Microsoft will release Dec. 4 a new dashboard update for the Xbox 360 just prior to the holiday season. The update, available free of charge, will implement an array of new features and enhancements to the Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment system. They include new video codecs and enhanced member profiles, as well as a new greatest hits line of Xbox Live Arcade games.

As already announced, Microsoft is to also offer Friends of Friends (FoF), which enables Xbox LIVE members to check out the list of their friends right from the Dashboard. Inspired by the way in which users connect in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, the Friend of Friends feature will let users find old friends or connect with new ones within the community of more than eight million people on Xbox LIVE around the globe.

The new update will also include a special "Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits" line which will see prices permanently reduced on a number of previously released Xbox Live Arcade titles. The games to be made available include Bankshot Billiards 2 and Lumines LIVE for 800 Microsoft Points ($10) each, and Marble Blast Ultra, Small Arms and Zuma Deluxe for 400 Points ($5).

The free Dec. 4 update brings the complete list of original Xbox games that you can play on your Xbox 360 to over 300, if we remember the Xbox Originals, a service announced Nov. 13, which enables consumers to download-to-own full original Xbox games that were previously only available at retail.

Also Microsoft is to release Xbox 360 Family Timer, a tool which allows parents to limit the amount of time kids spend on video games. The program will enable daily or weekly limits on the amount of gaming and entertainment time spent using Microsoft's console.

The Xbox Live community is expected to reach 10 million members by June 2008.

So far the eight million members of Xbox Live have spent over 3.2 billion collective hours playing online, unlocking more than 600 achievements and creating a total combined Gamerscore of more than 14 billion. In total, Xbox Live has hosted 2.5 billion game sessions since launch, with more than 5.6 million hosted each day thus far in 2007.