The next Windows Insider webcast is today at 10 AM PST, and you don’t want to miss it. As always, the podcast will be held on Mixer, and you can convert the time to your local time zone by checking here.

Next #WindowsInsiders webcast is coming up quick! Jan 23rd @ 10am PST

Webcast will be held on @WatchMixer: https://t.co/SsWON1XGtq

Check here if you need to convert the time to your time zone: https://t.co/SMCBGcZDh2 …

Hope you can make it! ???? pic.twitter.com/KvWLFvFsuN

— Jen Gentleman ???? (@JenMsft) January 19, 2018

We’re hoping to hear more about the next Redstone 4 build during the webcast, but there is no telling what kind of fun you’ll experience while watching. As you may recall, last month’s webcast featured a demo of Windows Timeline, so you might want to watch this month’s webcast as well.

The webcast is also a great way to connect with the Windows Insider team and have them answer your burning questions. And if you happen to miss it live, you always can check later in the day to watch it on demand. Do you think you will be tuning into this month’s podcast? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service has just become much more interesting for gamers. Today, Xbox Head Phil Spencer announced that all future Microsoft Studios titles will be available via Xbox Games Pass on launch day. “This means that when Sea of Thieves launches on March 20, it will be included in Xbox Game Pass to all members,” the exec explained.

Spencer described this news as a “major expansion to Xbox Game Pass that underscores our commitment to deliver our fans the ultimate gaming subscription service.” Indeed, Microsoft is pretty much doing what Netflix and Amazon Video do when they simultaneously release self-produced content in all markets where they operate.

Microsoft has several exclusive first-party games in the pipeline this year including Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3 and State of Decay 2, and all of them will be available via Xbox Games Pass on launch day. This is pretty great if you don’t want to spend $60 on each of them. Even better, all these games will support Xbox Play Anywhere, which means that Xbox Games Pass is becoming much more interesting for PC gamers this year.

If you’re not very excited by the upcoming games from Microsoft Studios, you may want to reconsider when Microsoft releases new episodes of its biggest franchises such as Halo, Gears of War and Forza. Gears of War 4 and Halo 5: Guardians are already included in the Xbox Games Pass catalog, but it’s still not clear if Forza Horizon 3 and the more recent Forza Motorsport 7 could be added soon.

Last but not least, Spencer announced today that 6-month Xbox Game Pass cards will soon be available to purchase for $59 at select retailers. In the US, GameStop will be one the first retail partners to offer the new cards on March 20. “By working closely with retail partners, Xbox Game Pass will have valuable ambassadors in popular destinations for gamers to discover new and exciting games and enjoy community,” Spencer explained.

Microsoft has released an update for the Xbox One family of systems, focused on fixing issues with Party Chat, Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi, and more. Though it does not bring any new features, this update is the first Xbox One update for all users since November of 2017, and it definitely will help make things much more stable (via Windows Central.)

As always, if you’ve set up your Xbox to run in Instant On mode, the update should have automatically downloaded to your console. If not, you can head to Settings, System, Console Info and Updates, to manually download the update. See the changelog below for more on the fixes in this release.

OS version: 10.0.16299.4055 (rs3_release_xbox_dev_1711.171203-1700) and 10.0.16299.4059 (rs3_release_xbox_dev_1711.180109-1130)

• Store: Resolved an issue that sometimes prevented users from pressing B to go back when navigating the Store.
• Privacy & online safety: Resolved an issue that caused child accounts with family restrictions to retain the restrictions after graduating to an adult account.
• Party chat: Resolved an issue that caused some users to lose party chat audio and voice quality fixes.
• Audio: AVRs with HDMI-passthrough should no longer break Dolby Atmos for home theater if the TV and console are turned on before the AVR.
• Wi-Fi: Resolved an issue that omitted certain wireless networks when scanning for available wireless networks. Resolved an issue that sometimes caused unexpected network disconnections when using a wireless connection.

Microsoft continues to test new Xbox One features with Xbox Insiders, so if you’re eager to try out new Xbox One updates before they hit the public, sign up now to be an Xbox Insider. Let us know your thoughts on this latest update in the comments section below.

Microsoft has been beta testing a new version of Outlook.com since last year, which dropped the previous Skype integration. Accessible via a dedicated button in the top bar, the built-in Skype app allowed Outlook.com users to access all core features of the messaging app including voice and video calls.

Bringing back the Skype integration to Outlook.com beta was one of the top requested items on the Outlook Feedback website, and Microsoft finally delivered this week. The Skype button is back in the top bar, though the built-in app now looks and works differently.

You can only chat with your Skype contacts now, and voice and video calls are no longer available. However, it’s now possible to open multiple chats at the same time, which is pretty useful. We also noticed that it’s not currently possible to change your status to “Absent” or “Invisible,” though this will likely be addressed soon. “More improvements to the Skype integration will come in the future, but for now, “please enjoy the upgraded Skype chat experience,” Microsoft said in a message on the Outlook Feedback website.

The Skype button only shows up in the Mail section of Outlook.com, not in the Calendar section which also received a fresh coat of paint this month. If you didn’t like this Skype integration before, be aware that there is still no way to completely turn it off. However, you can mute all notifications in the Settings panel under General > Skype > Notifications.

Microsoft’s new weekly Deals With Gold discounts are now live and there are some usually pretty expensive games up for grabs with significantly reduced prices.

Star Wars Battlefront II on Xbox One has been reduced by 40% this week while the special Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition is now half price. The Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition contains the main Battlefront II video game plus upgrades for all troopers, exclusive alternate skins for Rey and Kylo Ren, plus a variety of Star Cards which are used to enhance characters’ skills in-game.

Other Xbox One games with big discounts worth mentioning are Battlefield 4 (75% off), NBA LIVE 18: The One Edition (75% off), and Titanfall 2: Ultimate Edition (67% off). On the Xbox 360 console, several Street Fighter video games have been discounts as has the Dark Elves add-on for Blood Bowl (33% off). You can see the full list of discounted games here. Note that Deals With Gold discounts are only available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

Are you going to grab any of these discounted games? Let us know in the comments below.

In a press conference in New Delhi today, Microsoft announced the launch of Xbox One X in India. The ‘most powerful gaming console’ – as Microsoft puts it – was launched in November 2017 internationally and is the smallest Xbox console to date.

The Xbox One X is powered by an eight-core custom AMD CPU clocked at 2.3GHz coupled with 8GB flash memory and 12GB of GDDR5 graphics memory. The console packs in 1TB HDD internal storage and comes with a 4K UHD Blu-ray Optical Disc Drive.

We are delighted to offer gamers the world’s most powerful console with access to the largest and most diverse games lineup in Xbox history, including Forza Motorsport 7, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Cuphead and Super Lucky’s Tale, out of more than 1,300 titles and more than 220 exclusives available on the Xbox One X, just a few short months after the device’s global launch. We’ve listened to our community and are excited to be bringing this new console to Indian gamers.

– Priyadarshi Mohapatra – Country General Manager, Consumer & Devices Sales, Microsoft India

The Xbox One X is available starting today across online (Microsoft Store, Amazon, and Flipkart) and offline stores (Landmark, Croma, and over 100 specialty gaming stores) at a price of ₹44,990 ($705).

The price is almost $200 more than the price in the United States which might irk the gaming enthusiasts in the country, but that’s not an aberration in the electronics scene in the country. It’s good to see the device hitting the shores of India much quicker after the global launch than what has been the case before with Xbox in India. Even PlayStation 4 Pro has had supply issues in India since launch.

Are you looking forward to picking an Xbox One X? What are your thoughts on the pricing? Tell us in the comments!

Privacy concerns have been among the many reasons some have stayed away from Windows 10 at all costs. Despite the introduction of a new privacy dashboard last year, many have still claimed that Windows 10 collects too many diagnostics information.

Well, it turns out that you may soon have the ability to view, control and delete diagnostic data in Windows 10 (via ZDNet.) Indeed, there is a new Diagnostic data viewer button in the Diagnostics and feedback settings in Windows 10 Insider Preview build 17063 and 17074. Also in the same area is a button which will presumably give users the ability to delete diagnostic data. Both are just placeholders are at the moment, but you can likely assume the full functionality will come to light soon.

Microsoft has steadily improved on privacy features and options in Windows 10, and the company recently noted that 71% of Windows 10 users share all of their diagnostics data with Microsoft. The company also said last year that new privacy features in the Windows 10 Creators Update have been positively received by users.

Seems as though the tit for tat sanctioning between the United States and Russia may be hurting more than international perceptions of its respective leaders. Thanks in large part to the back and forth posturing of the US and Russia, Microsoft has found itself restricted to whom it can sell its software to in the area.

According to a report from Business Insider citing the Moscow Reuters as a source, Microsoft is now being handed down restrictions from official distributors in Russia as to who and where it can sell its software.

Two of Microsoft’s official distributors in Russia have imposed restrictions on sales of Microsoft software to more than 200 Russian companies following new U.S. sanctions, according to notifications circulated by the distributors.

Not only are there restrictions being placed on who Microsoft can sell its software to in Russia but the restrictions come with their own heavy-handed restrictions about how and deadlines accompanying purchase to make sure Microsoft receives payment.

The notification from Microsoft distributor Merlion dated Nov. 29, the day after the new lending rules come into force, said orders would only be fulfilled for financial sector buyers once it had confirmation full payment had been received.

For the defense sector, it said orders would be fulfilled only if partners confirmed payment would be made within 30 days of the software license being activated. For energy sector clients, confirmation of payment within 60 days was required.

“If we do not receive from you documents confirming payment on orders from the defense and energy sectors, the order could be viewed by the vendor as not complying with the processing procedure and rejected,” Merlion’s notification said.

RRC did not spell out the new restrictions in its notification, sent by email last month to its partners.

“In the event that you have buyers from the following sectors of the economy (financial, defense, energy) and they are in the sanctions list, you are requested IN ADVANCE to contact your RRC manager for further instructions.”

“In connection with this, serious restrictions are being introduced on the placing of, and payment for, orders for Microsoft products … placed by these buyers (and also their subsidiaries and affiliated companies),” the notification said.

With restrictions tightening, now would be a perfect time for Russian companies or municipalities to take advantages in gaps of issuance to willfully forego payment of Microsoft software citing sanctions as a convenient deterrent.

While it’s an unfortunate position to be in, Microsoft appears confident that it is doing everything it can to salvage and maintain a working relationship with its partners and buyers without committing to more blatant impositions such chasing civil penalties.

For what’s worth, it seems a handful of companies are distancing themselves from Russian entities on the US blacklist as many may assume this warring of sanctions is a passing phase.

A couple of months ago, leaked images of an Xbox-branded smart watch from Microsoft leaked online, showing the company’s early interest in wearables. Today, Twitter user Hikari Calyx posted new pictures of a working prototype, giving us a first glance at the different features that Microsoft was developing for the wearable device (via Windows Central).

The Xbox Watch – Pin Diagram
Yes we successfully booted up an Xbox Watch. Video is processing now. pic.twitter.com/qwBtOOf5fs

— Hikari Calyx (@Hikari_Calyx) January 22, 2018

Microsoft’s Xbox smart watch apparently featured a couple of fitness-related apps including an app called “Workouts” as well as a heart sensor. Another picture posted by the leaker shows that the watch had a GPS sensor. Overall, the UI seems to have the same Metro design language that Microsoft was pushing at the time on Windows Phone and Windows 8.

More details. pic.twitter.com/TNKcDeU6IZ

— Hikari Calyx (@Hikari_Calyx) January 22, 2018

Microsoft apparently killed this project years ago, before it was ever close to release. In retrospect, this was probably a good call: while Xbox is a popular brand with consumers, we’re not sure that putting it on a smartwatch makes a lot of sense. Microsoft tried to do it with Zune, its music streaming service which was rebranded to Xbox Music back in 2012, with very little success. Unless Microsoft was working on deep integrations between the watch and Xbox consoles (we doubt it), using the Xbox brand would have probably created unecessary confusion in the minds of consumers.

The Redmond giant did continue to experiment with wearables with the Microsoft Band, but that didn’t go so well either. After releasing a second iteration back in 2015, Microsoft eventually stopped production a year later. Last year, we saw German company Trekstor create a smartwatch running Windows 10 for IoT, but it doesn’t seem that wearables are a big focus for Microsoft these days.

As 2017’s Microsoft EDU event in NYC showed, the Microsoft mission to empower students across the world is very serious. This week at the British Educational Training and Technology Show (BETT,) the company detailed further steps for empowering both students and educators. New Windows 10 devices, new Office 365 for Education features, and new Mixed Reality education and HoloLens incentives highlight the announcements.

On the Windows 10 side, Microsoft unveiled new affordable devices starting at just $189, complete with free professional development with purchase of certain Microsoft 365 Education licenses. The first of the devices is the $189 Lenovo 100e, which is powered by the new Intel Celeron Apollo Lake CPU. There is also the $279 Lenovo 300e, an affordable 2-in-1 convertible PC complete with Windows Ink and pen support.

You can see the other devices from HP and other Microsoft OEMs in the list below:

• Classmate Leap T303 laptop with Windows Hello, starting at $199 USD
• Trigono V401 2-in-1 with pen and touch, starting at $299 USD
• HP ProBook x360 11 EE— $299 USD
• HP Stream 11 Pro G4 EE PC starting at $225 USD

Keep in mind these devices run Windows 10 and Windows 10 S and are meant to entice educators and students away from Chromebooks. They’re rugged, spill proof, and come with long battery life. IT Pros working in schools can also set them up with ease, thanks to Intune for Education, and Microsoft 365 Education

Next up, with Office 365 Education, Microsoft will add new features to further help students and educators use the software. Examples include dications in Office 365, to help students write more easily via voice, and an expanded immersive reader feature for Word for Mac, iPhone, Outlook Desktop, OneNote iPad and OneNote Mac.

See other features coming soon to Office 365 Education below:

• OneNote Class Notebook will now include assignment and grade integration with the most widely used School Information Systems in the UK.
• We are delivering on the number one request from teachers for Class Notebooks, enabling them to lock pages as read-only after giving feedback
• To enable language learners to engage in classroom conversations, our newest updates to Microsoft Teams will also make it easy to translate any conversation or chat into another language.
• PowerPoint will now allow teachers to record their lessons including slides, interactive ink, video, and narrations and publish to their Stream channel in Teams classrooms.

Finally, with Mixed Reality, Microsoft will be working with Pearson to roll out a curriculum that works on both HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality immersive VR headsets. The company is expanding mixed reality curriculum offerings thanks to a new partnership with WGBH’s Bringing the Universe to America’s Classrooms project. Microsoft will also make available a limited-time academic pricing offer for HoloLens.

Other announcements today include new partnerships in STEM learning. Microsoft will be working with LEGO Education and will offer a free online Hacking STEM lesson plan, and also will allow students to build LEGO bricks from the Simple & Powered Machines set or cardboard to create and visualize an initial transportation plan. Definitely some exciting stuff. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Welcome to our weekly Xbox news recap series, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Xbox. Let’s get started.

New leaks suggest Elite Controller v2

A leak on a gaming website named “Reset Era” has leaked out some information regarding the next big piece of Xbox hardware: The Xbox Elite Controller, version 2. The first Xbox Elite controller launched in 2015 and was almost unmatched in quality by all but the most expensive third-party, custom controllers. If the leak is to be believed, this controller will be announced at E3, and feature “Bluetooth for Windows 10”, “3-level Hair Trigger locks”, and “3-Profile Switch”.

Xbox One X on the way to India

If you live in India and want to have the best possible console gaming experience, you’ll get your chance on January 23rd. A few months after its launch stateside, the Xbox One X is releasing in India early next week, at a rather exorbitant price. It’ll be running for ₹44,990 – that’s $700 USD – compared to the $500 USD price point in the States.

BBC America app launches on Xbox One

The BBC America app is available on Xbox One now, for anyone who’s interested. While you’ll need to sign in via your cable provider to watch full episodes on the app, it’ll be the best way to get your fill of The Graham Norton Show, Orphan Black, and more. Like most of these apps, you should be able to watch clips and highlights through the app without a subscription – but that’s what YouTube is for.

Buy 3 months of Gold, get 3 free for a limited time

Up until January 30th, it’s double trouble on Xbox Live Gold. If you choose to pick up a 3 month subscription to the service through the Microsoft Store, you’ll get a code to redeem for an extra 3 months, on top of that. You’ll be free to give this code to a friend, so feel free to share the love with someone you’re planning to squad up with in PUBG.

Don't keep your #PUBG [T] friends waiting. Buy 3 months of #XboxLive Gold and get 3 months free for a limited time: https://t.co/5shu0OLOSr pic.twitter.com/VAUbn8ux0w

— Xbox (@Xbox) January 16, 2018

Thanks for joining us. To keep up to date with all the latest Xbox news, keep a close eye on our Xbox One tag.

Welcome back to our Windows 10 news recap, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s flagship operating system.

Alexa is coming for “select Windows 10 PCs” in Q1 2018, sign up for more info

Select Windows 10 PCs will be receiving built-in Amazon Alexa support in the first quarter of 2018. Those interested are recommended to sign up for further information when it’s available.

Latest firmware updates for Skylake, Kaby Lake CPUs can also cause reboot issues, Intel says

Intel seems to be having a particularly bad start to 2018, and the bad news continues. The latest firmware updates for a number of its processors, including Skylake and Kaby Lake, can cause reboot issues, according to Intel.

Fonts to get their own settings page in upcoming Windows 10 Insider builds

Managing fonts and their respective settings is about to get a bit easier in Windows 10. Windows 10 Insider builds will get their own Fonts settings page in a future build.

Windows 10 FeedLab app updates with new features, Fluent Design and more

The FeedLab app, a third-party Feedly client, has received a significant update on Windows 10, delivering Fluent Design, new features and more. Additionally, three new languages are available in this release. Take a look at all the changes in this update here.

That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week with more Windows 10 news!

Following the release of a minor update for the Windows 10 Insider build 17074 yesterday, Microsoft announced some fresh news for Windows Insiders this morning. First of all, the next Windows Insider webcast will air on Tuesday, January 23 at 10AM PST. As usual, the webcast will broadcasted live on the Windows Insider Mixer channel, and we hope to get some new information about the Redstone 4 update during the show.

Next #WindowsInsiders webcast is coming up quick! Jan 23rd @ 10am PST

Webcast will be held on @WatchMixer: https://t.co/SsWON1XGtq

Check here if you need to convert the time to your time zone: https://t.co/SMCBGcZDh2 …

Hope you can make it! ???? pic.twitter.com/KvWLFvFsuN

— Jen Gentleman ???? (@JenMsft) January 19, 2018

Next, the team also announced upcoming Windows Insider meetups in Japan next month. There will be separate meetups in Tokyo and Osaka for Windows Insiders and IT Pros, with the first meetup to be held on February 17. Jen Gentleman from the WIndows Insider team summarized everything you need to know in the tweet below:

For #WindowsInsiders in Japan – we're doing meetups in February! Hope you can attend, the last ones were super fun ????

Insider meetup
Osaka: Feb 17, 14:00 ~ 19:00
Tokyo: Feb 25, 14:00 ~ 19:00

Insider meetup for #ITPro
Osaka: Feb 19, 18:00 ~ 20:00
Tokyo: Feb 26, 18:00 ~ 20:00 pic.twitter.com/ldDefACQZT

— Jen Gentleman ???? (@JenMsft) January 19, 2018

If you live in the area, you can learn more information about how to register on the company’s Japan Windows blog (in Japanese). This will be the third series of meetups in the country, which seems to have a pretty active community of Insiders.

Three collectible card games based on the popular Magic: The Gathering series have just been added to the Xbox One Backward Compatibility List: These are Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers and its sequels Magic 2013 and Magic 2014. The three card games have been released between 2009 and 2013 on the Xbox 360 and all of them received positive reviews.

Magic 2013, Magic: The Gathering and Magic 2014 — Duels of the Planeswalkers are coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today https://t.co/qPMRNrLoTQ pic.twitter.com/kn4cgVC4zM

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) January 18, 2018

Each of these games is currently priced at $9.99 on the Microsoft Store, and you can read more details about them below:

Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers ($9.99)

Magic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers brings the world’s premier trading card game to your living room! Play single and multiplayer campaign modes, test your skills with unique challenges, and engage online opponents via Xbox LIVE. With multiple game modes, an interactive tutorial, leaderboards, and achievements, Duels of the Planeswalkers has something for everyone!

Magic 2013 – Duels of the Planeswalkers ($9.99)

Face a greater challenge in the latest version of this hit franchise. Play with friends or the AI, take on new encounters and opponents, and face up to three other players in the Planechase multiplayer format. Featuring ten customizable decks, Magic 2013 offers new game items to unlock and introduces the option to choose what lands to tap when you cast your spells.

Magic 2014 – Duels of the Planeswalkers ($9.99)

Ignite your spark with Magic 2014 — Duels of the Planeswalkers! With over 12 million fans, discover what makes Magic: The Gathering the world’s premier trading card game. Become a Planeswalker and travel the planes of existence unleashing a torrent of spells and creatures to devastate your opponents.

In case you missed it, Sniper Elite V2, Far Cry 2 and the racing game Driver San Francisco also became backward compatible on the Xbox One earlier this week. We’re hoping to see more Xbox 360 games join the list next week.

According to a message that was sent out to several Xbox Game Pass subscribers, (shown off by Reddit user /u/odoggyfresh) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phanton Pain and WWE 2K16 will be leaving the game pass at the end of January. This is a bit of a shame for Game Pass members who were looking forward to subscribing in the future, but were counting on one of these two games as the “killer app” for the service.

Eight new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass on 01 February including Halo Wars 2, NBA 2K17 and Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition. See the full list here: https://t.co/POy8OUnHfF pic.twitter.com/oQqIipQCzU

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) January 17, 2018

The two titles will be replaced by games like Halo Wars 2, Darksiders 2, and NBA 2K17 starting on February 1st, so Game Pass subscribers will have something new to sink their teeth into. If you still haven’t finished Metal Gear Solid V or gotten a good taste of WWE 2K16, you should start doing that now. Only a little over a week remains until these games are out for the count.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (also called PUBG) was the number one selling video game on the Xbox One family of consoles last week according to GfK Chart – Track. This ranking is limited to physical sales so it’s unclear exactly how well the game sold digitally though we do know it’s been doing pretty damn well overall.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was one of the biggest video games of 2017 on PC and came to Xbox One in a Game Preview (aka open beta) version in December that same year. PUBG is still in Game Preview but that hasn’t stopped millions of players (literally) buying the game and diving in.

In addition to having a huge following who had been wanting to play it on a home console like the Xbox One, PUBG is also relatively cheap compared to most other major releases. It’s currently almost one third the price of Call of Duty: WWII for example.

Are you surprised to see PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds doing so well on the Xbox One? Sign-off in the comments below.

Attack on Titan 2 is now available to digitally pre-order on Microsoft’s family of Xbox One consoles ahead of its March 20th 2018 release date.

This title is a sequel to the first action video game based on the popular anime and manga of the same name and features several pre-order bonuses. Digital pre-orders will get alternate plain clothe skins for the Christa, Ymir, Reiner, and Bertholdt characters while anyone who buys the game before April 16th will get plain clothes for Eren, Levi, Mikasa, and Armin. Here’s the official game description.

Abandon all fear. A.O.T. 2 is the gripping sequel to the action game based on the worldwide hit anime series “Attack on Titan.” Experience the immense story of the anime alongside Eren and his companions, as they fight to save humanity from the threat of the deadly human devouring Titans. Try your hand in operating the omni-directional mobility gear, maneuvering and flying through the sky to counter the Titans, and feel the thrill and satisfaction of battling giant opponents.

Are you an Attack on Titan fan and are you hyped for this game? Let us know in the comments below.

Download
QR-Code

Attack on Titan 2: Digital Pre-order

Developer:
KOEI TECMO AMERICA Corporation

Price:
Free

Microsoft is rolling out today another cumulative update for Windows 10 version 1709, more commonly known as the Fall Creators Update (via Neowin). This is the build 16299.201 (KB4073291), which only brings “additional protections” for 32-bit PCs which have already installed the build 16299.192 released on January 4.

It seems that this update is only available for PCs running the 32-bit version of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, as we’re not seeing on our 64-bit systems. More importantly, the support page also mentions a known issue where incompatible antivirus software can cause “stop errors or abrupt reboots,” so be aware of this before proceeding

This month was quite special in terms of Windows 10 updates: following the release of emergency updates on January 4 to address the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, we didn’t have a “Patch Tuesday” update on the second Tuesday of January. Then this week, the Redmond giant released the cumulative update build 16299.194 for AMD PCs, plus this freshly-released build for 32-bits systems. Hopefully, things will get back to normal next month.

Microsoft Research is at it again. Microsoft Research has created a bot that will draw anything you want. While the thought of a bot drawing anything you want sounds great for those that have trouble drawing stick figures, it can be harder to teach AI to do something that comes naturally for some humans.

Microsoft Research describes the new bot technology as such:

“The new artificial intelligence technology under development in Microsoft’s research labs is programmed to pay close attention to individual words when generating images from caption-like text descriptions. This deliberate focus produced a nearly three-fold boost in image quality compared to the previous state-of-the-art technique for text-to-image generation, according to results on an industry standard test reported in a research paper posted on arXiv.org.

The technology, which the researchers simply call the drawing bot, can generate images of everything from ordinary pastoral scenes, such as grazing livestock, to the absurd, such as a floating double-decker bus. Each image contains details that are absent from the text descriptions, indicating that this artificial intelligence contains an artificial imagination.”

Usually, if you wanted to find an image, you would do a web search, but now there’s a bot that can create an image based on what you tell it to draw. This drawing bot uses some other bots to help it draw any requests you might have.

“The drawing bot closes a research circle around the intersection of computer vision and natural language processing that He and colleagues have explored for the past half-decade. They started with technology that automatically writes photo captions the CaptionBot.”

Microsoft Research details the more technical aspects of how the drawing bot works. However, it would be great to see what people come up with when describing images they want to the bot to draw.

Kevin Gallo, VP of Windows Development Platform at Microsoft will be hosting another Windows Community Standup show today at 10 AM PST on Channel 9. Gallo will be answering your most pressing questions involving Windows 10 on ARM, Always Connected PCs, and more.

Windows Community Standup is a monthly online Channel 9 broadcast where Microsoft employees provide informmation on the latest and most exciting things that they are working on in Windows, to provide a more transparent Windows experience with users and developers.

In this newest Windows Community Standup session, Gallo will be joined by guest speakers Erin Chapple (GM) and Hari Pulapaka (Principal Group Program Manager – Windows Base Kernel). Gallo will be looking at The Always Connected PC and how it will bring a new category of computer hardware that mixes the connectivity of a smartphone with the creativity of a full Windows PC.

Gallo will expand upon the Always Connected PC and explain how Windows 10 on ARM works and what Windows 10 on ARM will contribute to the Always Connected PC. In addition, the group will give viewers an overview of the Always Connected PC, and developer tips for developing for Windows 10 on ARM. Those who tune in will be able to ask live questions and the team will answer your questions on the Always Connected PC and Windows 10 on ARM, live!

Tune in to Channel 9 for the new Windows Community Standup, starting at 10 AM PST.

On January 23, 2018, Microsoft will be bringing the Xbox One X to India. The specific Xbox One X availability date in India comes via a report by Windows Central. While the Xbox One X retails for $499 in the US, the Xbox One X will retail for almost twice that in India, coming in at ₹44,990 ($700 US).

No details have been given on why the price of the console in India is so high, but Microsoft may make an official announcement on the pricing later this month. If you add in the cost to get a 4K TV and you will be paying quite a steep premium to play the Xbox One X if you live in India.

If you live in India, it might make more sense to get an Xbox One S. However, if you are looking to play the most powerful console on the planet, be ready to shell out some serious dough. Stay tuned for more information on pricing and availability.

FeedLab, one of the best third-party Feedly clients for Windows 10, has been updated to version 3.0 this week. The major release introduces many new features including improved Live Tiles, several UI improvements and even Fluent Design touches here and there.

The new version also brings some welcome bug fixes, three new languages (German, Spanish and Bralizian/Portuguese) and more. The full changelog is available on this page.

The app is still free to use with a $2.99 in-app purchase to remove the ads. It’s a solid universal app overall, and probably a must have for news junkies. If you don’t use Feedly and RSS feeds, you can still use FeedLab without signing in and enjoy some curated news in a well-designed app. You can download FeedLab on your Windows 10 PC or phone with the download link below.

Download
QR-Code

FeedLab

Developer:
ClevLab

Price:
Free

Last October Microsoft formally introduced a range of Windows Mixed Reality headsets coming from third party manufacturers like HP, Acer, Dell, and Samsung. The headsets, with retail prices running from $399 to $599, require a connection to a Windows 10 Fall Creators Update machine, and mark Microsoft’s first consumer foray into the AR/VR market.

While we saw some significant discounts during the holiday season, Amazon has a number of the new headsets on sale (through third-party sellers). Here’s the list of discounts, via Windows Central:

Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset – $218.99 (down from $399)
Dell Visor – $219.96 (down from $449)
HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset – $201 (down from $449)
Lenovo Explorer Bundle – $246.99 (down from $399)

If you’re looking into getting into Mixed Reality in the new year, now’s the time to take advantage of these great prices.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer indicated in an interview with Digital Trends that E3 2018 will see some “positive changes” this year. No word yet exactly what these changes will be, but Microsoft likely wants to avoid the issues they faced last year at E3 2017. E3 2018 will take place in Los Angeles, CA on June 12-14, 2018.

Looking to the interview, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer indicated some changes coming for E3 2018:

“I don’t think we’ve talked about [it] yet, but I think will be some positive changes at E3. Could be fun for us; it’ll be a nice change.”

Nothing like a vague statement by Microsoft to put the Xbox world in a talespin. Various rumors have been going around, namely a possible Halo 6 in the works. Other rumors include another Gears of War (5), and a possible Fable 4.