Games

The Microsoft Company is moving ahead with plans to launch the Xbox Series X in November, the company confirmed its commitment to a November launch on Tuesday at almost an equivalent time a tweet from 343 Industries confirmed that Halo Infinite wouldn’t be releasing alongside the console.

Instead, the subsequent chapter within the Halo series will arrive sometime in 2021.
The decision to shift our release is that the results of multiple factors that have contributed to development challenges, including the continued COVID-related impacts affecting us all this year, » the statement reads.

It isn’t sustainable for the well-being of our team or the general success of our game to ship it this holiday.
A handout from Microsoft that went out at almost an equivalent time that the Halo news surfaced emphasizes the upcoming console’s support for « thousands of games spanning four generations.
And that is true,  The new Xbox features backward compatibility together with your Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games library.


There’s also the upcoming slate of fall 2020 releases, which incorporates Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs games from Ubisoft and therefore the new, as-yet-unannounced Call of Duty game. So it isn’t just like the Series X will just sit under your TV until Infinite arrives.

Softwar and application

Snap has updated its Lens Studio platform so artists and developers can create custom Lenses.
Snapchat’s maker has created two templates, Full Body Triggers, and Full Body Attachments, which will raise various effects supported by what the user is doing inside the frame, as a tutorial video explains. These include toggling virtual objects, playing short pieces of animation, and particle bursts.

The new templates, meanwhile, can monitor 18 points including the user’s knees and ankles.
There’s a clear application for these new developer tools: dance videos. The genre has always been popular across various social platforms including YouTube and Instagram.
TikTok’s monumental rise, however, and therefore the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has forced many to remain indoors and find new ways to entertain themselves, has encouraged people to make even more body, grooving clips.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that Snapchat wants to support the trend with a new artist and developer tools.
If you don’t want to download and learn Lens Studio, fear not: Snapchat has already released four creator-made Lenses — Star Burst, Be You, Alone, and Be Happy, that you simply can try immediately within the app.

Lifestyle Technology

The United Arab Emirates has sent the US two Nigerian nationals, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas and Olakean Jacob Ponle, to face charges concerning large “business email compromise” scams.

Abbas are accused of cash laundering in schemes meant to tug in “hundreds of many dollars, consistent with the Department of Justice.

He reportedly helped with an idea to launder $14.7 million stolen from a “foreign financial organization, which helped take nearly $923,000 from a replacement York firm and was even involved during a plot to steal roughly $124 million from an English Premier League club.
Ponle, meanwhile, allegedly participated in several 2019 fraud campaigns that were worth “tens of many dollars,” including one Chicago-based company that sen a complete of $15.2 million. Consistent with the claim, Ponle had victims wire funds to money mules who converted the gains to Bitcoin and sent them to a digital wallet the mastermind controlled.


US attorney Nick Hanna saw the move as evidence the US could hold online fraud perpetrators responsible “no matter where they live.
Although these moves could send a message to scammers who think they will escape without penalty, they could not function practical deterrents.

Softwar and application

Apple took to its developer website to announce a variety of the latest initiatives, services, and tools for developers today. Most of what the corporate listed are evolutions of the quality offerings it promotes at its ongoing developer conference.

Apple came under attack after it rejected a bug-fix update to the email app Hey, which is formed by Basecamp. Apple told the app’s developers that the app would need to incorporate Apple’s own system for in-app purchases or risk being delisted.
The CTO of Basecamp took to Twitter with an impassioned thread accusing Apple of criminal behavior for insisting on a cut of the app’s revenues.

The tweet thread sparked an excellent deal of dialogue, not only about Apple’s take of app revenues but also about the company’s failure to be transparent and consistent about App Store guidelines.
Developers will surely be glad to listen to the change regarding updates that are composed of bug fixes.
The remainder of Apple’s statement seems to suggest that the corporate is opening up new avenues of dialogue with developers about App Store review guidelines and specific judgments Apple makes supported them.

What will appear as if it is unclear, though?
Equally, unclear is whether it’ll cause any actual changes in policy or enforcement.

More details will likely come because the changes roll out later within the summer, except, for now, Apple is especially just telling developers that it’s listening.
Last week, Apple SVP Phil Schiller gave an interview during which he defended Apple’s guidelines and said there would be no changes to the particular policies in response to the complaints about Hey’s situation.
However, Apple nonetheless approved the Hey app in any case, after Basecamp submitted a version of the app that followed Apple’s guidelines in a minimal way.
The dispute is probably going to continue.
The other new initiatives, services, and tools that Apple mentioned in its article today include evidence of Clips and Widgets, access to new or expanded APIs and frameworks like ARKit, a replacement Store Kit tool for helping developers plan out monetization, details about the Xcode redesign, new capabilities in Swift UI, expanded features for Catalyst, and knowledge on new privacy requirements.

Softwar and application Technology

The next Apple Watch (Series 6) remains months faraway from making its grand debut alongside the rumored iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max.

But there are still many speculations surrounding a Series 6 smartwatch and a replacement software update that’ll bring new features to the prevailing Apple Watches to carry us over within the meantime.

Design
Save for a couple of minor changes like larger screens, different materials and various watch band designs, the design of the watch hasn’t changed much since Apple introduced the primary Apple Watch in 2014. And this year is going to be no different.

New watch face options
The Apple Watch has plenty of customizable watch faces, starting from animated Disney characters to weather-centric interfaces.
For patriotic users, Watch OS 7 may add an « international » option that allows you to choose a country’s flag as your watch face.

A new fitness app
Fitness has been at the core of the Apple Watch since its launch, and this year Apple may take it even further. Consistent with MacRumors, the corporate is functioning on a standalone fitness app.

Unlike the prevailing Activity app that tracks your progress and is already on the Apple Watch (and iPhone), this one would offer you guided workouts for an assortment of various activities like running, cycling, rowing, strength training, dance, and yoga.
There’s no shortage of third-party fitness apps like this for the Apple Watch, but a native fitness app could put tons of these out of business.

The app would be available on the iPhone and Apple TV also because of the Apple Watch. And it’d be free. The MacRumors report says there is no evidence of in-app purchases, but that does not necessarily rule out a subscription-based approach like Apple Music.

Native sleep tracking may finally arrive
This could finally be the year when Apple Watch gets native sleep tracking.

Since acquiring the sleep sensor Beddit back in 2017, a tracker that sits under the mattress, there are rumors about Apple integrating an identical feature within the Apple Watch.
A « Sleep app » was also accidentally mentioned during a screenshot of Apple’s preinstalled Alarm app within the App Store.

The image was spotted by a reader of MacRumors back in October and has since been removed.
Sleep tracking is out there on the Apple Watch through third-party apps and one among the most important hurdles for Apple to supply it natively has been battery life.
The present Apple Watch models last a few days and a half normal use, but a feature like this is able to require overnight monitoring.
This is able to likely drain the battery much faster and would require a much bigger battery or a software update (WatchOS 7 feature) that might optimize battery life.

 

Softwar and application

Continuing its long and storied history of lifting designs and features from competitors, Facebook today announced an upcoming change to Messenger that simultaneously feels both long overdue and rushed in response to the pandemic.

Say hello to Messenger Rooms, a tile-view video chat experience that will delay to 50 participants.
Importantly, consistent with an emailed handout, you are doing not need a Facebook account to hitch a Messenger Room. Of course, your friends that do not have Facebook accounts likely do not have them for a reason, but we understand what Zuckerberg and Co. are going for here.
You can start and share rooms on Facebook through News Feed, Groups, and Events, so it is easy for people to drop in.

Soon we’ll add ways to make rooms from Instagram Direct, WhatsApp, and Portal, too.
Also, of note, you do not get to download anything to hitch a Messenger Room.

We’re sure nobody will zoom, er, excuse us, Facebook bomb any of those calls.
As to once you are going to be ready to use this exciting new feature within the world of videoconferencing? Soon, probably.
Consistent with the handout, « Messenger Rooms is rolling call at some countries in the week and can expand to the remainder of the planet in the coming weeks.

Technical Device Technology

Today (March 26) is that the launch for the Huawei P40 family and thanks to the coronavirus pandemic the corporate has decided to tug its Paris launch, so just have an online-only event.
That means we’ll be seeing Richard Yu (CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group) and other representatives fancy a stage somewhere within the world, where they’re going to unveil the handset to an audience-less room.
It’s looking increasingly likely that we’d see a Huawei P40 Pro Plus 5G (aka the Huawei P40 Pro Premium) alongside the P40 and P40 Pro, as an in-depth specs list for the phone has just leaked, right before its likely announcement.
If rumors are to be believed it’s a slick 120Hz refresh rate, a hefty 12 GB of RAM, and 10x optical zoom, among other things.

Could this be the star of Huawei’s show?

It is a matter of hours until we’ll be hearing about the Huawei P40 series, and we’ve put together this live blog so you’ll follow alongside the newest because it happens. The launch is about to start out at 1PM GMT / 9AM ET / 6AM PT / 11PM AEST.

– Huawei P40 – The Huawei P40 won’t be the top-end handset from the corporate
– We’re expecting big camera upgrades for the entire P40 series, but it’s likely tons of them are going to be debuting on the P40 Pro considering the shooter the corporate included on the P30 Pro.
– this is often a replacement line within the Huawei family, and it’s rumored to be the top-end handset money can purchase from the corporate.
Exactly what it’ll do differently to the opposite two phones is currently unclear.
Huawei Watch GT 2e – this is often a weird one. Huawei has confirmed it’s coming, but it seems to only be a redesign of Watch GT 2. With a reputation like GT 2e, which will mean it is a cheaper product though.

Games

Microsoft’s mid-gen refresh of the Xbox One – and answer to Sony’s PS4 Pro, is that the best games console when it involves sheer computing chops.

It’s for console players who want the simplest of the simplest in terms of specs, and native 4K and HDR support, but the upcoming Xbox Series X will have something to mention that when it releases this year.
Here’s an opportunity down of everything we all know about the 2 consoles thus far, including price (or rumored price), specs, and existing or expected games to assist you to weigh up whether it’ll be worth upgrading from the Xbox One X to the Xbox Series X.
Both Sony and Microsoft are being coy on price, and permanently reason.

The Xbox Series X and PS5 price came out on top during a Twitter poll of the foremost important factors for those looking to select up a next-gen console.

Neither company intends to repeat the mistakes of the $599 PS3 in 2006, or that of the first $499 Xbox One.

Some rumors have suggested subsequent Xbox is going to be around $499, but that’s just speculation.
In other words, we don’t know the worth of the next-gen Xbox yet.
In terms of the Xbox One X launch RRP of $499/£449/AU$649, you’ll do an awful lot better than that these days. At the time of publication, a number of the simplest Xbox One X deals see you learning the console for fewer than $300 with a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate within the US or the console and each numbered Gears game for £299 within the UK. However, expect the Xbox One X to be reduced even more when the Series X launches later this year.

Xbox Series X specs details are hotting up:

CPU: Custom-designed AMD Navi/Zen 2
GPU: 12 teraflops
Frame rate: 120 fps
RAM: GDDR6
Resolution: Up to 8
Storage: SSD
With a 12-teraflop GPU capable of up to 120 fps, the Series X is twice as powerful because of the One X.
Series X’s solid-state drive (SSD) exposes all kinds of possibilities: a part of its storage system is often wont to boost load times by up to 40 times and Quick Resume allows users to leap between multiple games directly without loading screens.

The Xbox One X specs:

CPU: Eight-core 2.3GHz custom AMD
RAM: 12 GB GDDR5
GPU: Six teraflops 1172 MHz
Resolution: 4K
Storage: 1 TB HDD
The innards of the premium Xbox ensure it’s the foremost powerful console available today and therefore the best thanks to playing with native 4K and HDR.

Backward compatibility is confirmed for the Series X, which allows you to play games from previous generations on your new system, but Microsoft has gone a step further with Smart Delivery.
The Xbox Series X is an increasingly enticing prospect. While we don’t know if it’ll be the foremost powerful console by the top of the year, its graphical grunt combined with the superb Game Pass subscription service means Xbox fans should be getting seriously excited.

Technical Device

The bill, which awaits President Trump’s signature, also prohibits telcos from using Federal Communications Commission funding to get Huawei or ZTE equipment.

But the Congressional action is essentially duplicative because the FCC had already approved a ban.
The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act was approved in voice votes by the House in December and by the Senate yesterday.

It doesn’t mention Huawei or ZTE by name but says the FCC must produce an inventory of kit providers « posing national security risks » and prohibits ISPs and phone companies from using FCC funding to get, rent, lease, or maintain equipment and services made by those companies.
Specifically, the bill directs the FCC to make a $1 billion reimbursement fund for ISPs that have 2 million or fewer customers.

The funding would be used for « permanently removing, » « replacing, » and « disposing » Huawei or ZTE gear and equipment from any providers added to the prohibited list within the future.

The FCC was already seeking public discussion on the way to buy removal and replacement of kit but hadn’t created a fund.
The passage of this legislation comes at a critical time, » the agricultural Wireless Association, a trade group that represents small ISPs, said yesterday.

Without this significant funding, rural carriers would lack the financial means to effectuate rapid replacement of the banned equipment. »
Democratic and Republican members of the House Commerce Committee also praised the Senate action, saying, « The existence of Huawei’s technology in our networks represents an immense threat to America’s national and economic security.
Huawei fires back points to US’ history of spying on phone networks
Huawei in December sued the FCC in an effort to prevent the ban, but a US District Court judge ruled in favor of the FCC.
US government officials recently said they need « evidence that Huawei has the potential secretly to access sensitive and private information in systems it maintains and sells around the world.

But they haven’t made that evidence public, and Huawei said it « has never and can never covertly access telecom networks, nor can we have the potential to try to so.

Games

Sony announced its decision to skip the annual three-day gaming festival in an update to a blog post published last week.
Sony Interactive Entertainment made the choice to cancel its participation at PAX East in Boston this year thanks to increasing concerns associated with COVID-19 (also referred to as ‘novel coronavirus’), the update reads.

We felt this was the safest option because the situation is changing daily.

We are disappointed to cancel our participation during this event, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern.
Sony, which owns PlayStation, had planned on debuting a demo for the games The Last folks Part II, also as other interactive booths featuring game demos like Marvel’s Iron Man VR, Nioh 2, Doom Eternal, Spelunky 2, and more.
Sony is headquartered in Tokyo, where there are 74 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including one death.
The news comes every week after Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest telephone show in Barcelona, was canceled as a result of coronavirus fears.

Companies like LG, Samsung, and Huawei were expected to point out off their latest devices and innovative software at the event.


The tech and gaming industry has been especially suffering from the coronavirus thanks to its reliance on China for production and materials.

Nintendo announced that its production of the Nintendo Switch would be delayed for the Japanese market, and therefore the popular Oculus Quest VR headset is currently on back-order.
In total, there are quite 75,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide and 2014 confirmed deaths.
The virus it’s caused massive travel discrepancies, company closures, event cancellations, and more.