Social networking services Facebook and Twitter will be available to access through your Xbox 360 on November 17th according to the Xbox website.
Revealed via an advertisement on the UK version of the site, the deadly social networking duo looks set to be joined by Last FM and Skyplayer which are scheduled to arrive in ‘Autumn 2009’The Xbox dashboard update will make the new services available to Xbox Live Gold members, and will incorporate new features to smooth over the transition from desktop to console.
Facebook will include ‘Friend Linker’ which will let you invite Facebook pals to play over Xbox Live, and let you save game screenshots which can be sent to your fellow Facebookers. On the Twitter front, you'll be able to display your Xbox avatar as you tweet.
Skyplayer which we reported was on its way to the Xbox, will also be available and will function much like the desktop version enabling you to access a library of movies and live sporting action, without the need to be a Sky subscriber.
Last FM will also enter the Xbox 360 fray, but according to the chaps over at Joystiq, who have managed to get an early look at it, you’ll not be able to do anything else on the console while listening to the internet radio station.
It is part of BT's £1.5 billion investment in next-generation broadband networks, and will bring speeds of up to 100 megabits per second to around 2.5 million households using fibre-to-the-premise technology, which effectively means running a cable straight to the user's front door.
BT plans to roll out fibre connections to around 10 million homes by 2012, although the majority of these will be fibre-to-the-cabinet connections, which do not go straight in to homes, but to the junction boxes found on money roads. The last part of the connection, from the box to the home, will be through a traditional copper phone line, and will restrict top speeds to a maximum of around 40 megabits per second.
The expansion of BT's fibre-to-the-premise initiative will help it compete more closely with other internet providers, such as Virgin Media, which currently offers connection speeds of up to 50 megabits per second to around 12.6 million homes. BT's fibre-to-the-premise networks will, in time, be capable of delivering speeds of up to one gigabit per second, provided there is "commercial demand".
High-speed internet access is seen as crucial for the next-generation of internet services, such as being able to stream a high-definition movie while downloading an album and checking emails. Rival internet service providers, including Carphone Warehouse and Sky, will be able to lease these high-speed connections from BT, as the new network will be offered on a wholesale basis.
The government's recent Digital Britain report pledged universal internet access for all by 2012, at speeds of at least two megabits per second, and the development of next-generation broadband technology will go some way towards fulfilling this commitment.
However, BT has admitted that fibre-to-the-premise services are more likely to be rolled out in urban areas, although it will also be available in some rural locations. BT said it would announce details of regional roll-out of the expanded network in due course. Brownfield sites such as Bradwell Abbey in Milton Keynes and Highams Park in London, are already participating in trials of fibre-to-the-premise technology, and 40,000 homes across these regions will be connected to high-speed internet services by March next year.
“This development shows that we are determined to bring world-leading broadband speeds to UK homes and businesses," said Steve Robertson, the chief executive of Openreach, the arm of BT's business responsible for the deployment of such technology.
"Service providers have asked us for more fibre-to-the-premise, and so we have listened to them. The UK already leads the world when it comes to broadband availability and today’s announcement will help the UK climb the speed league tables as well. The UK is well placed but we need to invest for the future so that customers can access the rich applications that will be popular in a few years time.”
Stephen Timms, the minister for Digital Britain, welcomed the news. "This is a major commitment to very high speed broadband services, delivered across optical fibres directly in to customer premises. A world-class digital infrastructure is important for jobs, growth, and competitiveness.
"Private investment in superfast broadband is vital in making Digital Britain a reality. Broadband at this speed opens up a host of applications for consumers and businesses, allowing them to reap the benefits for years to come."
However, industry experts warned that the next-generation broadband roll-out would still leave millions of homes without high-speed internet access.
"There will still be about 35 per cent of UK homes not covered by either BT or Virgin Media’s fibre-optic networks, and about three million homes unable to receive a broadband service at all," said Charlie Ponsonby, chief executive of broadband comparison site Simplifydigital. "The bigger issue is how these homes are kept up to speed.”
