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Exclusive Fortnite skin for new Xbox bundle makes makes you look like an Xbox

Microsoft is following Nintendo with its very own Fortnite console bundle that comes with a 1TB white Xbox One S, some free in-game currency, and a full-game download of Epic Games’ battle royale hit. (Of course, the game is free for everyone, but Microsoft is still touting the game download as a bundle perk.) The more rewarding aspects of the bundle, however, are the exclusive skin, pickaxe, and glider. It’s called the Eon skin, and it comes with a Epic Aurora glider, and Rare Resonator pickaxe. Visually, it makes you look like a giant humanoid Xbox controller pretty much. Or a silver Master Chief, if you’re being a bit more generous. The whole bundle goes for $299.99, so a solid deal for a 1TB Xbox One S. Since Samsung tied its Galaxy Note 9 launch to Fortnite ’s Android availability , complete with a Note 9-exclusive skin, it seems more hardware makers want in on Epic’s in-game costume gold mine. Most of Fortnite ’s more than $300 million monthly revenue comes from the purchas

Microsoft announces Xbox One keyboard and mouse support with Razer partnership

Microsoft is enabling keyboard and mouse support on the Xbox One. Select Xbox testers will be able to trial this new support in the coming weeks, and Microsoft is teaming up with Razer so Xbox One users can purchase hardware that taps into the company’s Chroma lighting effects. Most wired and wireless USB keyboards and mice will work on the Xbox One, and it will be up to developers to support this in games. “Mouse and keyboard input is not enabled by default for games,” explains Jason Ronald, director of program management for Xbox. Each development team knows their titles best and we support them in creating the right experience for their games as they see fit, to ensure an optimal and fair gaming experience.” This fair experience of keyboard and mouse vs. Controller will be key for developers to get right in the console world. PC users typically have a movement advantage over players with controllers in games like first-person shooters. Microsoft has been working closely with big

Google is adding much more helpful search to Android Messages

After giving the app a fresh coat of paint and a new dark mode in recent weeks, Google is now adding some helpful features to Android Messages. In a blog post today , the company showed off a more powerful search experience that users will start seeing this week, which will let them find specific content types (images, videos, etc.) spanning all conversations or on an individual-chat basis. So you’ll be able to tap on someone’s name and scroll down a sleek list of messages, media, and even locations that you and the other person have exchanged. This is the sort of useful organization and decluttering that’s pretty common in other messaging apps, but for those who find themselves using SMS often, it’s nice to see Google making things a little more intuitive. Google has much bigger plans for Messages, of course. The best parts of “Chat,” the company’s vision for a world where messaging is powered by RCS , are still to come. from The Verge - Teches https://ift.tt/2QXzNSn

Google is lifting its ban on cryptocurrency advertising next month

Google will resume accepting cryptocurrency-related online advertising after previously banning such ads earlier this year, according to a report from CNBC today . Lifting the ban will allow regulated crypto exchanges to purchase ads through Google’s platform in the US and Japan starting next month. The original ban was announced in March , amid a wave of high-profile initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other crypto activity that made it difficult to distinguish between over-hyped or outright fraudulent ventures and legitimate ones. Google still plans to reject ads for ICOs, which are loosely regulated fundraising efforts, and ads for crypto wallets and trading advice, reports CNBC. It’s unclear why Google is lifting its ban now, but it would appear that the company thinks the crypto hype over skyrocketing digital currency values and all of the negative side effects associated with that has died down. Facebook, which put in place the first large-scale crypto advertising ban back in Ja