On Thursday, Microsoft made a handful of new social and entertainment features available to Xbox 360 users: Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm and Zune Video.
Twitter and Facebook can be accessed in the My Community category, Last.fm resides in the Music Marketplace and Zune Video can be found in the Video Marketplace.
I can already tell that social connectivity provided by the lightweight versions of Twitter and Facebook are going to come in very handy. Making status updates through either service will make it easier to organize online meet-ups.
The Xbox 360 version of Facebook will also point out people you know that have Xbox Live accounts. I added two Xbox Live friends right off the bat based on the software's recommendations.
Unfortunately, I had to drop two friends from my already full Xbox Live friends list to do so – there's still a cap of 100, which is going to feel more and more restrictive as Microsoft integrates more social networks with the service.
The only downside I can see right now is that you've got to quit the game you're playing and jump into the Twitter or Facebook program in order to make a status update. Until Microsoft finds a way to integrate Facebook and Twitter more seamlessly into the Xbox Live messaging system, I'm still going to need to keep a phone or laptop near the couch to shoot off messages like "Hey, we need one more survivor for Left 4 Dead 2!"
Image courtesy Microsoft
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