Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update Beta Begins

The Xbox Live Fall preview program for the Xbox 360 is now available for users who previously signed up for beta – or at least hte option to add their registration keys to their Xbox 360 to download the update.

25 character key registration keys have started going out to those who were accepted into the closed beta preview.  Emails with the 25 digit code are being sent out which users can enter into the Marketplace to redeem the update.  NeoWin has posted images for what the Xbox 360 dashboard update will look like during the signup process.

It can take up to three to five business days after you've entered the code for Microsoft to send the download to your system.  Once sent, you should be able to install the new dashboard on up to three different consoles, according to the update page.  It looks like the beta update will run for "about three months", which means we probably won't see the official change until after Christmas.

As expected, those who participate in the beta are under a strict NDA – so don't expect to hear much about the new dashboard.  What we do know right now is that the update's n ew features include a new look inspired by Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8, which has been greatly expanded to support voice commands.  It also includes a search featured branded after Microsoft owned Bing.