For those who are still reeling over Twitter being down you may not have noticed that over at Major Nelson’s blog there’s an announcement about the Xbox Live Public Preview Program. Normally, this is a program that allows certain people to try out some of the new things that will be part of the Fall Xbox Update.
The program, this time around, offers up some cool things including a peek at the Internet Explorer application for Xbox 360. Web browsing, for a console, has seen its share of people who can’t wait to have it and people who wish it would never happen. With the public preview, many get to check out for themselves if, indeed, Microsoft has made web browsing a smooth and enjoyable experience on the TV.
In addition, preview participants will also get to enjoy personalized recommendations on the dashboard and enhanced category and discovery search. One of the criticisms of the current dashboard is that it’s quite difficult to discover what’s new as far as games and media are concerned. The personalized recommendation and discovery engines seem to be ways Microsoft is combating that criticism.
If you want to apply to participate, sign-up is going on at the Microsoft Connect site. More information can also be found at Major Nelson’s blog.