Xbox Software "Update"; 1080p Streaming Video is Amazing

I was expecting a Dashboard update and all they did was release four or five new free application downloads (which is what the Netflix player is, though they did release that along with the NXE Dashboard update). That pretty cool, as people without an interest in the Zune stuff, Facebook, Twitter or Last.fm don't have to download and install the bits they don't want.

I was extremely impressed by the new Zune video. You can check out the 1080p Smooth Streaming by watching the previews for some of the new release movies. I tried several that were in HD with digital surround: State of Play, Drag Me To Hell and Land of the Lost, to name a few. Curiously, there are a few titles that are only available for purchase in SD, yet the previews for them are in HD (Star Trek was one of those).

You can monitor the current connection speed/quality indicator by bringing up the Info Pane (INFO button on the remote, "i" button on control panel you can use with the pad). Mostly my connection stayed rock solid and the streaming stayed at 1080p HD, but I saw one or two very brief fluctuations--a moment of a lower quality encoding with absolutely no pause. Starting the clips really was "instant" taking no more than a second or two. Very, very cool.

No. The video component is a replacement for the Xbox Live Video Store, with videos for rental and purchase. Like the Playstation Store, movies can only be purchased in SD; if there's an HD version of the same movie, it can only be rented. Television episodes, on the other hand, can only be purchased. Anything that you can stream can also be downloaded. I'm not sure about the resolution of HD downloads.

Not being into social networking, I could care less about that stuff and really like the fact that I don't have to waste space on my HDD to support it, which Dashboard integration would have. (I know, it's not much, but every little bit helps, given my 20GB HDD).

Actually, Twitter does seem to be integrated (which makes sense, since you're supposed to be able to configure it to make tweets telling people when you log in and when you start to play games, etc). They probably added it in that last update, which went unexplained except that it contained things necessary for the upcoming Zune/Facebook/Twitter update; they just waited until now to activate it.

It is a bit disappointing that last.fm wasn't integrated. I'd sort of hoped that I could use it as game music, but no such luck, since it stops playing when you go back up to the dashboard.

Unfortunately that would seem to be the case; the only video I can access without starting that up is stuff from DLNA/UPnP servers on my LAN. Fortunately, I don't keep much video stored on my HDD.

Though I appreciate the option to leave out Facebook and last.fm, the Zune Video Store is probably a component which they should have provided as part of the dashboard.

I feel certain that they will always allow you to download rentals and purchases. Some people don't have network service fast enough to stream the highest quality encoding, but watching a download will always be highest quality.

It really doesn't matter, though--if you have a bunch of downloads on your HDD, it'd be nice if you didn't have to start up the Zune Video Store software every time. It's pretty quick once it's running, but its start up time is annoying.

Where did you hear this? I can find news about the free weekend easily enough, but that tidbit doesn't seem to be even in that forum post that you cited. My XBL Gold membership auto-renews on the 2nd, but if I can renew now and save $25 I will.

Actually "the man" (Shadowknight) was complaining about the speed at which the Zune Video app starts up, since he has to use it to access the stuff stored on his HDD. Whether you're playing stuff from the HDD or streaming, that wait will be the same. He feels that he shouldn't have to wait and I agree.

I was responding to your assertion that "no new downloads will be coming out". I disagree. Obviously, you can start playing the stream much, much faster than you can play a file that you download, but some people will want to do it all the same because their service isn't fast enough to support HD streaming. I doubt that MS will care either way. Obviously, if your network service is fast enough to deliver a stream good enough for you (and "good enough" might vary according to what you're watching), you'll choose the streaming option.

I doubt that there's a problem with sending 1080p through VGA. Even the licensing for Blu-ray allows HD output over VGA.