EA at E3 2016: Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Fifa 17, and Star Wars trailers

The EA press conference has kicked off the annual E3 gaming conference in LA, giving us a taste of a number of new games coming over the next year.

The conference focused on a number of announcements, mainly sequels for Titanfall, Battlefield, Mass Effect, and the latest instalment of its huge footie franchise: Fifa 17.

Here are our favourites from the press conference: 

Battlefield 1

Launching 21 October, the game takes the Battlefield universe to World War I era, featuring tanks, planes, motorbikes, and even horses. There are a range of environments – from French villages to the Arabian desert. If the in-game action can keep up with the high-octane pace of the trailer, Battlefield fans should be in for one hell of a ride.

Titanfall 2

The robotic mechs are back. Featuring both single player and multiplayer, Titanfall 2 has all the gun-toting and blowing things up stuff that you’d expect, but with some added tweaks – such as a grappling hook to make your character fly that much further – and the promise of being even better than the first outing. Titanfall 2 is due out on 28 October on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Origin for PC.

Star Wars

EA’s approach at its E3 conference wasn’t to focus on one specific Star Wars game, but to confirm that there will be effectively dozens coming over the coming years.

“EA has some really exciting games in the works for its Star Wars portfolio… We have completely different games on the horizon, and I just hope every fan walks away saying ‘wow, you are going to bring my Star Wars fantasy to life’”, said Jade Raymond, VP GM of Motive Studios and Visceral Games.

The one to get excited about though is what looks like a Star Wars X-Wing game for the PlayStation VR. There’s only a glimpse in the trailer, so keep your eyes peeled for that in the future.

FIFA 17

Footie fans get not only the football game they love in its 2016-17 season, but also a whole new game mode: The Journey. Focusing on the Premier League’s next rising star, Alex Hunter, it’s all about impressing your coach and making the right decisions in your career path. 

Also new to Fifa this year are club managers, plus a new gaming engine which utilises the Frostbite engine (as used in Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront).

The game is out in September on PS4 and Xbox One, PS3, and PC.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

“A whole new galaxy that awaits for you to explore”. Mass Effect: Andromeda pushes the boundaries of known space into the next generation, delivering distant star systems with remote and hostile planets ripe for discovery. And it looks incredible. Mass Effect: Andromeda isn’t coming until early 2017, but this trailer should give you a glimpse of what to expect in nine months’ time. 

Xbox One S: Everything we know about the upcoming console refresh

The arrival Xbox’s next generation console is imminent, and just as it did with the 360, the team is expected to unveil a slimmer product with upgraded internals and features, and a refreshed design.

But will it please consumers looking for a more powerful console? That is yet to be seen.

Xbox One Slim: Design changes

There are a few notable differences – based on an early leak – between the Xbox One S and the current Xbox One. First off, the console is shrinking to 60 per cent of its predecessor’s size, that means it’ll take up 40 per cent less space. And while its design shows it’s clearly part of the Xbox One family, there are some subtle design changes.

Unlike the current models, the S’s bottom half looks as though it will be covered in a panel full of machined holes, rather than the series of diagonal slits, for ventilation. In combination with a couple of other factors, ventilation and cooling could be key.

Firstly, there have been rumours suggesting the One S will have a built-in power brick, unlike the Xbox One which has a rather substantial external one. Secondly, the One S will have a vertical stand, so that you can use it either lying flat or upright, just like the PS4.

This could prove vital in keeping the console cool, if the rumours of an internal power brick are true, since it exposes more surfaces to the air, and makes it more efficient at radiating the heat.

NeoGaf

Xbox One Slim: Hardware and specs

From a specification standpoint, the one biggest upgrade is the move to support 4K video. The leaked Xbox One S page stated that this console will support both 4K video output and High Dynamic Range content (HDR), meaning videos will look incredible, providing you have a TV or monitor capable of supporting both 4K and HDR.

We’re unsure whether this means we’ll also get 4K gaming, but we’re fairly certain this means it will support 4K streaming from Netflix and YouTube, as well as (hopefully) having a built-in Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Both 4K and HDR are part of the spec included with Ultra HD Blu-ray, so supporting both makes perfect sense.

If that’s the case, it could be a blow to current bespoke Ultra HD Blu-ray player manufacturers – Samsung and Panasonic – who both charge a premium for players capable of supporting Ultra HD discs. If the Xbox One S is priced aggressively, it could be the most affordable Ultra HD Blu-ray player on the market too.

READ: How to upgrade your Xbox One storage by 2TB and more: That’s up to 100 games

The other main spec upgrade is built-in storage. Unlike the current Xbox One which maxes out at 1TB, the One S is claimed to feature a 2TB drive. Sadly, looking at the language in the placeholder page leak, it’s unlikely this will be the fast part SSD, part hard-disk Hybrid Drive found in the Elite model.

However, as long as this console has at least one one USB 3.1 or 3.0 port, you should be able to hook up your own external solid state drive and configure it to act as a Hybrid Drive of sorts – or you might be able to upgrade it yourself, as you can with the current Xbox One.

NeoGaf

Xbox One Slim: Release date

The Xbox One Slim is expected to be officially announced at the Xbox E3 press conference on 13 June.

Since it hasn’t been officially unveiled yet, we’re unsure when the console is going to be available, but an earlier leak suggested there’s already a pre-order placeholder page ready and waiting, suggesting Microsoft could open it up immediately after announcement.

READ: Xbox E3 2016 Briefing: How to watch it and what to expect for the Xbox One

Fallout 4 VR: What it’s like playing Bethesda’s open-world epic in virtual reality

Here’s something we didn’t expect at the E3 gaming expo this year: to be playing Fallout 4 in virtual reality. But it wasn’t a dream, it actually happened – and it might become a reality for all players in the near future.

Bethesda – the studio behind the Fallout franchise, also well-known for Skyrim and Elder Scrolls – announced its “Bethesda VR” proposition at its media conference on Sunday 12 June. Its virtual reality commitment took guise in show-off VR demos of Fallout 4 and Doom, each using the HTC Vive to bring those worlds alive. And we were one of the first to sample this apparent future vision in person.

Now, virtual reality perceptions differ from person to person, so whether this is exciting news for you or not depends on your point of view. But with one, if not two, of the biggest games of the last 12 months being carrot-dangled as potential VR candidates, and with HTC Vive being the most blow-away tech of the bunch, we’re more excited to sample these goodies than we are about, well, almost anything else E3 has thrown at us so far.

Slipping the HTC Vive on over glasses is never fun, but once nestled inside the headset, with separate headphones adorned and separate controllers placed in each hand, we’re in the wastelands. Like, actually, in them.

Well, almost. Despite the potential to integrate beautifully with virtual reality, the infinite-feeling world of Fallout 4 can’t be mapped to such a degree that the real-world to allow you to walk through its lands. Instead the left-hand Vive controller is used to point-and-click to “walk” – more teleport short distances, really, as you click and re-appear in the new location – from place to place. It adds a disengaging immediacy that changes the flow of the game. It’s more point-and-click than adventure that you can look around. The near-static approach does mean other VR units would also be well suited, though. Yep, we’re looking at you Oculus.

Conversely the right-hand Vive controller is used as a gun, its trigger button representing the idea of a firearm very well indeed. It’s kind of obvious really. Not that we encourage guns – not unless there’s a giant deathclaw lurking about in the shadows asking to be taken down. Or, in our case, a two-headed cow in need of being blow-up by a Fatman missile. BBQ’s up.

Fun certainly prevailed as we started to get accustomed to our surroundings. However, delving into a game of this type isn’t made better by VR, it simply changes the experience. It’s incredible to look around the world freely, to pretend to pet your dog (Dogmeat), and do all those silly in-between things you wouldn’t contemplate doing with just the single controller and large telly .

Highlights include the Pipboy menu system – the on-the-wrist at-a-glance computer and inventory – which is attached to your left arm. Being able to glance at it like a real thing makes the experience all the more real. It’s less practical, but way more impressive.

First Impressions

As games become more immersive, so too will the way we’ll be able to play them. Bethesda VR is a very interesting project for virtual reality heads as it shows the big studios are behind the tech of tomorrow. And that can only mean bigger and better titles to play. We’re totally for that – even if VR experiences typically need to be tailored to suit the type of play rather than being adaptations of existing games.

Hive Active Light: Connected bulbs make Hive a major smarthome player

Hive has today announced the addition of connected lighting to the Hive home, adding a major component to its smarthome portfolio. 

Hive started with heating – making perfect sense for a company founded from British Gas – but the addition of Active Light is probably the most important step since its inception. 

Heating and lighting are the most popular smarthome additions and having this all controlled by a single app, moves Hive into the position of being a major player in connected homes in the UK. 

The Hive Active Light starts small, offering conventional bulbs with either screw of bayonet fittings, either as individual bulbs or in packs of three or five. 

The inclusion of a bayonet fitting is key for the UK, where a mixture of light fittings exist through houses of different ages. So far, many of the smart lighting solutions have only offered a screw fitting, which is a more common standard in other markets. With Hive being a British company, it’s taking British homes into account. 

The Active Light will work with your existing Hive Hub. That means that if you’re an existing Hive user, you can just connect up the bulbs without adding another hub – which you would need for Philips Hue, for example.

Hive

The app too is due for an update that will see all your Hive products controlled from one place – so that’s your Active Heating, sensors, plugs and the new Active Light. You’ll be able to control lights from your phone, including dimming, or scheduling on and off times. 

Currently there only appears to be one bulb style and the omission of a GU10 will mean that those with more modern spot lighting can’t yet use the Hive lighting solution, unlike some established rivals that already offer a full range. Additionally, Hive Active Light is white, rather than the full colour spectrum that some competitors will offer you.

Hive Active Lights are available to order now through Hivehome.com, with prices starting at £19 for a bulb.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 official looking teaser leaks ahead of launch, expected soon

The next Samsung Galaxy Note phablet is expected to skip the 6 name and jump right to Galaxy Note 7, and that’s been backed up with a recent leak.

An anonymous source of Phone Arena sent in a typically Samsung-looking teaser that shows a stylus writing on the edge of a phone shaped like a seven. It has a caption pun that reads: “Write on the edge of something great,” backing up those rumours that the next Note will come in a curved edge version.

Of course this could just be a good fake, but with rumours of a 2 August launch, an official tease soon would make sense.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will reportedly skip the 6 name in order to be in line with the Galaxy S7 and Apple’s next iPhone 7.

The rumoured specs for the Galaxy Note 7 suggest it will feature a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display with curved edge or dual curved edges. It should be running either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 823 or Exynos octa-core CPU backed by at least 6GB of RAM. The camera is expected to be a 12-megapixel snapper like that featured on the Galaxy S7. The handset is also tipped to come with a hefty 4000mAh battery that can charge wirelessly.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Note 7 on 2 August, but we should see plenty more leaks and teasers before then.

READ: Samsung Galaxy Note 6 / Note 7: What’s the story so far?

Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for $26 billion

Microsoft has announced this morning that it will be acquiring LinkedIn in a deal worth $26.2 billion. 

Day-to-day running of LinkedIn will remain largely unchanged, with the current CEO Jeff Weiner staying in charge and reporting directly to Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Both Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and Jeff Weiner full supported the deal along with the entire Board of Directors.

The deal is expected to close officially at the end of this calendar year. That means that by January 2017, LinkedIn will officially be Microsoft property. 

“The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella said. “Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.”

It’s clear the two companies are seeing this as an ideal partnership. The language is very much based around Microsoft as the “World’s Leading Professional Cloud” partnering with the “World’s Leading Professional Network”. But exactly what this means for the long term future of LinkedIn is yet to be seen. 

In the past, we’ve seen deals like Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia go south after just a few years, while its purchase of Sunrise (a previously popular calendar app) saw the company swallow up the best features and kill the app. In the short term, however, LinkedIn will keep its own brand and independence and continue running as it is now. 

Walgreens is done with Theranos

After months of screaming at Theranos to clean up its act, Walgreens has formally ended its partnership with the blood testing startup. The pharmacy chain said that the CMS’ recent rejection of Theranos’ recovery plan and the looming threat of sanctions forced the relationship to end. Walgreens will now close all 40 of its remaining Theranos Wellness Centers in Arizona and “transition” customers to more reliable testing methods. Such as casting bones, consulting the tree spirits or looking at your wrist and then just guessing what’s wrong with yourself. Walgreens was Theranos’ main source of business, and without those retail locations, it’s not clear how the startup is going to survive.

Theranos burst onto the scene as an exciting medical tech startup that would use just a single drop of blood to diagnose a multitude of conditions. But its braggadocio couldn’t match up to the actual evidence and regulators wasted little time in piling on. The US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services began asking tough questions and found that the company had “deficient practices” that posed an “immediate jeopardy to patient health.” It didn’t help that the widow of one of Holmes’ former collaborators, Dr. Ian Gibbons, was threatened with a lawsuit by Holmes for suggesting that staffers knew that “nothing was working.”

Walgreens began turning the screws on its partner at the start of the year, saying that unless some dramatic improvement was made, it’d pull out. Shortly afterward, it instructed lawyers to scour the original agreement in the hope of finding an exit clause that’d enable it to escape unharmed. Despite not finding one, Theranos’ has been happily sowing the seeds of its own destruction, including voiding two years worth of blood tests and an impending criminal investigation.

But the negative publicity train hasn’t stopped there, and now Adam McKay will direct Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes in a potentially unflattering biopic. Oh, and Holmes is also facing a ban on being able to operate a medical testing lab, lost her COO and has lost her place on Forbes’ rich list, which recalculated her net worth as nothing. At this point, Holmes has transformed from pioneering visionary to traveling huckster shilling some of the world’s most expensive weapons-grade flimflam.

Via: WSJ

Source: Walgreens

Hive adds smart lightbulbs to its connected home lineup

British Gas’ connected home brand Hive expanded beyond smart thermostats to plugs and motion sensors earlier this year. As was always the plan, the product range has grown a little bigger today with the launch of Hive Active Lights. These smart bulbs are controlled via the existing Hive app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, and since they talk directly to your router through the Hive Hub, can be fiddled with anywhere you have an internet connection. In addition to on/off and dimming commands, you can also create schedules if, say, you want your lights to come on at night while you’re away on your summer hols.

The smart bulbs are available to purchase from today directly through Hive, Amazon and several other retailers including Maplin. A single screw or bayonet Active Light will set you back £19, though three- and five-packs are also on offer for £49 and £79, respectively. Existing Hive customers can also take advantage of a 10 percent discount if they purchase direct before July 31st, but if you haven’t bought into the connected ecosystem already, bear in mind you’ll need the £80 Hive Hub to get the bulbs parleying with your home router.

Source: Hive