E3 ’09: Microsoft announces entertainment and social services for Xbox LIVE

Microsoft has just announced a slew of new entertainment services for Xbox LIVE at their E3 2009 press conference. Last.fm will bring streaming music to the Xbox 360 free of charge for Xbox LIVE Gold members. Sky TV will bring live TV to Xbox 360 without any additional hardware needed, and InstantOn 1080p HD will allow gamers to stream any TV show and any movie available on the Xbox LIVE service in 1080p HD.

Microsoft has announced that Facebook integration is also coming to LIVE. The whole site is integrated into the Xbox 360 dashboard and allows you to link your gamertag and Facebook account to each other. A new feature, called “Facebook Connect”, will allow you to post screenshots and texts to your Facebook profile in real time.

However, there’s more! Twitter is also coming to Xbox LIVE. You’ll be able to tweet on your Xbox 360 straight from the console, whether you’re playing a game, watching a movie, etc.

Facebook and Twitter will arrive on Xbox 360 this fall.