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We've already had some time with the new Xbox Live Dashboard update, and now the new firmware, which will bring Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm to the console, is available for download today.

In addition to these services, Microsoft will be rolling out Zune Video, which promises instant-on 1080p video streaming as well as 5.1 surround sound.

We should note that Twitter, Last.fm, and Facebook will require an Xbox Live Gold membership ($50/year) and both Twitter and Facebook services require all users to be at least 18 years of age.

If you aren't a member of Xbox Live Gold, a free preview weekend will begin November 20, at 12 p.m. ET and run until November 23, at 12 p.m. ET.

For a sneak peek at these new Xbox 360 features, check out our video playlist above or click over to the slideshow.

Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm hit Xbox 360 November 17--photos

(Credit: CNET)

Last month we blogged about a bug marring Flash playback on the latest 27-inch Apple iMacs. Users on several Web sites, including the Apple Discussion Threads, noticed a problem with the Flash player that caused choppy audio and video playback, but it appears that the newest Mac OS X v10.6.2 update fixes the issue that was apparently caused by a conflict with the Airport driver.

According to Apple, the update "addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on." Since our own 27-inch iMac also experienced slow Flash streaming and intermittent sound hiccups with the AirPort turned on, we downloaded the 10.6.2 update and left it to sleep overnight.

Prior to the update, the Flash Player consumed 114.4 percent of system resources, but 24 hours after the update we're happy to report 26.8 percent usage in the activity monitor and smooth performance across all popular streaming video Web sites like YouTube, Hulu, etc.

Much thanks to the Apple Forums and Apple itself for quickly addressing the needs of its community. If you haven't updated yet, simply choose Software Update from the Apple menu to install OS X v10.6.2.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Along with a redesign of the iMac, MacBook, and Mac Mini, Apple today also unveiled its new Magic Mouse, a departure from the underwhelming Mighty Mouse Wireless that flew beneath the consumer radar back in 2006. The new Magic Mouse is also the next device (after the iPod, iPod touch, and MacBook Pro) in line to receive a dose of multitouch capability.

Check out various Apple Magic Mouse gestures.

(Credit: Apple)

We've only had a day to play around with the multitouch features, but so far we're still on the fence about switching from our Logitech Performance Mouse MX. There's certainly no denying the aesthetic appeal: the bottom half is sleek aluminum and the top shell is made of a milky white shade of polycarbonate with a subtle gloss. The entire surface is a single button (no Mighty nipple, of course), but you can also change the settings to recognize a right-click or a lefty orientation, as well.

The multitouch user area is spread across the entire surface of the mouse, so you can swipe your finger anywhere and expect uniform results. Aside from the two main buttons, you can also scroll 360 degrees around a Web page, photo viewer, or document using a single finger, or quickly navigate forward and backward in a Web browser by simply swiping two fingers horizontally across the top of the mouse. The last feature is basic, but useful: holding down the Control key on the keyboard while scrolling up and down with a finger lets you zoom in and out of virtually anything onscreen.

Like the Mighty Mouse, the magical sibling connects to your computer through a simple Bluetooth pairing, and it works with any Mac running OS X version 10.5.8 or later, as long as it has the latest Wireless Mouse Software update 1.0. Windows users will bemoan its inability to work with non-Mac PCs.

Check out more pics after the jump and look for a full review coming soon.

"I'll give you two guesses as to this product's identity. Is it the Base Station or Time Capsule? Only the astute among you will know for sure.

(Credit: Apple)

Along with the major Apple announcements that took place Tuesday, Apple also--quite stealthily, I might add--announced upgraded performance, specs, and support for both its Time Capsule and Airport Extreme Base Station.

Time Capsule received the most updates, with Apple claiming that with the new technologies and refinements added to both Time Capsule and the Time Machine software, backing up using Snow Leopard is up to "60 percent faster than before."

That number is based on internal testing done by Apple comparing a new preproduction (unreleased) Time Capsule with the version released earlier this year.

Apple also claims that by using the latest 802.11n wireless technology, you'll see "up to five times the Wi-Fi performance and up to twice the range of 802.11g wireless networks."

This, also based on Apple testing comparing both Time Capsule and the Airport Extreme Base Station to "Apple's 802.11g products." The company doesn't specify which products it compares them to, however.

Finally, Apple claims that improvements to both Time Capsule's and the Airport Extreme Base Station's antenna design can give "up to 50 percent better performance and up to 25 percent better range than with the previous-generation Time Capsule and Airport Extreme base Station."

This performance is based on Apple testing comparing the Time Capsule and Airport based Station to "Apple's 802.11n products." Again, although we can safely assume they're basing the comparison on apples to apples test results on the previous versions of the versions of the same hardware, we can't be certain.

We'll of course be conducting our own testing as soon as we get these updated versions of the products in for review. It'll be interesting to see how close our performance numbers match up with theirs.

According to Apple's site, both new versions of the hardware are shipping now.

One of my biggest complaints about flat-fee GPS apps for the iPhone is the lack of real-time traffic updates. That's about to change.

Navigon AG, the developer of the Navigon MobileNavigator app, announced Wednesday that live traffic capability, called Traffic Live, for its GPS phone application is coming soon. This feature will be available in October for the North American version of the application.

The new Traffic Live feature offers real-time traffic updates for the GPS app.

(Credit: Navigon)

This is going to be the third major update for the app. The first and the second updates added the capability to dial up a point of interest from within the app and also added a text-to-speech feature. When available, this third update will make the application the most complete GPS navigation app for the iPhone.

However, there's a catch. As expected, this upcoming update will not be free, rather it will cost another $25 via an in-app purchase, on top of the current $90 price tag for the app itself. (For the first four weeks after its release, however, the Traffic Live feature will be available for an introductory price of $20.) The good news is it's a one-time fee, meaning you won't have to continue to pay to use this feature.

The other GPS application that also offers real-time traffic is the AT&T Navigator,, which doesn't have built-in maps (meaning you will need to have a live cellular data connection to download maps in real time, which can be unreliable) and costs a monthly fee of $10.

According to Navigon, the new Traffic Live feature will provide precise traffic information by using real-time speed data from over 1 million drivers across North America, including commercial fleets such as trucks and taxis, as well as regular drivers with GPS systems. The feature also uses information from traffic cameras, speed sensors, and conventional traffic messages coming through a radio network.

When the new feature is available, the Navigon GPS app will automatically include the traffic information when calculating a route, and provide onscreen alerts indicating new incidents and congestion along the current route.

This is going to be the most exciting update for the app so far. Make sure to check back in October, as I will do another road test of the app to see how this Traffic Live feature pans out.

Butter.

(Credit: Light Blue Taxi)

Can 2009 give us any more bad news? I think at this point, the three of us are ready to move straight into 2010, mostly because we're too afraid of what's going to happen in the next three months. To put it lightly, this year has been a tough one for celebrities. Although it didn't exactly make Twitter headlines, we're all saddened by Patrick Swayze's death and take a few minutes out of the beginning of the show to talk about all of his great movies, including "Ghost," "Donnie Darko," "Dirty Dancing," and of course "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar."

Lots more good and bad news to discuss, including Facebook jumping on the @ symbol bandwagon. After Twitter reportedly rejected its purchasing offer, Facebook is now starting to introduce features that mimic the microblogging site. The first change is that Facebook users can now tag friends using an @ symbol in front of their names. The other is Facebook Lite, a less-cluttered version of the classic that discards the left navigation and info page.

Jeff found a pretty hilarious story from China about a bridge getting covered with butter, but before we get to that, we do a quick run-through of the 10 most pirated movies, and you'll be surprised at which flicks made the cut. Finally, we reminisce about high school LAN parties (look it up, young bloods), how to get 50 PC games for $5, and a new gaming console accessory called the Spawn Labs HD-720 that's making waves in the industry.

Palm Pixi with aftermarket stylus

(Credit: The Reagan Wing)

If you thought the Palm Pre had a lame name, then consider their newest fumble: the Palm Pixi. Can you imagine walking into the nearest Sprint store and asking for the latest smartphone to hit the market, only to have the clerk bring out the Pixi? Well, names aside, the phone looks pretty cool. It's basically a stripped-down, simpler version of the Pre. It replaces the sliding keyboard with a fixed QWERTY keypad. The screen is a bit smaller, but still retains the 8GB of memory and GPS.

In other Palm news, the company has dropped the price of the Pre to a very affordable $150 and someone leaked an early copy the webOS version 1.2. The latest update which fixes small problems like the Select All option in the edit menu of the browser and makes some changes to the GPS.

Of course, we would be remiss if we didn't mention the forthcoming iPod price cuts and the new iPod leaks. CNET News is bringing you full coverage of the event on our live blog, and apparently TechCrunch has already reported that the 32GB iPod Touch has dropped from $399 to $279. Check out the photos and tune in tomorrow to see if our Technodamus predictions actually came true.

The Xbox 360's Netflix integration is improved, but you still can't search for specific titles.

(Credit: Dan Ackerman/CNET)

Xbox 360 owners who fire up their console today will be prompted to download the new Summer 2009 dashboard update. Among the highlights of the new software is updated Netflix functionality ("Party Watch" mode and the capability to automatically add new and popular movies and TV shows to your queue directly through the onscreen interface), more avatar customization options, and larger selection of games on-demand (digital download of full Xbox 360 titles formerly available only on disc). A full list of features can be found at the Xbox Web site.

Inside the Summer 2009 Xbox 360 dashboard update

On the Netflix front: Microsoft is now touting the fact that the 360 is the only gaming console on which Netflix's streaming videos are available. Such an exclusive deal would seem to quash rumors of the service popping up on the PS3 or Wii. (Of course, the PlayOn software continues to be a work-around.) Meanwhile, users upset with the fact that they're still unable to search the Netflix library through the 360's dashboard will be happy to hear that search may be added in the coming months.

Microsoft touted the integration of Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm for the Xbox at its E3 media conference earlier this year, but those features won't be added until later this year. The same goes for Zune Video Marketplace, which will replace the Xbox's existing (non-Netflix) video offerings and tie in with the new Zune HD, also due in the fall.

We had no problem updating our Xbox 360 to the new dashboard earlier this morning--just turn it on, and you'll be prompted for the automatic update (assuming, of course, that it's hooked up to an Internet connection).

For an in-depth look at the new dashboard, check out Dan Ackerman's preview.

(Credit: Matt Hickey)

So Apple on Friday released an update to the iPhone OS (3.0.1) that takes care of an SMS vulnerability. It's a fairly important patch, and usually when Apple updates the iPhone OS, jailbreakers have to wait until the Dev Team comes out with a new version of jailbreaking software before they can update.

But according to the iPhone Dev Team's Twitter, this is not the case with the 3.0.1 firmware. In fact, the current versions of redsn0w and ultrasn0w work the same with the 3.0.1 firmware as they do with the 3.0 firmware that came out a few weeks ago. In short, the jailbreaking software already works. I checked with the Dev Team community and had this confirmed. "Restore to 3.0.1, run redsn0w, select the 3.0 file... Bang zoom."

So go ahead, iPhone hackers, and secure your devices soon. You don't have to worry about losing Cydia and other rogue apps.