Charlie Sorrel
Gear

XBox gets a Snap on QWERTY Thumb Keyboard

With the PlayStation 3 running Folding@Home and packing BlueRay, and the XBox 360 working as a Media Center extender, it seems that a whole bunch of people have some pretty PC-like action going on. A new Dashboard Update takes this one step further: The XBox will be adding Windows Live Messenger in May, and this is the hardware to go with it.... There's a microphone port on the bottom to replace the one it covers up, and those keys are backlit for secret all night sessions.

Xboxkb

The old race to put a computer in the living room seems to have been replaced by a stealth operation. With the PlayStation 3 running Folding@Home and packing BlueRay, and the XBox 360 working as a Media Center extender, it seems that a whole bunch of people have some pretty PC-like action going on.

A new Dashboard Update takes this one step further: The XBox will be adding Windows Live Messenger in May, and this is the hardware to go with it.

The QWERTY keyboard clips into the gamepad and lets you go at it Blackberry style. There's a microphone port on the bottom to replace the one it covers up, and those keys are backlit for secret all night sessions.

No prices yet, but expect it in time for the summer.

Instant Messaging Comes to Xbox 360 [XBox.com]