Square Enix and DeNA plan to release the free-to-play game Final Fantasy: Record Keeper for the iPhone and iPad this spring. The game allows players to create a team using characters from the entire Final Fantasy franchise.

Here’s a look at the game’s features:

In FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper, the entire FINAL FANTASY universe is at player’s fingertips! Featuring an all-star cast of characters including Tidus, Lightning, and Cloud, players recruit their favorite heroes from across the entire FINAL FANTASY franchise to form the most dynamic team of all time. With a massive roster of characters, the possibilities are endless! Characters can each be completely customized and equipped to the fullest with iconic gear, powerful spells, summons, and hundreds of weapons to choose from.

Gameplay in FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper is as strategic and challenging as ever with the classic FINAL FANTASY Active Time Battle (ATB) system in place. Players battle their way through the most epic FINAL FANTASY moments, woven together for the first time on mobile with an all-new tale. Featuring skill-based interactive gameplay, players plan attacks, carefully choose tactics, and engage enemies in active time battles.

People who pre-register at the game’s official website will be able to unlock special characters when the game is released, including Tidus from Final Fantasy X.

Source: Final Fantasy: Record Keeper

Microsoft has updated two of its systems apps today for those rocking Lumia Windows Phones. Both Device Hub and Nokia Tag have been refreshed with only the later sporting a changelog.

Whether you only want notifications, or fitness tracking, or digital wallets, the Apple Watch could be extremely valuable.

Late last year, I wrote about how convenience was the Apple Watch’s killer feature. I broke it down into five areas where I felt the Apple Watch could really save everyone time and effort by better surfacing brief but important interactions — communications, information, remote control, health and fitness, and authentication (Apple Pay).

While taken together, those five areas are absolutely killer. But other potential customers could easily find each area on its own incredibly compelling. It’s a multi-faceted opportunity for Apple, and one that could make the watch appealing well beyond many expectations.

For Apple Payers and music lovers

For iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s owners, the Apple Watch gives you access to in-store Apple Pay, letting you tap-to-pay for purchases at thousands of retail locations. For walkers or joggers who don’t want to bring their iPhone — or wallet — with them when they’re out, it can be a great solution until you upgrade to an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or future iPhone. So can having music with you, iPod shuffle- or iPod nano-style. It’s not everything, but it’s everything you really need.

For health enthusiasts

The same goes for step- and stair-counting, and other quantified life statistics. Some of us use dedicated bands for this, just like we used to use dedicated personal digital assistants like the Palm Pilot before the rise of smartphones. I’ve heard from friends who plan to buy the stainless steel or even gold Apple Watch also tell me they plan to get an Apple Watch Sport as well — just for exercise. That might sound excessive, but it also shows the appeal of the Apple Watch as a pure fitness device. It’ll have all the right sensors and an Apple interface on top of them. That’ll make for a phenomenal fitness experience all on its own.

For home automators

As home automation continues to take off, especially Apple’s HomeKit, those of us who have implemented lighting, sound, temperature control, and security will need a unified and coherent way to monitor and control it. The iPhone and iPad will be great for setup and fine-tuning, but for moment-to-moment actions — turning things on and off, raising and lowering them, closing and opening them — the watch will be better. Especially when you factor in Siri. I can’t wait to say “Game time” and have the lights go red, the TV switch over, and the bass come to life. Or “crash the compound,” and everything have everything shut down for the night. It’s one step closer to JARVIS.

For the always alert

If you’re obsessed with notifications — if every time your iPhone beeps or buzzes your dive for your pocket or purse or race across the room — the Apple Watch should eliminate a tremendous amount of overhead. It’ll tap you when something comes in, give you the gist when you turn your wrist upwards, and expand the details if and when you want them. Likewise, if you’re waiting for a delivery, or to board a plane, or want to know what the weather is, or how long it will be before your Uber arrives, or anything else that had you pulling down widgets in Notification Center every few minutes to make sure you have the latest information, glances will give you all of that on your wrist as well.

For communicators

For those of you who simply want to be able to answer phone calls or return messages without having to pull a phone from your pocket or dash for your purse or charger, the Apple Watch will you do all of that right from your wrist. It’s the same for Twitter and Facebook and potentially any other messaging system that hooks into iOS. For longer chats, Handoff will let you go back to your iPhone and its much bigger screen. For quick chats, however, and for sketches and heartbeats, the Apple Watch will be like something out of Dick Tracey.

Different strokes

Some people might just want Apple Pay. Others might prefer step-counting or the heart-rate monitor. Still others may want the Apple TV and home control, or notifications, or the ability to stay in touch without having to reach for a phone. Each one of those things could be valuable enough to make the Apple Watch well worth it. Several or all of them, in combination, could be invaluable. Never mind all the Apple Watch apps that are coming as well.

It’s a product that will appeal to different people in different ways, much like the iPhone has done so. And it’s a product that could come to be just as important.

Everyone I’ve spoken to who has used an Apple Watch for any length of time — and Tim Cook’s public statements — make it sound like the watch quickly becomes so integral to their digital experience that they never want to take it off. I only got to try it for a few minutes back in September, but that was my impression as well. I can’t wait to see what more than a few minutes.

Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 app developers can check out the latest update to Microsoft’s Windows App Studio beta. It includes, among other things, a new logo and image wizard with integrated controls and conversion tools.

Apple has just sent out invitations for a Monday, March 9, 2015 special event called “Spring Forward” that’ll take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco at 10am PT, 1pm ET.

While Apple hasn’t provided an agenda for the event, it’s hard not to imagine the Apple Watch will be front and center. Pricing for the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Editions, along with variances for the different size and band options, details on final hardware and software features, and much more remains to be discovered.

Whether anything else makes an appearance on stage or not remains a question. In previous years Apple’s used spring events to announce new iPads and Apple TV hardware. The iPads were just updated last October and the Apple TV has been in stealth mode lately. Rumors of a MacBook Air update keep circulating, but could just as easily keep this event focused on the Apple Watch.

We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Looks like we won’t have to wait much longer!

I’ll be there with Serenity Caldwell, and we’ll bring you the experience as it happens. Apple will also be broadcasting the Spring Forward event live via apple.com/live

The Instagram client 6tag version 4.0 barely got out the door this morning before being temporarily pulled due to a caching issue. While we wait for the 4.0.0.1 fix to roll out to the Store, it is worth chewing on that version 5.0 – likely not due for many months – is planned to be a universal app for Windows Phone and Windows.

Many developers are already contemplating the Windows 10 OS refresh and new developer tools, which are set to be unveiled later this spring at Microsoft’s Build 2015 conference. Huyn is a connected developer, often featured by Microsoft so thinking about a universal app using Windows 10 seems like a no-brainer for the prolific developer.

Apple has added a small treat for Maps users with careful eyes. People using the 3D Flyover feature found in Maps should notice that Apple has added animations to two London landmarks: the Big Ben clock tower and the London Eye.

When viewing the Flyover tour of the London Eye, users will now be able to observe the Ferris wheel spinning. It’s easiest to observe when you tap and hold on the screen to pause the Flyover. Big Ben, formally Elizabeth Tower, will display the current time in London on its clock faces.

This feature is reportedly coming to attractions in other cities over the next few weeks, according to The Daily Mail, though the publication didn’t name any cities in particular.

Apple has been making a number of additions and improvements to Maps recently. Earlier this week the company added Flyover support to nine more cities, and they have recently added partners to help users find lower gas prices and good schools.

Source: The Daily Mail

Microsoft announced an update to the Windows Phone OneDrive app that includes, among other things, the revamped photo album that was previously made available on its website and its iOS app.