If you have an XBox 360, assuming you haven't done so already, you may want to fire it up and connect it to the Internet to get the latest update. The new dashboard not only looks drastically different from the old one, this one actually closely resembles what you'll find these days on Windows Mobile phones. It also takes a big step in it's continuing effort to be much more than just a video game console. For starters, just like phones, all the software on there like Netflix, Facebook, Twitter are called apps and have to be re-downloaded, even if you already had it installed. Among those apps though, lots more
opportunity to listen to music, watch movies, and TV -- though not much live TV. Bing search is also now integrated, so that if you're looking for all things Harry Potter for example, it'll pull up all the relevant movies, video games, and music you can download. And finally, for those who have the motion sensing Kinect system, it gives you lots more control over everything using just gestures and your voice. Now you can pretty much just SAY whatever it is you want to do. That XBox 360 update is available now and it is free.

And speaking of voice-enabled features -- it is certainly the hot area now -- thanks in no small part to the iPhone 4s virtual assistant, Siri. Well if you're an Android user, no need to have Siri-envy. There are a handful of similar apps for your device that perform in similar ways. There's Iris (Siri spelled backwards), SpeakToItAssistant and VoiceActions. But the two that seem to do just about anything and everything you're looking to do in a nice, elegant way are Vlingo and Cluzee. Just as with Siri you can speak casually like "I'm hungry" and they'll go out and find you restaurants. They'll also help you with emails, Facebook, even go into an all speech mode for you if you're in the car. Again, there are a few of these out there and they're mostly free so it might be best to download a few and then whittle them down to one based on which performs best for your particular needs.