 hours you’ll be able to play your favourite games against your mates, wherever they are – or you can jump in and enjoy Xbox LIVE on your own. Don’t miss our exciting competitions, Developer Jam Sessions and loads more free gaming goodness. So stick it in your diary and get ready for the gaming event of the year.

Just check the Xtival homepage for more information (and the line-up), I think the Xtival event is only happening in Europe (yeah it’s a European festival only as you can read on the Ubisoft website).

More info about Xtival ’07 (English)

If English isn’t your native language, visit one of the links below for info in your own language : Meer informatie over Xtival ’07 (Dutch) Plus d’information plus de Xtival ’07 (French) Mehr Info vorbei Xtival ’07 (German) Più Info sopra Xtival ’07 (Italian) Más Info encima Xtival ’07 (Spanish)