They are doin a huge update on the 16th from the sound of it. They said xbl coculd be down for 24 hours

Not all pal areas are good but in the UK, we will get SKY player this fall.

@Deathrow: If you have a Sky HD box then it's not really important to you but SKy confirmed that if you are an existing Sky customer, you will get some exclusive content,in what form that will take i didn't know.I only use freeview so this is a feature that i really want along with Last.FM.

ALl the features are great but what i need Microsoft to do is reduce the price of those bloody hard drives.I want to buy Mass Effect and Bioshock from the store along with Shadow Complex and Trials HD but i just don't have the space.I wish i could see the guy that decided to make the prices so high so that i can throw a rock at him.You provide great content for people to download then you shoot yourself in the foot by making the proprietary HDD so expensive.

Commonsense is not so common for Microsoft in that department.

Yeah, i'm in the UK too - while microsofts PAL treatment is actually quite good it isn't as good as the US's which is to be expected, all companies are like that - i'm interested in seeing how SKY on there is going to be, but i have a Sky HD box on the same TV as my 360 so it probably won't be worth using it on the 360.

XBL in US = awesome
XBL in rest of the world = sad joke

That's not true about Xbox LIVE outside USA.

Everyone gets the same features. The only differences are in movie/tv/music content, and that has everything to do with the MPAA/RIAA media firms not MS.

It allows you to play online games VS friends, watch/browse media, Play Demos, Get Updates on the console, and also connect Microsoft users together to the Web through your Gamertag and MSN.

There are plenty of Features fans will never use, just as, on other consoles but adding or extending XBOX LIVE social services through other social networks such at Twitter and Facebook can do no harm.

It only connects those that actually take part in them networks more and make it more streamlined for gamers that also engage. Plus, think about the Marketing aspect. Nobody is gonna go out and buy a Xbox 360 for Facebook/Twitter connectivity but having it "integrated" into the service adds an incentive for Microsoft to market "VALUE" to it's (Pay Per Month) service.

Hey it's all about adding more services and features right. I actually like the fact that, XBL "integrates" things into the dash. Hey, they could just add a browser and let you log unto these sites but unless it's a full fledged browser and not gimped, I don't see the point. I hate opening an extra application to get to where, I wanna go or do something simple.

Now I can log unto XBL(I do update my status on facebook, like many) and just go on there and put on my GAMING status or whatever. Again, if your not into social networks, just as some don't give a sh!t for motion sensing, then you probably won't care or bother.

I'm a Playstation 3 owner and not a 360 owner, but I've got to ask how is/was this supposed to answer home..?

I think the difference between the fact that one is a browser and the other being integrated is all taken down the level of convenience and to some that is the main selling point and a nice addition. Of course I personally don't see it's point being I don't have much time for either facebook or twitter (never really used either), but having them right there on the dash is a step up in some respects.

{Edit}
Even though their both social networking, I'd say that facebook has it's pluses more so than Home does in the fact that as you said it [Randomwiz] that you know people more so on facebook than on Home, and even before Home was released for everyone it was generally a pain when the mics were enabled. Home is still good in it's respects, but their is still just something about it. I mean don't get me wrong home is good and all, although I rarely use it and most of the time I do most of my networking or meeting people on playfire more so than Home, it's very rare that I would add someone on Home, I think I add more people via Ad-hoc more so than Home :/

"Its a awnser to home" is the most pathetic thing any PS3 fanboy has said on this site since E3 started. XBL is a social network and Face book, Twitters are up and coming giants in social services.

facebook and twitter have absolutely nothing to do with home

if home is social networking it is the saddest form of it i've seen