May 30
May 30
One would think that Microsoft wouldn’t really want to facilitate competing marketplaces but the company says that it intends on doing just that. Microsoft confirmed today that it’s committed to supporting competing stores for PC games, saying that it will now be distributing more Xbox Game Studios titles through Valve’s Steam game store.
Microsoft has traditionally distributed these titles through Xbox Live only for both Windows and consoles. However, the company says that it now wants to give players more choice in the platforms they want to get their games from, which will why it will let them purchase its games on PC from Steam.
“Our intent is to make our Xbox Game Studios PC games available in multiple stores, including our own Microsoft Store on Windows, at their launch. We believe you should have choice in where you buy your PC games,” Xbox chief Phil Spencer wrote in a blog post.
Microsoft acknowledges that millions of PC gamers prefer getting their games from Steam and it has heard feedback from them that they would like more choice. Spencer added that Microsoft will continue to add over 20 Xbox Game Studios titles on Steam, beginning with Gears 5 and all Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Editions.
Microsoft Will Begin Distributing More Games Through Steam , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 30
Gogo, a leading provider of in-flight internet services for aviation, has announced that it’s going to build a 5G network for the aviation sector. This new air-to-ground network will be designed for use on business aviation aircraft, commercial regional jets, and smaller mainline jets that operate within the contiguous United States and Canada. Gogo expects this network to be available for commercial and business aviation in 2021.
“Gogo 5G is the next step in our technology evolution and is expected to deliver an unparalleled user experience, pairing high performance with low latency and network-wide redundancy,” said Gogo CEO Oakleigh Thorne.
This 5G network will be built on Gogo’s existing infrastructure of over 250 towers and will use unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4GHz range coupled with a proprietary modem and advanced beamforming technology. The company will continue to use its 3G and 4G networks throughout North America to provide backup to the 5G network as and when required.
Gogo will first deploy its 5G network on a handful of towers to test it out but the company isn’t saying when it will actually be able to do that. It only provides 2021 as the timeframe in which the 5G network will go live for both its business and commercial aviation customers which include airlines like Delta in the United States.
Gogo To Bring 5G To North American Skies By 2021 , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 30
The U.S. military has been embracing laser weapons system and now it appears that another branch of this organization will pick up the technology as well. A new report claims that the United States Navy has plans to equip one of its Arleigh Burke class destroyers with a HELIOS laser defense system. It may deploy the system by 2021.
Rear Admiral Ron Boxall, the Navy’s director of surface warfare, tells Defense News that the branch is planning to deploy the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical defense and surveillance system on the USS Preble by 2021. This new weapons system will replace the Rolling Airframe Missile system which was designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles and other threats before they hit the ship.
The Navy has actually been toying with this idea for a fair amount of time. A precursor laser system, the AN/SEQ-3, was being tested as far back as 2013 as a proof of concept against threats posed by drones or boats. That system was later made operational on the USS Ponce from 2014 right up until the ship was decommissioned last year.
The HELIOS defense system can also provide protection against small boats and drones in addition to missiles. It shoots a 60 kilowatt laser which can eventually be ramped up to 150 kilowatts. It taps directly into the ship’s power source and won’t require any additional energy magazines or batteries on the ship. The system has been designed and developed by Lockheed Martin.
U.S. Navy Might Equip A Destroyer With Laser Weapon System , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 30
Imagine you have used Google Maps to search for a good restaurant. It has shown you the reviews for that place and also provided navigations for you to get there. Could it do a bit more for you or should it just leave you to decide what to order? Google feels it should be the former. That’s why the company has added a new feature to Google Maps which will now tell you about the best dishes at a restaurant.
You can already get photos, reviews, and ratings for a restaurant in Google Maps. Now, it will be able to provide more information about the food there as well. It will highlight a restaurant’s most popular items on the menu so that users can place their orders with more confidence.
This feature is powered by a machine learning algorithm which matches dishes names, that are provided by Google Maps users, with relevant photos and reviews. This makes it easy for users to see which of the dishes at the restaurant are the most popular.
A restaurant’s popular dishes will be listed in the overview tab on its Google Maps listing. For a deeper dive, look into the menu tab and scroll through the most talked-about dishes. You can also tap on a popular dish to explore its photos and reviews. If you happen to be in a country where you can’t read the language, Maps will also take care of the translations for you. This feature is live on Google Maps for Android worldwide starting today. It will be rolled out to iOS in the coming months.
Google Maps Will Now Tell You About A Restaurant’s Best Dishes , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 30
Sure, you can have a Pokemon-themed wedding anywhere you want, but if you want your union to be blessed by The Pokemon Company, you’ll have to take a trip to Japan. ESCRIT is a Japanese company which does wedding ceremonies and it has partnered up with The Pokemon Company to plan officially licensed Pokemon-themed weddings.
There’s going to be a difference in a wedding that’s planned by Pokemon fans and the work done by this company with the blessings of the company that owns the rights to these cute monsters. Anything and everything has to be approved by the licensing department of the company.
The wedding package includes two massive Pikachu mascots, one each for the bride and groom, in addition to food with licensed Pokemon attributes. Even the wedding cake gets a bit of Pokemon flair as one would expect. It’s going to be a themed wedding after all. The wedding certificate will not just signify the spouses’ love for each other but also for Pokemon.
So for the super fans who feel that just hanging up a bunch of Pikachu posters at their reception isn’t going to cut it and that they need to have it just right, there’s always ESCRIT in Japan.
Want An Official Pokemon-Themed Wedding? Head To Japan , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
May 30
This is the GameShell, a retro gaming handheld that I built from a kit. I clipped and trimmed the plastic pieces, inserted the circuit boards, connected the wires and snapped it all together. It plays old games, emulated titles and homebrew software. It’s pleasing that something I built does those things.
May 30
As the weather heats up and the UV indexes rise, shade becomes ever more important for enjoying your patio.
May 30
Home entertainment software company Plex has pushed out an update for its Android app, adding a number of new features in addition to improved scrubbing capabilities. The update revolves around the Android mobile player and marks the public arrival of features previously launched under beta. Joining the new features is an overall UI update that mirrors the music interface. The … Continue reading
May 30
As previously rumored, this year’s Call of Duty game will launch with a familiar name. Activision and Infinity Ward have revealed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a game that shares its name with a now 12-year-old title. There isn’t a ton that Activision has revealed yet, but it has told us when the game will be on shelves. Call of … Continue reading
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