Discs! What are they good for? Well, they’re nice if you don’t want to be tied to an online-only ecosystem. But if you don’t mind that, Microsoft’s latest Xbox One S “All-Digital Edition” might be for you. With no slots to speak of, the console is limited to downloading games to its drive — which is how we’ve been doing it on PC for quite some time.
Announced during today’s “Inside Xbox” video presentation, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition — honestly, why not just give it a different letter? — is identical to the existing One S except for, of course, not having a disc slot in the front.
The Xbox One X (left) and S (center) are missing this valuable feature exclusive to the All-Digital Edition (right)
The impact of the news was lessened somewhat by Sony’s strategically timed tease of its next-generation console, revealing little — but enough to get gamers talking on a day Microsoft would have preferred was about its game ecosystem. But to return to the disc-free Xbox.
“We’re not looking to push customers toward digital,” explained Microsoft’s Jeff Gattis in a press release. “It’s about meeting the needs of customers that are digital natives that prefer digital-based media. Given this is the first product of its kind, it will teach us things we don’t already know about customer preferences around digital and will allow us to refine those experiences in the future. We see this as a step forward in extending our offerings beyond the core console gamer.”
The CPU and GPU are the same, RAM is the same, everything is the same. Even, unfortunately, the hard drive: a single lonely terabyte (imagine saying that a few years ago) that could fill up fast if every game has to be downloaded in full rather than loaded from disc.
It’s also the exact same shape and size as the S, which seems like a missed opportunity — they couldn’t make it a little smaller or thinner after taking out the whole Blu-ray assembly? Well, at least the original is a nice-looking little box to begin with. (“Changes that affect the form of a console can be complex and costly,” said Gattis.)
At $249 it’s $50 cheaper than the disc-using edition, and comes with copies of Sea of Thieves, Minecraft and Forza Horizon 3. That’s a pretty decent value, I’d say. If you’re looking to break into the Xbox ecosystem and don’t want to clutter your place with a bunch of discs and cases, this is a nice option. Sea of Thieves had kind of a weak start but has grown quite a bit, FH3 is supposed to be solid and Minecraft is of course Minecraft.
You may also want to spring for the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service, which combines Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass — meaning you get the usual online benefits as well as access to the growing Game Pass library. There’s enough there now that, with the games you get in the box, you shouldn’t have to buy much of anything until whatever Microsoft announces at E3 comes out. (There’s even a special offer for three months of Game Pass for a buck to get you started.)
You can pre-order the All-Digital Edition (which really should have been called the Xbox One D) now, and it should ship and be available at retailers starting May 7.
Source: TechCrunch
Twitter’s CEO continues his mea culpa tour as the company announces it has finally started blocking abuse with AI.
Source: Wired
Observers expect the FAA to slow approval of new technologies in the wake of two fatal crashes. That could affect development of nascent “air taxis.”
Source: Wired
Developers building voice-enabled applications for Amazon Echo and other Alexa-powered devices will now have a new way to validate their abilities, with Amazon’s launch of a new AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Speciality certification. This is the first time Amazon has offered a certification program for Alexa developers, the company says.
Certification programs are standard in the technology industry — and AWS already offers a training program and certifications of its own that allow organizations to identify professionals with cloud expertise and an understanding of AWS.
The new Alexa certification will be a speciality within the AWS program, and will validate those with an understanding of all aspects of Alexa voice app development.
This includes the more practical matters — like how to develop, test, validate and troubleshoot skills, the use of the Alexa Developer Console, how to manage skill operations and lifecycles, and more. But it will also get into more high-level concepts, like the “value of voice” and how a voice user experience should flow — something that many Alexa developers today still seem to struggle with.
To get started, developers can review a new exam guide which helps them learn about Alexa skill building through tutorials, technical documentation and more. Amazon is also making self-paced training courses available online.
When ready, developers aiming to get certified can create an AWS Training account, and schedule their exam.
The goal, says Amazon, is to open up “more opportunities to build engaging voice experiences” that can reach customers across the more than 100 million Alexa-enabled devices on the market today.
In other words, Amazon wants those Alexa developers dabbling with skill building to learn not only the basics, but also the industry best practices — then use this knowledge to create more skills that will actually resonate with customers.
The certification program arrives at a time when smart speakers have hit critical mass in the U.S., but the ecosystem of third-party skills has not had its “app store moment” with a breakout hit, as Bloomberg recently noted.
Arguably, music, timers and smart home controls are the breakout hits for smart speakers, but these are native functions. It’s unclear how many of Alexa’s 80K+ third-party skills have a long-term future if consumer adoption continues to struggle.
In the meantime, however, businesses are still keen on the platform, given the sizable installed base for Alexa. Every day, some organization is announcing the launch of its skill. (Today, for example, it’s the Red Cross.)
“The demand from organizations for skilled professionals who can build skills for emerging voice-enabled workloads is increasing,” says Kevin Kelly, director, AWS Certification and Education Programs, in a statement. “This new certification validates those skills with the only credential in the industry focused on Alexa skill building,” he added.
Source: TechCrunch
Netflix warned about slowing member growth, expecting to add roughly half as many members in the second quarter as it did in the first.
Source: CNET
The tech and gaming giant is expected to make major announcements Tuesday, starting at 2 p.m. PT.
Source: CNET
The Dbpower EX7000 comes with a waterproof housing, wrist remote, touchscreen and more.
Source: CNET
Qualcomm stock surged after the announcement that the company has settled its multi-billion dollar lawsuits with Apple. At market close Qualcomm’s stock price settled at $70.45 after opening at $57.46.
The stock surge showcases just how surprising the resolution is, especially given how wholeheartedly Apple appeared to be moving forward with Intel to keep Qualcomm tech out of their mobile devices. Qualcomm and Apple had spent the better part of more than two years engaged in a legal skirmish over outsized royalty payments, patent infringements and IP theft.
Beyond the legal resolution and an undisclosed payment from Apple to Qualcomm, the companies announced that they had come to a six-year licensing agreement and a multi-year chipset agreement, a deal that certainly assuages investor fears that the company was risking a relationship with a top customer in order to hold to its royalty guns, a move that carried the risk of damaging relationships with other partners as Apple urged suppliers to halt royalty payments during the dispute as well.
Intel and Apple stock were largely unaffected by the news.
Source: TechCrunch
The news broke during opening arguments in their multibillion-dollar trial.
Source: CNET
The years-long legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm appears to be coming to an end.
In a standoff that has been brewing since 2017, Apple argued that Qualcomm was charging too much for patent licensing. After Apple shifted to using Intel chips, Qualcomm moved to get iPhone imports banned in countries around the world for patent infringement.
The two companies have just announced a settlement, with both agreeing to drop all litigation with the other worldwide.
Exact details of the agreement are under wraps, with the two companies only disclosing:
Qualcomm stock spiked by about 18% with the news.
Source: TechCrunch