Microsoft has decided to completely overhaul the Xbox 360 dashboard for their Fall update, as said it will be an entirely new Xbox through the magic of software. The new dashboard features will be new Mii-like 3D Avatars, a new emphasis on community with IM, video chat, and photo sharing, along with a new 3D slide interface for the main Dashboard screen. 3D avatars will be intergrated into your gamercard allowing you to use them in supported games, with these 3D avatars you'll be able to start a "live party" and invite 8 of your friends to hangout and do stuff together.

Microsoft has also announced the availability of Netflix streaming allowing people who have Gold memberships to access their Netflix queues for no extra charge. Microsoft has said that the Xbox 360 is the only console to support such a service. Being a feature coming to the Fall update it will have support for the new "live party" allowing for people to party up and watch a streaming movie together. Not much is known on the quality of the movies but its thought to be DVD quality but could change to HD at release or later on.

Microsoft has also announced the ability to Download games straight off the disc onto the HDD a feature that will allow for quieter gaming and faster loading. You'll also be able to make purchases off the Xbox live marketplace off the Internet and have it downloaded to your console when you turn it on. Microsoft has added full support for 16:10 over VGA or HDMI with res suppot for 1440 x 900 and 1680 x 1050.

Screenshots
(IMG:http://www.joystiq.com/media/2008/07/msft-e308-keynote-9-8.jpg) (IMG:http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/07/msft-e308-netflix-6.jpg) (IMG:http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/07/msft-e308-keynote-11-8.jpg)

Source: Engadget

(IMG:http://www.joejoe.org/storage/JJv3_preview.jpg)

Artist: CE0311
2 versions: "Black" & "Black Glass" in all resolutions (incl. psp and iphone)
Size: 4,88 MB

(IMG:http://www.joejoe.org/img/download.png) Download: Official joejoe.org v3 wallpaper

Hi everyone!

I'm sure many in the skinning community are familiar with the GUI Championships where skinners from across the world compete for thousands of dollars in prizes for their designs in various skinning categories. With that being said, I'm happy to say we have announced some details about the GUI Champs 2008.

You can read the full announcement at the link below, but I will post some details here as well.

GUIC 2008 - Lets Talk Details

In 2006, there were three main categories; WindowBlinds skins, Icon Packages, and Wallpapers. This year, we have dropped the Wallpaper event and will instead be replaced by Animated Wallpapers (Dreams). Here is the official event list for the 2008 GUIC:

1. WindowBlinds Skins
   1. Most Original
   2. Most Usable
   3. Best Overall
2. IconPackager Sets
   1. Most Original
   2. Most Usable
   3. Best Overall
3. Animated Wallpapers (.Dreams)
   1. Most Original
   2. Most Usable
   3. Best Overall

The 2008 GUI Champs will officially kick off on October 8th. Starting on that date, we will launch the new contest site and begin accepting submissions. The contest will run up to the end of December. This gives everyone a 3 month lead before we even start accepting skins, to just over 5 months total before the competition closes.

We’re still in talks with potential sponsors, but we’ve lined up at least one hardware vendor and have several software makers interested in being a part of the event. We are currently working toward the goal of having at least $10,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs.

Firefox-Skin: Longhorn Firefox 3 Theme [by Dannydeman]



(IMG:http://www.joejoe.org/img/world_link.png) Source: In-House


Vista Flare HD [by Frnak]



(IMG:http://www.joejoe.org/img/world_link.png) Source: In-House

From the live keynote, we see that jobs is aiming to make sure that people know about the new and old framework and how the iPhone and SDK interacts with Mac OS X. (IMG:http://s3.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213031926.jpg)
"With the SDK in iPhone 2.0 we're opening the same native APIs and tools we use internally... that means you as a dev can build apps for the iPhone the same way we do. Let's start by talking about the APIs. The APIs and frameworks on the iPhone share extensively with OS X... We use the same kernel in the iPhone that forms the basis of OS X... almost all of them share the same source code line-for-line as OS X."

There are many news applications with the iPhone, Sega is first up -- showing Super Monkey Ball again, but now with over 100 levels. Also, like the eBay tool and revised Maps that were shown. The map app displays pins representing where your friends currently are. Within this there is a history feature so you can "track" where your friends have been. It's easy to call or text them as well. Works with Loopt users on other platforms and will be available for free at the launch of the App Store.


TypePad. Their native app makes it very simple to blog or send in a photo. The photo can be taken right then using the camera, or be selected from the gallery. This is going to make users very happy as before it was easier to jailbreak and then use a 3rd party app to send photos.

(IMG:http://s3.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213033266.jpg) Pangea Software. They have ported 2 games to the iPhone.Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally.
See Many More New Applications For The iPhone In The New App Store.

One of apples main concern is the background support, they will get a solution. This little solution even got a chance to poke fun at windows mobile's task manager. Apple has come up with a far better solution -- a push notification service available for all developers.When the user quits the application, Apple will push updates from their servers to the iPhone. The developer's servers push the notifications to Apple.This functionality won't be available until September, but will be seeded to developers soon.

Steve discussed new features in the iPhone 2.0 software. First, contact search with live searching. Second, full iWork document support. Third, complete support for Office documents (Word, Excel, and now PowerPoint). Fourth, bulk delete & move for messages. Fifth, the ability to save images you get. Sixth, a new calculator with scientific mode when you rotate the iPhone. Seventh, parental controls. Eight, tremendous language support.

iPhone 2.0 will be available in early for July. Free for iPhone owners, $9.99 for iPod Touch owners.

(IMG:http://s3.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213035540.jpg) (IMG:http://s3.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213035521.jpg) A 60-day free trial will be available along with the iPhone 2.0 software in early July. MobileMe replaces .mac. .mac subscribers will automatically be upgraded.

Let me hit you with some stats about the current iphone... 90% customer satisfaction (off the carts), 98% are browsing online, 94% are using email, 90% are using text messaging, 80% are using 10 or more features. In the first year, 6 million iPhones were sold until Apple ran out several weeks ago.

iPhone Challanges....

• 3G network support
• Enterprise support
• Third party application support
• More countries (joking about unlocked iPhones in countries not officially supported)
• More affordable ( The biggest letdown)

Introducing the iPhone 2.0
Apple has learned so much with the first iPhone. They have taken everything they've learned and more and created the iPhone 3G. Even thinner, black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same gorgeous display, camera, flush headphone jack, and dramatically improved audio. How does the iPhone 3G tackle the challenges? 3G = faster data downloads, perfect for Safari and Mail. Comparing download speeds between 3G and EDGE. 3G finished in 21 seconds. EDGE finished in 59 seconds. 2.8X faster. Approaching WiFi speeds (WiFi scored 17 seconds). When compared to other 3G phones (Nokia N95 and Treo 750), the iPhone is 36% faster -- and better looking.

(IMG:http://s3.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213036418.jpg)
(IMG:http://s3.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213036420.jpg)
(IMG:http://cf.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213036440.jpg)
(IMG:http://cf.media.macrumorslive.com/p/m1213036444.jpg)
3G has great battery life on iPhone. 300 hours of standby, 2G talk-time now has 10 hours (as opposed to 5), 5 hours of 3G talk-time (most phones only have 3 hour 3G talk time), 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7 hours of video, 24 hours of audio. GPS support now integrated into the iPhone. Data from cell towers, WiFi networks, and now -- GPS. 70 Countries will be rolled out over the next few months.

Now on to the final challenge -- affordability. Started at $599 for an 8GB iPhone, now $399. The iPhone 3G 8GB will sell for... $199.
$299 for the 16GB -- a white version of this size will be available too.
The iPhone 3G will be available July 11th in 22 countries. The maximum price around the world is $199 USD.



By Jake McHugh With Mac Rumors For the Joejoe News Team!
Thanks to http://www.macrumorslive.com/ and http://www.engadget.com too (: