Fans of Steven Universe can now pre-order the upcoming game “Steven Universe: Save the Light” for their Xbox One console. Taking some inspiration from the Steven Universe mobile game that released last year, Save the Light promises to be a turn based hybrid RPG, featuring a very endearing art style that stays true to the theme of the series.

Meet a new villain on Steven Universe, Hessonite, in the brand new console game, #SaveTheLight! ✴️ ✨

???? PRE-ORDER: https://t.co/yEC6kN6X9K pic.twitter.com/oi3OLctjrn

— Cartoon Network (@cartoonnetwork) October 23, 2017

The game costs $24.99, if you’re interested in picking it up. If it’s anything like the mobile game that came before it, Save the Light should be an enjoyable, light-hearted experience through and through. Like the show that it’s based off of, Save the Light seems like it’s promising plenty of creative art direction, and some enjoyable writing, as well as the throwback Paper Mario RPG mechanics.

Following the exciting announcement yesterday, you can now play the first selection of original Xbox games on your Xbox One (via Windows Central). If you still have the original discs, you can insert them in your console and you’ll have to install a free update before being able to play. The updates are likely necessary to make the original Xbox games run at 1080p resolution with improved graphics and framerates on the new console.

The following 13 titles are now available to purchase on the Microsoft Store, though at the time of this writing it seems that you can’t purchase these digital games from the Xbox Store on your console. It works fine on the web though, so we invite you to use these links below:

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Ninja Gaiden Black
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Psychonauts
• Dead to Rights
• Black
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies
• Sid Meier’s Pirates!
• Red Faction 2
• BloodRayne 2
• The King of Fighters Neowave

While this first selection is a modest start, Xbox’s Lead Program Manager Bill Stillwell shared that the company plans to “release another curated list of Original Xbox classics in spring 2018.” Did you already try to play original Xbox games on your Xbox One? If so, do you enjoy this throwback to the early 2000’s? Let us know below.

This Friday, October 27, marks the release of the latest installment of one of the most successful video game series ever; Assassin’s Creed: Origins. AC: Origins join a number of other Xbox games, including Gears of War 4, that will receive an “Xbox One X enhancement,”  receiving its game update sometime in early November 2017, likely just in time for the release of the Xbox One X on November 7, 2017. As noted in a Ubisoft blog post on the matter:

“There will be another Title Update available in early November, which will most notably include 4K and Dolby Atmos support for Xbox One X and support of HDR displays for all platforms.”

In other Assassin’s Creed news, Ubisoft France is holding Assassin’s Creed: Origins Xbox One S prize giveaway on Twitter.

⭐CONCOURS⭐
Qu’êtes-vous prêt à lâcher pour gagner ces consoles ?
Répondez en RT avec le #ACOrigins pour gagner une #XBOXACO One X ou One S ! pic.twitter.com/5dLpKcnEO1

— Assassin's Creed FR (@AssassinsFR) October 23, 2017

According to the Bing translation, in order to be eligible, all you need to do is respond to Ubisoft France’s tweet, with the #ACOrigins and #XBOXACO hashtag to be considered. There are two AC Origins Xbox One S consoles available to be given away, so get to it.

Assassin’s Creed Origins will be available in Standard, Gold, and Deluxe Editions, pre-order yours today for Xbox One!

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Assassin’s Creed® Origins

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Being the large company that it is, Microsoft finds itself in a courtroom from time to time and recently its confrontations have been with the US government in one shape or another.

In a shift away from patent battles and anti-trust allegations, some of Microsoft’s more recent high profile court cases have centered around how it engages with the US government over the search and release of data collected by the software company. Today, Microsoft and the US government are calling an end to a year-long standoff over the company’s objecting to the rampant use of secrecy orders, aka gag orders, by the government.

Microsoft’s Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith further elaborates on the company’s blog,

But our lawsuit was based on a growing and disturbing trend. We highlighted the fact that the government appeared to be overusing secrecy orders in a routine fashion — even where the specific facts didn’t support them — and were seeking indefinite secrecy orders in a large number of cases. When we filed our case we explained that in an 18-month period, 2,576 of the legal demands we received from the U.S. government included an obligation of secrecy, and 68 percent of these appeared to be indefinite demands for secrecy. In short, we were prevented from ever telling a large number of customers that the government had sought to access their data.

The US Justice Department has agreed its increasing catch-all methods of data collecting needs new boundaries. The Justice Department will now be issuing a policy that looks to limit both the number of gag orders issued by specifically tailoring search procedures for the facts of the case, while also setting time limits on the orders, thus allowing Microsoft to inform its customers that an order had been issued after a defined time.

Thanks to these two DOJ recent concessions, Microsoft has decided to drop its lawsuit and look towards Congress and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to hammer in the final nails to electronic privacy reform.

We will continue to turn to the courts if needed. And we are committed to working with Congress. Today’s policy doesn’t address all of the problems with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) — the law at the heart of this issue — and we renew our call on Congress to amend it.
Specifically, the U.S. Senate should advance the ECPA Modernization Act of 2017, introduced in July by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.

As the computing landscape continues to evolve and customers increasingly store more of their personal data in the cloud, Microsoft along with many others seem as though they are preparing to dance the razor’s edge of providing lawful assistance (when absolutely necessary) and protecting users privacy.

We should all wish them luck.

Microsoft Storylabs “Explanimators” is back, and this time it is going out of this world. The fifth episode in the animated series takes viewers to a fictional planet for an interstellar explanation of how Blockchain technology works.

In the episode, Captain Billings faces a battle with fierce alien Zorg for Mining World XT3-12. Instead of pulling out weapons, though, Captain Billings confers with her Chief of Staff and scares Zorg with some pains of planetary management: The outerworld power grid, robot miner contracting, invoices from vendors, tracking the provenance of ingredients in the artificial atmospheric system, and more. There’s also talk of how a transaction for the planet will be tracked.

Since Zorg has trouble trusting Captain Billings, that’s where the blockchain comes into the picture. It is explained that blockchain solutions are a digital ledger that provides a transparent and permanent record or activity between multiple parties. Blockchain also takes the instability out of working with unknown people, and are resistant to modification since recorded data cannot be altered. Microsoft’s Coco Framework, the Azure cloud, and the fact that blockchain is the public ledger for cryptocurrencies are also mentioned.

Definitely an interesting episode, helping explain why blockchain is the next frontier for digital transformation. Feel free to watch the episode for yourself above, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

This past weekend, Delta revealed it would be giving up on Microsoft’s Surface and Windows Phone products in favor of Apple’s iOS devices for in-flight crews. Well, turns out that one reason for the switch is because of bag sizes (via Neowin.)

Noted by The Inquirer, Microsoft says that Delta’s switch had to do with a change in smaller electronic flight bags. Essentially, Surface devices could not fit in the smaller bags, hence the switch to iPads and other Apple devices. Microsoft’s full statement can be seen below.

“We have a great partnership with Delta. The company decided, as part of its hardware refresh cycle, to standardize on a 10.5″ form factor for its electronic flight bag. Delta continues to invest in and is using Microsoft productivity and business applications, including Dynamics and Office 365 across their operations and will continue to do so.”

This dismisses many rumors and claims that Delta may have ditched Microsoft because of a lack of focus on Windows 10 Mobile hardware. Still upsetting to see Surface and Windows Phone bite the dust at Delta, but great to hear that Delta and Microsoft still have an ongoing relationship, especially with the cloud and Office 365 which are both netting the company big money.

The launch of the Xbox One X is about two weeks away, and Microsoft is getting ready for the big moment. In preparation for launch, the company has announced ways for gamers to participate in the launch day with events all across the world.

First and foremost, all fans can tune into “Xbox One X Launch: Live” right from their own homes via Mixer, Twitch, YouTube or Facebook Live. The one hour broadcast from the Microsoft Store in NYC gives “an inside look at launch activities happening around the globe.” It will begin starting November 6 at 8:00 p.m. PT/11:00 p.m. ET and will run until 9:00 p.m. PT/midnight ET when Xbox One X is launched in the U.S.

Next up, Xbox fans who live in the New York area can come down to the flagship Microsoft Store at Fifth Avenue on November 6th to pick up their pre-order or experience the Xbox One X. Microsoft will be handing out Xbox swag, and will even be giving fans the chance to win a Samsung 4K TV. If not in New York, Microsoft Store locations across Canada, Puerto Rico and Sydney will also celebrate the launch with similar giveaways, gameplay and more.

Xbox fans in Germany, France, and the UK can also enjoy events themed for the Xbox One X launch. In Germany, Xbox is looking to set a world record, in France, there is a seven-hour nonstop live stream, and in the United Kingdom, there is a special broadcast from the Loft in London. Check out the details below.

• Germany: On November 3, fans will have the opportunity to witness Xbox’s attempt at setting the Guinness World Record for “Biggest Unboxing in the World” as Felix von der Laden films an unboxing video in the Munich Airport. On November 6, fans in Germany will be able to attend a gaming event hosted by PietSmiet, LefLoid, Gronkh and Ninotaku on Berlin’s largest 4K theater screen for 700 fans. The event will be also streamed on Mixer.
• France: On November 6, fans are invited to tune into a seven-hour non-stop livestream on Mixer hosted by one of France’s top YouTubers in central Paris. More than 200 French fans and celebrities will gather to play new titles and celebrate the launch of Xbox One X, culminating in a midnight launch event at France’s flagship store at the Champs Elysees.
• United Kingdom: Broadcasting live from the Xbox One X Loft in London, Chelsea on November 6, join us on Mixer from your PC, console or Mixer app on iOS and Android for our extended livestream featuring some of the hottest upcoming games.

As a reminder, if you pre-ordered Xbox One X at your local Microsoft Store in North America, you can pick up the console right at 9:00 p.m. PT/midnight ET on November 6. Participating BestBuy locations will also be open at 9:00 p.m. PT/midnight ET and will support the launch with giveaways, launch offers, and savings. Similarly, GameStop stores will also be open at midnight ET to support the Xbox One X launch. Outside the U.S, EB Games stores will be open at midnight local time at select destinations in both Australia and New Zealand.

As we’re getting closer to Halloween, the Xbox team has just announced the Xbox Shocktober Sale in addition to this week’s Deals with Gold. This massive sale offers great discounts on popular horror franchises such as Resident Evil, Dead Rising, The Walking Dead, Dead Space and more. On the Xbox One, you may want to check out Prey (25% off), Resident Evil 7 or The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (both are 50% off), but there are also interesting discounts on older games such as Diablo 3 Eternal Edition (40% off), DOOM (33% off) or The Evil Within Digital Deluxe Edition (50%).

For Xbox Live Gold subscribers, this week’s Deals with Gold also offer up to 75% discounts on GTA V, Cities: Skylines, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 and XCOM 2. You can find more details about our favorite Xbox One and Xbox 360 deals below:

Xbox One Deals

Prey ($29.99)

In Prey, you awaken aboard Talos I, a space station orbiting the moon in the year 2032. You are the key subject of an experiment meant to alter humanity forever – but things have gone terribly wrong. The space station has been overrun by hostile aliens and you are now being hunted. As you dig into the dark secrets of Talos I and your own past, you must survive using the tools found on the station, your wits, weapons, and mind-bending abilities.

Resident Evil 7 ($30)

Fear and isolation seep through the walls of an abandoned southern farmhouse. “7” marks a new beginning for survival horror with the “Isolated View” of the visceral new first-person perspective. Powered by the RE Engine, horror reaches incredible heights of immersion as players enter a terrifyingly new world of fear as they fight to survive.

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier – The Complete Season ($12.50)

When family is all you have left…how far will you go to protect it? After society was ripped apart by undead hands, pockets of civilization emerge from the chaos. But at what cost? Can the living be trusted on this new frontier? As Javier, a young man determined to find the family taken from him, you meet a young girl who has experienced her own unimaginable loss. Her name is Clementine, and your fates are bound together in a story where every choice you make could be your last.

Xbox 360 Deals

Dead Space 2 ($4.99)

Engineer Isaac Clarke returns for another blood-curdling adventure in the sequel to the critically acclaimed Dead Space™. After waking from a coma on a massive space city known as “The Sprawl”, the lone survivor of a horrific alien infection finds himself confronting a catastrophic new nightmare. Battling dementia, hunted by the government, and haunted by visions of his dead girlfriend, Isaac will do whatever it takes to save himself and dominate the gruesome onslaught. With an arsenal of tools to dismember Necromorphs and new determination, an engineer will bring the terror to space.

Dead Rising 2 ($5.99)

In the long-awaited sequel to Dead Rising, players step into the shoes of Chuck Greene, professional motorcycle racer. Surrounded by a horde of hungry zombies in the spectacular casino town of Fortune City, Chuck finds himself in a race against time to find Zombrex, the one thing that can keep Katey, his young daughter, alive. Can he protect her and make it out of Fortune City alive? Chuck’s desperate struggle for survival unfolds in this, the long awaited sequel to Dead Rising!

State of Decay ($4.99)

The end is here. Life as you knew it has gone to hell after the mother of all zombie outbreaks. Now you and the few scattered survivors must band together to survive and rebuild in a 3rd-person action game set in a dynamic open world. You choose where to make your stand, designing and fortifying your home base, performing daring raids for food and ammunition, and rescuing other playable survivors with unique talents.

The Xbox Shocktober Sale will expire at 12:00 AM CET on Wednesday November 1st 2017, while this week’s Deals with Gold will be available through 30 October 2017.

Original Xbox video game, Fuzion Frenzy, will launch on the Xbox One console any second now and it can already be purchased in the online store.

Fuzion Frenzy is one of 13 retro titles (alongside Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic) that came out on Microsoft’s first Xbox console and are now being made playable on the Xbox One due to its new OG Xbox backwards compatibility feature. While these old school Xbox games aren’t getting any new features or graphical upgrades, they will look significantly better when played on the Xbox One mostly due to how superior the new hardware is. Fuzion Frenzy will have four times the pixels on the Xbox One and Xbox One S and 16 times the pixels when played on the upcoming Xbox One X console. Here’s the official comparison video.

Fuzion Frenzy combines the continuous, frenetic action of a futuristic street sport with the action-packed fun of mini-games set in a dynamic 3-D urban environment. Six arenas and more than 45 mini-games provide plenty of competitive fun for up to four players.

Buy Fuzion Frenzy on Xbox One

Are you buying any of these OG Xbox games on Xbox One? Let us know which ones in the comments below.

Original Xbox video game, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, can be purchased digitally ahead of its arrival on the Xbox One just a few hours from now. The listing for the OG Xbox game is live in the online store for the Xbox 360 however, once the game launches on the Xbox One via backwards compatibility later today, it will unlock on that console as well.

Because this isn’t a re-release of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, simply added support for it on a newer console, the game isn’t being given any new online functionality or Xbox Achievements and hasn’t been remastered in any way. Despite this however, the game will look remarkably better on the Xbox One consoles than it did on the OG Xbox and will boast four times the pixel count when played on the Xbox One and Xbox One S and 16 times the pixel count on the Xbox One X. Here’s a video showcasing just how much better the game will look as well as the game’s official description and shopping link.

It is four thousand years before the Galactic Empire, hundreds of Jedi Knights have fallen in battle against the ruthless Sith. You are the last hope of the Jedi Order. Can you master the legendary power of the Force™ on your quest to save the Republic? Or will you fall to the lure of the dark side?

Buy Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic on Xbox One

Are you going to buy Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and are you happy with its arrival on Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft recently released a new batch of firmware updates for the Surface Studio in order to get the all-in-one PC compatible with Windows Mixed Reality. This comes just a few short days after similar updates were pushed out for the Surface Laptop, Surface Pro, and the Surface Book.

As noted on Microsoft’s Surface Studio Update page, this is the first time in six months that a firmware update has been pushed out to the all-in-one PC. It brings no security, reliability, connectivity, or battery life changes, and only enhanced performance and compatibility. Here is what you need to know about the NVIDIA GTX driver update and Marvell Bluetooth driver pre-release update for Windows Mixed Reality support.

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX driver In Display adapters: 22.21.13.8290 required to support Windows Mixed Reality features.
• Marvell AVASTAR Bluetooth Radio Adapter in Bluetooth:15.68.9120.47 required to support Windows Mixed Reality features.
• Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller in Network adapters: 15.68.9112.23 required to support Windows Mixed Reality features.

Interestingly, Microsoft notes that it is providing these drivers as an “early preview” of the Windows Mixed Reality drivers on Surface Studio for the “early adopter community.” A finalized launch is planned soon and will be provided later via Windows Update.

As a side note, Microsoft has also put up some refurbished versions of the Surface Studio on sale. You can get an Intel Core i5 Certified Refurbished Microsoft Surface Studio for $2,549.00, which is a good $600 off the $2,999.00 price of a new unit. Other models are also available, so feel free to check it out by clicking here.

Microsoft recently kicked off the marketing campaign for the Xbox One X with a “Feel True Power” TV commercial this past Sunday but turns out there is still more room for advertising. The company is planning to run new 6-second ads during the October 29th and November 6th episodes of AMC’s The Walking Dead (via Adage.)

The 6-second spots reportedly are similar to the costs of a 15 second ad. A 30-second ad on the program is normally around $500,000. Microsoft already sponsored a live stream of “The Walking Dead” red carpet premiere event, so this is just the latest place where the company is putting its money.

As The Walking Dead season continues to roll on, fans can also expect to see more Microsoft presence and sponsorship in the preview trailers which play at the conclusion of episodes. Great to see that Microsoft is publicising its products, as the new style short burst ads likely will give the company an upper hand in the minds of consumers this holiday season.

Microsoft has announced today a new strategic alliance with Cray Inc, a global company that develops supercomputers, big data storage and analytics solutions for scientists and engineers. The new partnership is meant to bring the power of Cray’s supercomputers to Azure, making it even more interesting for Azure customers to run their most important workloads in the cloud.

“This announcement is yet another step to help our customers harness the power of HPC and AI in an agile and cost-effective way,” explained Jason Zander, corporate vice president, Microsoft Azure team in a blog post today. “At Microsoft, we believe access to Big Computing capabilities in the cloud has the power to transform many businesses and will be at the forefront of breakthrough experimentation and innovation in the decades to come.” In a separate press release, the global supercomputer leader shared more details about the new offering:

As part of the partnership agreement, the Cray® XC™  and Cray CS™ supercomputers with attached Cray ClusterStor storage systems will be available for customer-specific provisioning in select Microsoft Azure datacenters, directly connected to the Microsoft Azure network. The Cray systems easily integrate with Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Data Lake storage, the Microsoft AI platform, and Azure Machine Learning services. Customers can also leverage the Cray Urika®-XC analytics software suite and CycleCloud for hybrid HPC management.

Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray added that this new new partnership with Microsoft “gives customers the cloud-based supercomputing capabilities they need to increase their competitive advantage.” You can learn more about Cray in Azure on the company’s website.

Skype may not be the most popular messaging app out there, but it’s definitely one of the most ubiquitous ones. In addition to the web, mobile platforms, Android Wear smarwatches and Xbox One consoles, Skype is now also available on the Harman Kardon Invoke, the first ambient speaker powered by Cortana.

“The Harman Kardon Invoke speaker, with Cortana by Microsoft, is the first of these devices embedded with easy, voice-activated Skype calling to your Skype contacts, phone contacts, and local businesses,” the Skype team explained in a blog post. The Invoke includes seven far-field microphones, which can recognize voice commands in noisy environments and deliver clear, reliable voice communication with Skype.

You can use Cortana on the Invoke to place hand-free Skype-to-Skype calls, or ask the digital assistant to call any mobile or landline phone number. For a limited time, you can actually enjoy Free Skype calling from the US to mobile phones and landlines in the US, Canada and Mexico. You can see how it works in the video below:

Skype calling may not be the killer feature on the Harman Kardon Invoke, but it’s definitely nice to have. In our hands-on time with the Invoke, we were impressed by its excellent sound quality, which seems to be superior to competing products from Amazon or Google (Harman Kardon is an audio equipment manufacturer, so that’s not completely surprising). The Invoke can also connect to popular music services including Spotify, and you can also use the ambient speaker to control various smart home appliances.

The Invoke is available to purchase in the US for now, and it can be yours for $199.95. You can find it today at the US Microsoft Store, Harman Kardon’s website as well as Best Buy retail and online stores.

Over the weekend, Microsoft announced via email that Office Mix will be retired next May with PowerPoint in Office 365 instead gaining many of its features in place. Retirement will happen on May 1, 2018, and Microsoft is calling on users of the free PowerPoint extension to take action and save files now.

For those unfamiliar, Office Mix is a free extension to PowerPoint that makes it easy for everyone to turn your PowerPoint presentations into interactive online recordings. With the new integration with Office 365, there will no longer need to download the extension, as Microsoft will be putting the features into the Recording Tab in PowerPoint.

The company also has plans to allow users with qualifying accounts to migrate and publish recordings to Microsoft Stream, allowing for the uploading and sharing of videos across an organization. Microsoft is providing the following timeline for the retirement of Office Mix:

• October 20, 2017: If you have an existing Office Mix account, you’ll still be able to view, edit, publish, download, and delete your existing content. If you have a qualifying* Office 365 work or school account, you can sign in to migrate your mixes as videos to Microsoft Stream. If you don’t have access to an Office 365 work or school account, you can download your Mixes as PowerPoint files (.pptx), and you analytics data as Excel files (.xlsx) to save to a storage location of your choosing.
• January 1, 2018: You’ll no longer be able to sign up as a new user or download the Office Mix add-in from the website. Existing users who already have the Mix add-in installed will still be able to use it to upload, edit, view, and download their existing content.
• May 1, 2018: The Office Mix site and all its content will be officially discontinued. The site will no longer be accessible after that date. Any links to your Office Mix content that you previously shared with others will stop working after this date.

Please be aware that the Recording tab is only available for Office 365 subscribers on Windows PCs, so users with Macs may be missing out on Office Mix once it is retired. Microsoft is saying that the feature may be rolled out to other platforms “over time” so it’s best to keep tuned for more in the months ahead. For now, though, Office Mix users can check out this website for the complete details on what needs to be known ahead of retirement.

Microsoft To-Do, the company’s new task manager app has started to roll out to all Office 365 users, a couple of weeks after being opened to Office 365 Education accounts. Office 365 admins should now receive an email explaining how to assign licenses for Microsoft To-Do to users in their organization.

The email also says that the Microsoft To-Do Preview is “almost over,” and that the task-manager app should be on-by-default for all Office 365 users in “no less than 30 days.” From that point, To-Do will appear in the Office 365 App launcher on the web, which makes sense as the To-Do web app, accessible on to-do.microsoft.com now supports both personal Microsoft accounts and Office 365 accounts.

Microsoft To-Do is set to replace Wunderlist in the near future, and it can already import all data from this other task manager app. To-Do also integrates with Outlook Tasks (assuming you use both apps with the same account, though it’s worth noting that the app doesn’t yet support all the varied features of Outlook Tasks such as the start and end dates, task status, task completion percentage and more. “We are currently working to deepen our Outlook integration,” Microsoft explains on the support website.

Microsoft kicked off yesterday its “Feel True Power” marketing campaign for the Xbox One X, with a TV trailer that aired on The Walking Dead season premiere as well as during the kick off of the Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots NFL game. Assassin’s Creed Origins, Forza Motorsport 7, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War and PUBG all make an appearance during the one minute clip, in addition to many more games including Minecraft, Halo Wars 2 and Madden NFL 18. The commercial uses the anthemic Kanye West “Power” and you can watch it below

The Xbox One X will be released worldwide on November 7, which is just two weeks away. The $500 console will need a big marketing push to gain momentum ahead of the holiday season, but record-breaking pre-orders shows that Microsoft could well have a hit on its hands.

What are your thoughts about this new TV commercial? Do you think it does a good job at showcasing the power of the Xbox One X, or do you think Microsoft could have done better for what will be the most powerful console in the market? Let us know below.

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.

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is not playing nice with some Razer laptops

For those sporting a Razer laptop, you’re likely to experience issues running the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. According to reports, users who wake from sleep mode while on battery are reporting that peripheral devices, including the trackpad and USB devices, fail to work at all, and that updating drivers does not resolve the issue. It appears to stem from Razer not updating its drivers to support the Fall Creators Update as yet.

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update adds code to help catch game cheaters

To aid in the fight against those who cheat in games on PC, the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update brings a new feature that helps to catch game cheaters. Developers can use this feature, known as TruePlay, to know if a player has cheated, and take appropriate action. All processing is done in a protected process and only developers have access to it. Here’s a description of the feature:

A game enrolled in TruePlay will run in a protected process, which mitigates a class of common attacks. Additionally, a Windows service will monitor gaming sessions for behaviors and manipulations that are common in cheating scenarios. These data will be collected, and alerts will be generated only when cheating behavior appears to be occurring. To ensure and protect customer privacy while preventing false positives, these data are only shared with developers after processing has determined cheating is likely to have occurred.

Windows 10’s Edge browser FINALLY gets a fullscreen mode

While Microsoft Edge has supported fullscreen for YouTube and other video providers since its launch, it’s not had a fullscreen feature similar to Internet Explorer until now. Unlike Internet Explorer’s fullscreen mode however, users will need to exit fullscreen to perform a search or enter a new web address. Below is how to use the fullscreen functionality:

• To turn on the new fullscreen mode in Edge, simply expand the … menu in the top-right corner and click on the arrow icon next to Zoom.
• To exit fullscreen mode in Edge, users can swipe down from the top of the screen, if on a touch-enabled Windows 10 device, and press the arrow icon or move the mouse cursor to the top-right corner of the screen to reveal it.
• Fullscreen can also be turned on and off by pressing the F11 key when the Fn key is activated.

Windows 10 3D printing support brings Minecraft creations to real life

Windows 10 has supported 3D printing support for a while, but due to the cost of 3D printing, few have made use of it. Now, as 3D printing is becoming somewhat more affordable, Microsoft is touting how the 3D printing functionality in Windows 10 can now be used to print Minecraft objects.

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

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!

Delta to move flight crew to Apple devices, while General Electric moves employees to mobile Apple devices and recommends Mac for desktop

As Microsoft has officially put its mobile platform, Windows 10 Mobile and Windows phone, into maintenance mode, it appears that this decision is affecting some of its enterprise customers, as both Delta and General Electric are moving devices away from Windows, instead to Apple’s iOS. Delta is to provide its flight crew with iOS devices, while General Electric will promote Mac as its preferred system, as well as provide iOS and iPad devices to its employees for mobility.

Microsoft Teams bumps the team membership limit from 999 to 2,500

The maximum team membership of a Team in Microsoft’s work communication tool has been increased from 999 to 2,500, allowing larger businesses to make better use of Microsoft Teams by having more of their employees in the same team.

Guess what #MicrosoftTeams fans? Your team membership limit just went from 999 to 2,500. https://t.co/GZEeQUHVs0

— Suphatra Rufo (@skprufo) October 18, 2017

Microsoft pokes Google for its handling of exploits

Microsoft recently discovered a security exploit in Google’s Chrome browser, but rather than taking Google’s stance of publishing details of the exploit before the company has fixed it, Microsoft allowed Google to patch the exploit beforehand, then took a dig at Google in the differences in strategy for handling exploits.

Our strategies may differ, but we believe in collaborating across the security industry in order to help protect customers. This includes disclosing vulnerabilities to vendors through Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD), and partnering throughout the process of delivering security fixes.

Microsoft received 25,367 legal requests from law enforcement for customer information in the first half of 2017

In the first half of 2017, Microsoft received 25,367 legal requests from law enforcement asking for customer information from around the world, with the United States and United Kingdom remaining the top 2 countries to make the most requests. This marks a slight decrease from the previous 6-month period.

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

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.

The Fall Creators Update rolls out to everyone

We’ve been waiting for a while, but it’s here. Accompanying the arrival of the update on all Windows 10 PC’s, the Fall Creators Update has launched on Xbox One. With the update comes the new dashboard, as well as a ton of features to help tune up the Xbox One experience. Additionally, this update brings with it the rebrand of the Xbox Store into the “Microsoft Store,” bringing it in line with other Microsoft devices.

Original Xbox games listing on the Xbox One

We’ve known for a while that original Xbox games are going to be coming to the Xbox One for Backward Compatibility, but it’s so far been up in the air when that’s going to happen. While we still don’t have a solid date for when that compatibility is going to arrive, we can now see listings for a ton of original Xbox games alongside everything else in the Microsoft Store. Chances are, this means that Original Xbox Backward Compatibility is imminent.

Microsoft launches new advertising campaign for Xbox One X

This Sunday, Microsoft will unveil the first of a new line of trailers going by the name “Feel True Power.” The general layout of the teaser should remind a lot of fans of the Project Scorpio teasers released a while back, as it’s pretty much exactly the same. It shows someone in a dark room with an Xbox One X controller, and then goes on to flash a bunch of clips from upcoming 4k-enabled games.

Fans design new UI’s after mixed reviews on the new user experience

The Fall Creators Update came with a totally redesigned user experience. As with any big change in UI, the reception so far has been mixed, to say the least. A lot of fans have been so far unimpressed with the new Xbox One experience, so one Reddit user decided to create their own mock-up of what the home screen should look like. Honestly, this one looks really well-made, and I wouldn’t mind having it implemented if that were possible.

Brazilians can get a free month of Xbox Game Pass if they donate blood

In one of the weirdest promotions I think I’ve ever seen Xbox do, Brazilians who decide to donate blood are being given a free month of Xbox Game Pass. The unlikely partnership has Xbox users go out and give blood, upload their blood donation certificate online, and get a code for their free month online. As weird as it is, this promotion should really help some people. So… We’ll take it?

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

Following quickly in the footsteps of yesterday’s news when airline Delta announced it is moving its flight crew to iPhone’s and iPad’s, away from Microsoft Surface and Windows phone, now General Electric, the 13th largest company in the US, is moving 330,000 employees away from Windows (via Apple’s Newsroom).

General Electric will allow employees to use Mac’s if they wish to do so, but will standardise its mobility on iPhone’s and iPad’s, showing that Microsoft’s retreat in the mobile field is hurting it elsewhere. Apple and General Electric, under a new partnership, will build a number of standardised internal apps, as well as apps for GE’s customers. It is hoped that with Apple’s connected ecosystem that spans desktop and mobile, employees will find it far easier to make use of the offerings available to them, as well as reduce the burden on their IT help desk.

In a further blow to Microsoft, that shows consumer-side also affects enterprise and vice versa, General Electric will actively promote Mac as a preferred option to all of its 330,000 employees.

Microsoft is expanding its reach into the vibrant city of Green Bay in Wisconsin. While it’s not looking to open up any branded offices in the area, the Redmond giant is looking to partner with the National Football Leagues hometown Green Bay Packers to partially fund a new “innovation hub.”

According to VentureBeat, the Packers and Microsoft will be investing upwards of $10 million into a project called Titletown Tech, with the latter scheduled to fund five million over the next five years.

Titletown, as envisioned, will be a 45-acre combination of recreational development and business offices that rest just west of the Packers Lambeau Field stadium.

Titletown joins Microsoft’s portfolio of TechSpark communities that span across various states in the US and company president Brad Smith spoke with VentureBeat about what the program is planned to achieve.

“By combining the Green Bay Packers’ deep community engagement with Microsoft’s technology expertise, TitletownTech represents a one-of-a kind partnership.”

As the state of Wisconsin paces behind other startup rich locations in the US, Microsoft’s TechSpark community initiative and participation seemingly arrives at just the right time for companies looking to expand east of Seattle and San Francisco.

In a company blog post, Microsoft further outlines its TechSpark expansion goals which include funding initiatives in six states that include North Dakota, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, Virgina and of course Wisconsin.

Sometime next Fall Titletown is scheduled to be completed and with it brings an opportunity for both the community and Microsoft to engage in the five areas of the company’s TechSpark goals which include fostering transformative digital initiatives, bolstering digital skills and interests in computer sciences, worthwhile internships/apprenticeships and easing the financial cost of technology-based pursuits.

There will be several more rounds of VC funding opportunities for other companies who want a foot in the door to Wisconsin’s next big venture, as $10 million is only a drop in the bucket compared to the well-oiled machine of Silicon Valley.

Chandler Riggs is next to appear on the latest installment of Xbox Live Sessions. Hosted on the Xbox’s channel on Mixer, Xbox Live Sessions livestreams feature a new celebrity in each episode. Last time, Xbox Live Sessions featured professional drivers Tanner Foust and Josef Newgarden playing Forza Motorsport 7. This time around, Riggs, who plays Carl Grimes on AMC’s The Walking Dead, will play The Evil Within 2 on Xbox One.

Riggs will appear on Xbox Live Sessions on Saturday, October 21, at 6:00 PM PDT. Then on Sunday, October 22, Riggs will continue his role as Carl Grimes in The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere on October 22 on AMC. Riggs is excited to play The Evil Within 2 on Xbox One as he is no stranger to survival horror.

“It’s super fitting to join Xbox Live Sessions to play this awesome, but scary and mysterious game, given my role on “The Walking Dead” and with Season 8 premiering Sunday night. I can’t wait to play The Evil Within 2 and interact with my fans, and hope everyone has a great time!”

As always, Xbox fans who watch the livestream will be able to win special Xbox prizes. Riggs will be joined by Microsoft Studios Community Manager, Rukari Austin, as the host of this Xbox Live Session. Microsoft and Xbox hope to see you on tomorrow at 6:00 PM on Mixer for a very special Halloween-themed Xbox Live Sessions live stream.