Software

The upcoming expansion for Creative Assembly's Total War: Rome II is called "Rise of the Republic" and will launch in early August as a full prequel campaign for the game. This US$16.99 pack comes with a full map of Italy — including Rome's ancient enemy, Carthage — and is set in 399 BC.

At the Inspire partner show this week, Microsoft executives talked about plans to bring back consumers into their fold with the inclusion of Gaming and Modern Life under the Modern Life Services umbrella in Microsoft's core digital solutions across the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. The idea is to make these services attractive for professional consumers with the goal of making them even more productive.

The last of Siri's co-founders, Tom Gruber, has announced his retirement from Apple. Siri was acquired by Apple in 2010 but two of its founders left in the succeeding years. The news comes in the wake of Apple recently appointing Google's former head of Machine Intelligence, John Giannandrea, as Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Once a very popular Android launcher, Apex Launch has just become an example of how not to do things for the developers of such apps. The latest update reduced the number of settings available, and some of those that have not been eliminated have been completely changed. All in all, Apex Launch is now one of those launchers that any user should avoid.

The upcoming free campaign and content update for Sea of Thieves is called "Cursed Sails" and will go live on July 31. The three-week campaign will bring skeleton ships to challenge players on the seas and bring terror to outposts. Fortunately, those who will not be able to take part in the campaign will be able to enjoy the new content in the future as well.

Although the new story content will be playable starting on July 25 and the Battle of Azeroth update is set to arrive on August 14, the pre-patch can be downloaded already. World of Warcraft 8.0.1 comes with multiple changes, including an updated PvP Honor and Prestige system, the ability to create and join cross-realm social groups, updated classes and specializations, and more.

ATARI's classic arcade game Tempest that was released in October 1981 is making a return as Eat Electric Death! Tempest 4000 with new features and 4K graphics. This title is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PCs for US$20 or US$30 — depending on the market and platform, of course.

Although the Android 8.1 Oreo update for the Xiaomi Mi A1 started to roll out last month, it was quickly stopped after the discovery of an SMS bug. Back then, most markets did not even receive it, so now it is the first time for most users of this successful Android One handset when the update reaches them.

A new deep learning AI algorithm developed by MIT CSAIL called PixelPlayer can isolate soundwaves of individual instruments in a video by recognizing the pixels from where the sound is coming thus enabling tuning of individual frequencies. MIT says the system is 'self-supervised' and doesn't require any human annotations.

Dominic Maas has developed an extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox that enables users of these browsers to sync their activity across devices via Windows Timeline. Among browsers, Microsoft Edge is the only one with Timeline support as it requires developers to enable explicit support for Microsoft Graph in their apps.

Huawei will be rolling out its GPU Turbo software update to select devices starting this August. GPU Turbo aims to improve graphics processing by 60% and reduce power consumption by 30% but Huawei is yet to prove its claims in the real world. The update initially supports PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang with support for more titles in the pipeline.

The Battlefield V Closed Alpha stage has just reached its final day and now this title is ready for the next step. According to DICE, the Open Beta for Battlefield V will go live in the first part of September. The full game is scheduled to launch mid-October for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

The Darksiders 3 studio, namely Gunfire Games, is now working on a brand-new title, the third-person survival-action shooter Remnant: From the Ashes. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future and involves interdimensional fights with a mysterious race called The Root. If everything works as planned, the game should launch next year.

Xiaomi's upcoming Android One Mi A2 was listed on a Polish retail website yesterday alongside a smaller Lite variant. The listings give us a better idea of what to expect from the devices, with the A2 Lite looking to be a rebranded Redmi 6 Pro.

Earlier today, PUBG Mobile 0.7.0 beta was still receiving new players. Sadly, at the time of publishing this piece, all available spots have been taken already. The good part is that new players will be accepted later, so this early access program is definitely one to keep an eye on.

After the changes brought by the post-meteor strike Season 4, Season 5 of Fortnite is now on its way and will kick off on July 12 at 4 AM EDT (08:00 GMT). The strange rift events that have started to appear after the recent in-game missile launch will probably play a role in Season 5 as well, but the details are not public yet.

A typo in the build script of AOSP-based custom ROMs for the Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones is reportedly causing the photo uploads from Google Camera to count against the Google Photos storage limit. The bug, however, is fixed now and users running custom ROMs on first gen Pixel phones should be able to use the unlimited Google Photos storage as usual.

A post of Xiaomi’s MIUI forums has revealed what devices will receive the MIUI 10 update. Of course, only a select few of those devices will receive a MIUI 10 based on Android Oreo.

The LG G6 is currently receiving its Oreo update. This is an update to Android 8.0 and, considering how long it’s taken to be sent out, will likely be the only major update the last-gen flagship receives.

The mid-range version of the Moto Z flagship, Lenovo's Moto Z Play has been unveiled back in August 2016 with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow onboard. Now, the Verizon Wireless variant of this Qualcomm Snapdragon 625-powered smartphone is finally receiving the long-awaited Android 8.0 Oreo update.

At Computex 2018, HDMI showed off some new features of the HDMI 2.1 specification on the Xbox One X. The Xbox One X will be the first device to support HDMI 2.1 features such as Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). These features will be coming in an upcoming firmware update to the console and will require compatible TVs for the same.

The Blackberry KEYone received a maintenance update prepping it for Android Oreo a few weeks ago, and now a document has been revealed that shows the device penned down to start receiving the Android 8.0 Oreo update on June 28.

Designer Director of Undead Labs (recently acquired by Microsoft), makers of the hit game State of Decay 2, Richard Foge, feels that Microsoft is not fooling around when it comes to providing first rate gaming experiences to its customers. He feels that the company will continue to innovate with the best games and hardware and grow the highly successful State of Decay franchise.

Apple just released the first public Beta of iOS 12. Committed Apple users can download the Beta for free from Apple's site, but be warned - as beta software, there are quite a few bugs still being worked out. Still, this is the only way to get some of the new features in iOS 12 for free.

The OxygenOS 5.1.6 and 5.1.8 updates to the OnePlus 6 has caused a number of users to experience weird battery behaviors, with some claiming their devices now offer half the regular screen-on time.

Those who love certain Huawei and Honor devices but cannot stand the company's custom interface, EMUI, can run stock Android thanks to a new project called OpenKirin. The list of supported devices currently includes no less than 17 phones and tablets loaded with EMUI 8 by default.

Earlier this week, Google silently introduced a feature that is supposed to increase the security of the Android platform by adding a string of metadata to all APK files. As long as Google does not go DRM-crazy the same way Electronic Arts did on a few occasions, everything should be fine.

As incredible as it may seem, Windows 7 still offered support for pre-2000 processors until recently, when Microsoft confirmed that machines without SSE2 support must be upgraded to continue receiving updates for the operating system. Back in March, the company mentioned that a workaround for non-SSE2 processors was under development.

Huawei's customer support has announced that the Huawei P9 will not get the update to Android Oreo. This comes after the company sent out beta updates to users of the devices in China last month.

The Honor 10 and Honor View 10 are great camera devices by their own rights but didn't come with any form of image stabilization out of the box. Both devices are currently receiving a security update that brings that feature, however.

Five years after the latest redesign and relaunch, the MSN News service gets a new design and a new name: Microsoft News. Microsoft News now features a dark theme, an impressive collection of curated news, as well as quick and accurate notifications. The mobile app is available for iOS and Android, but there are also versions for Windows 10 and the Web.

The Californian AI firm Bonsai achieved a few major breakthroughs in the field of industrial machine learning over the last years and will be joining Microsoft to help the latter in building better autonomous systems. As it usually happens with such deals, the financial terms have not been unveiled.

Facebook-owned Instagram has launched IGTV — a new app for sharing and viewing videos on the platform. IGTV enables users to take vertical full screen videos that can last up to an hour with each creator being the channel. Users can follow other creators or upload their own videos to IGTV.

Xiaomi launched the new iteration of its skin, MIUI 10, a short while ago. While most devices will receive the skin update, it doesn't guarantee an OS update to Oreo.

The LG Stylo 4's kernel source code has revealed the existence of an Android One device made by the company. This will be the first of its kind from LG, and could very well be a T-Mobile exclusive.

Although Google Play Music began offering podcasts a few years ago, the internet search giant did not offer a standalone podcast player until now. Google Podcasts is a free Android app that integrates with Google Assistant across multiple devices and provides personalized recommendations to its users.

AMD will be providing Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition driver updates for its 'Raven Ridge' APUs in a quarterly cadence as opposed to more frequent updates for its Radeon GPUs. This was clarified by an AMD rep to a user's query on the OverclockersUK forum. The drivers, however, will be delivered as WHQL certified releases.

Adobe announced a new cross-platform video editing app codenamed Project Rush. Project Rush brings the best features of industry leading software such as Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition along with access to Adobe Stock into one seamless interface.

Back in January 2017, Google decided to integrate Uber into the popular Maps service. Now, this feature has been silently removed without any prior warning. There is no official reason for this move yet, but it is very likely that this move involves financial disagreements between Google and Uber.

Available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, Android-x86 8.1-rc1 brings Android 8.1 Oreo to most devices that have not been designed with this mobile operating system in mind, including desktops and portable computers. However, this version is the first release candidate build and comes with a few issues.

The Westworld game for mobile devices is supposed to launch officially on June 21st, but it can be downloaded, installed, and played already in some markets. This title is similar to Fallout Shelter and involves many characters and locations that are familiar for the fans of the Westworld TV series.

A fatal vulnerability has been discovered on the new OnePlus 6, one that allows the flashing of unsigned boot images on the device even when the bootloader is locked.

Available for Android and iOS until now, SwiftKey is ready for Windows 10. Windows Insiders in the Fast ring and those who opted in to Skip Ahead can use this popular virtual keyboard app in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17692. The list of languages supported includes English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portugues, and Russian.

The first new entry in the Quake family of first-person shooters since Quake 4 — which arrived back in 2005 — Quake Champions can be downloaded via Steam as a free-to-play trial and those who sign up until June 18 can keep playing after the official launch as well. Early access has been available for US$30 since August 2017.

Earlier this week, Android Oreo for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge finally made its way to users on AT&T and Verizon. This will be the last major update the devices receive, with support set to end completely in Q1 2019.

Apple's App Store Review Guidelines have recently been updated with a section dedicated to cryptocurrencies. In sum, Apple's app stores (iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS) will no longer allow apps that create or generate cryptocurrencies. Crypto wallets and trading apps are still kosher to distribute, but the rules surrounding these kinds of apps have become much more strict.

In addition to the upcoming release on the Xbox One, this major update for Gaijin Entertainment's popular cross-platform vehicular combat MMO title also includes various "X items" like the Fritz-X guided bomb, the AMX-40 and XM-1 tanks, and more. War Thunder 1.79 is now rolling out to Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Shield Android TV.

Compared to the cinematic trailer that has been available for a while, the first Shadow of the Tomb Raider gameplay trailer comes with more action and landscapes, as well as a lot of water. The game is being developed by Eidos Montreal and will hit Windows PCs, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles on September 14.

After 20 years since its 1998 release as Yahoo Pager, today's Yahoo Messenger — a Verizon property starting in 2017 — will be shut down in about five weeks. Although there is no official replacement for this iconic product, its successor might be Squirrel, a messaging app which is currently being tested by a few chosen ones.

Microsoft has announced plans to introduce a game-streaming service that will deliver high-quality gaming to a broad range of devices. The as yet unnamed service will be a major entry into the cloud gaming industry and demonstrates a willingness for innovation that is normally associated with the Redmond-based company’s rival in Cupertino.