Microsoft recruits Xbox Live update beta testers

Microsoft is ready to dole out its latest update to Xbox Live. And today, a bunch of lucky Xbox 360 users who have nothing better to do than check out the latest Xbox news had the chance to sign up to become a beta tester for the latest online Xbox features. But even for those who didn’t get their names entered in time, today’s news provided an insight into what we can expect next on the Xbox 360 Dashboard.

The 2012 Xbox Live Update Publi Beta contains the following features: Internet Explorer for Xbox, “Personalized dashboard recommendations” and “Enhanced category search for discovery features.” Beta testers are not allowed to disclose anything about the new firmware, but knowing that those three enhancements are part of the preview means they’re likely to be part of the public update, whenever that happens.

Within hours of posting about the beta sign-up, Xbox Live figurehead Larry Hryb wrote, “The amount of interest in Xbox LIVE’s first public Beta has been incredible. The Xbox LIVE public Beta is now closed. Later this year our entire Xbox LIVE community will be able to experience all of the great features we will be bringing to your Xbox…Stay tuned.”