Stick to the Business, Kid....

As you may have noticed, I typically try to keep these postings somewhat related to the business side of IT.  Today, however, Microsoft announced the new Xbox 360 experience and it is almost too cool for even me to put into words.  A ton of features have been added to the 360 interface, including animated characters you can customize to reflect your own individuality and Xbox LIVE Party, which allows you to create a virtual party on your Xbox and connect to up to 7 of your friends.

But, by far and away, the most anticipated feature (and that's MY anticipation, mind you) is the new interface with Netflix on-demand.  You can use the Xbox 360 to stream movies from Netflix's connection of on-demand movies.  In addition, Netflix is offering HD on-demand!!!! The Xbox 360 is currently the only Netflix HD ready device! How cool is that????   Can you tell I am excited?  (All of the punctuation really gives it away, doesn't it?)  The HD offerings currently include over 300 choices of movies and television shows, but I expect we will see a lot more in the near future.

I can't wait to get home and play with my Xbox!  (And all of this just in time for the Thanksgiving break.  What could be better after a huge meal of sleep-inducing, tryptophan-laced turkey than moving into the living room and watching some of my favorite television shows in HD on-demand???  Well, if you're a sports-person, I guess football.  But for me, I'll take the HD TV, please!!!)

All of these new features combined with the ability to act as a Windows Media Center extender (to experience all of your recorded television, music, photos, etc. streaming straight from your Windows Media Center) means the Xbox has been promoted from gaming console to the new center of your digital living room!

You can read all about all of the Xbox enhancements here.

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