Once again, it seems Google is playing the “anything you can do I can do better” game with Microsoft after announcing its new community library of 3D content called Poly.

Poly is eerily similar to a recent Microsoft initiative called Remix3D which can be found, in part, in the most recent Windows 10 Fall Creators Update as well on the web where it offers a social media component where users can go to view, download and engage with 3D objects.

Thankfully, Google is differentiating their Poly a bit more than their Doc facsimile efforts by coupling their 3D community with their phone-based VR  development. Instead of doing a carbon copy of Remix 3D, Google is tieing Poly to Google VR and apps such as Tilt Brush and Blocks. Out of the box, Google claims Poly will support Wavefront OBJ and we can assume the company will expand its support platform in the near future to include FBX, STL, PLY and 3MF like Remix 3D currently does.

Thanks to some early interoperable development, the community of 3D users has just expanded for both Microsoft and Google as Poly will play nicely with Remix 3D allowing anyone to download from an open library of OBJ formatted objects. Furthermore, Poly users can go from crafting handmade 3D objects to porting them into Remix 3D and using Windows 10’s native 3D printing support to bring them into the real world.

While we won’t be seeing Microsoft and Google holding metaphoric software hands anytime soon, it is nice to see the use of standards bring them a bit closer together.

Some well-needed Fluent Design touches were previously being tested in the Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps with Windows Insiders over the last few weeks. Today Microsoft revealed that the redesigned apps are rolling out to the desktops of all Windows 10 users on the Production Ring.

The version 17.8700.40485.0 update completely revamps the Windows 10 Mail and Calendar apps, adding in a clean and concise look throughout the experience. There are now acrylic and reveal effects on the hamburger menu of the apps, and a touch of light as you hover over items in the list. Finally, there’s also a new boardless user interface, allowing content to extend to the uppermost portions of the window.

Some other new features were noted by Microsoft in the changelog for the update, including hundreds of new colors to brighten up your calendars. It’s great to see that Fluent Design is spreading to more and more apps in Windows 10. If the recent leaks about the Settings app hold up to be true, Windows 10 might as well look completely revamped once Redstone 4 is released.

Skype has just added a Food and Drinks section to its Bots directory, which now counts the new SAVEUR bot from the gourmet magazine of the same name. “The SAVEUR bot will message you with delicious recipes every week and provide helpful tips and tricks to help you unleash your inner master chef,” the Skype team explained in a blog post today. “Just in time for Thanksgiving and end of the year celebrations, the bot will fuel your culinary curiosity and inspire you with new, seasonal recipes.”

We went hands-on with the new Skype bot and it seems to work as advertised. Despite some excitement last year, messaging bots didn’t exactly change how we use messaging apps, and the tech industry is still figuring out how to make bots more efficient than just using the web or dedicated apps. This new Skype bot does nothing revolutionary, but if it can definitely satisfy your food curiosity. You can add the bot directly to your Skype contact list by clicking here.

Assassin’s Creed Origins just launched last week, but Ubisoft is hinting that there is a lot more to come in the November Update to the game. The update is set to introduce HDR support, Trial of the Gods, and more additions to the In-Game Store.

With Trial of the Gods, players can expect to face the ultimate boss battle. Ubisoft will be adding the god Anubis to the game and will be sharing more details in a follow-up article soon. Additionally, in November via the Nightmare Pack and First Civilization Pack, Ubisoft will release in-game items. Read more about what else can be expected with the November Update below.

• We are planning to deploy a title update in November that will ready it for the launch of the Xbox One X, improving stability, and adding additional support for HDR on all supported platforms.
• Nightmare Pack – November 14: Includes four weapons and a mount.
• First Civilization Pack – November 28: Includes four weapons and a mount.
• In addition to the packs, we will also be releasing some bundles that include gear, a mount, and a brand-new outfit in each. The Roman Centurion (November 7) and Horus packs (November 21) are included in the season pass.

Ubisoft will also be hosting a Community Stream later today, so be sure to tune in if you’d like to have a chance to win some prizes and hear from community managers. Are you enjoying Assassin’s Creed Origins? Let us know your thoughts below.

Microsoft is reaching record stock price highs, and has been on quite a roll lately with the release of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the upcoming launch of the Xbox One X, and some serious momentum for its cloud component, Microsoft Azure.

One area of the company that’s seeing huge growth and adoption is Office 365, the subscription service offering pay as you go versions of Office, a Slack competitor in Teams, and integrations with SharePoint, with OneDrive, with Exchange and Azure Active Directory, and with an ever increasing portfolio of apps and services like Flow, Sway, Planner and more.

Office 365 seemingly has a plan for everyone, too, from Office 365 Personal (for a single user) and Home (5 users) to enterprise offerings and even Microsoft 365, which not only includes Office but Windows 10 in a subscription service.

So, do you use Office 365, either as a standalone product via Personal or Home, or as part of your school or work? Do you benefit from the built-in services that come with Office 365, like Groups or Teams, or do you primarily just take advantage of always-up-to-date versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint? Take our poll below and let us know what you’re using:

At OnMSFT.com, we’ve been using Office 365 Business Essentials for close to a year now, making extensive use of Microsoft Teams and Planner, as well as taking advantage of the shared documents abilities of OneDrive for Business, and have toyed with Power BI and Flow, although we probably don’t get nearly as much out of O365 as we could. What about you, are you a heavy or light user of Office 365, or have you gone in a different direction entirely? Let us know in the comments below

We’re now less than a week away from the worldwide release of the Xbox One X, and the stars seems to be aligned for the new console to do really well during the holiday season. Microsoft promised that 70 Xbox One X enhanced titles would be available on November 7, with many more to be released over the coming weeks including PUBG.

In an interview with CNBC yesterday, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Devices Panos Panay shared that demand for the Xbox One X surpassed the company’s expectations. “I won’t talk about the exact numbers but the demand is super high, we are very, very excited about Xbox One X right now,” the exec said. “I won’t compare it to other consoles. What I’ll say is the demand for Xbox One X right now is exactly where we anticipated, even more so when you see that excitement for the product… this is something that resonates with gamers.”

At the time of this writing, the Xbox One X is currently the third best-selling item in Amazon’s Video Game Consoles & Accessories category, and sitting behind the Nintendo Switch. After being sold out for a while, the new console went back in stock on Amazon last week and you can still pre-order it if you want to join the fun on day one.

Today at the Microsoft Tech Summit 2017 in Beijing, Microsoft announced plans to triple their Azure presence in China over the next six months. The expanded presence will offer up new opportunities for Azure customers, helping businesses and cooperations expand their overall coverage in Asia.

Microsoft is planning to triple the capacity of the Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet in China. This was originally launched in March of 2014 and was the first international public cloud service to become available in the China market. As required by Chinese law, Azure in China is mainly provided via a partnership between Microsoft and Chinese datacenter operator 21Vianet, setting the stage for other cloud services who have considered entering the China region.

Azure has over 1,000 cloud partners in China, and 80,000 enterprise customers such as Lenovo and Huawei, and even mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi. It will be interesting to see how these companies can use Azure to their advantage in the months ahead.

Disneyland Adventures is now available to play on Windows 10 and Xbox One and also supports Xbox Play Anywhere so buying it on one ecosystem will immediately unlock it on the other. The game is a re-release of the Xbox 360 title of the same name and also supports the Kinect sensor on Xbox One family of consoles and 4K resolution and HDR when played on the Xbox One X or a compatible Windows 10 PC. Here’s the official description.

Experience the magic of Disneyland like never before! Take a journey where stories come to life and dreams come true, right in your living room! Explore Disneyland® park — from Main Street U.S.A. to Critter Country — join Peter Pan to battle Captain Hook, high-five Mickey Mouse or hug Snow White. “Disneyland Adventures” allows children, families and Disney fans of all ages to explore Disneyland park, step into adventures based on attractions, engage in challenging quests and interact with beloved Disney characters remastered in 4K Ultra HD and HDR.

Have you played Disneyland Adventures yet? Let us know if you’re playing on Windows 10 or Xbox One in the comments below.

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Disneyland Adventures

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Xbox Game Studios

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Free

The re-release of Zoo Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection, is now live and ready to play on both Windows 10 PCs and Microsoft’s Xbox One family of devices.

Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection is a remaster of the original Xbox One video game but has been given a variety of new content and has also had its graphics upgraded to 4K for Xbox One X owners or those playing on a PC powerful enough. Here’s the official game description:

The wildly popular Zoo Tycoon series gets fully-remastered and set to crank up the excitement, challenge, and fun of building the ultimate zoo. Let your imagination run wild with “Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection”! Choose from almost 200 visually stunning animals and the largest, most detailed selection of environments ever, then build, manage, and maintain your dream zoo alone or with up to four players on Xbox LIVE. This zoo simulation will charm animal lovers of all ages. Easy to start and easy to play, Zoo Tycoon on Xbox gets you up close and interacting with the animals and zoo, offering intuitive controls and fun tutorials that allow players of all ages to have fun. Play smart as animals and guests will react to your creative choices and ultimately decide your chances to become a Zoo Tycoon.

Like the original, Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection also features support for the Xbox One’s Kinect sensor for added interactivity. Will you be playing with just the controller or are you going to give the Kinect features a go as well? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below.

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Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection

Developer:
Xbox Game Studios

Price:
Free

Build 1711.171024-1923 has begun to rollout to all Preview BETA and some DELTA Xbox Insiders today. This update adds several improvements to the setup process for new users, more varied idel notifications, miniature Game Hubs to the Guide, the ability to hide games with no Gamerscore, and finally digital game gifting. Here’s the full, detailed, release notes:

Last week, we delivered an upgraded console experience to Xbox One owners that focused on personalization and speed improvements. It was a massive update, but we aren’t done just yet. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be addressing customer feedback and adding even more great new features that gamers have been asking for.  Here’s a sneak peek at what to expect:

• For Xbox Insiders in the BETA ring, the Microsoft Store now enables gifting of select digital Xbox One games, “durable” downloadable content (DLC) (map packs, weapon skins, etc.), Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Game Pass—right from your console! Just choose a game within the Store, select “Buy as Gift,” and send it to your friends or family members by picking their Gamertag or entering their email address.
• NOTE: Digital gifting will be enabled for Preview BETA @ 2:00PM PDT on 10/31 and is not tied to the system update. Please see Digital Gifting below for more information.
• In addition to games and friends, you will soon be able to add club blocks to Home. We’re also making it easier to explore additional types of blocks at the bottom of Home by adding a new section under “Add More.”
• We’re improving the setup experience to make it better for both new users and upgraders.  The settings from your home console will now be saved to the cloud, just like your game saves.  Whenever you set up a new console, you will have the option of applying these settings during the sign-in process.
• Additionally, your console will now back up even more settings, including your TV & OneGuide settings. This expansion will provide a simple experience when you transition from one console to another using the settings backup to your external games and apps storage device.
• The Xbox app for iOS and Android will now enable you to finish setting up your new Xbox One X console while it’s downloading the day one update. Additionally, we’ve also improved the process for enabling 4K output right out of the box.
• Xbox’s new notifications provide an at-a-glance status of what activities you can immediately step into after you’ve had to step out for a moment. We’re adding additional notifications types when your system goes idle, including LFG posts, broadcasts, and Achievements.
• We’re adding miniature Game Hubs for your most recently used games in the Guide. That way, you can access the great content on a game hub without having to leave the action.
• Adults who have enabled the “Buy & download” online safety setting will now have an easier time purchasing games thanks to a passkey/password challenge directly in the Xbox dashboard.
• We’ve heard your feedback! Games with no unlocked achievements can now be hidden from the personal and public view of your profile.

These features will roll out to Xbox Insiders over the next few weeks. Insiders can check the release notes within the Xbox Insider Hub for more details, or navigate to the Xbox Insider forums at forums.xbox.com.

Digital Gifting

You’ll soon be able to send digital games and subscriptions as gifts to your friends and family in the Microsoft Store (on Xbox, Windows and on the Web), and today (10/31) at 2:00PM PDT we’re allowing Preview BETA participants a first look!

NOTE: Access to the digital gifting feature is tied to your Gamertag. You’ll have access to digital gifting on any Xbox One console with the Gamertag used to enroll your console(s).

1. To access digital gifting:
2. Sign in on an Xbox One console.
3. Launch the Store and navigate to the Store page for a product.
4. You’ll see a new [Buy as gift] option on the Store page if the product is eligible for digital gifting.

When purchasing a gift, the gift will be delivered to the recipient via email message containing a digital code for the item. The email will be sent immediately upon purchase. The email message will provide the gift recipient with instructions on how to redeem the digital code.

On Xbox, users have the choice of entering the email address of the gift recipient or selecting a friend from the Friends list. In addition to receiving a gift message via email, on Xbox, if the Friends list is used, the gift recipient will receive a system message from Xbox Live containing the digital code along with a one-click redemption button.

1. In addition, please join the Digital Gifting flight in the Xbox Insider Hub to give us feedback:
2. Launch the Xbox Insider Hub.
3. Navigate to Insider content > System > Digital Gifting.
4. Select Join.
5. If interested, complete the digital gifting Quests Email: Gift a Game and Xbox: Gift a Game.

There are a handful of rules and restrictions currently in place for digital gifting:

• Users can gift select Xbox One games, downloadable content (DLC), and subscriptions (Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass)
• Gifting of “durable” game DLC (map packs, weapon skins, etc.) is supported, but the gifting of “consumable” game DLC (virtual currency, etc.) is not supported.
• When a particular item is discounted, users are allowed to send two (2) gifts of that item every fourteen (14) days. The 14-day clock starts once the first copy is purchased at discount. Once the limit for that item is reached, users will not be able to purchase that item again as a gift until the 14-day period is over, even if the product is no longer discounted.
• Users are allowed to send ten (10) total gifts at discount every 14 days. There are no limits on items that are at full price.
• Not all Xbox One games are available for gifting, including some XPA titles.
• Xbox 360 backward compatible games and consumable DLC (such as virtual currency) are not eligible for gifting.
• Pre-ordered games and pre-ordered durable DLC are not eligible for gifting.
• Digital codes can only be redeemed in the country/region where they were purchased.
• Refunds for digital gifts are not supported, nor can entitlements for content or subscriptions be transferred once redeemed.

Please see the gifting terms and conditions as well as the Microsoft Store terms and conditions for a full list of policies.

FIXES:

• Home: Resolved an issue which sometimes prevented content blocks from being added to Home.

Party chat

• Fixed an issue which sometimes caused party chat to unexpectedly disconnect.
• Miscellaneous improvements for party chat stability.
• Blu-Ray Player: Resolved an issue which could cause the console to get stuck displaying video content in 24hz after playing a Blu-Ray.
• Resolved an issue which caused 3D Blu-Rays to play in 2D.
• Dolby Atmos: Fixed an issue which caused Dolby Atmos settings to reset after resuming from connected standby.

Are you an Xbox Insider and have you played around with this build yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Today Microsoft is announcing the general availability of Microsoft 365 Business in the United States, U.K, and Canada. The new solution combines productivity, collaboration, and device management tools and is designed to help medium and small sized businesses with up to 300 employees simplify IT management.

Microsoft 365 Business includes the familiar Office 365 productivity and collaboration tools and Office apps that businesses need to be most productive: Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Coming as a centralized and integrated solution, Microsoft 365 Business also allows medium and small businesses to safeguard their company information, extend their security and productivity across apps, while also making sure PCs are up to date and secure.

Also designed to help reduce the costs of managing technology for businesses and IT partners, the Microsoft 365 Business solution includes the necessary tools to allow for a simple set up and management of devices. From the Microsoft Admin Center in Microsoft 365 Business, a company can configure device settings, remove company data from lost or stolen devices, or add and remove new employees. This all simplifies set up and management, enabling business owners to spend more time building their businesses and less time worrying about technology.

Microsoft 365 Business was designed to reduce the complexity and costs of managing technology for businesses and their IT partners. It offers simple setup and management, so business owners and their team can put more of their time and energy toward building their businesses. From a single console, you can quickly set up new employees, configure device security policies, and manage user identity and access, as well as ensure all your people are on the most up-to-date versions of Windows 10 and Office.

Microsoft 365 Business includes access to Staffhub, and three new business apps— Connections, Listings, and invoicing, which will further help a business grow and thrive. Managed from the Microsoft Business Center Portal, a user can all the apps and get a single snapshot of all the day’s work. You can check out more about the included apps by clicking here. Business owners should free to visit a local Microsoft Store for a workshop or visit this webpage for more information about the $20 per user per month pricing for Microsoft 365 Business.

Along with the availability of Microsoft 365 Business, Microsoft today announced the availability of Microsoft Connections, Listings, and Invoicing for Microsoft 365 Business and Office 365 Business Premium. The apps can be managed in the Microsoft Business Center in Microsoft 365 and will be rolling out to customers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada starting today.

Paired with the power of the pre-existing Microsoft Bookings, Outlook Customer Manager, and MileIQ business apps, the new apps are expected to bring businesses new ways to manage customer relations and build a business.

We start with Microsoft Listings, which is designed to help a company get listed on Facebook, Google, Bing, and Yelp all from one location. The app ensures that a business name, address, phone number, website, hours, and logo are all up to date across these social platforms.

Next up is Microsoft Connections, crafted to help send professional looking marketing emails to showcase a brand and help drive sales. Businesses can use Microsoft Connections to engage with customers and set up individual refer a friend incentives.

Finally, there is Microsoft Invoicing, specifically tailored for businesses to help generate estimates and invoices that look professional. The app allows for businesses to get paid fast with online payments via PayPal, and can even be used to track pending and partial payments, find draft estimates, and past invoices or set sales tax and other discounts.

These three apps can be managed from the Microsoft Business Center, which is a central access point and dashboard powered by the Microsoft Graph. Key business metrics such as outstanding invoices, email subscribers, online impressions, and total bookings can all be tracked via the Business Center.

The three apps all build on Microsoft Bookings (an app to manage customer’s appointments,)  and Outlook Customer Manager (allows for quick access to all customer information.) Microsoft is also updating MileIQ, and will be making it smarter to automatically classify drives as business or personal.

Finally, Microsoft announced that Staffhub will be included in Microsoft 365 Business. The app helps employees manage their workday, allowing business owners and first line employees to easily create and manage schedules, assign and complete tasks, and communicate with each other.

You can learn more about these apps by visiting the Microsoft 365 Website, or by attending a workshop at your local Microsoft Store.

Amazon Prime Video is probably one of the only services out there right now that can feasibly compete with Netflix. Bundled with the Amazon Prime service – which many people think is solid on its own – the Prime Video service gives users tons of free TV, as well as a growing batch of original shows.

Stream TV shows & movies on Xbox One family of devices with Amazon Prime Video app, available today. Details here: https://t.co/6n3OV7Nydd pic.twitter.com/1ANyzS7JyQ

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) October 31, 2017

The Amazon Prime Video app is available on Xbox One world wide starting today and will be available on the Xbox One X when the console releases on November 7th. Like every other app, you can pick it up for free through the Xbox store, and log in through your Amazon account to access that sweet, sweet Prime library, including titles such as The Grand Tour, The Man in the High Castle, Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle and American Gods.

The Xbox One X is a week away from release, which means that everybody’s looking for numbers about the launch experience. A new tweet from the marketing leader for Xbox touches on one of those vital figures: Just how many games will be Xbox One X enhanced on launch. Right now, it seems like we can look forward to about 70 titles improved by the new console during the first week of the Xbox One X’s life.

I think we're going to hit in the neighborhood of 70 right around release. I'm pleased given how many people said no devs would support ?

— Albert Penello (@albertpenello) October 30, 2017

We’ll be reviewing the Xbox One X in a few days, and giving you an idea of which games are going to be part of this starting lineup – and if it’s worth dropping nearly $600 on the console for the enhancements. Either way, 70 games is a good place to start, especially since they’ll continue adding in more enhanced games as time goes on.

From the launch of the Surface Pro LTE Advanced to the news about Surface Book 2 being part of the future of computing, it’s been a great day to be a Surface and Microsoft fan. But even with these evolutionary advancements to the Surface family, it’s hard to forget what Consumer Reports said about the reliability of Microsoft’s Surface devices.

It turns out Microsoft is still talking about it too, again challenging Consumer Reports and telling ZDNet that “every generation of Surface keeps getting better.”

Specifically, Microsoft is highlighting that fewer than 1 in 100,000 of new Surface devices has gone bad while in the hands of a consumer. This is meant to be a direct shot at Consumer Reports, which originally claimed that of a total of 90,000 surveyed laptop and tablet owners, 25% of those with Surface devices believe they will experience issues by the end of their second year of ownership.

Ryan Gavin, the general manager for Surface at Microsoft, talked more about the reliability of Surface and questioned Consumer Report’s methodology:

One of the things you’re seeing is the reliability of our products over time, with every generation getting better and better and better…We’re talking about incidents per device of less than 0.001%…

We thought it was unfortunate the report that Consumer Reports put out, partly used the methodology that is consistent with how you evaluate home appliances and applied it to laptops. That would be like [asking] ‘Has your dishwasher behaved unexpectedly in the past two years?’ and if the answer was ‘Yes’, you’d be deemed unreliable…

Echoing the words of Panos Panay, the genius behind the Surface lineup of devices, Gavin also mentioned that consumers are especially enjoying Surface devices:

“This is not consistent with our ongoing testing and we have a good ongoing conversation with them… What we hear from our customers, however, and from the telemetry data that our customers want to share with us, is that Surface devices have never been more reliable and with every generation we release they get increasingly so.”

Consumer Reports has noted that it still will not be recommending the new Surface Book 2 and that their original decision will “still in effect.” It’s their loss, really, especially because Surface is becoming very popular, and was a contributor to Microsoft’s $24.5 billion in revenue in the last quarter.

As October is coming to a close, head of the Office 365 client applications product team Kirk Koenigsbauer has just published a new blog post to highlight everything that’s new to Office 365 this month. First of all, the cloud productivity suite is now available in 96 new global markets, and overall we’re now talking about 246 markets worldwide in 44 languages. You can learn more about international availability on this page.

This month, the Office team added many new features to power content creation, starting with Translator in Word. The built-in translation tool available from the Review tab in Word now supports supports 60 languages, with 11 of them using neural machine translation). “You can now translate sections of text, or your entire document, and review or save the result as a regular document file,” added Koenigsbauer.

On the iPad, the popular word processor recently picked up support for Immersive Reader and Read Aloud, with more of Microsoft’s Learning Tools to be available in November. Additionally, Office 365 commercial subscribers can now use a new “Tell me what to do” box in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which can help to easily find people and documents, share current files with colleagues and more.

Earlier this month, the deprecated OneDrive placeholders feature from Windows 8.1 finally made its come back in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, and it has been improved significantly. The feature is now called “Files On-Demand,” and it supports OneDrive, OneDrive for Business and Sharepoint Online team sites. As for those of you working with 3D, the various OneDrive apps and OneDrive.com now fully support 3D files and easy importation into Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Other highlights include new visualisations and tips in MyAnalytics, the integration of LinkedIn’s data into Outlook.com and Office 365 apps, as well as the general availability of web-based diagramming tool Visio Online. Last but not least, Microsoft has revamped its Office.com website with an improved search experience, redesigned app launcher and new Gallery feature. Do you have any favourites among all these new features? Let us know below.

Microsoft today announced that several of the company’s retail stores will be hosting Minecon Earth viewing parties on November 18th. Store Locations across the U.S. and Canada will take part in the live-streamed, interactive showcase of all things Minecraft. Also offered up at the stores will be chances to participate in costume contests, giveaways and competitive and collaborative gameplay with other members of the Minecraft community.

As a bonus, some Microsoft Store locations will also host top Minecraft creators, YouTubers, and familiar streamers. The following figures will be visiting the store locations seen below.

• Flagship NYC Microsoft Store: Thinknoodles
• Microsoft Store at Lenox Square Mall: xNestorio, Tylarzz
• Microsoft Store at SouthPark: CavemanFilms, BlackieChan, Guude
• Microsoft Store at Prudential Center: Carnage The Creator, AntVenom
• Microsoft Store at NorthPark Center: Jojopetv, AviatorGaming, RyguyRocky, MeganPlays, BurtDude, BAHMLounge
• Microsoft Store at The Florida Mall: FireRockerz Studios
• Microsoft Store at Oakbrook Center: Aureylian, MangoTango

For those who are unable to head to a local Microsoft Store, you can still enjoy Minecon from the comfort of your own home. Comedian and Actor Will Arnett will be hosting the live-streamed Minecon event, and you’ll expect tons of interactive entertainment and humor as well as a celebration of all things Minecraft. You can watch MINECON Earth on both Mixer and Twitch, at 12 pm EST / 5 pm GMT on November 18th.

As many newer Xbox One games are getting their own Xbox One X enhancements, Titanfall 2 is no exception. As noted by Xbox Wire, Titanfall 2 will have plenty of new enhancements. Xbox Wire talked with Respawn Entertainment’s lead producer on Titanfall 2, Drew McCoy, to get the list of the Xbox One X enhancements.

We’re in London at Microsoft’s Future Decoded conference today, and the main keynote has just started. You can expect to hear the latest on Microsoft’s Surface devices from Panos Panay, and featured speakers will also include CVP of Azure Julia White and Chief Operating Officer Clare Barclay.

Good news, Microsoft is live streaming the conference on this page using its Skype for Business technology. We’re still waiting for Panos Panay to go on stage and announce some exciting news, but we’ll let you know as soon as it happens.

The video game-creator video game, Roblox, has just turned on cross-platform play for Xbox One players which means that they’ll now be able to interact with other Roblox players on other platforms such as PC, tablets, mobile, and VR.

“Since we launched exclusively on Xbox One in January 2016, Roblox has been a massive success on the platform. In fact, we still continue to rank consistently as one of the top free games to play on Xbox One,” the official announcement reads. “We can’t thank the community enough for all your love, support, and imagination over the years. Today’s announcement is great for Xbox players, who maybe haven’t played on another device before and will now see a whole new gaming and social experience with cross platform support. With your help, we can make the Xbox experience bigger, better, and more fun than ever before. We look forward to seeing you in-game!”

Roblox is a free-to-play video game that’s garnered a loyal following due to players being able to create their own games and play those mode by others.

Are you a Roblox fan and have you been wanting to connect with players on other devices? Let us know in the comments.

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ROBLOX

Developer:
ROBLOX

Price:
Free

Digital transformation has been a hot topic this year, which Microsoft launching a new offering called Microsoft 365 that includes Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. As you know, the Redmond giant is on a journey to empower everyone and every organization to achieve more, and today the company published a new study showing that employee’s fear of change is putting British businesses at risk.

Microsoft’s new productivity report, which can be found here, is entitled “Creating a Culture of Digital Transformation.” According to the company, it’s one of the most extensive reports on the state of the UK’s digital transformation to date. The in-depth study was conducted in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London, and YouGov, and it’s the result of interviews with more than 1,000 business leaders and employees in the UK.

The report reveals that only 23% of organizations in the country have developed cultural cultural change programs, which are the necessary first step to help employees realise the value of digital transformation. Moreover, 53% of UK organizations have already invested in digital transformation programs, even though the exact same percentage of companies expect their industries to be disrupted over the next two years.

“The majority of businesses investing in digital transformation programmes face a common challenge in realising value from their investments: the human factor,” Microsoft explained in a press release. “Findings reveal that moves to improve how people work by introducing new technologies creates anxiety among employees (61%), the automation of tasks creates fears about job security (59%) and staff express a fear of change when digital transformation initiatives are introduced (49%).”

For Cindy Rose, Microsoft UK CEO and Area Vice President, this report is a great resource for companies that have yet to realize the profound cultural changes that are necessary to support digital transformation. “Digital transformation is not a technology deployment or an IT exercise, it’s a people exercise,” she explained. “Business leaders must therefore embrace cultural transformation from the top and explore the behavioural shifts that are needed to bring about lasting change,” she added.

Microsoft today announced the rollout of new premium Outlook.com features to Office 365 customers. The company has opted to close the original Outlook.com Premium Program for new subscribers, instead now rolling out an ad-free experience, protection against email threats, more mailbox storage, and premium support to all users with an existing Office 365 subscription.

First and foremost, Microsoft has closed the original Outlook.com Premium standalone offering to new subscribers. Current subscribers can renew their subscriptions and continue receiving the same benefits. The personalized email address feature of Outlook.com Premium, though, will not be available in Office 365 Home or Office 365 Personal subscriptions in the new Outlook.com Premium.

Moving on, with the ad-free experience, Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal subscribers will no longer see banner ads as well as advertisements in the message list. According to Microsoft, this will make for “fewer distractions and faster page load times, so you can be more focused and have a better email experience.”

Next up are the sophisticated protection against email threats. Here, Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal subscribers will be able to protect themselves against viruses and ransomware with the ability to scan attachments and check links.

The last of the significant features is access to more mailbox storage. Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal subscribers will be able to enjoy 50GB of email storage space, up from the 15GB which is offered to a standard free Outlook.com account currently. Also, as part of the change, Microsoft will be boosting storage limits to 50 GB for all Outlook.com users whose mailbox size is 12 GB or larger.

Please be aware that the rollout is currently underway worldwide for those with Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal subscriptions. If you don’t see these features at first, don’t be alarmed, as Microsoft is saying that the process of updating all accounts will take about one month. Addresses ending in @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @live.com, and @msn.com will get Premium benefits automatically. Gmail or Yahoo accounts, or other non-Outlook.com accounts will not receive the benefits.

Those who have access to Outlook.com Premium will also have access to the highest level of Premium Support, either via the app or the phone. Additionally, if an Office 365 Home subscription is used with other users, the benefits of Outlook.com Premium can still be shared.