Xbox Live Update Completed – Full Details

Anyone watching the emergence of Microsoft's Xbox and its accompanying Xbox Live online gaming service will have been amazed at the barefaced u-turn MS made regarding uses for both the console and its Internet functionality.

As the machine emerged, closely followed by the impressively robust online service, the world was promised that the entire project would only ever feature gaming and be totally dedicated to this cause.

Of course, this was all a massive lie, a lie which Microsoft now just shrugs at and laughs off. It's an impressive enough coup, and something that - if you don’t happen to work for a smaller company operating in one of Microsoft's fields of endeavour - is becoming more handy by the day.

As you may be aware, the Live service was taken down on Wednesday for various updates, the most important of which is full-on voice messaging for subscribers.

The full update comprises:

Voice Messaging: Available now

MSN Messenger Integration: Due in late May in spite of the XSN disaster

In-Game Voice Messaging: Available pending software support

Teams: Available pending software support

Competitions: Available pending software support

Title-Managed Online Storage: Available pending software support

We eagerly await content, such as music and movies, to become available in an on-demand capacity, widely expected to be rolled out at some point next year.