Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm come to Xbox

Xbox Live - the online gamespace for Xbox users - will add social networking features and high definition movies on demand from today.

Xbox Live Gold subscribers who use social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, as well as music-streaming service Last.fm will get stand-alone applications to allow status updates and tweets right from the console.

Without a keyboard the social netwroking apps are a bit on the cumbersome side to use - anyone who has typed a serial number into an Xbox using the controller will attest to that - but both add further value to the Gold service.

Facebook streams and updates are visible for friends on the popular social network, and it's possible to compare Facebook and Xbox friend lists to see if you know other gamers using Live.

The purpose built application uses a 'spinnin g wheel' interface that is fast and easy to use, but perhaps the best feature is the ability to view photos easily on a big HD screen.

The Twitter app allows users to wade through profiles, view trending topics and, of course, to send their own tweets.