Microsoft will significantly update its Xbox 360 to expand the gaming console’s entertainment possibilities. The all-new Xbox 360 experience is to include the first group of new, custom applications from world leading TV and entertainment content providers on Xbox LIVE.

Photo: Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to use up to 500MB
of cloud storage (per day) to save their games in, from www.microsoft.com

“A new era in entertainment begins where all your entertainment is together in one place—your games, movies, TV shows, music and sports,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “With this update, Xbox 360 system owners will experience Kinect voice control integrated with Bing search, making your TV and entertainment experiences more social and personal than ever.”

Kinect for Xbox 360 combined with the Bing search will turn the user’s voice into the ultimate remote control to facilitate the searching of the user’s favorite programs. Games, movies, TV shows and music as well as the best offerings on Xbox LIVE can be found simply with a voice command.  This holiday, Xbox 360 consoles are set to deliver live and on-demand TV shows, movies, videos, sports, music and news.

Bing on Xbox voice is now initially available in English in the U.S., Canada and the UK for Zune video, Xbox LIVE Marketplace and select content partners. For those who do not have a Kinect for Xbox 360, text search will be available in Xbox LIVE markets. The BBC iPlayer will be added to the Xbox in 2012.

The Xbox that has just celebrated its 10th anniversary will also have a completely new ‘tiled’ Metro look which is also expected to be the default for Windows 8 when that debuts in late 2012.

Xbox 360 is building on its expansive catalog of movies, sports, television and music available through Hulu Plus, Last.fm, Netflix, Zune music and video and ESPN, as well as on its existing lineup of big TV providers, such as AT&T U-verse® TV in the U.S., Telus in Canada, BSkyB in the U.K., CANAL+ in France, Vodafone Portugal, VimpelCom in Russia and FOXTEL in Australia, by also now rolling out the following new entertainment partners and apps.