Delivering on a promise teased earlier this week, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has revealed to Xbox 360 fans a way into a sneak preview of the New Xbox Experience, the dashboard overhaul due November 19.

Users can now sign up at Microsoft Connect for a chance at early access to the Experience, which will give selected users the ability to download the dashboard ahead of the November 19 rollout.

Microsoft is offering up the spots for testing purposes, so the sign-up form is a survey asking for information including internet connection, media streaming, Netflix subscriptions and so on. Potential testers will need their Console ID, which can be viewed on the console in the Settings menu, under System Information.

More detailed information on who gets in, courtesy the Major, follows:

• We're looking for a few thousand participants, so your chances... Read more

Microsoft has supplied a pair of new screenshots from the New Xbox Experience--the dashboard refresh for the Xbox 360 due November 19--showing the console's new Netflix streaming capability in action.

"All Xbox Live Gold members with a Netflix subscription will be able to instantly watch more than 12,000 movies from the Netflix library at no extra charge," writes Microsoft's official Gamerscore Blog.

The blog post added that the Xbox Live Video Marketplace will be included in the overhaul, featuring hi-res box art and detailed information for all of the content available.

The ability to share those videos with online friends was recently delayed from the release of the update and is promised as "coming soon."

Xbox Live Primetime, the game show-centric channel set to debut with the New Xbox Experience--Microsoft's software overhaul of the Xbox 360--has been delayed until the spring.

The project, which was announced alongside the New Xbox Experience back at E3, was shelved to assure a smooth launch of the dashboard update coming November 19, according to Chris Morris at Forbes.

"Because the relaunch of Xbox Live is the biggest gaming project the company has undertaken since getting the 360 onto store shelves, things have slipped," explained Morris after talking to Microsoft reps about the situation.

"That's too bad," lamented Morris. "Xbox Live Primetime is a provocative concept and could represent the gaming industry's first serious foray into the turf dominated by TV." The channel is set to feature online versions of popular game shows only playable at certain times--presumably, weekday evenings--with the possibility of winning physical prizes.

Primetime isn't the first feature cut in order for Microsoft to make its self-set deadline. Last week, streaming movie sharing was also dropped from the launch and promised only as "coming soon."

With Krome's Scene It? Box Office Smash (360) approaching its October 28 release, a downloadable 447 MB demo for the movie-trivia game has appeared in the Xbox 360's online Marketplace, offering players a glimpse of the forthcoming Xbox Avatars.

Box Office Smash is the first game to support the personalized avatars of the New Xbox Experience, with today's demo offering several pre-made avatars to choose from. After the new dashboard arrives with the Avatar customization functionality on November 19, players will be able to use their own avatars instead of the generic placeholders.

Playable with either a standard controller or the specialized Big Button Controller, Scene It? Box Office Smash will be sold as a $40 standalone game or in a $60 bundle with four Big Button Controllers. Microsoft promises that the title will receive new questions via downloadable content--an oft-requested feature for the original Scene It.

Those that read Xbox Live programming director Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb's official blog will be offered early access to the new Xbox 360 dashboard, going by the heavy-handed hints dropped in his weekly podcast.

"If you want to get your hands on [the new Xbox dashboard early], let me just say this: keep an eye on my blog next week," Hyrb teased in Sunday's podcast, according to a GamePlay Unlimited transcription.

"So New Xbox Experience coming November 19th, or earlier to a few of you."

Dubbed the New Xbox Experience, the free Xbox 360 software update adds Netflix streaming, remote access to the Xbox Live Markeplace, customizable player avatars, photo sharing, community-developed games, optional game installs, and more.

The Xbox Community Games feature, the long-awaited system allowing amateur developers to create games for the Xbox 360, will come online with its own Channel when the New Xbox Experience launches on November 19.

A video interview with Kathleen Sanders from the XNA team on Major Nelson reveals the process by which aspiring developers can design and submit their own games to Xbox Live. Xbox Live subscribers can download games from the Community Games Channel, though none of them will be free.

XNA contest winners The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, left, and Blazing Birds

"It's crazy, the range of games [I've seen] ... you've got Pong clones... Read more

Following the news that Microsoft's New Xbox Experience update will require 128MB of storage to run, the company is now offering Xbox 360 Core and Arcade owners sizable discounts on storage solutions to prepare for the update.

The Xbox 360 Memory Upgrade Program offers Xbox 360 Core owners free 512MB memory cards, or the option of buying a $20 20GB hard drive. Xbox 360 Arcade owners can purchase a package including three months of Xbox Live Gold membership and a 20GB hard drive for $30.

The New Xbox Experience, with its Mii-like avatars and Netflix support, launches on November 19.

Following up on reports that the new Xbox 360 dashboard will no longer feature photo and movie sharing, Microsoft has confirmed with Shacknews that the software update will launch without the ability to share movies with other Xbox Live members.

However, the update will still feature online Photo Sharing functionality when it arrives as a free software download on November 19. The company explained that comments from Xbox senior strategist Rob Gruhl regarding the addition of Photo Sharing were hypothetical, meant to stress that the software is dynamic and can be easily updated.

The official Microsoft announcement of the new dashboard, commonly referred to as the New Xbox Experience, promised that a group of up to eight online friends could "watch a Netflix movie together, or share a slideshow of your personal photos."

Microsoft's statement regarding Photo and Movie Sharing follows:

Photo Sharing is going to be available at launch.

With regards to movies, the New Xbox Experience is a long term initiative, what we are rolling out in November is only the beginning! With the New Xbox Experience we will have the flexibility to roll out features and updates dynamically, unlike in the past where we were on a more biannual schedule. So, there are a lot more exciting features, including Movie Sharing that will be coming soon.

The new Xbox 360 dashboard, due November 19, may have lost its promised video and photo sharing features, going by a recent MTV Multiplayer report.

"Right now, movie sharing isn't part of Microsoft's plan," reads the site, with Xbox marketing director Albert Penello adding that "those types of things are certainly the aspiration."

Those statements seem to conflict with Microsoft's official announcement of the new software, which promised that a group of up to eight online friends could "watch a Netflix movie together, or share a slideshow of your personal photos."

"We talked about photo sharing," noted Xbox senior strategist Rob Gruhl.

"That's something that, hey, if we want to do photo sharing, we just build that app, drop it in, party enable it and we're good to go. If we wanted to do movie sharing, build an app, party enable it, drop it in," Gruhl explained, adding further weight to the belief that the features have been cut and may arrive later.

Shacknews has contacted Microsoft for clarification on the report.

The New Xbox Experience promises a lot of improvements to the Xbox 360 interface upon its November 19 arrival, but the best improvement may come courtesy a PC: users will be able to use their PCs to browse the Xbox Live Marketplace and make purchases remotely.

"Those sexy Gamerpics, movies and additional levels just sit there and mock you saying, 'I know you want me, but you'll have to wait to queue me up for the download,'" laments a post on Microsoft's official Gamerscore Blog. "Not anymore."

"Once the New Xbox Experience launches you will be able to browse Xbox LIVE Marketplace on your PC ... [and] you can add [something] to your queue and even purchase it right there and then," explains the post.

Text search will also be included, something which is currently absent from the increasingly large marketplace and is not expected in the New Xbox Experience.

"As soon as you get back home to your Xbox 360 and turn it on, the content will begin to download," the blog post adds.

Mirroring Nintendo's fabled storage problems for the Wii, Microsoft will soon share the feeling: the New Xbox Experience, the Xbox 360 dashboard overhaul due in November, will be too big for some systems without permanent storage.

"The New Xbox Experience will require 128MB of free space," reads a Microsoft press release. "While we expect the majority of consumers to download the New Xbox Experience without a problem, a small percentage of Xbox 360 owners do not have enough memory to accommodate the update."

In its entry-level "Arcade" trim, the console comes with no permanent storage space whereas the higher-priced editions pack in hard drives with at least 20 GB--more than enough to fit the update.

"Microsoft will be offering storage solutions to the Xbox LIVE community," continues the press release. No further details are available at this time, but are expected to be made clear by the update's November 19 release.

Microsoft has finally confronted the criticism--whether fair or not--that the company cribbed Nintendo's Mii avatars for inclusion in its upcoming New Xbox Experience, the dashboard overhaul coming in November.

"It's not like Nintendo created the concept for having a virtual character," Xbox director of marketing Albert Penello said to MTV Multiplayer.

"A lot of people want to compare it to the Miis but ... if you talk to Mark [Whitten, Xbox Live general manager], he'll say his inspiration came more from [World of] WarCraft and seeing how dedicated people get to their characters," Penello explained. Hands-on reports with Avatars coming from the Tokyo Game Show indicate that Avatars have many, many more customization options than Miis, making them more akin to World of Warcraft characters.

Penello even alluded to the chance that the Mii-vatar controversy circulating the gaming press was created by the press itself: "All the [gaming] editors were asking, 'When are you guys going to do your version of the Miis?' ... [and] I remember going, 'You guys are going to slaughter us in the press if we ever do it.'"

With the new Xbox 360 dashboard and its revised interface arriving November 19, Microsoft has released new screenshots of the free system update that adds Netflix streaming, customizable player avatars, optional game installs, and more.

Microsoft has announced that the debut of the New Xbox Experience, including the updated dashboard and other features, will occur on November 19. The launch will be a simultaneous around the world, according to Joystiq.

For more on the New Xbox Experience, check out our latest news on the update.

The latest leaked video of the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update highlights the ability to install games to the hard drive and the reduced loading times that ensue.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Though games will stream off the hard drive after installation, players will still need to have the proper game disc in their console for copy protection purposes.

Slated to arrive this fall, the free system update known as the New Xbox Experience includes a revised interface, Netflix streaming, customizable player Avatars, support for optional game installs, and more. Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up.

While Krome's movie-trivia Scene It? Box Office Smash will be the first game to support Xbox Live Avatars when it arrives on October 28, publisher Microsoft is remaining quiet as to when the new Avatar-packing Xbox 360 dashboard update will arrive.

"We have nothing to announce at this time regarding NXE's launch date. Stay tuned!" a Microsoft representative told Shacknews when asked if the game's launch signaled the the impending release of the new dashboard.

The company added: "We are excited that Scene It? Box Office Smash will be the first game to fully integrate with the New Xbox Experience Avatars."

Thus far, Microsoft has only stated that the new dashboard will arrive this fall, with ad listings pointing to a November release. Dubbed the New Xbox Experience, the free software update includes a new interface, Netflix streaming, customizable player Avatars, support for optional game installs, and more.

Continuing its gradual reveal of the new Xbox 360 dashboard, Microsoft's Gamescore Blog has provided screenshots comparing the old Xbox Live Marketplace with the redesigned Marketplace gamers should experience this November. Along with a redesigned interface, the new Xbox 360 dashboard--dubbed the New Xbox Experience--will deliver Netflix streaming, personalized Avatars, game installs, and more.

Netflix has "significantly" expanded the number of films and television shows that Xbox 360-owning subscribers will be able to stream through their console this fall.

Under an agreement with Starz Entertainment, Netflix will add roughly 2,500 movies "and other choices," along with a live feed of the Starz TV network, to its library of streaming media. This is done at no extra cost, with the first 1,000 or so additions already live at Netflix.com for PC-equipped subscribers.

Films covered under the deal include Spider-Man 3, Ratatouille, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Superbad, No Country for Old Men, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, along with an as-yet-unaired first full episode of the movie-inspired television drama Crash.

The Xbox 360 will gain Netflix steaming support as part of the fall software update, expected in November. Until then, Netflix subscribers are limited to watching streaming media through their internet browser or specialized set-top box.

As Microsoft prepares to revise the look and feel of the Xbox 360's interface with the coming fall update--which adds game installs, Netflix streaming, customizable Avatars and more--the company has released a video examining some of the changes.

While an exact date have yet to be revealed for the fall update, ads in the Xbox Live Marketplace have suggested that it will arrive in November.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Update: NeoGAF member Kafel corroborated the picture from Joystiq and added a shot from another page of the ad section. It reads:

"Coming in November, playing Rock Band 2 and meeting up with your band mates on your Xbox 360 will be better than ever thanks to the New Xbox Experience," and links to a features list and videos of the new dashboard.

The Xbox 360's new look, due this fall Original Story: The Xbox 360 dashboard has outed itself: the pending avatar-loving update, dubbed the New Xbox Experience, will arrive in November--if a Rock Band 2 advertisement on the console is to be believed.

"Check out the New Xbox Experience coming in November!" reads the screen in the Rock Band 2 ad section as pictured on Joystiq.

The dashboard update, which overhauls the Xbox 360 main interface and adds hard drive installation of games, has always been due for a rather vague "fall" and certainly will not follow next week's scheduled Xbox Live downtime.

Shacknews was unable to confirm the rumor.