The After Math: FIRST!
Now that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has come right out and declared “America First”, a popular slogan among white nationalists throughout the country, here’s a look at some of the other precedent-setting events of the week. Microsoft announced that it’s getting into the legal weed game. Regulators have been presented with a proposal for the first US-based human CRISPR experiment. And Broadway announced that it will take the unprecedented step of livestream a musical. Numbers, because how else will we know how unpopular the presidential candidates are?
These were our favorite games, hardware and toys from E3 2016
Another year, another massive, exciting E3 showcase. The biggest names in the video game industry brought out their newest games and hardware, including two console announcements (and controllers) from Xbox and a ton of fresh games from PlayStation with an emphasis on VR experiences. There was no sign of Sony’s new PlayStation 4, but that was just fine.
Engadget’s E3 crew spent the week running around the show floor and convention halls, collecting all of the most important news and interviews. And playing some games, of course. OK, playing a lot of games. Don’t hate — check out the above video for our our favorites from E3 2016.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Apple and Microsoft reportedly vetoed a rifle emoji
Like it or not, emojis are permeating our vocabulary and fast becoming one of the primary ways people communicate. But if you were looking to convey your thoughts on rifles or hunting, you’re out of luck.
Unicode, the organization that oversees and selects emojis across platforms, has removed the rifle from a list of potential additions to the emoji library. According to Buzzfeed, that decision “was led and championed” by Apple, a member of the Unicode Consortium with voting rights.
Buzzfeed’s sources said Apple told the consortium it would not support a rifle on its platforms and asked that it not be made into an emoji. Other tech titans like Microsoft and Google are also voting members of the consortium, and none of them appeared to have any objections to removing the glyph. Microsoft was even said to have spoken up against the additon as well.
The rifle appeared to be part of a proposed Olympic-themed set of emojis that included medals, boxing gloves, goal nets and drums. Most of these other items have been approved and added to the most recent version of the Unicode standard, which now includes different skin tones and professional women.
Source: Buzzfeed
‘Portal 2’ and ‘Left 4 Dead’ are now playable on Xbox One
The list of Xbox 360 games backwards compatible with the Xbox One has now reached 200 titles with the addition of fan favorites Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead. Additionally, support was also added for Flashback, Brain Challenge and Babel Rising. Microsoft announced the backwards compatibility feature during last year’s E3, and rolled it out over the holiday season.
It was a particularly surprising and useful addition for gamers who still have large libraries of 360 games sitting around. While most of the big games are now supported on the Xbox One, it’s heartening to see new titles continually getting added. Support for multi-disc games was added last month, starting with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Since Microsoft has confirmed its followup console, the 4K ready Project Scorpio, will be compatible with all Xbox One titles, it’s very likely that backwards compatible 360 games will carry over as well.
Via: Polygon
Source: Major Nelson (Twitter)
Windows 10 preview makes it easier to do a fresh install
Windows 10 Insiders are greedy but brave souls who want the latest software toys and are willing to take some risks to get them. The latest preview build (14367) gives them a “get out of jail free” card, however, with a new tool called “Refresh Windows.” According to Microsoft, the tool will “install a clean copy of the most recent version of Windows, and remove apps that came pre-installed or that you installed on your PC.” The caveats are that it’s only available to Windows 10 Insider Preview users (of course) and that it will replace the latest version with an older, but more stable Insider Preview build.
The tool gives novice users a slightly easier way to do a clean install than the “Media Creation Tool,” but unlike that app, doesn’t let you download your own ISO. Given the fact that most Insiders will prefer the Media Creation Tool, Refresh Windows seems more at mainstream users in an upcoming Windows 10 release. Should you wish to use it, you’d better back up any content, apps and other personal data, despite the fact that you have the option to keep your personal files.
The preview build also includes new languages for handwriting recognition and a keyboard shortcut to access the Feedback Hub. You get numerous fixes and improvements for PCs, like better notifications from your phone to your PC with Cortana and reduced battery drain when using Edge. Windows Mobile customers also get a slew of fixes.
Source: Microsoft
‘ReCore’ is the mashup of ‘Metroid’ and ‘Mega Man’ I didn’t know I wanted
Several of the games I’ve written about at this year’s E3 have been massive reinventions of huge franchises. That made the all-too-brief time I spent with ReCore (developed by Comcept and Armature Studio) one of the more relaxed and enjoyable gaming experiences I had at E3 this year. Even though it’s not remaking legendary games of years past, ReCore still has a lot of fun and unique gameplay elements — it looks like you’ll get to do a lot of Metroid-style exploration, and swapping through your three robotic “bot” companions adds a level of depth and strategy to your encounters.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to do any exploration, but I did get a good taste of the smooth and fluid combat system during my demo. One trigger locks you on to your enemies and the other lets you blast away, making it relatively painless to keep up with the swarms of fast-moving attacking robots. Another button tells your robot companion to attack, and you can swap rapidly between them at any time. Each bot has its own special attack you can use to even the odds, as well.
The bots are designed to be crucial to your success — if you forget about utilizing those special attacks, you’ll likely end up in big trouble. But using those, as well as the Mega Man-style charge attacks, can help even the odds. There’s just something about the combo of dashing about and blasting away that reminded me of Mega Man, not in a hugely obvious way, but there’s clear inspiration here. No surprise given that one of Mega Man’s creators Keiji Inafune is a producer on ReCore.
Another gameplay technique that sets ReCore apart is the fact that you have four different-colored blasters, each of which corresponds to an enemy type. So if you come across reddish enemies, using the red blaster will deal extra damage. But some bigger enemies can only be killed by using your grappling hook to rip their glowing “core” orbs out of their bodies, and some of those enemies have cores that switch colors at will. So you’ll have to keep an eye on which blaster you’re using at any given time to be most effective.
The big question I was unable to answer in my quick 10-minute play session was how Recore will hold up over longer play sessions — there have been questions about whether or not the combat will get too repetitive over the course of the game. I didn’t get to find out how long the entire campaign will be, but the game doesn’t feel like it’s going to have that extensive of a running time where you’ll get tired of it. In fact, the controls and combat felt tight and fun enough that I think I’ll be happy to play the game for hours on end. Plus, that robotic dog is so cute.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Microsoft Follows LinkedIn Acquisition With Chatbot-Based ‘Wand’ Buyout
Microsoft has announced it is acquiring natural language and AI messaging startup Wand Labs as part of a larger strategy to build out “conversation as a platform” (via TechCrunch).
Founded in 2013 by former Google staffer Vishal Sharma, Wand Labs’ stated aim is “to tear down app walls, integrate your services in chat, and make them work together so you can do more with less taps”.
Previously, Wand apps focused on using conversational interfaces to allow users to perform collaborative tasks, such as enabling a friend to control a Nest thermostat, for example. (All Wand apps have been removed from the App Store since the announcement.)
“I’m proud of the work my team has done and what we’ve already accomplished in this emerging space,” said Sharma in a statement on the Wand Labs website. “I’m delighted to be joining a company that shares our passion and enthusiasm for this new era where conversation is the central focus. Making experiences for customers more seamless by harnessing human language is a powerful vision and one that motivates me and my team.”
The terms of the buyout have not been disclosed, but the fledgling Silicon Valley startup has just seven employees – a world away from Microsoft’s recent $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, which has 9,700 full-time employees with offices in 30 cities around the world.
The two deals are likely related, however, as Microsoft appears to be maneuvering significant investment in the direction of conversational chat bot services backed by big data, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
Wand employees are expected to be integrated into Microsoft’s Bing and Cortana teams, as the company follows a larger tech trend towards an era of conversational AI services and virtual messaging assistants.
Introducing chatbots into popular messaging apps are becoming more and more popular, with platforms like Kik and Skype gaining bot features to provide users with interactive chat logs that provide information on the weather, entertainment, or world news.
Facebook recently introduced chatbots to Messenger, and provided developers with toolkits to create third-party customer service chatbots and live chat APIs.
In the smart home sector, similar moves are aiming to make virtual assistants more intelligent at performing tasks and more responsive to specific queries, such as Amazon Echo’s recent “skills” upgrade, which enables its Alexa assistant to integrate with over 1,000 third-party apps.
Google recently announced its Echo rival, Home, while Apple is also rumored to be working on a similar, Siri-based device for the home.
Apple has reportedly been working on its rival device since before the Amazon Echo debuted in November 2014. Google Home will be available later this year, but it is not known when Apple will be ready to debut its home accessory or how it will fit into the company’s existing product lineup.
In a related move, Apple announced this week that it would open Siri up to third-party developers with a public API, allowing users to summon Apple’s personal assistant AI to access third-party services and apps hands-free, opening the door to a potential smart home assistant with enhanced functionality and contextual awareness.
In October 2015, Apple acquired VocalIQ, a UK-based startup that had spent the last 10 years researching natural language, belief tracking, decision making, and message generation, in an attempt to develop a next-generation natural language API.
It’s early days, but Apple may introduce the API in its Echo competitor because of its ability to go beyond the “session-based” contextual responses touted by the likes of Viv.
Tags: Microsoft, chat bots
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Microsoft partners with a legal weed startup
Microsoft is going into the legal marijuana business by teaming with a weed financing startup called “Kind,” according to the New York Times. The two companies will create Azure-powered cloud apps that track plants from “seed to sale,” helping legal dealers comply with laws. The decision to enter the trade was probably not taken lightly by Microsoft, as most corporations still won’t touch it with a ten-foot bong. However, the software giant is based in Washington state, where it’s perfectly legal to sell pot, and sees the potential for profits.
“We do think there will be significant growth,” Microsoft’s Kimberly Nelson tells the NYT. “As the industry is regulated, there will be more transactions, and we believe there will be more sophisticated requirements and tools down the road.” Twenty-five states in the US have legalized pot, either for medical or recreational use, and five more are voting this year to approve it, including California and Nevada. That’s created a kind of (Acapulco) gold rush in Silicon Valley, with startups sprouting everywhere.
The software giant is based in Washington state, where it’s perfectly legal to sell pot, and sees the potential for profits.
However, corporate America still sees weed as a turnoff — it’s been difficult for legal pot dealers to get loans from banks, for example. To push it into the mainstream, businesses will need to ensure they comply with laws so that the industry doesn’t become a bad scene. “The goal of this relationship is to leverage each company’s resources to provide state, county, and municipalities with purpose built solutions for [cannabis seed to sale] technology,” Kind said.
Microsoft’s new acquisition can enhance Cortana’s chat bots
Looks like Microsoft has been on a shopping spree. Hot on the heels of its massive LinkedIn purchase, the company announced that it’s acquired three-year-old messaging-app maker Wand Labs.
In a statement, Microsoft said that the acquisition would “accelerate [its] vision and strategy for Conversation as a Platform.” Unveiled at the company’s Build 2016 conference in March, Conversation embeds AI bots into Cortana to let users access third-party services within a chat.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Google and Facebook have since also announced similar plans to integrate chatbots into their messaging apps. Facebook Messenger, for instance, already has bots that let you send flowers, get breaking news and go shopping without leaving the app.
Wand Labs would boost Microsoft’s ability to offer more in this space, given the former’s experience with “third-party developer integration and conversational interfaces,” according to Microsoft. Wand has shut down its messaging app, but screenshots on its website show its ability to pull up third-party services such as Yelp and YouTube from its keyboard.
With the Wand application, you could even share access to apps such as Nest’s smart thermostat app so the friends you’re chatting with can change the temperature for themselves. That’s a feature that Facebook and Google Allo don’t appear to have yet.
Just like the LinkedIn buy, this acquisition looks to be a natural fit for Microsoft and could even help it get a lead in the chatbot space. Microsoft may even get ahead of the competition for a change.
Via: Recode
Source: Microsoft
PlayStation didn’t need a new console at E3
Sony didn’t show a new, more powerful PlayStation because it didn’t have to. But it still had the best show at E3. PlayStation repeated its strategy from last year by focusing on the games. The event was filled with exciting trailers, relaunched classics, release dates for highly anticipated titles and a better look at what’s going to come to its VR headset, which arrives in mere months. (And it was refreshingly short on small talk.) Sony played a smarter game than Microsoft.
Neo, aka the PlayStation 4.5, definitely exists. After the information leaked months earlier, Sony’s Andrew House told the Financial Times that the console would eventually launch with the PS4 still in stores. The new hardware is “intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4.” He also warned that it wouldn’t be on display at E3.
The Neo will obviously be more powerful than the existing PlayStation, outputting games and video at 4K (if you have the television for it). The company also insists that all future games will still run on PS4 hardware. The Neo would be for the hard-core gamer while the original remains the (cheaper) console for everyone else.
When it came to PlayStation hardware announcements at E3, the company limited it to a release date for a very important incoming peripheral: The PlayStation VR lands on Oct. 13th. And the company spent plenty of time hyping up a whole raft of games for its new toy.
At its E3 presentation, PlayStation unveiled VR Star Wars, Batman and Resident Evil 7 — as well as a Final Fantasy XV “experience,” whatever that is. It’s an attempt to draw fans of those properties to PSVR, which is important for both Sony and for virtual reality in general.
With an install base of over 40 million PS4s (and a lower price than the sort of PC you’d need for an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift), PSVR has the biggest chance of bringing virtual reality to the masses. Meanwhile, Xbox’s VR strategy hasn’t been spelled out explicitly. Microsoft is working with Oculus (it even had John Carmack onstage during its showcase), and HoloLens remains a completely different kind of product. (That’s not to mention the confusing messaging surrounding its new Xbox consoles.) Where is Xbox VR or VR One? When is it coming? How much will it cost? PS VR starts at $400 and goes on sale in mere months. It’s all known, and it’s coming soon.
The company didn’t need to add more noise by unveiling additional hardware. It would be crazy for Sony to try to pitch an upgraded PS4 at the same time as an accessory that costs as much as one. So it didn’t. In the meantime, PlayStation owners get to play with PSVR and save up for this future console upgrade if they want it. All the while Sony will be watching and learning. Is virtual reality going to be the next big thing? Or will we all be content playing on our 4K TVs? All of that will help shape the PS4 Neo, when it does eventually show itself.
Correction: A previous version of this article marked PSVR’s release date as October 17th, rather than 13th. We apologize for the error.
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