Let's start by getting something straight. Yes the PS3 has a browser. Yes the Wii has a browser. Yes both of these can display Facebook, Twitter and Last.FM on your TV screen.

Are these the best experiences for these social wonders? I would argue no.

What Microsoft are rolling out to Beta today and to the rest of the users in a few weeks may be one of the best implementations of these technologies a living room has seen yet.

Also don't moan about on screen keyboards. If you think you're going to use these services frequently then buy yourself the chatpad or try plugging in a USB keyboard. These solutions work perfectly.

A lot of thought has obviously gone in to how these new and exciting partnerships can be used. Each experience ran smoothly on our tests earlier this morning, there were no noticeable issues and everything worked intuitively.

People who know me probably remember how many hang ups I have over Facebook for one. I actually use lite.facebook.com these days because I cannot stand the clutter of the regular site. It pleases me that this clutter does not crowd the 360's version of Facebook. I was able to quickly update my status and browse through others feeds and their photos. It works quickly and the photos display really well on large televisions. This is my primary use of Facebook in a web browser and already it has made sure I will not be using the PS3 or Wii browser for this functionality again on the television. Party mode looks to connect you and your friends so you can view these images together. Nice feature and a good emphasis on the social.

I also used the feature to check if any of my Facebook friends are on LIVE and vice versa. Didn't seem to work but that may be because we're already connected. Don't know.

Twitter. Again people in the media seem to have focused on the negatives with this implementation. I don't really see why. No I can't click links, is that a problem? No. It's obvious. You can't click the links because there is no web browser on the 360. Perhaps soon Microsoft will enable certain links, who knows?

Apparently game developers will be able to tap in to the twitter API too, so maybe we'll see in game updates, screenshots and other cool stuff soon too!

The Twitter experience has been tailored very nicely and the trending topics feature could become very addictive. That is if the topics actually be of interest and not about Miley Cirus leaving twitter.

Last.FM is the real gem of the pack. I really like this service anyway. I use it with Spotify on my Mac and PC and I use it on my iPhone. If you haven't used the service before then get using it and you will start to discover music you may never have heard of before. Because I am registered I used my credentials to login and I was pleased to see my stations already there along with my favorite artists and my friends stations too. It's not a fiddly experience and the music quality seems incredible. I also like the photo shows you get while the station plays.

I have decided not to purchase a movie on the Zune marketplace because I really don't need to spend out the money for it. I know what 1080p looks like and I can imagine the streaming experience is good. Sorry this just doesn't appeal to me at all. I like owning my movies.

All in all this is a positive update and sets the standard for what home consoles should be doing with these technologies. I am hoping for more optimisations like this in future updates. I understand we are getting the Sky player soon but I would like the BBC iPlayer. I can imagine YouTube would look good too.

If you've got in the Beta let us know what you think in the comments, Twitter or on Facebook!

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