PlanGrid construction app now available for Windows

PlanGrid is one of the world's most downloaded construction app and it is now available for Windows. It is supported on Windows laptops, desktop computers, and tablets (including Surface).

Features:

1. Fast, smooth sheet viewing: Effortlessly navigate your sheets; zoom in and out with ease.

2. Multiple windows for side-by- side comparison: Compare sheets without jumping back and forth between screens.

3. Offline mode:. Take your project anywhere, even when there's no internet PlanGrid will update when you're back online.

4. Snap-to annotations: Make detailed markups and take accurate measurements-everything automatically snaps to the nearest 45 degree angle. 

5. Estimates, and measurements: Take multiple measurements and report totals back to your team faster than ever.

You can download it here.

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Microsoft announces quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share

Microsoft today announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share. Last two previous quarters, Microsoft paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The dividend is payable March 9, 2017, to shareholders of record on Feb. 16, 2017. The ex-dividend date will be Feb. 14, 2017.

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343 Industries collabrating with Pilgrim in developing ‘Halo’ e-Sports series

Xbox Entertainment Studios began developing a live-action series with 343 and Amblin Entertainment but the project, which was expected to land at Showtime, was tangled up in the ultimate shuttering of the XES. Now, Halo is making its way to TV in the form of an e-sports reality competition. 343 Industries is working with Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Media Group to create a new reality series based on Halo 5: Guardians.

"We continue to be blown away by the sheer excitement surrounding e-sports; the scope and buzz are growing every day," said Piligian. "E-sports and Halo fans are exceedingly passionate about gaming and devoted to their favorite titles and franchises — they are exactly the kind of audience we want to produce for."

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Pilgrim on developing a reality series that will bring the intensity and extreme competition of Halo 5: Guardians e-sports to a television audience," said Kiki Wolfkill, head of Halo transmedia and entertainment at 343. "There is no better partner than Pilgrim to give our fans insight into the world of Halo e-sports."

Peter Levin, president of interactive ventures and games at Lionsgate, and Steven Roberts, executive chairman of ESL North America, helped sign this deal.

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Developer Submission: Start to play any media files without any problems with the new Player app!

Use Player to play all videos and music you want!

Player allows you to play files in different file formats, moreover with this app you finally will get the perfect playback of DVDs!

With Player you get the following:

Playback video files in .MKV, .VOB, .QT, .FLV, .AVI, .MP4, .MPG, .WEBM, *.m4v; *.mp4v; *.mov; *.m2ts; *.asf; *.wm; *.wmv; *.ts; *.f4v; *.hdmov; *.moov; *.mpeg; *.mpe; *.mpg2; *.mpeg1; *.mpeg4, *.divx; *.dvr-ms; *.ogv; *.mxf; *.m2p; *.mts; *.rm; *.rmvb; *.dv; *.dif; *.vc1; *.bmv; *.iv8; *.pjs; *.dirac; *.roq; *.smjpeg; *.mjpg; *.cavsvideo; *.thp; *.flic, *.vivo; *.hevc; *.h265; *.265; *.matroshka; *.nut; *.idcin; *.rawvideo; *.wtv; *.pva; *.nsv; *.xl; *.bink; *.dnxhd; *.yuv4mpegpipe, *.y4m; *.avs; *.3g2; *.3gp2; *.3gp; *.3gpp; *.nuv; *.r3d; *.mjpeg; *.ivf; *.mtv.

Playback audio files in .MP3, WMA, .WAVE, .OGG, *.wav; *.m4a; *.aac; *.adt; *.adts; *.ac3; *.ec3; *.flac; *.amr; *.au; *.aiff; *.aif; *.aifc; *.caf; *.qcp; *.act; *.gsm; *.bit; *.voc; *.adx; *.ircam; *.sf; *.dts; *.avr; *.ape; *.apl; *.mac; *.mmf; *.aea; *.afc; *.mlp; *.nist; *.sph; *.paf; *.fap; *.xa; *.wv; *.vb; *.son; *.iff; *.al; *.mpc; *.oma; *.omg; *.aa3; *.vmd; *.sbg; *.w64; *.brstm; *.shn; *.tak; *.dtshd; *.tta; *.boa; *.vqf; *.vql; *.vqe; *.daud.

DVD playback.

Support internal subtitles with the possibility of switching if subtitle file contains several options (more than one language).

Selecting audio tracks in video, if the video supports multiple audio tracks.

Creating the playlist: adding files and folders (support for drag&drop).

Playback files in the background.

Repeat playback.

Shuffle mode.

Try and explore new powerful Player! This app is for true music and movies lovers!

Get Player from the Windows Store here.

WP-Appbox: Player (Free, Windows Store) →

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LinkedIn Co-founder: Microsoft had made other attempts to buy LinkedIn in the past

Back in June, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for a whopping $26.2 billion. There was a pretty big bidding war for LinkedIn, in which Microsoft went head-to-head with Salesforce. Today, Konstantin Guericke, one of the co-founders of LinkedIn stated that the software giant actually made previous attempts to acquire LinkedIn in the past. Guericke state:

"Microsoft since the early days had a standing offer to our VCs (venture capitalists), saying look, if you want to sell the company talk to us, so it's not a surprise that Microsoft ended up doing the deal,"

In the interview, Guericke revealed that he was "sad" about the acquisition — but he believes that Microsoft acquiring LinkedIn ultimately makes sense. Before the LinkedIn acquisition, Microsoft's biggest acquisition was Nokia (for $7.2 billion) — and it was a pretty huge failure. When asked if the LinkedIn acquisition would work out for both of the companies, Guericke stated that the LinkedIn acquisition will be "handled differently" after what happened with Nokia:

"I think it's very different situation. Nokia was not exactly thriving at the time when this happened. LinkedIn was thriving and it's kind of a career make-or-break for the Microsoft CEO (Satya Nadella) so I think it'll be handled differently, partly because of the lesson of Nokia,"

You can watch Konstantin Guericke's full interview with CNBC here.

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Developer Submission: File Manager Gold app picks up an update with Windows 10 Mobile support and new features!

File Manager Gold is now available for all devices running Windows 10!

Manage files conveniently on both your computer and mobile devices!

Also the new app version gets the following features:

– Navigating through the app using Cortana voice commands.
– Editing and sharing screenshots using Ink Tool.
– Windows Hello.

Forget about the mess on your device with File Manager Gold!

Get File Manager Gold from the Windows Store here.

WP-Appbox: File Manager Gold (Free, Windows Store) →

From today the new free version of this app is also available for all Windows 10 users. Get File Manager Blue here.

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Microsoft shareholders question CEO Satya Nadella regarding its vision for mobile

At its annual meeting, Microsoft answered quite a lot of questions from their shareholders. The meeting, which apparently started off with the announcement "Please silence all Windows Phones and other devices," had quite a lot of Windows Phone fans.

According to GeekWire, a Windows Phone fan who uses his device for "18 hours a day" asked Nadella "Can you calm me down … and tell me what your vision is for mobile?" after hearing that the company is possibly "stepping away from mobile."

In response to this, Nadella simply stated that the company wants to focus on bringing something new to the market:

"We think about mobility broadly. In other words, we think about the mobility of the human being across all of the devices, not just the mobility of a single device. That said, we're not stepping away or back from our focus on our mobile devices. What we are going to do is focus that effort on places where we have differentiation. If you take Windows Phone, where we are differentiated on Windows Phone is on manageability. It's security, it's Continuum capability — that is, the ability to have a phone that can act like a PC. So we're going to double-down on those points of differentiation."

Satya Nadella's response is very similar to what he had said recently in another interview. The software giant is going to focus on bringing products that are different than what we already have. As we previously reported, it isn't yet known what exactly Microsoft is working on internally — but if the rumors are true, the company's "ultimate mobile device" could potentially support x86 apps in Continuum which is a major feature. 

In the meeting, Satya Nadella was also questioned by one of its longtime shareholder and Windows Phone fan, Dana Vance — who was not happy after learning that the Microsoft Pix app is available on Android and iOS, but not on Windows Phone. He asked Nadella regarding the company's vision for consumer devices. In response to Vance's question, Satya Nadella stated that the company isn't stepping away from supporting Windows Phone users — but it'll continue to recognize other platforms in mobile with "higher share" and make sure that their services are available on the other platforms. Here's his full response

"We will keep looking at different forms and different functions that we can bring to mobile devices, while also supporting our software across a variety of devices. So that's the approach you will see us take. We are not stepping away from supporting our Windows Phone users. But at the same time we are recognizing that there are other platforms in mobile that have higher share, and we want to make sure that our software is available to them."

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Plex introduces new Kodi add-on, makes the Plex Media Player available for free

Just last week, Plex revamped its photo experience with smart features such as automatic photo tagging. Today, the company is back again with a couple of new announcements.

Firstly, the company is releasing a new Kodi add-on which will allow Plex users to be able to experience and enjoy their content right from Kodi. For instance, if you download Kodi from the Windows Store and install the Plex add-on, you will be able to enjoy all the content from your Plex account on your Windows 10 PC. Similarly, if you have Kodi on devices such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick, you will also be able to enjoy your Plex content on your TV from Kodi. At the moment, the Kodi add-on is only available to subscribers of Plex Pass which costs $4.99 a month.

In addition to the new Kodi add-on, Plex also announced some changes for its Plex Media Player. Plex Media Player now utilizes the power of the Plex Web app to give users both a beautiful HTPC experience and a slick desktop media player experience. More importantly, Plex is making the Plex Media Player is now available to everyone for free. Previously, the Plex Media Player feature was part of Plex Pass — but now, any user can use this feature without having to pay for anything.

If you are interested in trying out the new Kodi add-on for Plex, you can get it from here. 

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FL Studio Mobile released for Windows 10 devices

FL Studio today released a major new app in the Windows Store for Windows 10. The company's latest app, FL Studio Mobile allows Windows 10 users to record, edit, and produce music. The app includes a handful of features, including a range of high-quality synthesizer, drum kits, and beats. It also offers the ability to configure the virtual piano keyboard and drum pads which is also pretty neat. Additionally, it also allows users to share a project between their Android, iOS and Windows 10 devices wirelessly which can be quite useful at times. Here's the full list of features:

• High quality synthesizers, sampler, drum kits & sliced-loop beats
• Step sequencer for fast percussion programming
• Configurable virtual piano-keyboard & Drumpads
• MIDI controller support. Play instruments and link to knobs/sliders
• Audio recording (with monitoring), track-length stem/wav import
• Browse sample and presets with pitchable-preview
• Pan, volume, release and attack time configurable per instrument
• High quality audio engine (input/output latency depends on your device)
• Mixer: Per-track mute, solo, effect bus, pan and volume adjustment
• Effects include: Auto Ducker, Chorus, Compressor, Limiter, Distortion, Parametric Equalizer, Graphic Equalizer, Flanger, Reverb, High-Pass/Low-Pass/Band-Pass/Formant (Vox) Filters, Delays and Phaser to enhance your mix
• Piano roll editor to enter notes & chords or to edit recorded performances
• Intuitive screen layout configurable to work with all screen resolutions and sizes.
• Save and load your songs, export to WAV and MP3
• Share your songs via Sync to other Mobile 3 devices / installations
• Load your projects in the FL STUDIO* FREE Plugin Version of this App# and take them to the next level!
• Wirelessly share project data with other FL Studio Mobile Android, iOS and Windows App instances.

Unfortunately, FL Studio isn't a free app in the Windows Store. It is available for $14.99, and you can get it on your Windows 10 device from the link below:

WP-Appbox: FL Studio Mobile ($14.99⁺, Windows Store) →

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Microsoft partners with LaLiga to transform the digital experience of football fans

Microsoft today announced that it's partnering with LaLiga to bring new digital experiences to more than 1.6 billion fans worldwide. As part of the partnership, Microsoft will become the Official Technological Partner of LaLagia as well. Using Microsoft's artificial intelligence and cloud services, LaLagia will apparently be able to identify demand for a certain game, or a specific online content. Pilar López, the President of Microsoft Ibérica stated:

"Our partnership with LaLiga is going to lead to a major new wave of innovation in the sports industry, revolutionizing the way in which supporters relate to clubs and players, and radically transforming the management model of the sports organizations themselves,"

According to the official press release from LaLagia, Microsoft's cloud services: Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 will play a "key role" in the "digital transformation" of LaLagia — which will be using Microsoft's cloud services to reach more than 1.2 billion users.

LaLagia will mostly be using Microsoft Azure to power the new experiences, which, according to LaLagia, guarantees the "flexibility and scalability needed to deliver an optimal user experience to the 1.6 billion". In addition to the new digital experiences, Microsoft and LaLagia will work together to extend the new innovations to other organizations in the football industries, including the different football clubs.

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AdDuplex introduces new monetization program for Windows Developers

AdDuplex today launched a new monetization program for Windows apps and fame developers. The company has actually been testing its new ad monetization program (which doesn't seem to have a name as of yet) and it allowed some apps and games to generate "thousands of dollars" per month in revenue. Don't get too excited, however — at the moment, the new monetization program for AdDuplex is invite-only and your apps or games will have to meet the following criteria to be able to get into the program. Additionally, it is also worth mentioning that the monetization program only supports Windows 10 and Windows Phone 8 apps and games.

Here are the requirements:

• Apps and games capable of showing 10,000+ ad impressions daily. The reason is simple – we want you to make at least few hundred dollars a month. We realize that you may have several smaller apps, so this criteria is not set in stone.
• No "gray area" content. Some of the most popular apps, unfortunately, balance on the edge of legality and quite often cross over it. Advertisers don't want to advertise there. We will not go deep analyzing whether what you do is legal or not, but if it feels questionable we will have to pass this time.
• Good ad placement. This is subjective and you may not be showing ads right now at all, but we would like to provide value to advertisers, so they are happy to continue generating revenue for you.
• Windows Phone 8 or Windows 10 (both Mobile and Desktop). As we want you to make money, we need to be realistic – there isn't much demand on WP7 or Windows 8.x on the desktop.

If you think your app meets the entry requirements, you can sign-up for the new AdDuplex monetization program here.

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Joe Belfiore is reportedly running the consumer-focused Windows Shell at Microsoft now

We recently reported that Joe Belfiore was back at Microsoft after a 1 year holiday with his family. Joe Belfiore previously led the "PC-Tablet-Phone" team for the Operating Systems group at Microsoft. According to a new report, Joe Belfiore is now running the consumer-focused Windows Shell at Microsoft. Belfiore will be reporting to Terry Myerson, who is leading the Windows and Devices group at Microsoft. Joe Belfiore will be responsible for finding news to "make money" with Windows 10 as the software giant is slowly moving away from the traditional licensing method. The report states:

"Joe will be running the consumer-focused Windows Shell and will be reporting to Terry Myerson; his objective will be to find new ways to make money with Windows 10 as the traditional licensing model of the OS goes away, especially in the lower-priced segment. There will be other responsibilities under his belt but this is the high-level objective and it may not sit well with some users."

It is worth noting that Joe Belfiore is yet to update his LinkedIn profile and the company didn't comment when asked about Belfiore's new job at the company.

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Snail Games partners with ‘ARK’ creators to bring Jurassic experience to VR

One of China's leading MMO and interactive online games developers, Snail Games, has just announced a partnership with Studio Wildcard, developers of the popular title 'Ark: Survival Evolved', to create an immersive VR experience where users will get to roam an open world set in the Jurassic era; where they can watch, learn about, and interact with more than a hundred Jurassic-period creatures and dinosaurs. So if you've ever wanted to experience your own Jurassic Park, here's your chance.

The app, appropriately titled Ark Park, will be set in a futuristic dinosaur theme park; where instead of hunting and taming dinosaurs, players will have the opportunity to truly appreciate and understand dinosaurs in their natural habitat. Players can also participate in a multiplayer tour, so that they can share their experiences in the true to life virtual reality attraction.

"ARK Park is designed with the concept of creating a simulated world that could never exist in reality," said Shi Hai, CEO, Snail Games. "Instead of a linear plot structure, we created this world where players have the freedom to explore and approach every single detail in the virtual space at their own pace. We wanted to achieve a level of visual authenticity and player interactivity that will set a benchmark in the VR industry."

The app will be powered by the Unreal Engine 4 and will feature a blend of real-life imagery and 3D textures. No word yet on a release timeframe, pricing, or exactly which VR platforms will support the title, but we'll update readers as soon as more information is available. In the meantime you can check out some promo images below, and sign up for more information about the title here.

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One Xbox One sold every 15 seconds on eBay on Cyber Monday

Adobe has already crowned the Xbox One the winner of the Black Friday duel with the PS4, and now eBay has also weighed in and reports that the device is also selling well on their service.

According to data they provided to Polygon, on Cyber Monday an Xbox One was sold every 15 seconds, compared to 30 seconds for the PS4 and every 2 minutes for the NES Classic.

The Xbox One was not selling quite as fast on Black Friday itself according to eBay, selling one every minute, vs one PS4 every 20 seconds and one every 2 minutes for the NES Classic.

eBay DataLabs' estimates Nov. 15 and Nov. 22 20,000 new Xbox One consoles were sold and 13,000 used consoles. Over the same period 15,000 new and 12,000 used PS4's were sold and 20,000 new NES Classic consoles.

"Over the Cyber Weekend, eBay was the destination for some of the best deals and selection for video games, consoles, and accessories," Jesse Kiefer, eBay's General Manager of Deals, told Polygon in a written statement. "Beyond seeing hot inventory like the NES Classic Edition and the PlayStation 4 Slim continue to trend, on Black Friday our Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Membership deal sold every six seconds and a Sony Dual Shock 4 Wireless Controller was among our top five selling electronics."

The introduction of the Xbox One S is leading a resurgence in the popularity of the Xbox in USA with the console now set for a 5 month-long winning streak., surviving even the introduction of the PS4 Pro. It remains to be seen however of the console can catch up with the PS4 installed base, with VGChartz estimating the device is more than 2 million consoles behind in the USA and more than 20 million behind worldwide.

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‘Titanfall 2’ will get free Multiplayer Trail for Xbox One and PC on December 2

Respawn Entertainment has announced that 'Titanfall 2' players will be able to participate in multiplayer trails this weekend, well at least for Xbox One, PC, and PS4 users. While those gamers have to wait until this Friday to start gaming with friends, EA Access and Origin Access members can actually start their multiplayer trails today. The trail mode will feature a full offering including all maps, modes, weapons and more, including brand new content from Angel City's Most Wanted DLC on December 3.

The Angel City's Most Wanted DLC will feature the fully remastered fan favorite Angel City map from the original 'Titanfall', and will include free content such as the Wingman Elite Pistol, six new Titan kits, and a brand new Pilot execution. The only things that will cost are cosmetic items. Those who preordered the game will getfirst dibs at the DLC tomorrow.

EA mentions that for PC users, only one trail is available per EA account per computer. As far as the other consoles are concerned, no specific end date was given for when the trail period would end. Respawn Entertainment also mentioned that progress made during the trail period can be migrated to the full game after upgrading, if you so choose.

You can pick up 'Titanfall 2' for Xbox One here. You can also check out the Angel City's Most Wanted DLC trailer below.

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Microsoft announces general availability of preview features and new APIs in Azure Search

Microsoft today announced the general availability of several preview features as well as a new REST API version and .NET SDK that support these features. As you expect from an Azure service, these new features are also covered by the standard Azure service level agreement (SLA) and can be used in production workloads.

Following features have reached GA,

• Blob Indexer allows you to parse and index text from common file formats such as Office documents, PDF, and HTML. NOTE: CSV and JSON support is still in preview.
• Table Indexer enables you to ingest data from an Azure Table store.
• Custom Analyzers enable you to take control over the process of lexical analysis that's performed over the content of your documents and query terms. For example, custom analyzers enable support for Phonetic search. For more information, read more on custom analyzers.
• Analyze API allows you to test built-in and custom analyzers to see how the analyzer breaks text into tokens.
• ETag Support allows you to safely update index definitions, indexers, and data sources concurrently.

Read more about it here.

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Microsoft releases November eSports Update for Forza Motorsport 6

Microsoft recently released a free update for Forza Motorsport 6 focused on eSports and the ForzaRC. This update added a broadcast ticker option to all multiplayer races. When spectating a race in game, players now have the ability to toggle a ticker that gives up-to-the-moment positional data for all players in the race. As racers move up or down in position during race action, the ticker automatically changes. Also, it adds each racer's Gamertag and positional information above their cars during a race, giving viewers the chance to follow the on-track more closely than ever before.

Microsoft also confirmed that they will be adding additional features to make competitive multiplayer even better in the coming months on Forza.

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Deal: Get an HP Elite x3 and an Elite x3 Desk Dock for just $599

You can now get the HP Elite x3 Windows 10 Mobile device along with Elite x3 Desk Dock for just $599, down $200 from its original price of $799. The Elite x3 puts the power of a PC in the palm of your hand. It comes with a brilliant 5.96-inch WQHD AMOLED multi-touch display, a 16MP rear camera and a 8MP front-facing camera, support for Continuum powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, both Iris and fingerprint scanners for fast login, and dual SIM card slots that take the trouble out of travel.

Key Specs:

• 5.96? WQHD AMOLED display
• 16MP Full HD camera
• 64GB/expandable up to 2TB via microSD
• Compatible with GSM carriers
• Includes HP Elite x3 Desk Dock
• Iris recognition and fingerprint reader

Find the deal here from HP.

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Gasbuddy app runs out of fuel on Windows Phone

Present since 2011 in the Windows Store, cheap fuel search app Gasbuddy may soon be taking the off-ramp from the store. In an email to a Windows Phone user they complained of lack of use and resources and said they were no longer able to support the app.

The app last been updated in November 2015, and the company is currently debating whether they should simply remove the app or replace it with a simplified (presumably web-app) version.

The service will of course remain available at m.gasbuddy.com, but it seems the full version, which of course uses your location for convenience, soon exit the market.

They write:

Hello indmusic,
Sorry for any inconvenience. Due to lack of use and  resources, we are no longer able to support the Windows Phone app. Our product team is currently
discussing whether the app should be be removed from Windows Phone altogether or a simplified version be made available in the future.
Thanks for your understanding.
In the meantime, GasBuddy can continue to be accessed from any mobile browser by going to:
http://m.gasbuddy.com
All the best in your search for low-priced fuel.
Regards,
Charlie (CC)

The app is of course simply the latest in a long line of mobile apps which are leaving the platform and which, due to their phone-specific nature, are unlikely to return in UWP form. With Windows Phone expected to lose further market share over the next years, and Windows 10 Mobile's main selling feature being Continuum for Phones, it does raise a question if carrying  second phone running another OS makes sense to help one manage in today's app-centric world.

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PSA: This is the last day to pick up some of this month’s Games with Gold

If you're an Xbox Live Gold member, you definitely should be taking advantage of Games with Gold. It's one of Gold's main features, and provides you with a bundle of games for no cost other than the price of your Gold subscription. You simply have to navigate to the store page for each game to claim it, and then you'll be able to play the game as much as you want – as long as you stay a Gold member.

November's lineup brought in a pretty solid bundle of games. While Super Dungeon Bros (which made its debut in GwG) seemed to disappoint, the other three titles were all winners. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition – the only game from this month to no longer be available – was a remake of a classic PC adventure game. Murdered: Soul Suspect often divides people, but the general consensus is that it's a modern take on the adventure genre with a genuinely good story. Finally, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a blood pumping, retro themed spin-off to Ubisoft's series of open world action games.

Whilst Murdered: Soul Suspect will remain available until December 15th, this is the last day to get both Blood Dragon and Super Dungeon Bros. You can find all of them on Microsoft's Games with Gold page, or in the memberships section on your Xbox One.

Next month's games are also pretty good, and start off with both Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition and Outland.

What did you think of November's Games with Gold? Let us know in the comments below!

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Unity 5.5 released with support for Windows Holographic

Developing holographic apps for HoloLens uses the Universal Windows Platform. All holographic apps are Universal Windows apps, and all Universal Windows apps can be made to run on Microsoft HoloLens. With Windows 10 and with middleware tools like Unity, you can start building holographic experiences. Unity today announced the release of Unity 5.5 which comes with support for Windows Holographic.

They have improved the workflow by bringing Holographic Emulation right into the Unity Editor. Developers creating applications for HoloLens will be able to prototype, debug, and iterate on design directly from the Unity Editor without needing to build and deploy to an actual HoloLens device.

A Unity project for Microsoft Holographic platform isn't very different to a Unity project for other platforms, with a few notable exceptions:

• Ensure that the Camera you intend to track the HoloLens device's position is tagged as Main Camera in the Inspector window. The default Camera in the Scene should already be tagged appropriately.
• Set the Main Camera's Background property to Solid Color rather than the defaulted Skybox. Set the background color to (0, 0, 0, 0).
• Use the Fastest Quality Settings in Edit > Project Settings > Quality. This maximizes performance and reduces power consumption. In particular, soft shadows and shadow cascades are too expensive to use on the HoloLens, and should be avoided.
• Enable the appropriate publishing flags based on which subsystems your application uses.

You can find the full Unity Windows Holographic documentation here. Read more about Unity 5.5 release here.

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Microsoft talks about how they are empowering developers with AI and Deep Learning

At Microsoft, Deep learning is changing user experience in many of the applications and services, including Cortana, Bing, Office 365, SwiftKey, Skype Translate, Dynamics 365, and HoloLens. Deep learning powers the voice-to-voice language translation in Skype that helps in achieving human-level parity in conversational speech recognition. Deep learning is also now a core feature of development platforms such as the Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit, Cortana Intelligence Suite, Microsoft Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, Bot Framework, and the Azure Bot Service.

Joseph Sirosh Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Data Group yesterday blogged about how they are working hard to empower developers with AI and Deep Learning, so that they can make smarter products and solve some of the most challenging computing tasks. Microsoft believes that the applications of this technology are so far reaching  that "Deep Learning in every software" will be a reality within this decade.

By vigorously improving algorithms, infrastructure and collaborating closely with our partners like NVIDIA, OpenAI and others and harnessing the power of GPU-accelerated systems, we're making Microsoft Azure the fastest, most versatile AI platform – a truly intelligent cloud.

Read his full post here.

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Microsoft announces general availability of Azure AD Access Panel

Microsoft recently announced the general availability of Azure AD Access Panel. Access Panel (MyApps) allows you to to launch your Azure AD connected applications, change memberships in groups, and quickly access your security settings.

It comes with a new design with following features.

• Our responsive layout adjusts to the perfect size no matter what device you're on. The new layout makes it easy to scan through your apps and add new ones.
• Notifications now alert you instantly when an access request comes your way and lets you review them at once. The user control lets you quickly switch between organizations anywhere on the site.
• Group management is now a breeze with everything you need on the main page. You can easily see what groups you're in or own, and join or create new ones.

This new design will be rolled out to everyone by the end of January.

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Microsoft joins The Starbucks Foundation and others to raise $3 million to shelter homeless families

Microsoft has joined The Starbucks Foundation, the Schultz Family Foundation and many others to support the annual No Child Sleeps Outside campaign by Mary's Place. They are raising more than $3 million to provide safe emergency shelter for the estimated 500 unsheltered families in King County, including hundreds of children.

Following a nearly 20 percent jump in the homeless count last year, families with young children are waiting months for emergency shelter, leaving many sleeping on the streets, in cars and parks across the community. This move by The Starbucks Foundation, Schultz Family Foundation, Microsoft, and others supports an immediate expansion of Mary's Place and responds to the critical, short-term need to bring unsheltered families inside. Separately, the organizations also expressed support for the mayor's Pathways Home strategy, which addresses some of the systemic problems contributing to the homeless crisis. It includes a shift towards rapid rehousing, funding for expanded shelter hours at several shelters, and the creation of lockers for the homeless. Recognizing that city and county reforms to provide affordable housing will take months or years, supporters of the No Child Sleeps Outside campaign believe it is critical to provide immediate emergency shelter for hundreds of children.

Read more about this campaign here.

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Watch out – Virtual Reality can result in very real fall (video)

It's a well-known TV Trope that when you get die in virtual reality you die in real life.

Fortunately the technology is still far from reaching that level of realism, but it still does not mean you are completely safe with your headset on, as this video recorded in a Microsoft Store of a person trying out a climbing game using an Oculus Rift in a Microsoft Store rightly demonstrates.

The lesson is obviously to play safe out there, because as you know…

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‘Gigantic’ open beta coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 on December 8

Free-to-play online team-based multiplayer online battle arena game 'Gigantic' is finally set to kick off its open beta for Xbox One and Windows 10 on December 8 via the Xbox Game Preview program. The game will offer cross-platform play between the platforms. Throughout the beta trail, players will be able to pick from a weekly rotation of six different heroes out of a total roster of 16 across three maps.

"With Gigantic, we are trying to create an entirely new competitive experience. Throughout development, Gigantic has gotten attention for its unique art style, whimsical setting and fast-paced gameplay, but our goal has always been something more," said James Phinney, VP of Product Development at Motiga, "We've sought to build a game full of intense moments and meaningful strategic choices, where there are many paths to victory and it's always possible to come back and win. Open Beta and participation in the Xbox Game Preview program is an exciting new phase for the project. We're really looking forward to partnering with players to finish up Gigantic."

A closed beta test will run between December 1 at 9:00 a.m. PT and December 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT. You can check out the trailer below.

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Developer Submission: DVD for Windows now available for all music and video lovers! :)

DVD for Windows is a new media player in the Windows Store that allows you to play a lot of audio and video files formats without having to install additional codecs on your device!

DVD for Windows supports all popular file formats like VOB, MKV, MOV, M4V etc., so be sure that with this app you can watch and listen to everything.

All Features of DVD for Windows:
– Playback a lot of media formats.
– Supported video formats: .vob, .mkv, .m4v, .avi, .wmv, .wm, .asf, .m2ts, .mov, .mp4v, .3gpp, .3gp, .3gp2, .3g2, .mp4, .matroska.
– Supported audio formats: .mp3, .m4a, .ec3, .ac3, .wav, .adts, .adt, .aac, .wma.
– Creating a playlist. The ability to add files to the playlist and delete them from there.
– The ability to select the audio track in the video (if this video supports multiple audio tracks).
– Support for embedded and external subtitle for video. Formats for the external subtitle: .aqt, .stl, .mpl, .rt, .smi, .srt, .ssa, .stl, .sub, .usf.
– Adjusting the equalizer.

Just try to play at least one file with DVD for Windows, and you no longer want to use something else!

Get DVD for Windows from the Windows Store here.

WP-Appbox: DVD for Windows (Free⁺, Windows Store) →

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‘LEGO Worlds’ coming to Xbox One February 24, 2017

Sandbox title 'LEGO Worlds' is coming to Xbox One, PC, and PS4 on February 24, 2017. The title has been available via Steam Early Access since back in 2015. This title will be joined by 'LEGO City: Undercover' and the recently released 'Lego: DC Super Heroes Mighty Micros'.

"In LEGO Worlds, players will go on an exciting journey to become a Master Builder, in an open-world made completely of LEGO-built environments," said Jonathan Smith, head of production at TT Games. "Whether customizing characters, exploring in vehicles, building structures, or discovering an expansive range of items, characters and creatures throughout the worlds, there's the freedom to create anything imaginable."

Warner Bros. is also releasing a DLC pack called Lego Agents, with features extra characters, weapons and vehicles inspired by the Lego Agents physical toys. The DLC will be exclusively available for PS4 in the first 90 days, coming to Xbox One and PC after that.

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Indie farming RPG ‘Stardew Valley’ heading to Xbox One December 14

Developers ConcernedApe have announced that indie farming simulation RPG 'Stardew Valley' will be coming to Xbox One on December 14. The game has already been available on Windows since February of this year, and is being brought to Xbox due to the games success.

In the game, the player controls a character that takes over his grandfather's flailing farm in Stardew Valley in order to escape his office job. In the 'Harvest Moon' inspired title, players plant and tend crops, raise livestock, craft goods, mine for ores, and engage in social activities, including romances leading towards marriage, with the various residents of the small town, all while earning in-game money to expand their farm.

"I spent over four years developing Stardew Valley, inspired by games that I loved as a child such as Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing," he wrote. "Although the idea of a 'farming RPG' might have seemed odd at first, the games were very addictive and had a heartwarming charm that stuck with me. With Stardew Valley, my goal was to recreate that special feeling and bring it to modern platforms. Stardew Valley has been a great success on PC, and I am very excited to share it with many new people on Xbox One. I hope you'll enjoy your time in the valley!"

Stardew Valley will be available for pre-order starting on November 30. You can check out the game's trailer below.

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Build 14393.479 of Windows 10 rolling out to Insiders on PC and Mobile

Microsoft is currently rolling out Windows 10 Build 14393.479 to Insiders on the release ring on PC and Mobile.

The cumulative update should eventually roll out the smartphones and PCs on the Anniversary Update (ie general release) and should bring the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.

A full changelog is not available yet, but Insiders on the release ring can download the update by checking for updates.

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Say goodbey to the Lumia 950 and 950 XL in UK as it goes out of stock

Microsoft's last Lumia flagships are entering the last phase of their life cycle in UK, as the handsets go out of stock for the final time here.

The Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL have been in short supply in Europe for a while now, and in UK the Lumia 950 has been out of stock since October.

Now after the Black Friday promotion which saw the Lumia 950 XL priced at only £289 that handset has also become "Email me when available" which is usually the prelude to the handset being marked as completely out of stock.

The Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL first became available around a year ago in November 2015 to an ambivalent reception from fans due to its high price and uninspiring design, and due to Microsoft's already ongoing retrenchment of their mobile phone business which started in May 2015 was completely ignored by non-fans. Due to poor sales Microsoft held the first of many fire sales of the devices in April 2016 with the handsets apparently limping on to its anniversary in November this year before finally running out of steam in most of Europe, and likely in the rest of the world soon too.

Windows Phone fans in most of the world are now faced with only the HP Elite X3 as a high-end and very expensive option, though USA does offer the Alcatel Idol 4S as an alternative on T-Mobile USA, with rumours of a Surface Phone coming some time in 2017 or 2018.

Do our readers mourn the passing of these devices? Let us know below.

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Sketchable updated for Windows 10, adds support for more views

Sketchable for Windows 10 picked up a new update in the Windows Store today. This new update lights up new sizes for the drawing canvas, allowing support for portrait and square journal Sizes. The app also now flips the palette for you if you're left-handed, making it more accessible.

Here's the changelog below:

• Portrait and square journal sizes are now supported.
• Also includes bug fixes for various issues, including flipping the palettes for lefties.

Sketchable is one of the best art apps for Windows 10, and is especially optimised for Microsoft's Surface devices including the newly launched Surface Studio and Surface Dial.

Download Sketchable from the Windows 10 Store here.

WP-Appbox: Sketchable (Free⁺, Windows Store) →

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The IDC downgrades Windows Phone prospects even further, now only predict 1 million will be sold in 2020

The IDC's regular reports are not predictions but more projections of where they see current trends progressing to.

As such their latest report on the worldwide phone market suggests things are not going too great for Windows phones at present.

An update on the same report published in September 2016, the IDC now expects 1.1 million less Windows Phones to be shipped this year (from 7.2 million to 6.1 million for full year 2016) and they do not expect things to improve in the next 4 years, projecting only 1 million Windows Phones will be sold in 2020, down from a projected 1.7 million in their September report.

On Windows Phone they write:

Microsoft's mobile platform remained largely a non-story in 2016 other than HP's reentry into the smartphone space with the X3 product. IDC projects Windows Phone shipments to decline 79.1% in 2016 as the number of OEMs supporting the platform continue to diminish. Rumors of a Surface Phone from Microsoft continue to linger, but the drawn out hurdle of a much needed mobile ecosystem has not gone away. Unless Microsoft has a way to get around this, IDC anticipates a tough road ahead for the platform.

Of the other mobile platforms they say:

Android: It is no secret that Google's Android OS has been and will remain the majority share platform in smartphones for the foreseeable future. It will also be at the core of the aforementioned 4G growth expected in emerging markets as low-cost Android players are not using newer, faster low-cost chips. The biggest focus point in regard to Android is Google's recent entry into the hardware space. It is too early to tell if this will negatively impact relations with other hardware partner OEMs, but it is a move similar to Microsoft's entry into the hardware space with Surface and, on the surface, it does not seem to be disruptive. However, the move is also aided by the lack of viable mobile platform alternatives.

iOS: All signs point to 2016 being the first full year of declining shipments for Apple's iPhone. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have done well, but three quarters of year-over-year declines, as well as a projected fourth quarter decline by IDC, will account for negative growth. By no means is this doomsday for Apple in this category and 2017 marks the tenth year of iPhone, so it is hard to believe Apple doesn't have something big up its sleeve. Challenges of low-cost competition remain, and Google getting into the premium space certainly doesn't make things any easier. Look for Apple to mix things up with whatever version(s) they bring to market in the coming year to hopefully rebound shipment growth.

The full report can be read here.

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HP Elite X3’s Lapdock gets a firmware update (changelog)

We have heard HP is in on Windows 10 Mobile and Continuum for the long-term, and the company is off to a good start with good support for their devices so far.

After 3 firmware updates to the HP Elite x3 their latest effort has been a new firmware update for the Lap Dock, taking it to version T0057.

The update brings:

• Touchpad Support for touchpad physical click, drag and drop
• Keyboard backlight is on by default and turns off after 15 seconds of no keyboard activity

To get the update, connect your HP Elite X3 to the Lap Dock,  run the HP Device Hub on the HP Elite X3, and check for new updates under Lap Dock firmware.

You should now be able to download and install the firmware to your connected Lap Dock. Reboot your Lap Dock by pressing and holding the power button for 10 seconds.

Microsoft is currently offering the Unlocked HP Elite x3, HP Elite Desk Dock, HP Elite Lap Dock and  HP Elite Case for only $999, saving $462.

Grab that deal while it lasts here.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Current Branch for Business

It's been almost 5 months since Microsoft released the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to consumers. Today, the company is releasing the Anniversary Update to the Current Branch for Business (CBB). In a blog post, Microsoft's Michael Neihaus stated that the company has addressed nearly thousand issues reported by users, which is pretty huge. The software giant is releasing Windows 10 Build 14393.447 to CBB, and users in the CBB can now install the update on their machines.

Windows 10 Anniversary Update brings a number of new features and enhancements for businesses, including some new security features such as Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP). WDATP allows businesses to identify and respond to advanced attacks on their network. The update brings several other improvements to the operating system, including improved information protection, identity protection, and much more. Of course, the update includes the usual consumer-focused features, such as support for extensions in Microsoft Edge, Universal Windows Platform improvements, Windows Hello integration in third-party apps, improvements to the Start Screen and Cortana, Linux subsystem on Windows, and a lot more. Once again, these are mostly consumer-focused, so businesses likely won't be using any of the features at the moment.

Users in the Current Branch for Business should be able to get the Windows 10 Anniversary Update right now, and it'll be coming to the Long Term Servicing Branch in the near-future.

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Oblivion, MOH Airborne, Trine 2 and Astropop comes to Xbox One Backward Compatibility

With the release of Xbox One Backward Compatibility, gamers can play some of their favorite Xbox 360 titles on their Xbox One, with more titles being added regularly to the list of available games. Microsoft today added Oblivion, MOH Airborne, Trine 2 and Astropop as Xbox One Backward Compatibility titles.

Oblivion:

Step inside the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. Oblivion is the latest chapter in the epic Elder Scrolls saga. With a powerful combination of freeform gameplay and unprecedented graphics, you can unravel the main quest at your own pace or explore the vast world and find your own challenges.

MOH Airborne:

Take to the skies in Medal of Honor Airborne, where your choices will turn the tide of WWII. Starting with your jump from a C-47, every choice you make can seal your fate. In the air, control your parachute to select the landing spot that brings you the greatest strategic advantage. On the ground, explore the open, vertical environment for positions that will provide you a tactical edge against your enemies. Then, head onto Xbox LIVE for furious multiplayer battles in three different modes, including all-new Airborne modes! You decide where to drop, you decide how to fight. It's a different war every time.

Trine 2:

The sequel to GameSpot's Best Downloadable Game of E3 2009 takes the first game's beloved triad–the powerful knight, the swift rogue, and the crafty wizard–and puts them into an all-new high-fantasy, physics-based action platforming adventure with 3-person cooperative online multiplayer!

Astropop:

Single Player, HD (High Definition). Upgrade to the full game to unlock your ability to earn achievements and track your high scores!

How to install and play Xbox 360 backward compatible games on your Xbox One

• Disc: For disc-based games that are a part of the Back Compat game catalog, simply insert the disc and the console will begin downloading the game to your hard drive. After the game has finished downloading, you will still need to keep the game disc in the drive to play.
• Digital: The digital titles that you own and are part of the Back Compat game catalog will automatically show up in the "Ready to Install" section on your Xbox One, and once they are installed they will show up in the Games section of your Xbox One.

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Report: Microsoft Xbox One beats Sony PS4 in Black Friday sales

Adobe today released its 2016 online shopping data for Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday set a new record by surpassing the three-billion-dollar mark for the first time at $3.34 billion (21.6 percent growth YoY) while Thanksgiving accounted for the remaining $1.93 billion. Black Friday became the first day in retail history to drive over one billion dollars in mobile revenue at $1.2 billion, a 33 percent growth YoY.

Based on their report, Microsoft Xbox was among the five top-selling electronic products on Black Friday. And since PS4 was not on the top five list, we can assume that Xbox One sales surpassed PS4 sales on the Black Friday day. But for the entire season so far (Nov. 1 – 24), PlayStation 4 is the best-selling video game console, followed by Microsoft Xbox One. PS4 is leading the overall sales of November because their next generation console PS4 Pro went on sale earlier this month. Microsoft's next generation console "Project Scorpio" is coming next year with support for true 4K games and VR.

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Microsoft announces experimental support for Node-ChakraCore on macOS

Back at the NodeSummit, Microsoft announced experimental support for Node-ChhakraCore on Linux. Today, the company has announced experimental support for Node-ChakraCore on macOS. With Node-ChakraCore, developers can use Node.js with ChakraCore. For those unfamiliar, ChakraCore is Microsoft's open sourced, cross-platform JavaScript engine which is mainly found on Microsoft Edge in Windows 10. In a blog post today, Microsoft's Arunesh Chandra stated:

"Bringing cross-platform support to Node-ChakraCore has been a key goal on our roadmap from the beginning. At NodeSummit we announced experimental support for Node-ChakraCore on Linux, and today bringing that same experimental support is available on macOS as well. These early experimental builds have been validated against Node.js unit tests as well as some synthetic tests. We are looking for help hardening Node-ChakraCore further, so if you run into bugs while trying out these builds, please let us know. Performance is a work in progress, with ongoing investments in the underlying ChakraCore engine."

If you are interested in trying out Node-ChakraCore, you can grab the nightly builds here.

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“This webpage is not responding”, why I eschew Microsoft’s Edge for Google’s Chrome

Microsoft Edge is great for your battery life on Windows, it is also one of the fastest browsers to start up, it eats less RAM than the notorious Chrome and claims to be more secure than Firefox. Despite all that, I'm still using Chrome on my PC in lieu of Microsoft's internet browsers. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. I'm not "still" using Chrome so much as I switched to using Chrome after Edge replaced Internet Explorer.

For most people, why they don't use Edge is simple, it is single platform. Microsoft's Edge is limited to Windows 10, and does not work on the Mac, the iPhone or Android devices, This means you can't experience a continuity of browsing history, or open tabs viewed on one device on a second more contextually appropriate device (Edge doesn't offer this even between Windows phones and PCs). For others, it's due to a lack of extensions. Grammarly- for one – is a very useful extension for writers, journalists and bloggers which I use daily.  It is also one which exists on Chrome but not Edge. For many other people, I'm sure they have their own "dealbreaker" extension that simply doesn't exist on Edge – preventing them from making the jump.

While these are irritating issues, I can easily get over them and adapt one way – or another. The most peculiar and bothersome issue is Edge's reliability or lack thereof. To use the words of Edge – "This webpage is not responding". When I use a browser, I use it for a multidude of purposes. I use it to watch videos, to stream music, to read articles, both long and short – sometimes I like to open multiple tabs for research purposes, and sometimes I put my PC in sleep mode while I do other things. The problem with Edge is that it doesn't like to handle these scenarios as well as Chrome. Often it throws up an error "This webpage is not responding" leading to the entire web page freezing , and often times the whole browser failing to work  requiring it to be shut down via the task manager and then relaunched – losing all work. Other times, it just randomly slows down and showcases Windows' trademark spinning circle of death.

Edge is a decent browser like I said above. It is the only one so far to offer 4K Netflix streaming, is very light on battery and – when it works as it should  – light on RAM and the processor as well. However, reliability issues make it very hard to trust, and consequently to work with.

To its credit, Edge keeps getting better and better, with Microsoft adding support for more and more extensions and features in addition to constant bug fixes in newer builds of Windows 10. Hopefully, it won't be long now till Edge is as stable and useful as any modern browser ought to be. On the other hand, If Microsoft can't even keep someone who is actively trying to use its Edge browser hooked, how can it hope to appeal to sceptics.

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Deal: Xbox 360 500GB Console with Forza Horizon 2 game for £129

You can now get the 500GB Xbox 360 console, now at a new low price of £129.99 from Microsoft Store UK. It also comes with Forza Horizon 2 game download. Play blockbusters like Halo, Forza Horizon, and Minecraft. Explore a massive catalog of games with broad variety and deep value. Your favorite entertainment apps are on Xbox 360, so you can watch HD movies, TV shows, live events, music and sports. Xbox 360 comes with one month of Xbox Live Gold for advanced multiplayer, games, and exclusive member discounts.

Bundle details:

• 500GB Xbox 360 Console, full-game digital download of Forza Horizon 2, Xbox 360 black wireless controller, one month of Xbox Live Gold and an AC Power Cable.
• Your favorite entertainment apps are on Xbox 360 like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and HBO GO.
• Watch HD movies, TV shows, live events, music and sports.
• A month of Xbox Live Gold for advanced multiplayer, games, and exclusive discounts.
• Lots of room for games and movies with a spacious 500GB hard drive.

Find the deal here from Microsoft Store.

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Surface Studio scores on “5” repairability from iFixit, hidden ARM processor revealed

iFixit has posted their usual teardown of new devices, with the new Microsoft Surface Studio being the target this time around.

The teardown doesn't reveal much that we couldn't glean from the specs with one exception. There's an ARM Chip revealed behind the display of the Surface Studio, the Verge explains that this hidden chip is part of the magic which powers the Surface Studio's magnificent screen.

Aside from that, the Surface Studio is exactly how you would expect. It is not very upgradeable as many of its parts are soldered on. If you're they type that likes to replace you7r RAM, CPU and GPU, you'll quickly find that you would not be able to on this tightly put together All in One. As Microsoft's Surface Studio ships with year old Intel processors, buyers who are enamoured with having the latest and greatest processors should fully assess the tradeoffs of their purchase.

Overall, iFixit awarded the Studio with a repairability score of 6, marking it as "average" to repair. This is because the flat base and display assembly can easily be opened and replaced. In addition to this, the Base also houses the hard drive and SSD which allows users to replace those without needing to take the entire device apart. That – taken in account with the un upgradeability of the base was how the firm reached its conclusion.

Woud you be getting a Surface Studio? Let us know in the comments below.

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