Microsoft is seeking to bring the social element of Xbox LIVE front-and-center to start marching the users of their gaming network to the beat of the same drum—and that drum is all about keeping in touch and bringing out the gamer community. While the dashboard is changing, it will focus on a Social tab which will integrate the concept of Xbox Beacons—a sort of push notification that other gamers can invite their friends to play games that they want to play with them. The new dashboard will also put a lot more focus on messages, in-game events, and friend activity.

The announcement arrived via the Xbox.com Blog, posted by the well-known editer, where he outlines what gamers can expect from the update:

Click “Activity” at the top of the screen to view the new Activity page. At the top, in the My Recent Activity section, you’ll see the titles you’ve most recently played and which of your friends are playing them as well, in addition to any titles you’ve set a Beacon for. To set a Beacon for a title that you want to play with others, you’ll just find it in your activity list and click the “Set Beacon” button. You can have up to three Beacons active at a time, and you can optionally add a custom description (such as “From 7-10 pm Pacific” or “Horde Mode!”).

Click a title and you’ll be taken to a page that not only shows your achievements, but also which of your friends have also set Beacons for that game. Below the Beacons you can see anyone who’s online playing right now, and others who’ve recently played it. You’ll also be alerted to friends playing titles that you’ve set a Beacon for on your Xbox 360, but that won’t happen until after the next System Update goes live. However, Windows Phone users will be able to see Beacons under the Xbox LIVE Requests section right away!

Other functionality includes a revamped Messages section and Beacons in your profile. That way when people visit your profile (or you visit theirs) you can see what Beacons they’ve set. One thing that Microsoft and Xbox LIVE could do at this point to really get this running is to add achievements that are triggered by setting and following beacons—especially social individuals could rack them up and pretty quickly and show off just how much networking and community they bring into Xbox LIVE.

I imagine a “Lighthouse Social Butterfly” achievement waiting in the wings for this update.

Xbox LIVE continues to grow into a more integrated experience. We’ve seen a leak of the new dashboard that suggested that Skype had a place on Xbox LIVE; they’ve added cloud-based services that store user information in the cloud so that it can synchronize on whatever system they move to; and now they’re pushing towards making it a much more social experience. The Xbox works extremely well as a personal entertainment center and a focus for the personal-cloud and the addition of social and telecommunications components will only allow it to better dominate the living room.