You’ll have to show Internet Explorer some love if you intend on updating your social networks from your Xbox.
For a company that once wanted us to use the Xbox 360 for all manner of social network interaction, this certainly is a strange move: It seems the current Xbox dashboard update – currently rolling out to a console near you – kills off both Twitter and Facebook from the apps marketplace. Apparently the change is designed to push users into leaning on the new Internet Explorer app for online interaction.
Microsoft has confirmed the removal of the apps, stating that they are being officially “retired.” With the addition of a full web browser to the dashboard experience, it seems like the popularity (or lack thereof) of the apps just didn’t warrant keeping them around.
The apps were initially introduced in the Fall 2009 dashboard update, at which point everyone downloaded them, used them once, and then forgot about them. Ok, perhaps that’s a bit dismissive of me, and I have to confess that posting my über-difficult Trials Revolution achievements on Facebook right from the console itself was pretty satisfying.
However, opening a web browser, navigating to the social network of choice, signing in, and then posting an update seems like an exercise in frustration. If you didn’t use the apps in the first place, requiring that you dive into Internet Explorer to access Twitter and Facebook probably won’t tickle your fancy either.
Source: The Verge
