New Xbox Dashboard Combines TV & Gaming Entertainment

I have been writing about all the big changes with the Xbox for some time now in regards to IPTV and this is the big day, the day when it all launches (though there does appear to be a slight delay in the launch). I have been in the beta for new dashboard for sometime and have been playing with the available IPTV options in my area.

The New Xbox Dashboard

I like the new interface which can be controlled by the Kinect with both gesture and voice control. Unfortunately, you can get so deep into a menu that the Kinect doesn't know how to respond anymore and when you do Bing voice search you can only search Microsoft (Xbox LIVE Marketplace, Zune) and Hulu content. A real shame that but I imagine it will continue to grow as new apps become available. Oddly, it can't seem to search the Syfy or Epix content even though I've got the apps installed on my console along with ESPN and a couple others like DailyMotion.

To help promote their seemingly major step forward, they've produced a nifty little infographic and we all know that I love infographics so how could I not share it with you right? It's a bit egocentric on their part, but self-promotion is something I too am guilty of so I cast no stone. There are still, as I mentioned, severe limitations on what can be achieved through their voice search. I wish it could find news content daily and show it to me with just a simple "Xbox Bing today's news" but alas, it's not that sophisticated just yet.

They have released the schedule for the next couple months:

Dec. 6:
•    EPIX. United States
•    ESPN on Xbox LIVE (ESPN). United States
•    Hulu. Japan
•    Hulu Plus. United States
•    LOVEFiLM. United Kingdom
•    Netflix. Canada, United States
•    Premium Play by (MediaSet). Italy
•    Sky Go (SkyDE). Austria, Germany
•    Telefónica España – Movistar Imagenio. Spain
•    TODAY (MSNBC). United States

Later in December:
•    4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
•    ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
•    AlloCiné. France (AlloCiné), Germany (Filmstarts), Spain (Sensacine), United Kingdom (Screenrush)
•    Astral Media's Disney XD (Astral Media). Canada
•    blinkbox (Blinkbox). United Kingdom
•    Crackle (Sony Pictures). Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
•    Dailymotion. Available in 32 countries globally
•    Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
•    DIGI+ (CANAL+). Spain
•    GolTV (Mediapro). Spain
•    iHeartRadio (Clear Channel). United States
•    Mediathek/ZDF (ZDF). Germany
•    MSN. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom
•    MSNBC.com. United States
•    MUZU.TV. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
•    ninemsn. Australia
•    Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports). Canada
•    Rogers On Demand Online (Rogers Media). Canada
•    SBS ON DEMAND. Australia
•    TMZ (Warner Bros.). Canada, United States
•    TVE (RTVE.es). Spain
•    UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
•    Verizon FiOS TV. United States
•    VEVO. Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
•    Vudu (Wal-Mart). United States
•    YouTube. Available in 24 countries globally

Early 2012:
•    Antena 3 (Antena 3 de Televisión). Spain
•    BBC (BBC). United Kingdom
•    CinemaNow (Best Buy). United States
•    HBO GO (HBO). United States
•    MLB.TV (MLB Advanced Media). Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States
•    Telenovelas/Sports (Televisa). Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom
•    Xfinity On Demand (Comcast). United States

UPDATE:

Unfortunately it's been delayed as it should already have dropped for everyone in North America today. They say a status update on it will come later today about what is going on. Either a missed licensing contract or a sudden security flaw is my guess.