Xbox 360 Dashboard Update Delayed

Microsoft's Xbox 360 dashboard update has been "slightly delayed." The news went out this morning in a tweet from Major Nelson (aka Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox Live), who promises a status update later this afternoon, Pacific Time.

Following a Spring update that added support for PayPal and a new disc format, the latest Xbox 360 dashboard update packs all kinds of new functionality into the system, highlighted by Kinect and Bing powered voice search, and a number of new content partners. No reason for the update's delay has been offered.

Whatever the reason for the delay might be, the situation appears to have caught Microsoft off guard. The company has been running television commercials that prominently feature the update, and a press release for the update's availability went out this morning prior to Major Nelson's tweet.

"This morning, Microsoft launched a free update that 'revolutionizes' digital entertainment, putting all your movies, TV shows, music, sports and other types of entertainment in one box. The update also brings voice control to your Xbox experience, and with the simplicity of Kinect and the intelligence of Bing voice search. That’s just the beginning — the update also includes a complete dashboard redesign, a bevy of new content from partners around the world, and a variety of new social features and parental controls."

"The Xbox LIVE update also features cloud-powered saves so users can roam across consoles and take their content with them, new family content controls for parents, and 'beacons' that alert users when a friend would like to play a game."

So when can Xbox 360 owners expect the new update to become available? For now, there is no clear answer. Major Nelson chimed in at roughly 11:00 AM PT to note that there is "No new information to report yet," though his promise to let players know this afternoon "when it will begin rolling out" suggests that we may yet see it today.

Keep your eyes on Game Rant for more news as it develops. We'll update this posts with the latest information.

Update: just before 4:00 PM PST, Major Nelson tweeted the following:

"Sorry for the dash launch delay. Good news: first set of customers will be getting the Xbox LIVE update within the next few hours."

Note quite the "all systems go" message Xbox 360 owners have been waiting for all day, but better than nothing. Microsoft remains silent on the specific reasons for the delay.

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Source: Major Nelson's Blog