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Though you can watch our video tour above of the new Games Hub in Windows Phone "Mango" (see review), you'll want to read all the changes cataloged by Microsoft themselves. From the Windows Phone Blog, you can tell, once again, that Microsoft is listening to consumers by incorporating a lot of changes. Indeed, the Games Hub feel more unified with the whole Xbox ecosystem and the changes are most welcomed.

Here's what's new:

• Improved Collection View - basically smaller icons for games with a list view, makes it easier to navigate
• New 3D Avatars with attitude - With XNA/Silverlight in a single app, your 3D Avatar is now "built in" with more functionality and movement
• Improved Xbox LIVE messaging - Word suggest/complete is now built in, you can communicate with other Xbox  LIVE members on PC, phones or console. "If a message contains certain emoticons (e.g. Smile, Sad smile), you’ll notice your avatar’s expression change to reflect that emotion! (If a sender overloads a message with conflicting emoticons, your avatar will look bewildered."
• Connect with Xbox LIVE friends
• Integrated achievements and new comparison views
• Edit your profile
• Improved Spotlight content
• Improved game request notifications: In Mango, you’ll receive notifications for multiplayer game or turn requests and can track them in the Requests section of the Games Hub.

Some of those last few ones are just carry overs from Xbox LIVE Extras, which is now purely for the Avatar Marketplace and to design your Avatar. Overall, a solid list of changes to look forward too.

Source: Windows Phone Blog

We often get questions about the Xbox Live service on WP7 devices and how it correlates to the Xbox Live service on Xbox 360 consoles or on Windows PC's (where it's called Games for Windows - LIVE!).  Oh look! Here's one now from ericesque:

In general, I'm just fuzzy on how gaming on WP7 ties to the Xbox 360. Specifically, I'm wondering if I buy a game on my xbox, will I have to pay for a copy for WP7 too? Also, have we seen any games that let you play with friends on xbox if you're on WP7? I couldn't find any good learning resources from Microsoft. Hoping the experts could help.

Currently, gaming on WP7 is separated into two categories - games, and Xbox Live games. The Xbox Live service on WP7 is not so incredibly different from the Games for Windows - LIVE! service on Windows PC's. Downloading games and game demos from the marketplace is present and accounted for. A great deal of the social ins and outs is present too. With Xbox Live on WP7 you can easily see what your friends are up to - be it gaming or watching a movie or listening to music.

Friend requests and game invites are also present but will often lend itself to signing in on your Xbox 360 to accept a request. Game invitations, or rather, asynchronous multiplayer isn't currently set up for anything other than Uno and Chess in Game Chest: Logic Games. Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst works in tandem with Xbox 360's version of Crackdown 2 in that unlockables will become available in each version of the games with playthroughs from each other.

So far, the majority of the Xbox Live games on WP7 aren't companions to anything available on Xbox 360 and must be purchased separately. Ilomilo is the most recent game to come out for Xbox Live Arcade that is also on WP7 and is very much the same game as its WP7 counterpart, but each must be purchased separately.

No game, as of yet, can be played 100% synchronously with other people. The tie-in that you speak of doesn't exactly exist other than that it's just an extension of the service - of the same name, on a different device. A copy of a game on PC can be completely different from the Xbox 360 version and the version of that same game on WP7 will be worlds different in format, control, fun, and especially mobility.

See our Xbox/Windows Phone 7 Guide for more info.

As the Tweet above says, tomorrow is Xbox LIVE Wednesday (one of our favorite days) and tomorrow's releases both come from Microsoft Game Studios (MGS). One is 'Rise of Glory' and the other is 'Revolution'.

Unfortunately, we have no idea what these game are about nor have any screenshots but we'll keep an eye out.

Source: Twitter

If you use Xbox LIVE Extras on Windows Phone 7, you may have noticed an update pushed to you today, specifically v1.50012.0 (up from v1.3). And if you're like us, you're wondering what changed? Don't worry, we got you covered:

New countries, new languages! We’re making Xbox LIVE Extras available in new languages including French, Italian, German, and Spanish. This also means that Xbox LIVE Extras will now be available in all the official countries where Windows Phone and Xbox LIVE are available!

Manage friend requests inside Xbox LIVE Extras! You’ll now be able to accept, or reject friend requests inside of Xbox LIVE Extras. Additionally you’ll be able to manage your friends’ lists as well as requests to others.

Even more additional features! We’ve also added a bunch of additional features such as new Avatar animations and configuration options, and displaying your motto on your profile. We’ve also worked to improve overall stability of the application!

We also can't help but notice it's finally faster to load, which is a welcomed change as well. We're going to bet that some of our Euro friends will be happy with the additional language support, allowing them to join in the party.

Go here on your phone or desktop to grab the app.

Source: Michael Klucher's Blog

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, Microsoft is pushing hard to make their consumer products and services some of the must-haves for Christmas. As far as Windows Phone goes, we’ve seen product placements and advertising all over the place. The other big area that Microsoft is pushing right now is Xbox.

Microsoft’s recent launch of the Kinect accessory is driving a lot of new Xbox purchases, and with all of those consoles hitting the market, Microsoft is tossing out some incentives for all of those new owners to get their Xbox Live accounts up and running.

The Xbox Live Rewards program offers Microsoft Points in return for things like Xbox Live Gold account setup or renewal, purchases from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and completing monthly surveys. Now you don’t have to pay for the full Gold account to earn points, but there are several more ways to earn the points if you have a Gold account. Microsoft Points are redeemable for items from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and though this doesn’t translate over to the world of Windows Phone 7, we are hoping that Microsoft makes that transition sooner rather than later.

If you’re interested, head on over to the Xbox Live Rewards site and sign up. Rewards are available to those in the US or UK only.

One of the big knocks on Windows Phone 7 has been the shortage of applications in the Marketplace when compared to Apple’s App Store. As we’ve reported several times, Microsoft is doing everything in their power to make developers successful on Windows Phone 7. Training, conferences, free developer tools, familiar programming languages, free e-books, documentation, financial guarantees, and contests have all been used to try and encourage developers to make their best apps available on the fledgling platform.

Microsoft is now going above and beyond to promote the applications that developers have already brought to the Marketplace in anticipation of the Holiday season. We’ve already discussed Bing Visual Search for Windows Phone 7 Apps, which makes it quick and easy to find software for your phone from any computer. An additional push is being made with advertising in the Xbox dashboard on Xbox 360 console, utilizing an established customer base to expand the popularity of the platform. Microsoft is also featuring specific apps within the Marketplace and on Windowsphone.com.

One thing is for sure, Microsoft is pulling out all the stops to establish Windows Phone 7 as one of the premier smart-phone platforms on the market.

Source: Windows Phone Developer Blog