If you're a Gmail user on iOS, then today is an exciting day. Google has pushed an update to the iOS version of Gmail with some exciting patch notes: Gmail can now be set as your default email app. It seems strange that it's taken until iOS 14 for this feature to roll out, but as the saying goes: better late than never.
On the heels of the announcements of new smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Garmin Forerunner 745, Amazfit has its own wearable reveal to make. Today the company announced the Amazfit Band 5, a new smart band that has a number of fitness tracking features. It's no Apple Watch, but that's true of both its feature set and its price.
Earlier today, Microsoft announced plans to purchase ZeniMax Media in a deal that's massive in every sense of the word. Microsoft is shelling out $7.5 billion to own ZeniMax and its subsidiaries such as Bethesda, id Software, Machine Games, and Arkane Studios, which means that once the deal is complete, Microsoft will own the Fallout, Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein IPs (among others). With ZeniMax and its properties joining the Xbox Game Studios umbrella, there's a big question about the future of these game franchises and the existing exclusivity deals with companies other than Microsoft.
Microsoft has been teasing the arrival of a new Xbox mobile app for some time now, and today is the big day. Microsoft has launched its new Xbox app on Android, and while the app is in beta for now, it sounds like it's already capable of quite a bit. This app brings Microsoft one step closer to unifying the Xbox experience ahead of the launch of the Xbox Series X/S in November.
Microsoft has announced a whopper of an acquisition, revealing this morning that it has entered into an agreement to purchase ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash. While not as massive as other major players like Electronic Arts or Activision, ZeniMax Media is still a very big publisher in its own right, with a fairly long list of subsidiaries that includes Bethesda Softworks, Arkane Studios, and id Software.
Logitech today announced the MX Anywhere 3, a wireless, compact mouse that’s meant to be taken on the go and used across multiple machines. Despite being significantly smaller, the MX Anywhere 3 borrows some features from the MX Master 3, including the mouse’s MagSpeed scroll wheel that’s built out of machined steel. In a few ways, the MX Anywhere 3 seems to be a smaller counterpart to the MX Master 3.
Following the release of its small-scale title The Last Campfire, Hello Games made a surprise announcement for No Man's Sky fans today. As it turns out, the developer is nearly ready to launch a new update for No Man's Sky, this one dubbed Origins. There aren't a whole lot of details about the Origins update yet, but with it slated to arrive next week, it won't be long until we find out more.
By this point, many PC gaming enthusiasts have noticed that there's a severe lack of GeForce RTX 3080 cards out there. The GPUs launched earlier this week to a lot of excitement and seemingly sold out everywhere immediately. This includes on NVIDIA's website, where it offers Founders Editions of its new graphics cards. In fact, once the 3080 launched, NVIDIA's stock sold out so fast that many of those who were signed up for email notifications never even had a chance.
With Cyberpunk 2077 on the horizon, CD Projekt Red has revealed the minimum and recommended PC specifications for the game. While a lot of PC gaming enthusiasts are probably hoping to have one of NVIDIA's new RTX 30-series cards by the time Cyberpunk 2077 releases in November, stock issues on release suggest that it could be some time before most people who want to buy are able to. If stock shortages of the new RTX cards have you worried, you can check out how your current rig stacks up with the specifications below.
The feud between Epic Games and Apple has claimed another victim - Fortnite: Save the World on Mac. Epic has revealed that Apple is blocking its ability to sign "games and patches for distribution on Mac," which means that development on the Mac version of Save the World has essentially come to a halt. In just a few days, Epic says, Fortnite: Save the World will become unplayable on macOS.
Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed precisely when Xbox Series X pre-orders will be opening. The date and time to remember is September 22nd at 8AM PDT/11AM EDT, and those looking to order either an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S will definitely want to write that down, because we're guessing that pre-orders will sell out quickly. Microsoft has also shared a comprehensive list of retailers that will be offering Xbox Series X/S pre-orders, covering a number of regions around the world.
Throughout Sony's marketing push for the PlayStation 5, one big question mark has been backward compatibility. Microsoft has made a big deal of backward compatibility in this generation and will continue that focus in the next, promising that all games which are currently playable on Xbox One will be playable on Xbox Series X as well. While Sony has indicated that many PlayStation 4 games will be playable on PlayStation 5, it's been somewhat vague about its plans for older consoles.