Xbox LIVE Update Preview Program Wave 1 Ships, Killing Unauthorized Memory Units

Microsoft has started rolling out an update to Xbox LIVE that, among others, is designed to kill unauthorized memory units that customers are using with their consoles. On October 22nd, 2009, concomitantly with the worldwide general availability of Windows 7, the Redmond company gave the green light to Wave 1 of the Xbox LIVE Update Preview Program. The testing program is limited as far as the number of participants are concerned and Wave 1 will only be made available to selected testers. Microsoft warned participants in the Xbox LIVE Update Preview Program to use only authorized Xbox 360 Storage Devices since mid-October.

“When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update (…), one of the changes is that unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360. If you’ve moved your profile or saved games onto one to “back it up,” you’d better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update. If you continue to use an unauthorized Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games,” revealed Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson), the director of programming for the Microsoft gaming network Xbox Live, on October 16th.

With the fall refresh of Xbox LIVE, Microsoft, while indeed tackling unauthorized memory units, will extend the functionality of the service built around its console. In this regard, the software giant noted that it would integrate social networking related applications into Xbox LIVE, with the focus on Twitter and Facebook, and that it will also make the service friendlier to Zune content. Hryb explained that in addition to participants selected for Wave 1, Microsoft would invite more testers soon.

“If you were not selected, don’t worry…we’ll be adding more people over the next few days. If you have been selected, you’ll get the update sometime over the next few hours when you sign in to Xbox LIVE. You can confirm your acceptance in the first wave by signing in to the Connect Site, where you’ll also find more details on the program and links to the private preview forums on Xbox.com. In addition, we’ve also be sending you an email to your Windows LIVE ID that you registered with Connect,” Hryb added.