News released from Xbox on March 5th states that there is an update to the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. The new code of conduct has a distinct change that I feel needs to be mentioned. The new Code of Conduct allows a person to express their orientation in their profile or gamertag. Here is an excerpt from the Code of Conduct:

You may use the following terms to express your relation ship orientation in your profile or Gamertag:

• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bi
• Transgender
• Straight

CNET News was told by Stephen Toulouse, the head of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live that he felt the previous policy regarding members expressing their sexual orientation was “inelegent” and that though he and his team were working on improving the situation, they had no timetable. Xbox did this to alleviate discrimination concerns that may have been plaguing them in the past. I am sure these changes are welcomed by tons of Xbox Live members. I also applaud Xbox for making this change in support of their customers. Xbox needed this change to remain diverse in their 23 million member strong community.

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For you lucky people to have participated in the Xbox Live Update Preview you got to experience Last.FM, Facebook, Twitter, and the new Zune service.

My favorite so far is Facebook:

With Facebook on the Xbox 360 you are able to Update your status right from the comfort of your own couch or chair or bed!  You can also view friends status updates, view photos in full screen on your television. You can also check to see which friends of yours are also using Facebook on the Xbox 360.

Last.FM

Last.FM Xbox 360

With Last.FM on the Xbox 360, you can listen to all of your favorite songs right from your Xbox 360. Last.FM streams over 3.5 millions songs right to your Xbox. With Last.FM you are able to check your friends playlists. Last.FM allows you to create your own custom radio station (Pandora?). After listening to a song you just vote either thumbs up or thumbs down. Last.FM will only be available to those Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

Twitter

Twitter Xbox 360

Twitter comes to the Xbox 360, with Twitter on the 360 you can view all of your friends status updates right from the comfort of your television. You can also update your status and view all of the trending topics on Twitter.

Zune

Zune on the Xbox 360

All of your favorite movies in full 1080p High Definition come to the Xbox 360 with the Microsoft Zune service.  Gold Subscribers will be able to rent and stream movies from the Zune service, with a Netflix like feel. Zune is nice because it is the only service that offers the 1080p, Netflix only currently offers 480p in their streaming service  which I hope they will update soon.

For all of you that are looking forward to this update, it will add a lot more functionality to the Xbox and again makes it worth the $50 a year for the Xbox Live subscription.

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