360 headset chat quality to be improved this fall

Microsoft confirmed it's to improved the quality of 360 headset chat this year, speaking in the UK yesterday.

The firm said it's to upgrade the codec used by the 360 headset when it revamps the console's firmware for Kinect this autumn, according to this Eurogamer report.

"The codec we used when we first launched was a low bit rate codec and we stuck with that," said Xbox Live Studios boss Jerry Johnson, speaking at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival.

"We launched and we said we required broadband. We required a 64k connection, which not many people think of as broadband any longer. But that was the minimum requirement to run the service at the time.

"It's time for us to move on. Especially if we want to think about broadening - a crackly headset on the top of your head – not what people think of when they talk about popular entertainment."

Microsoft introduced voice chat to the original Xbox with the November 2002 launch of Xbox Live.