PUBG has quickly been translating its PC success to the Xbox platform, easily crossing 3 million players not long after the game came out. It’s a huge milestone for PUBG, and something that Aaron Greenberg was quick to brag about on Xbox Wire. This is just another notch in the belt of what’s become one of the largest names in gaming, both for the everyday gamer and for the larger streaming community. It’s even been able to garner some serious attention in competitive circles, opening up to an unexpected audience.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Passes 3 Million Players on Xbox One https://t.co/Sj7UsEQANL via @xboxwire

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 11, 2018

For players who just recently got their copy of PUBG – either on its own or alongside their Xbox One X – Microsoft is holding a “Tips and tricks” stream on Mixer, on January 16th. If you’re anything like me and have never come close to winning a game, this should help elevate your skills so you can start competing.

Yesterday, Microsoft released the open-source PowerShell 6.0, which works on Windows, as well as Linux and Mac machines. However, there may be some changes coming, as noted by a ZDNet report. While this is exciting news, it should be noted that there are two branches of PowerShell:

“PowerShell Core runs on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10; Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 R2, 2016 and ‘Semi-Annual Channel’ (the twice-annual feature update to Server); macOS 10.12 and above; and a variety of Unix flavors, including Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, OpenSUSE and Fedora.

As is the case with .NET, there are now two distinct branches of PowerShell: Windows PowerShell, built on .NET Framework, and PowerShell Core, built on .NET Core. Microsoft is not planning to release any new versions of Windows PowerShell. The 5.1 release is the last of that line, but will be supported for the foreseeable future. PowerShell Core can work side-by-side with Windows PowerShell.”

This should come as no surprise, as Microsoft announced their plans to make PowerShell open-source and available on Linux and Mac, back in 2016. Even though Microsoft detailed that they would provide updates to PowerShell just like they will in Windows 10 and Office 365. If you have questions about how the release of Microsoft PowerShell might affect you, be sure to check the FAQ page here.

Microsoft has released a new set of firmware updates for its Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and Surface Book devices that contain fixes for the recently recognized security vulnerabilities known as Meltdown and Spectre.

In addition to fixes noted in Microsoft security advisories 170012 and 180002, the original Surface Book firmware update includes some bug fixing and performance improvements:

• Intel (R) Audio Display (v10.22.1.102) improves audio stability.
• Intel (R) HD Graphics 520 (v22.20.16.4811) improves DirectX 12 and power performance.
• Intel (R) Management Engine Interface (v11.7.0.1040) improves system stability.

You can check Windows Update on these machines to download and install these important updates.

(via MSPU)

After introducing the possibility to control a Windows 10 PC with your eyes last year, it seems that Microsoft is working on something truly mind-blowing. A new Microsoft patent titled “Changing an application state using neurological data” describes a solution for controlling apps with your mind, no eyes or gestures needed (via CBInsights).

Microsoft filed the patent in May 2016, and it describes a solution for using neurological data (including electroencephalography, or EEG) for facilitating application state changes. The patent also mentions a computer system connected to an EEG sensor, which would be configured for changing the state of an application in response to received neurological user intention data. “In some circumstances, neurological user intention data corresponding to a physical gesture is generated when a user thinks about and/or focuses on a movement in the same way an amputee might think about moving an amputated limb,” the patent reads.

Microsoft explained that this mind control technology could work with several types of applications including games, VR apps, a web browser, a word processor and more. The patent mentioned different types of mind-controlled operations as well:

Operations may include object move operations, build operations, edit operations, animation or actuation operations, data input or output operations, display operations, audio operations, character/object movement or control operations, menu operations, navigation operations, processing operations, or other operations performable within the application to modulate input or output, settings, responses (e.g., visual, audio, and/or mechanical responses), and the like.

This is a pretty fascinating patent overall, and Microsoft certainly isn’t the only company working on new ways to interact with computing devices. Microsoft recently received a lot of criticism for killing off Kinect, but who needs gestures when you can mind-control your apps? It will probably be years before this technology becomes a reality, but the future definitely looks exciting.

Microsoft yesterday announced that Windows developers now have the option to add paid subscriptions and automated recurring billing in all UWP apps. This means developers can sell digital products inside their apps, earning more revenue while also providing Windows 10 users a seamless purchase experience.

Developers can feel free to visit the Microsoft Store App Developer Agreement for more details on the fees related to subscriptions. To enable the feature, a UWP app must also target the Windows 10 Anniversary Update or a later release in Visual Studio.

Developers will receive 85% of the subscription price, minus applicable taxes for apps. For games, developers get 70% of the subscription price, minus applicable taxes. Windows 10 users can manage any purchased subscriptions from the services and subscriptions page for their Microsoft account.

This is definitely an interesting step in making the Microsoft Store in Windows 10 more enticing for developers. Do you think this will help Windows developers make more money? Drop us your thoughts in the comments below.

Rainway has announced that they’ll be launching their open beta on January 20th. Rainway is an experimental service that aims to provide gamers with a free way to stream PC and mobile video games to their Xbox One and Nintendo Switch consoles. A new trailer shows Rainway in action.

“We’re happy to share with you today our vision for the future of PC and mobile gaming. With Rainway we hope to usher in true device agnostic gaming using our low latency streaming technology,” the YouTube video’s description reads. “Pair Rainway with your favorite console or smart phone for an unprecedented experience.”

The open beta will be for Rainway’s web platform which means that it won’t work on the Xbox One just yet but gamers should be able to try out streaming a PC game from one computer to another or even a tablet or smartphone and play it in the web browser.

Interested gamers can sign up for the open beta on the official Rainway website.

Microsoft launched a similar service within the Windows 10 Xbox app which allows Xbox One console owners to stream their gameplay to a Windows 10 PC that’s on the same Wi-Fi connection. There is no option for streaming a game running on a Windows 10 PC to an Xbox One though so Rainway, if it works as well as it looks in the trailer, could be a popular tool for many people.

Would you like to stream a PC game on your Xbox One console? Let us know in the comments below.

As you likely know by now, some users with AMD Windows PCs were reporting boot up issues after installing Microsoft’s Meltdown security patch. This caused the company to eventually pause the update for AMD based PCs. Well, it looks as though Windows is not the only operating system impacted, as the Meltdown patch is also bricking some Linux Ubuntu systems.

Linux and Ubuntu users have apparently been venting about the “bricking” issue on the Ubuntu forums, and also contributing technical info about it on the Ubuntu Launchpad bug tracker. Supposedly only Ubuntu users running the Xenial 16.04 release are experiencing bricked systems after updating to kernel image 4.4.0-108.

Canonical originally released Kernel image 4.4.0.108 on January 9, and a security bulletin notes that this was to correct Meltdown. There have been subsequent Linux Kernel updates, including 4.4.109, and 4.4.0.109.114 which attempt to alleviate the bricking issue, though it has not worked for everyone. Others have also said that rolling back to the previous kernel image also resolves all problems, except for being protected from Meltdown and Spectre, of course.

A new video game based on the popular Sword Art Online anime series, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is now available to pre-order on the Xbox One family of consoles. The new game is due for release on February 23rd this year and is a third-person action roleplaying game. Here’s the official game description.

Your fate has just begun… Experience an original story where you are the protagonist in the world of Gun Gale Online. Create your own avatar and explore devasted lands while experiencing exciting third person shooting in this action RPG. Encounter enemies and run into new and familiar faces from the Sword Art Online series.

Journey through a world of guns where after a chance encounter you’ll gain the help of a very rare AI, ArFA-Sys. Along the way, you will have to make choices. But every choice comes with a price… Will you bring hope or despair? This is your adventure… This is your story…

Pre-orders of Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet will also receive two exclusive costumes and a unique weapon for use in-game. Are you a Sword Art Online fan and are you hyped for this game? Let us know in the comments below.

Download
QR-Code

SWORD ART ONLINE: FATAL BULLET Pre-Order Bundle

Developer:
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment

Price:
Free

Microsoft has done a last minute update to the release notes for their Xbox Insiders build that was rolled out yesterday. While nothing has been removed from yesterday’s notes, something rather interesting was added; Scheduled Themes. Here’s the new information that was added.

Put your themes on a schedule! You’ll soon be able to switch between light and dark themes based on time of day.

The notes are pretty self-explanatory. There will soon be a setting that Xbox One owners can enable that will automatically change the visual appearance of the console’s user interface at different times of day. This setting will be first offered to Xbox Insiders for testing and feedback and then rolled out to the average Xbox One owner soon afterwards.

Would you enable this feature on your Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft, Intel and PC manufacturers are still dealing with the Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerabilities these days, and contrary to Intel’s reassuring statements from last week, the fixes will have a performance impact, especially on older PCs. Microsoft chose to be transparent today, with Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group Terry Myerson addressing the issue head-on in a detailed blog post.

The good news is that for Windows 10 PCs with modern Intel processors, the Windows security patches plus the additional firmware updates necessary for addressing a specific variant of the Spectre vulnerability won’t have a big impact on performance. However, for Windows 10 PCs with Intel Haswell CPUs or older as well Windows 8 and 7 systems using these same old processors, the performance impact will be much more significant. Moreover, Myerson added that the software and firmware updates may also cause a “more significant performance impact” on servers.

Here is a summary of what Microsoft’s latest research revealed:

• With Windows 10 on newer silicon (2016-era PCs with Skylake, Kabylake or newer CPU), benchmarks show single-digit slowdowns, but we don’t expect most users to notice a change because these percentages are reflected in milliseconds.
• With Windows 10 on older silicon (2015-era PCs with Haswell or older CPU), some benchmarks show more significant slowdowns, and we expect that some users will notice a decrease in system performance.
• With Windows 8 and Windows 7 on older silicon (2015-era PCs with Haswell or older CPU), we expect most users to notice a decrease in system performance.
• Windows Server on any silicon, especially in any IO-intensive application, shows a more significant performance impact when you enable the mitigations to isolate untrusted code within a Windows Server instance. This is why you want to be careful to evaluate the risk of untrusted code for each Windows Server instance, and balance the security versus performance tradeoff for your environment.

Overall, owners of modern Windows 10 PCs shouldn’t see a big difference after installing the software patches plus the Intel firmware updates. “For context, on newer CPUs such as on Skylake and beyond, Intel has refined the instructions used to disable branch speculation to be more specific to indirect branches, reducing the overall performance penalty of the Spectre mitigation,” Myerson explained. “Older versions of Windows have a larger performance impact because Windows 7 and Windows 8 have more user-kernel transitions because of legacy design decisions, such as all font rendering taking place in the kernel.”

A couple of days ago, Intel announced its plans to release firmware updates for 90% of processors from the past five years by the end of this week. Today, the company added in a press release that it will issue updates to the remaning 10% by the end of January, and also release patches for other products thereafter. “Based on our most recent PC benchmarking, we continue to expect that the performance impact should not be significant for average computer users,” the company explained. “This means the typical home and business PC user should not see significant slowdowns in common tasks such as reading email, writing a document or accessing digital photos.”

Terry Myerson wasn’t as optimistic today, and the exec promised that Microsoft will publish all of its data on benchmark performance in the coming weeks. “We’re also committed to being as transparent and factual as possible to help our customers make the best possible decisions for their devices and the systems that run organizations around the world,” Myerson added.

Apparently, Microsoft is looking to update Xbox Achievements with a new “Careers” system and other special Avatar bonuses. As noted by Windows Central, Microsoft is looking to enhance Xbox Achievements to complement the new Avatars that were originally slated to arrive in Fall 2017. Since the new Xbox Avatars won’t arrive until early 2018, it looks like Microsoft may be bringing new surprises with Xbox Achievements too.

Microsoft looks to be planning a new website too; “Career.XboxLive.com.” Although the website is not publicly accessible at the moment, the website may further describe how the upcoming Career system would work with Xbox Achievements. Based on the documentation that Windows Central received, here’s how the new Career system might work. 

“It appears that players using this new Career system will be able to obtain levels, and even prestige ranks, obtaining rewards such as loot crates which come with cosmetic items for the new Avatars system. The Career system also comes with Quests to complete specific objectives, such as playing certain games, which will also come with crate and experience points as rewards.”

It is too early to know for sure how the new Xbox Career system will work, if it is ever implemented at all. It may come when the new Avatars are available, or Microsoft might hold off on releasing the Xbox Career system until later in 2018. Unless we get more concrete details or an official comment from Microsoft, nothing is known for certain how the Xbox Career system will work. However, it sure is exciting! Stay tuned!

Microsoft is looking for beta testers to test out Messaging.io (M.io) chat to Microsoft Teams.

M.io will help you stay connected and chat with your contacts regardless of what chat platform they use; Slack, SPark, HipChat, and more:

“M.io lets you chat with your contacts on any platform – all from within Microsoft Teams as your central messaging hub. For example, you can chat with your colleagues or external peers that are using Slack all from within Microsoft Teams. It’s some heavy duty magic we’ve been working on and we’re excited to start sharing with the community.”

If you are interested in becoming a beta tester for M.io, you can sign up using your email. It will be interesting to see how M.io works within Microsoft Teams, but it looks like it’ll be an even better way to stay connected and collaborate. Stay tuned for more information on this feature in an upcoming Microsoft Teams update!

Yesterday we reported that Microsoft would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment online. Though the company said it was “temporary” measure Microsoft has since pushed back and restored the ability for users to reload their Microsoft account balances using Bitcoin (via Thurrott.com.)

Since the original reports surfaced, Microsoft apparently worked with their provider to correct any issues, and is now once again accepting Bitcoin. A statement from a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed this.

“We’ve restored Bitcoin as a payment option in our store after working with our provider to ensure lower Bitcoin amounts would be redeemable by customers.”

Bitcoin is a bit of a wild currency, especially because values tend to fluctuate higher and then lower every day, and because there is a transfer fee involved. Microsoft previously stopped accepting Bitcoin back in 2016, only to pull back and once again accept it two days later.

Yesterday reports surfaced on some AMD PCs not booting properly after installing the latest Windows 10 security patch. As a result, many Windows users with AMD powered PCs took to Microsoft’s support forums to complain about the issue. In the face of this criticism, Microsoft has halted the AMD Meltdown and Spectre patches, instead saying it is now working with AMD to resolve the problems and issue another update soon (via The Verge.)

The halt means that AMD PCs will no longer receive the KB4056892 patch which is causing some machines to become unbootable. In fact, the reason many were experiencing issues is that the AMD chipsets would not “conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft.”

Microsoft further elaborated on the situation via a statement on their support website:

“Microsoft has reports of customers with some AMD devices getting into an unbootable state after installing recent Windows operating system security updates. After investigating, Microsoft has determined that some AMD chipsets do not conform to the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown.”

The following security updates are also no longer being pushed to PCs with AMD processors:

• January 3, 2018—KB4056897 (Security-only update)
• January 9, 2018—KB4056894 (Monthly Rollup)
• January 3, 2018—KB4056888 (OS Build 10586.1356)
• January 3, 2018—KB4056891 (OS Build 15063.850)
• January 3, 2018—KB4056890 (OS Build 14393.2007)
• January 3, 2018—KB4056898 (Security-only update)
• January 3, 2018—KB4056893 (OS Build 10240.17735)
• January 9, 2018—KB4056895 (Monthly Rollup)

Those who already installed any of these updates are being urged to visit Microsoft’s support website. The website explains how a user can troubleshoot Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 in the event that the operating system is unbootable.

A new Preview Alpha build (1802.180105-1503) is now available for Xbox Insiders. This latest build adds several improvements to the Xbox One’s Guide (i.e. the pop-out menu) relating to Achievements and Game Hubs and also introduces the Do Not Disturb option which was used on the Xbox 360 but hadn’t been integrated into the Xbox One generation of consoles yet. This new option essentially disables notifications while turned on.

Other changes include improvements to the Community feed, inactivity shutdown, and a new avatar option in addition to a variety of bug fixes. Here’s the official release notes.

NEW FEATURES:

We’re excited to return in 2018 with new features that impact the way you access your games and Achievements, how you let your friends know whether you’re able to play, and much more. Over the next several weeks, Xbox Insiders will begin to see a variety of cool new features they can interact with and provide feedback on. Here’s a look forward at some of the excitement still to come:

Starting today at 6 p.m. PST, Xbox Insiders enrolled in the Alpha ring will receive the latest Xbox One system update (1802.180105-1503). With this update, you’ll be able to use the “Next Achievements” feature in the Guide, which enables you to view and sort a cross-games list of upcoming Achievements. Easily see which Achievements you are closest to, and quickly launch the game to obtain them. Sort filters allow you to prioritize next Achievements by closest, most common, rarest, most common rare, and highest Gamerscore.

Mini Game Hubs will soon be available right in the Guide. With this feature, you’ll be able to access great content for the games you’ve played recently from a Game Hub without ever having to leave the action. Mini Game Hubs provide an easy way to see friends who are currently playing, upcoming Achievements, Looking for Group posts, and more.

Sometimes all you want to do is avoid all distractions and focus entirely on your game. We’ll be including a “Do not disturb” online status, which will suppress notifications and let your friends know that you’re not available for another game or activity right now.

We’re tweaking the community feed to make it easier to view comments. You’ll soon be able to see a peek of the most recent comment on community posts, with comments rearranged to place those that are most recent at the top. You’ll also be able to see who has liked your comments.

To address user feedback, we’re adding additional inactivity shutdown options to the Power mode & startup menu. In addition to shutting down the console after one or six hours of inactivity, you will be able to select options for two, three, four and five hours.

Alongside the updates listed above, which will work their way naturally through the Xbox One Preview Update rings, a subset of users may also see additional experimental features. These features are only enabled for a portion of the Xbox Insider audience to gauge interest and collect feedback. Your participation in the Xbox Insider Program helps us make the work-in-progress content and features coming to Xbox even better

FIXES:

Narrator

Narrator can read large amounts of text.

KNOWN ISSUES: 

Guide/Home crashing   

We are aware of the Guide and Home crashing and determined the root cause.  A fix is being worked on.

Workaround: In the interim please HARD Reboot (Hold the power button for ten seconds)the console to fix this issue.

Games Installation

Some users are encountering where some games that are installed are failing to launch.

Workaround : If the games are installed to an external drive please copy the game to the internal drive or attempt to delete the title and redownload to fix the launch error.

Display   

We are investigating the inaccurate RGB colors that have been reported when displaying in 4K HDR mode when playing a UHD disc.

Tournaments

The left and right navigation for selecting date and time during Tournament creation is currently reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.

Left and right navigation in Tournament twists is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.

Left and right navigation in the bracket view of Tournaments is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew

Avatars on Home

Users wishing to represent themselves as an avatar can do so by changing their settings under My profile > Customize profile > Show my avatar.

Are you an Xbox Insider? Let us know if you’re enjoying these new features in the comments below.

A couple of days ago, Microsoft backed off adding Cortana integration to Dynamics 365 There was no definitive reason as to why this was occurring, and the company even noted: “we welcome your feedback and ideas.” Today the saga has developed a bit more, and Microsoft is now hinting at a more open integration in the future (via Neowin.)

The same blog post about Cortana integration with Dynamics 365 now headlines: “Work continues on Dynamics 365 digital assistant experiences.” Though not mentioned specifically, this does hints that Microsoft may be working to bring Alexa and Cortana together in Dynamics 365. See the statement for yourself below.

We are working to deliver a robust and scalable digital assistant experience across all of our Dynamics 365 offerings. This includes natural language integration for customers and partners across multiple channels including Cortana. To that end, we are discontinuing the current Cortana integration preview feature that was made available for Dynamics 365 and we are focusing on building a new long term intelligent solution experience, which will include Cortana digital assistant integration.

As you may recall, Microsoft previously detailed they would be working with Amazon to integrate Cortana with Alexa. The two companies missed the deadline, but Microsoft recently insisted that the two are still working on the integration. With this so, Dynamics 365 somehow could now be involved in the Cortana and Alexa partnership, especially because of the “long-term intelligent solution experience.” and “partners” phrasing.

Again, just speculating, as Microsoft has not said anything beyond the new statement seen in the blog post. It also could be the way of the company being more open to the competition, and allowing digital assistant integration to all, but there’s no telling, especially with the news that Amazon Alexa would be coming to some Windows 10 PCs.

According to a report from Bleeping Computer, Microsoft is temporarily no longer accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. The reason is due to the “unstable state” of the cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system.

UPDATE: Microsoft has since restored the ability to pay with Bitcoin online.

Although there was some confusion and temporary hault, Microsoft has long allowed users to use Bitcoin in order to add $10, $15, $25, $50, $,75, or $100 amounts to their Microsoft account balance. The company also previously adopted Bitcoin as a payment method in 2014.

This move from Microsoft makes sense, as Bitcoin values tend to fluctuate higher and then ower every day. The fluctuation also means that Microsoft could be taking up loses if they accept the payment.

This, along with high fees, is also why Steam recently stopped accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. Anyway, the company is urging those who previously used Bitcoin as payment to consider using credit or debit cards, a PayPal account, or a direct bank account.

When word got out on an exploit in AMD and Intel Processors, Microsoft and other tech giants were quick to respond and patch their systems or devices. Although Microsoft issued an emergency Windows Update to address the issue, it is apparently causing more harm than good for those with AMD PCs (via Neowin.)

Some users are reporting that their older AMD based PCs with Athlon processors will no longer boot into Windows after installing the latest KB4056892 security patch. Their devices instead give a roll-back error, 0x800f0845, with no way to go back and restore. It’s an issue that is well noted on the Microsoft Support forum, where over 457 people have marked that they have the same question/problem.

Top comments in the forum state that the best fix for those experiencing the problem is to clean install Windows 10 and then disable or pause Windows Updates to prevent KB4056892 from being installed. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the issues or reply the support forum, but that is likely to change soon. Be sure to keep tuned for more updates.

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.

Kinect sensors cease production

After years of being brushed under the rug and being more or less forgotten by gamers at large, the Kinect has finally been shut down. It was announced by Microsoft this week that the little-peripheral-that-could would completely cease production. The sensor has been mostly irrelevant to the majority of Xbox gamers, but a significant community has broken out that uses it to develop all sorts of applications for other platforms.

Kinect is fully, totally dead: Microsoft is no longer manufacturing the adapter needed to hook it up to a PC, Xbox One S or Xbox One X. https://t.co/9zmR04hkW1 pic.twitter.com/7QssUcRRXQ

— Polygon (@Polygon) January 3, 2018

PUBG to be Xbox exclusive for some time

PUBG has been one of the biggest things to happen to the gaming industry in the past few years – it’s a massive deal. The battle royale game became a massive success for both gamers and streamers, becoming one of the most successful titans of gaming culture right beside Overwatch and League of Legends. The game launched on Xbox in mid-December, and according to an interview with the CEO in charge of PUBG, the game will stay there for a while. Although it’s certain to come to other platforms at some point in time, the game will likely remain a console exclusive for a comfortable period of time.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) to be Xbox One exclusive for a while https://t.co/X9LbuBVCXb

— OnMSFT.com (@onmsft) January 6, 2018

Microsoft accused of dishonest advertising with Xbox One X and Kinect

With the Kinect being shut down, attention has been brought to some potentially dishonest advertising behaviors from Microsoft in regards to the Xbox One X. The console isn’t compatible with the Kinect sensor – and while that isn’t a massive problem in and of itself, it seems like most of the console’s advertising suggests otherwise. In several pieces of marketing, it’s suggested that “Xbox One accessories work with Xbox One X.” All of them. With the Kinect undoubtedly being an Xbox One accessory, it’s easy to see why some people are calling foul play on Microsoft’s advertising.

Sea Of Thieves custom controller available for pre-order

Looking for a new controller to fawn over? Sea Of Thieves is well on its way, and the custom controller that’s coming out to promote the game is one of the most gorgeous controllers I’ve seen so far. The controller is purple with spatterings of seafoam green, and compass markings surrounding the left stick. The controller also glows in the dark, for night owls who wanted to have some novelty with their gaming experience. The peripheral is pretty snazzy, and is available for pre-order for about $75.

LOOK AT IT. How amazing is the @Xbox @SeaOfThieves controller?!
Props and thanks to @SweetMicga for the sublime work on these. pic.twitter.com/1DMTiHM3fM

— Catarina Macedo (@CatamyKX) January 4, 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.

Microsoft (MSFT) news recap is a weekly feature highlighting the top Microsoft news stories of the past week. Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy the read!

Microsoft backs off adding Cortana integration to Dynamics 365

Despite having Cortana integration for Dynamics 365 in preview, the company has decided against adding its own virtual assistant, Cortana, to its CRM platform.

Redesigned calendar is coming soon to Outlook.com beta

Beta users of Outlook.com are to receive a redesigned calendar. A teaser image of the new calendar shows more consistency between Calendar and Mail.

https://twitter.com/OfficeNews/status/949295293488599041

Microsoft to publish fiscal year 2018 second-quarter earnings on Jan. 31

At the end of the month, we’ll be seeing how Microsoft’s different divisions are performing, as the company publishes its second-quarter earnings for 2018 on 31st January.

Azure customers should not see a “noticeable performance impact” due to Intel, AMD CPU vulnerability patches

As news of 2 vulnerabilities in CPUs from Intel, ARM and AMD broke out, reports have suggested that the patches to resolve the flaws would deliver a performance hit of between 5% and 30%. Despite this, Microsoft is saying that its Azure customers should not see a “noticeable performance impact”.

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

Welcome back to our Windows 10 news recap. We are continuing the trend of our weekly “Windows 10 news recap” series where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s flagship operating system.

Windows 10 Mobile receives a new security update, potentially patches for Meltdown and Spectre flaws

In light of the CPU vulnerabilities affecting Intel, ARM and AMD, Microsoft has released a new security update to all versions of Windows 10 Mobile that are suspected to include patches for the flaws.

New Surface firmware updates are rolling out with fixes for Intel CPU vulnerabilities

Alongside Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft’s Surface line of products have received firmware updates that also fix the known processor vulnerabilities. The firmware update is rolling out to the following devices:

• Surface Pro 3
• Surface Pro 4
• Surface Book
• Surface Studio
• Surface Pro Model 1796
• Surface Laptop
• Surface Pro with LTE Advanced
• Surface Book 2

You still have a few days to upgrade to Windows 10 for free

For those who still haven’t taken Microsoft up on its offer of a free upgrade to Windows 10, the accessibility upgrade is still available for a few more days.

The new MEGA extension for Microsoft Edge is now live

MEGA has released its own extension for Microsoft Edge, available now in the Microsoft Store, making it easier for users to access their MEGA cloud storage.

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

Microsoft is offering a free Black Panther suit fr your Xbox Avatar in the Xbox Store. As noted via a Reddit post, all you need to do to don this Black Panther suit is TO head over to the Xbox Marketplace. It’s free, so you have nothing to lose by picking up this Xbox Avatar item.

There are separate Marvel Black Panther suits for your female and male Avatars, so obviously you can’t purchase both Black Panther suits from the Xbox Store.

Unfortunately, this free Marvel Black Panther suit is available for Xbox Avatars in the US only. So if you are in other regions, you are SOL. Possibly, Marvel may add Black Panther to its highly successful line of console games, so don’t be surprised if you see Black Panther on Xbox One sometime soon. You can go see Marvel’s Black Panther movie in theaters starting on February 16, 2018.

The Xbox One X launched last November in select markets across the world, but India was not included in the launch party. Noted by Digit, it turns out that Microsoft may have recently caused some false excitement and confusion in India, as the company briefly listed the Xbox One X launch on January 15th and then took the page down.

This page briefly had the Xbox One X at the price of Rs 44,990 (about $710 US), but it’s since gone offline. Microsoft also tells Digit that there is “nothing to share” at the moment in regards to the Xbox One X coming to India. The company instead recently put up the Xbox One S for sale in India at, which originally launched in the US back in 2016.

It’s still not certain if Microsoft will ever bring the Xbox One X to India, but some Indian gamers seemed angry at the high price noted on the since removed page. This, though, is not the first time that an Xbox related page has been pulled in a foreign country. As you may recall, Xbox Poland revealed keyboard, mouse support is coming for Xbox One consoles soon, but then pulled the page.

(via MSPU)