Live from Microsoft’s Xbox showcase at E3 2016!
We’re live at Microsoft’s Xbox keynote at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California, ready to kick off this year’s E3 conference. Microsoft is poised to reveal new Xbox hardware during today’s showcase, furthering its efforts to make PC and console gaming a unified, seamless experience. The Xbox event begins at 9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET and we’ll share all of the news right here, right as it’s announced. We’ll probably make some corny jokes, too. You’re welcome in advance.
This is the Xbox One S
Do you have your best shocked face ready? Microsoft just announced a slimmer Xbox One, the Xbox One S. Okay, so the surprise was kinda ruined by a month of leaks, culminating in a picture of the thing finding its way into the wild yesterday morning. But at least now that it’s official, we know exactly why Microsoft thinks you should buy a new Xbox.
The big-ticket item is 4K support. That doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to play games in crazy high-res, but if you have a fancy TV it’ll provide plenty of options to watch content at 4K. In addition to supporting 4K versions of Netflix and Amazon Video content, there’s also 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray support. The new console also supports HDR sets, and Gear of War 4 will be the first to support the wider color range.
The Xbox One, as attractive or unattractive as you think it is, is undoubtedly a large machine, especially compared with its main rival, the PlayStation 4. The Xbox One S is 40-percent smaller and can be safely used vertically with an official stand. Elsewhere there’s an integrated power supply, meaning no more brick, and the option to include a more capacious 2TB hard drive. It’s also mostly white — a colorway Microsoft debuted for the original Xbox One.
Other changes include a USB port in the front for easy access and the dropping of the Kinect port — there’ll be a USB adapter if you want to plug in Microsoft’s unloved camera accessory to the new machine. Oh, and there’s a new controller! It has textured grips, improved range and Bluetooth. It’ll be bundled with the new console, but you’ll also be able to buy it separately.
The Xbox One S launches this August. It’ll start at $299 for the 500GB version, a 1TB version will cost $349. No word on the price for the 2TB version yet.
Source: Engadget Live Blog
Live from WWDC 2016!
Hello from lovely San Francisco, California! We’re reporting live today from the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, where Apple is hosting its annual WWDC keynote. As you’d expect from any developers conference, today’s presentation will focus almost entirely on software, with sneak peeks of iOS 10 and OS X 10.12 being the obvious shoo-ins. We’ve also heard tell of an Apple Music revamp, and it’s entirely possible too that we’ll hear news about watchOS and tvOS.
In addition, rumors point to a standalone 5K display, and both the MacBook Air and Pro lines are due for an update. For what it’s worth, Apple does sometimes use preview new hardware at WWDC, though it happens seldom enough that we’re not necessarily expecting to get hands-on with anything today. If nothing else, you can expect two hours of nonstop news — follow along as we report live from the event.
Play Anywhere puts the same games on Xbox and PC
Microsoft’s been talking about bridging the gap between it’s PC and console gamers for awhile now — and at E3 today, it announced just how it’s going to do it. Xbox Play Anywhere: a new cross buy program that automatically gives you the PC version a game when you buy it on Xbox… or the Xbox version when you buy it on PC. The first game to take advantage of the program? Gears of War 4, of course — and yes, Xbox One and PC players will be able to play together online.
As a co-op online shooter, Gears is the perfect franchise to launch Play Anywhere — but it should be noted that there are some caveats. While all Play Anywhere games will come with console and PC copies at no extra cost, not every Play Anywhere game will feature cross-platform multiplayer by default. What’s more, Play Anywhere is limited to digital purchases — meaning you won’t get a free PC copy of the game if you exclusively buy your games on disc.
Still, that’s a pretty good trade for a physical disc. We’ve spotted the Play Anywhere logo on a few other games at Xbox’s E3 press event, including Killer Instinct which, by the way, is getting a new character. Check it out:
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
‘Forza Horizon 3’ simplifies racing with friends in the Outback
During Microsoft’s E3 press briefing, Forza Horizon 3 was officially unveiled, showing off the centerpiece Lamborghini Centenario and the sprawling Australian outback in which it’s taking place.
The game was given some time onstage with presenters taking the opportunity to show off the new Play Anywhere endeavor. With players racing with cars including a BMW M4 customized with a wide body kit, off-road racing buggy, 800-hp truck and the new Lamborghini Centenario, it offered a glimpse at the high-octane racing we’ll be able to expect from the racer.
With new terrain, new challenges and new vehicle types joining the game, it’ll feature the largest car roster ever seen in a Forza Horizon title, which means all the more reason to jump in with friends, and this entry is being referred to as the most social of all time.
Forza Horizon 3 will offer four-player campaign co-op for the first time. When players join, all worlds will synchronize together for an easier time syncing up with friends. Players can join sessions instantly and seamlessly, which makes cooperative play much simpler than before.
Forza Horizon 3 is coming to Xbox One and PC exclusively on September 27.
Mega Man creator’s ‘ReCore’ hits Xbox One and PC September 18th
ReCore’s debut trailer, a surprise at last year’s E3, both charmed and intrigued us: That robot dog was cute! And how do the orbs, which appear to be swappable between machines, work? Details have been scarce since then, but at today’s Xbox keynote in Los Angeles we got another look at this new game from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, as well as a release date of September 18.
We still haven’t heard much, but from the trailer we now know the game is set in a distant future known as ‘Far Eden.’ We got to watch our heroine, Joule, jumping between platforms and facing off against mechanical hordes, as well as a brief intro to her five robot companions. With names like Mack, Vincent and Duncan, each looks to be equipped with different abilities and personalities; you’ll switch between them depending on the situation.
Developing…
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
New Xbox Live features include clan support and friend-finding options
Microsoft is making it a good deal easier to find friends when you want to play a game online this fall. A new “clubs” feature is basically a system-wide clan feature that lets you group together all your friends you play with frequently. Another new feature, “looking for group,” will let you put out an alert to your friends when you’re trying to get a big Destiny game going. The last feature, “Arena,” is aimed at competitive play and lets you find competitions going on around your favorite games.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of detail on how these features will actually work when they roll out this fall, but at the very least Microsoft appears to recognize the fact that it’s still rather hard to get good multiplayer games going — or knowing when particular friends of yours want to play specific games. Microsoft said this update would come this fall — presumably after the Xbox One Windows 10 Anniversary update that’ll bring Cortana to the system.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Apple WatchOS 3 is faster, more intuitive and fitness-friendly
The Apple Watch might only be a little over one year old, but that isn’t stopping Apple from introducing the wearable’s third major release in a year. WatchOS 3 tackles some of the biggest gripes of early adopters, most notably performance: it keeps favorite apps in memory and updates them in the background. You won’t stare awkwardly at your wrist while software loads, in other words.
The interface is getting a significant overhaul, too. There’s a Dock (accessible by swiping up from the home screen) that gives you quick access to favorite apps. Smart replies are now baked right into message notifications, and emergency calls are just a matter of holding down the side button. Also, like with Android Wear 2.0, you can now draw text onscreen with a Scribble mode. That’s more than a little helpful for those moments when it’s too noisy (or just too embarrassing) to dictate with your voice. And yes, there’s the obligatory round of new watch faces — there’s an activity face that highlights your progress, a minimalist “numerals” face and even a Minnie Mouse face with customizable skirt colors.
This is also a big update for fitness mavens. Besides a more prominent quick start for workouts, you’ll also find activity sharing that both shows how friends are doing and gives you an opportunity to talk smack (or, if you’re nicer, offer some motivation). WatchOS is more accommodating, to boot. You can optionally set reminders for deep breathing exercises that help manage stress, and wheelchair users get activity progress optimized for their vehicles.
Developers should be happy. Third-party apps can now use Apple Pay, and fitness apps can gather data in the background. They also have access to digital crown and touch events, inline video, speaker audio and existing iOS frameworks like CloudKit and Game Center.
Want to try it? A developer preview of WatchOS 3 is available today, while the finished release arrives in the fall.
Get all the latest news from WWDC 2016 here!
Gwent from ‘Witcher 3’ is now its own digital card game
If you’re a fan of the Witcher series, you’ve probably heard of Gwent. The collectible card game is an optional part of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, tasking players with collecting cards and ultimately dominating their opponent on the tabletop “battlefield.” Now, as expected, the game-within-a-game is being turned into a game of its own (try saying that three times fast.) It’ll launch as a closed beta on Xbox One and PC this September, before coming to PlayStation 4 later on. Similar to Hearthstone, it’ll be a free-to-play title with optional in-game purchases. At the moment, however, there’s no word on whether it’ll be coming to phones and tablets.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Source: Gwent
Apple Removes Personal Pickup for Thunderbolt Display
With only a few hours remaining until Apple’s WWDC 2016 keynote at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, a tipster informed us that Personal Pickup is no longer available for the Thunderbolt Display on Apple’s online storefront.
A quick spot check reveals that Personal Pickup has indeed been removed on the Thunderbolt Display product page in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, and other countries where the tool is available.
The removal of Personal Pickup, a web-based tool for checking in-store availability of Apple products, will naturally stir speculation about a long-overdue Thunderbolt Display refresh at WWDC. The standalone display has not been updated since 2011, even though Apple could have released a new model with USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 2, and a tapered iMac-style design as early as 2013.
Nowadays, the 27″ Retina 5K iMac could be the basis for a corresponding 5K Thunderbolt Display, which could feature the same 5,120×2,880 pixels resolution, USB-C ports for connecting Thunderbolt 3 peripherals, and possibly an ultra-thin design resembling the latest iMacs. Apple could also release a 4K Thunderbolt Display, but supply chain considerations make that less likely.
Thunderbolt Display rumors have regained momentum since in-store availability of the display became depleted at several Apple Stores in the U.S., U.K., and Canada around two weeks ago. Speculation pointed towards a 5K Thunderbolt Display with an integrated GPU, but iMore’s Rene Ritchie later said no such product will be announced at WWDC. He did not clarify if a refresh of any kind is off the table.
The removal of Personal Pickup should be treated as anecdotal evidence at best, however, especially since the tool was removed from Apple’s AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule product pages as well, only to reappear some days later.
While there is always a chance that Apple could surprise developers with a crowd-pleasing Thunderbolt Display announcement, expectations should be kept low, as it is widely believed that WWDC will have few if any hardware announcements. The focus of the event will unsurprisingly be software, including iOS 10 and OS X 10.12, but wishful thinkers are undoubtedly holding out hope for “one more thing…” today.
Apple’s keynote starts at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream (spoiler free) available on Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV. MacRumors will also have full coverage of the event, with a live blog on our front page and updates in 140 characters or less through our @MacRumorsLive account on Twitter.
(Thanks, Ted!)
Related Roundups: Thunderbolt Display, WWDC 2016
Tags: Personal Pickup, Apple retail
Buyer’s Guide: Displays (Don’t Buy)
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