Thread: The Update Review (Facebook, Twitter & Last.FM)

The Update Review

Last week, I heard about the Update Preview, applied and was lucky enough to get accepted, and be ammong the first to use the new update which includes TWitter, Facebook & LAst.FM as well as the Zune MArketplace for Zune Owners.

So, After a good Playtest of Twitter, Facebook & Last FM, and a regular Tweeter & Face F*cker online, I thought I'd write you all a Review so you know what to expect some Mid-November when the general public get there hands on the update.

Facebook.

From the Preview images, Accessing your facebook through your Xbox 360 is uneccesary for some, But others will find it a godsend as they're able to keep track of there facebook without having to sit at the P.C. or not bother, while Gaming.

Most of what you need will be there, You can view your Friends, as well as a list of your Xbox Friends who have facebook, and a list of Facebook friends who also have Xbox Live, It's a neat Idea to link the two, and you could well see both Friendslists taking a boost.

Pictures display full'ish screen, giving a nice preview and an easy way to view albums, but sadly Facebook's compression isnt the best, so as with the website, they're not the highest quality, though this i smore a facebook fault than a xbox 360 one.
Video's are the same, Viewable, and easy to see, but again sadsly not the best quality.

On top of all of that, you can obviously view peoples wall's, and update your own/status. which covers the core of Facebook, But sadly that's all you get, There's no way of viewing gorups pages, no applications of any type, and worst of all there's no chat.
I would have loved to see Microsoft add in Facebook chat next to the Msn/live messenger chat, on the Xbox 360, and we could well see it in the future, bt it's annoying they couldnt even get a quick chat system in via the application.

Overall Facebook works well and shows you the core content, With the promised addition of Facebook Connect (auto updating your facebook with gamerscore, achievements, screenshots etc) This app could get very good in the future, but as it stands, its a nice useful addition that feels a little empty when you get past the core facebook stuff.



Twitter.

Get one of the worlds biggest social networking site wasnt enough, so Microsoft Scooped 2, TWitter is a much simpler system than Facebook, so pretty much all of it is included, you can search & view trending topics, see your friends Tweets, and of course Tweet yourself.

I'd love to see some better fluidity allowing to easier view one persons tweets, but it's a start, and like facebook there's room for improvement.

Sadly, again, it's not what it is, it's what it could be, and while it's a great addition to the Xbox 360, There's plenty of space for improvement,


Last.FM

I've not seen much of LAst.FM until it hit the Xbox 360, But I'm pleased it's there, With it being the least popular of the 3 systems, I've been pleasently suprised by LAst.FM,
For those that don't know, you create an account, thaat then tracks your songs, iPod style, and abit like Apple's "Genius" it works out what songs ar elike those you have chosen to listen too from the Hundreds of availabel channels,
and creates your own channels, which you can easily get to, and while not all songs have been my cp of tea, 95% of it's recommendations have fit in nicely with my style of music.
You can easily skip, heart (like) or Block (dislike) a Song when it's on, so this will all reflect in your personal channel giving you a more customise dplaylist everytime you use the system,
Everything works Very well, Runs smoothly and each time there seems a nice mix of recommended channels ont he front end,
And With each artist, you'll get images of the artist / track (that are uploaded by Last.FM users online) that make it a littl ebetter than a plain screen or the Last.FM home screen all the time,.
while there are bad bits, Sound quality isnt quite as good as it could be, and some of the uplaoded images are a bit naff, The sound is perfect for Living/bedroom listening, And the poor images usually seem limited to the less popular tracks/artists.


Zune

Sadly, I havn't got a Zune, so using the Zune marketplace, or even looking at Zune stuff and trying to tell you what I think (When I've never touched a Zune) wouldnt be much good to you guys, especially since I'd spend half the review talking about my iPhone etc...
So there's no comments about the Zune.


Final Words....

It's a good update adding a great Music system as well as 2 of the biggest "Love or Hate" social networks..
Yes, each has there own little niggles, and each has room for improvement, But each seems an easy fix, and with some of the things facebook has planned for th efuture, I wouldnt be suprised to see the chat on there too.

If you use Facebook or Twitter alot, or would like a Radio Station that is automatically customised to your own taste in music, then you will enjoy this update.

nice review mate, i do like last fm as i have used this for years on my pc, but i cannot find how to play vids via facebook

Anyone know when this update is released to the public ?

17th I believe.

cool. I wonder how they choose who gets to test it

You have to apply through the microsoft tester site, didn't bother this time, no real interest in Facebook/Twitter, I keep my console ID and other details in my fone so when the time comes I can apply fast as generally I'm @ work when tester programmes are announced.