Xbox Live back online

Xbox live is back online today after being taken down for 24 hours for essential maintenance, as well as preparation work for the update of its 'New Xbox Experience'. Larry Hyrb, Xbox Live's programming director, said that Xbox Live and the 'My Xbox' section of Xbox.com would be unavailable, with the forums in read-only mode during the downtime. In a post last night Hyrb said that the maintenance was taking longer than expected. However, in a later Twitter update he thanked gamers for their patience and said that Xbox Live was online again. Microsoft's 'New Xbox Experience' is expected later this autumn and will include a redesigned dashboard, Mii-like 3D avatars, 'Live Parties' allowing eight-player chat groups, and Xbox Live Primetime, in which users can star in their own game shows, as well as other community features. www.xbox.com http://majornelson.com