As the Right to Repair movement picks up steam, a group of Microsoft investors filed a resolution in June, asking the company to look at the social and environmental impact of making its Surface and Xbox hardware easier to repair. Now Microsoft has agreed to do just that, promising to commission an independent study and […]
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Lilbits: Steam Deck, game streaming, and Google and Apple antitrust news and analysis
The Valve Steam Deck handheld gaming computer is set to begin shipping to customers in December. But it’s an unusual device for a bunch of reasons. It has a form factor that’s not quite like any other gaming computer, thanks to Valve’s built-in game controllers and trackpads. And it ships with the Linux-based Steam OS […]
Android app support could be coming to Xbox as well as Windows 11 PCs
Windows 11 is scheduled to ship on October 5, 2021 and it’ll bring a bunch of changes including a refreshed user interface, new window-snapping behavior and a brand new Start Menu. One feature that won’t be ready to go on day one? Support for running Android applications on Windows PCs. Microsoft says it plans to begin […]
Microsoft brings game streaming to Xbox app for Windows
The promise of game streaming technology is that you don’t need a console or a high-end gaming PC to play games. Instead, powerful remote servers do the heavy lifting, allowing you to play games on a phone, tablet, smart TV, or just about any other device… including a PC. When Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service […]
Crowdfunding: xScreen portable display turns the xBox Series S into a gaming laptop (sans the battery)
There’s no shortage of portable displays that you can plug into a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or other gear when you need some extra screen space on the go. And theoretically there’s nothing stopping you from plugging those screens into an xBox or any other game console. But the new xScreen is a portable display designed just […]
Lilbits: More Windows 11 details leaked and Amazon’s war on fraudulent product reviews
A day after folks started digging into a leaked build of Windows 11, more details about the next version of Windows are starting to emerge. First of all, despite some significant changes to the taskbar, start menu, and other UI elements, the operating system is largely the same as Windows 10 under the hood. Second, […]
Microsoft will bring Xbox cloud gaming to smart TVs (as well as its own streaming devices)
The idea behind Microsoft’s Xbox cloud gaming service is that you can stream games from the internet, allowing you to play Xbox titles without, you know, an Xbox game console. Up until recently that’s meant you could stream games to an Android phone or tablet. But in April Microsoft began rolling out a web app […]
Lilbits: New chips from Apple, Intel, and AMD plus little PCs, both new and old
A small desktop computer that went on sale in China recently is powered by a previously unannounced AMD processor that sure looks like it could be a version of the chip used for the latest Xbox game consoles. Perhaps this is what’s happening to chips that didn’t quite make the cut. Rival chip maker Intel […]
Lilbits: Computex and Cortana canceled (kinda), postmarketOS updated, and streaming Xbox games to smartphones
The global COVID-19 vaccination rollout is underway, but so is the spread of new, more contagious variants of disease. So it’s unclear when things will get back to “normal,” whatever that means. But one thing seems pretty clear at this point: June is probably too soon to hold an international trade show that typically brings […]
$299 Xbox One S and $499 Xbox One X coming in November (pre-order Sept 22)
It’s been nearly six month since Microsoft revealed detailed specs for the Xbox Series X game console. Now the company has also revealed the price, release date, and… a cheaper model called the Xbox Series S. The new game consoles go up for pre-order September 22, 2020 for $499 and $299, respectively. And they should […]