Microsoft announced late last month that the new Xbox 360 dashboard would be hitting consumer consoles on December 6. A follow-up yesterday revealed the release schedule of various content partners' content, but the scheduled rollout has hit a snag.

　　Microsoft is keeping the world on pins and needles for its dashboard update. Although the update has not yet missed its promised release date, it's going up later than Microsoft had wanted, according to various Twitter updates from Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.

　　In his first update this morning, Nelson said, "FYI: The timing for Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed. I’ll have a status update later today." Since then, the face of Xbox Live has provided a few more updates thanking people for their patience, and saying he will have more information this afternoon.

　　Inspired by Microsoft's "Metro" design used in Windows Phone 7 and the upcoming Windows 8, the new Xbox 360 dashboard includes a range of new features, starting with expanded support for navigation using voice and gesture controls with the Kinect camera. On top of that, the update introduces the new beacon system to facilitate finding friends for gameplay sessions, deeper Facebook integration, and cloud storage for game saves.

　　[UPDATE] This afternoon, Hryb issued another update saying the new dashboard will start hitting the first set of Xbox Live members within a few hours. He also again apologized for the delay.