Author Archives: Eric Abent

While Microsoft's Windows Phone ambitions are well and truly dead at this point, there was a time when the company was plotting a follow-up to the ill-fated mobile operating system. That follow-up was known internally as Andromeda OS, and it was being developed as the operating system for the Surface Duo. Sadly, Microsoft's plan to create a version of Windows for dual-screen devices never saw the light of day, but today we're getting a look at an internal build of Andromeda OS and what could have been.

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Throughout the week, Microsoft's buyout of Activision Blizzard has been a constant talking point. There's been a lot of talk about Activision Blizzard games being exclusive to Xbox platforms once the acquisition completes and no concrete answers from Microsoft. While Xbox boss Phil Spencer has issued a new statement on the matter, what he had to say is anything but clear.

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In the wake of the news that Microsoft has entered an agreement to purchase Activision Blizzard, a lot of us undoubtedly have questions about what this acquisition means for players on other platforms. Specifically, we're guessing that PlayStation players are wondering what this means not only for the future of Activision Blizzard games on their platform of choice, but also what will happen to existing titles. While we're pretty sure we already know the answer to the first question, we now have a concrete answer to the second one.

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Today, the UK-based Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) announced plans to put a movie studio in space. This studio, called the SEE-1, will be a module attached to Axiom's planned commercial space station, but the studio itself will be ready to go long before construction on Axiom Station is complete. In fact, Space Entertainment Enterprise intends to launch this studio is late 2024, so just under three years from now.

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Fans of Traveller's Tales' LEGO games have been waiting a long time for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. First revealed in 2019, The Skywalker Saga never had a concrete release date, but at one point, we were expecting it to arrive sometime in the first half of 2021. Then, in April 2021, Traveller's Tales announced that the game had been delayed, offering no new release date for the title. After waiting the better part of a year, we finally have a release date for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

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Siri's voice is probably one many of us are familiar with. Many iPhone users speak to Siri on a daily basis, but have you ever wondered where Siri's voice comes from? While these days Apple uses fancy machine learning and computer speech to generate Siri's tone and inflection, back in the virtual assistant's early days, her voice was based on a real person. We almost never found out who that real person is, either, and if Apple had anything to say about it, we probably still wouldn't know.

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It's been a big Tuesday for the game industry. This morning, Microsoft announced that it has entered a deal to purchase Activision Blizzard, the largest third-party games publisher in the world. Microsoft is paying nearly $70 billion for Activision Blizzard, making the $7.5 billion it paid for ZeniMax Media and its subsidiaries a year ago look like a paltry sum.

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Opera today announced the beta launch of its new "Crypto Browser Project." As you might imagine, Opera's Crypto Browser comes with a built-in, native cryptocurrency wallet, and while that might be an obvious talking point for it, the browser is also a way for Opera to jumpstart its Web3 ambitions. While the browser is launching in beta today on a handful of platforms, Opera has also outlined the way forward as it moves through this beta test.

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Yesterday, Microsoft dropped a whopper of an announcement, revealing that it's paying nearly $70 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard. The acquisition comes at a controversial time for Activision Blizzard, as it finds itself in the middle of a sexual harassment and abuse scandal that has resulted in several high-profile departures. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has resisted calls for his resignation or firing throughout this scandal, which begs the question: Now that Microsoft is taking over, what happens to him?

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Fortnite was updated to version 19.10 today, and it seems this patch is a big one. Not only does this update add giant, scaleable beasts called Klombos to the game, but we're also seeing the return of a fan-favorite point-of-interest with Tilted Towers. Yes, it seems the rumors were true and Tilted Towers is returning, so get ready for that to be a popular drop location once more.

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Those of us who thought Microsoft was done with big money gaming purchases after its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media last year were sorely mistaken, it seems. Today, Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion. With this acquisition, a lot of popular game franchises will come under the ownership of Microsoft, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and even Candy Crush.

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Nearly five years on, it's safe to say the Nintendo Switch is a success. According to Nintendo sales data, the Switch has come dangerously close to selling 100 million units worldwide, with almost 700 million software units sold to boot. Not only will the Switch soon take its place in the 100-million-sellers club -- a club few home consoles have joined -- but it has the potential to become one of the best-selling game platforms of all time. 

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