Jun 30

Microsoft ‘Andromeda’ Device Revealed In Leaked Email

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Microsoft’s Surface series of hardware devices have so far been limited to tablets and laptops. There have been rumors of a Surface Phone in the past but that has yet to be revealed, assuming that it is still in the works. However there could be a new Surface device that Microsoft has yet to announce, according to a leaked email obtained by The Verge.

The email references an internal document within Microsoft that talks about a device codenamed Andromeda. If this sounds familiar, it is because late last year there was a rumor that Microsoft could be working on a device called Andromeda that is supposedly a foldable notebook. Based on the latest leak, it seems to corroborate those claims and suggests that it could very well be the first pocketable Surface device.

According to Microsoft’s internal description of Andromeda, “It’s a new pocketable Surface device form factor that brings together innovative new hardware and software experiences to create a truly personal and versatile computing experience.” Designer David Breyer has even shared some renders (see above) on what the device could look like based on patents, which according to The Verge are said to be identical the the current prototypes developed by Microsoft.

However before you get your hopes up at seeing the launch of Andromeda, The Verge’s sources claim that Microsoft could pull the plug on the project at any stage. It could very well end up like the Surface Mini which was allegedly pulled at the very last minute.

Microsoft ‘Andromeda’ Device Revealed In Leaked Email , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

NES Classic Is Now Available For Purchase

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As Nintendo promised, the NES Classic has been re-released this year and is finally available for purchase. For those who missed out on the chance to buy the console last year, now is your chance to do so. The console will be maintaining its original price tag of $60 so don’t pay more for that if you are seeing it priced higher, especially by those on eBay.

However it seems that the NES Classic might be hard to find even in 2018. According to IGN, it seems that many online retailers have listed the console as being out of stock. This is similar to what we’ve heard in the past where retailers such as GameStop have said that they will be keeping limited quantities on hand.

Nintendo last year promised that supply for the NES Classic will be better this year, but based on this initial sellout it doesn’t appear to be the case. Either demand is considerably higher than last year, or the initial shipment of inventory is less. Note that the consoles are sold out online, which means that if you want one maybe you’ll have to try your luck at the store itself, but you should probably call ahead to make sure there is stock lest you end up disappointed.

In the meantime there is speculation that Nintendo could have more Classic series of consoles in the works. A recent trademark filing has led to speculation that a GameCube Classic could be in the works, while in the past there have also been signs that an N64 Classic could also be in development.

NES Classic Is Now Available For Purchase , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

Google Reportedly Planning Its Own Game Streaming Platform

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Google is known for many products and services, such as Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, and so on. However when it comes to games, chances are you might think of companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony. However Google wants to change that, according to a report from Kotaku who claims that Google could be planning its own game streaming platform.

The report claims that it will be a three-pronged approach, where one will be about creating a streaming platform, the second being creating their own hardware which presumably will support the streaming, and third would be recruiting developers and bringing them under Google’s umbrella, similar to how Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have various studios working directly for them.

The decision to make it a streaming platform is an interesting one as for years, many have touted that streaming could be the next big thing. This is because unlike traditional methods of playing video games, streaming means that customers won’t need constantly upgrade hardware to keep up with games, although the only downside is that it is pretty much internet-dependent.

We have seen efforts in the past at trying to make Android a platform for games, with consoles such as OUYA or the NVIDIA SHIELD, although admittedly neither have really made much of an impact.

Google Reportedly Planning Its Own Game Streaming Platform , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

Warner Bros. Responds To Bethesda’s ‘Westworld’ Lawsuit

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Earlier this year Warner Bros. announced that a mobile game based on Westworld was being developed, and not too long ago it was finally released. Unfortunately as you might have heard, Bethesda did not take too kindly to the game’s launch where they filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. and Behavior Interactive, alleging that the game copied Fallout Shelter.

Warner Bros. has since responded to the lawsuit in which they are calling Bethesda’s claims “unsubstantiated”. In a statement made to GamesIndustry.biz, “As one of the world’s leading creators of intellectual property, including the ground-breaking television series Westworld, Warner Bros. has a deep respect for intellectual property rights.”

“As such, the assertions by Bethesda Softworks that Warner’s Westworld mobile game improperly used source code from Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter are as surprising as they are unsubstantiated.” However according to Bethesda’s argument, they point out that there is a bug in the initial version of the game that was identical to the early builds of Fallout Shelter ahead of its release, which suggested that the Westworld game was using the same source code as Behavior was also the developer behind Fallout Shelter.

Behavior has also since responded to the allegations by saying, “Bethesda’s allegations are untrue and that none of Bethesda’s code was used in the Westworld game.”

Warner Bros. Responds To Bethesda’s ‘Westworld’ Lawsuit , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

Bethesda Announced The Elder Scrolls VI Early To Avoid Disappointment

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At E3 2018 earlier this month, Bethesda surprised everyone when they announced The Elder Scrolls VI. This is because over the years, Bethesda has attempted to play down the hype and expectations of the sequel because while the company has acknowledged that they will eventually get around to it, they want to focus on other games first.

That being said, so why did they announce it at E3 2018? Does it mean that it’s close to being released? Speaking to Eurogamer, Bethesda’s Todd Howard revealed that the reason for its early announcement was so that fans of the franchise would not be disappointed and that they would stop asking if the game was in development.

According to Howard, “It’s better to say we’re making it. It makes life a little bit easier for us. [If we didn’t say anything] they would be disappointed and they’d still ask ‘What about Starfield?’ and ‘What about Elder Scrolls 6?’. But it’s also exciting! We’re excited; we want to share it with everybody.”

Unfortunately it’s still anyone’s guess as to when The Elder Scrolls VI will be launched, especially since Bethesda has more games that have yet to be launched. However at the very least gamers know that it is in the works, so it’s all about playing the waiting game for now. It remains to be seen if this early announcement will backfire because in the case of Square Enix and the Final Fantasy VII remake, the company has admitted that maybe their announcement was made too early.

Bethesda Announced The Elder Scrolls VI Early To Avoid Disappointment , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

Ubisoft CEO Believes Streaming Is The Future Of Gaming

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For years we have been hearing about companies working on video game streaming. The idea behind it is that it takes away hardware limitations as the bulk of the computing and processing will be done remotely, meaning that gamers will be able to enjoy the game as it was meant to be enjoyed.

A good example would be Valve’s Steam Link which allows users to stream games from their computers to their phones, games that would otherwise not be playable on mobile. This is a future that Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot believes in, and during a Q&A session, he stated that streaming could be the future of the gaming industry.

According to Guillemot, “What we’re dreaming of is that technology will allow us to actually stream our games to all the TVs, mobile phones and tablets in the future and that we will be able to give an opportunity to all our brands to reach 2.5 billion players in five years and maybe five billion players in ten years. So we’re very excited about that new opportunity and the other thing is also to be able to use big forms of servers to create games that we couldn’t dream of creating before.”

Ubisoft isn’t alone in this belief because like we said, there are many companies who working on the tech as well. Not too long ago Capcom announced that Resident Evil 7 will be playable on the Nintendo Switch via streaming, and more recently there are rumors that Google could be planning their own streaming service as well.

Ubisoft CEO Believes Streaming Is The Future Of Gaming , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

If Donald Trump Comes To Golf, Scotland Wants Britain To Pay His Greens Fees

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The Scots won’t be stuck with the security tab if the U.S. president hits his links, they warn.

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Jun 30

Apple Is Rebuilding Maps Using Its Own Data

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Apple Maps was touted as having the potential to overthrow Google Maps ahead of its launch, but fast forward to a few years later, it is clear that Google Maps is still very much the de facto map that many turn to. Apple has clearly made some improvements to Apple Maps over the years, but it seems that they are far from done.

In fact according to a report from TechCrunch, it seems that Apple could be revisiting Maps and rebuilding it from scratch using first-party data. Prior to this, Apple had largely relied on third-party data for its mapping application, but thanks to the company’s efforts at collecting their own data, they plan to overhaul the data in Maps and replace it with their own.

Speaking to TechCrunch, Apple SVP Eddy Cue said, “When we launched, a lot of it was all about directions and getting to a certain place. Finding the place and getting directions to that place. We’ve done a huge investment of making millions of changes, adding millions of locations, updating the map and changing the map more frequently. All of those things over the past six years.”

Of course first-party data doesn’t necessarily mean that it is better, but for those hoping to see these changes in Maps, you could be waiting a while. This is because these changes are expected to roll out in stages and will cover parts of the US stage by stage, so it might be a while before we can get an idea of whether or not these changes were made for the better.

Apple Is Rebuilding Maps Using Its Own Data , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

Tinder’s User Photos Are Now Encrypted

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Earlier this year a security researcher discovered a flaw in Tinder in which user photos and swipe data was exposed, and could also potentially be intercepted if they are connected on the same network as the person using the app. The good news for Tinder users who might have been concerned by this security snafu is that it looks like it has been patched.

This is according to a letter that Tinder sent to Senator Wyden informing him that the issue had been dealt with. Senator Wyden had previously sent Tinder a letter back in February which requested that the company encrypt its photos, but it is only now that Tinder has actually replied to the letter.

Does that mean that the flaw has been sitting exposed for the past 5 months or so? Thankfully no, as Tinder points out in its letter that they implemented encryption for photos back in February, but they were waiting to write back until a separate security feature had been implemented, which is why this information is only surfacing now.

Basically if you’ve been using Tinder for the past few months, know that your photos have been safe, but then again given that many Tinder photos are pulled from social media platforms such as Facebook, we’re not sure how much privacy there was to begin with.

Tinder’s User Photos Are Now Encrypted , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Jun 30

RED Hydrogen One Packing Snapdragon 835 Chipset In Latest Benchmark

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Last year camera maker RED announced that they would be getting into the smartphone game with the launch of the RED Hydrogen One. The handset has yet to be launched and is currently slated for a release this summer. What this means is that a phone announced in 2017 will only be launched in 2018, but what does that mean for its specs?

Is RED planning on introducing upgraded hardware to match what’s expected of smartphones in 2018? Unfortunately as far as processors are concerned, that doesn’t seem to be the case. A recently spotted Geekbench 4 benchmark has revealed that the phone in question is still being powered by 2017’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 835.

Given that all flagship phones in 2018 are powered by the Snapdragon 845, it does make the phone seem a bit dated. Now this isn’t to say that the Snapdragon 835 is bad or slow, in fact quite the opposite, but from a marketing perspective, it probably doesn’t look so good. Then again the RED Hydrogen One is expected to be a phone with a focus on its camera capabilities, so hopefully it will be enough for users to overlook the use of last year’s tech.

The benchmark has also revealed that the phone is running on Android 8.1 Oreo and will be packing 6GB of RAM.

RED Hydrogen One Packing Snapdragon 835 Chipset In Latest Benchmark , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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