I'll cover all the announcements from Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference over the next few hours. But for now...
The big one for social networking fiends - Microsoft is partnering with Facebook. Felicia Day producer and writer of The Guild, introduced the cultural mash-up, calling it, "The Facebook experience custom made for your living room". Basically, it's a version of the popular social networking tool with a re-designed interface that runs via Xbox Live. You can link up with your Xbox Live profile, look at and share any photos stored on your machine and of course, write and check status updates.
Day also introduced a new element, named Facebook Connect, which allows you to grab screenshots and - if I heard this correctly - text from games and send them to pals. Want to show off how you beat that final Resi 5 boss? Now you just take a snap and send off your spoiler to everyone in your friends list... 'It's going to change the way you experience games,' Day declared dramatically. This feature will debut with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010.
If that wasn't enough, Xbox Live is also bringing in Twitter support. Again, it's a new interface designed for the living room – you can follow friends and send tweets and it all updates instantly.
They're both coming this fall.
Microsoft also revealed that Xbox Live will be supporting online music service, LastFM. Live subscribers will be able to access the online music directory for free, streaming thousands of tracks from the console to a TV or speaker system.
