Playstation 4 Exclusive Until Dawn has Gone Gold: Supermassive Games

Supermassive Games has announced that the upcoming survival-horror Playstation 4 exclusive, Until Dawn will face no more delays and has gone gold.

The confirmation comes via Supermassive Games official Twitter feed which reads:

We already knew that the game is scheduled to release on Aug. 25, 2015 in North America and on Aug. 28, 2015 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Still this is a welcome news as it shuns all possibilities of a delay.

The game was originally being developed for Playstation 3 having Playstation Movie functionality, but was delayed and announced as a Playstation 4 exclusive.

Among other things, it has been reported that the game will benefit from Dualshock 4 functionalitywhich will allow players to make choices by simply tiling the controller in different directions.

In related Until Dawn news, the developer has confirmed that the game will remain a pure singleplayer experience despite the ongoing rumors of a multiplayer component. To read up more, head over to the post!

Looking forward to experience Until Dawn later this month? Let us know in the comments section below!

World of Tanks Launches On Xbox One With Cross Platform Play

World of Tanks is available on Xbox One. Custom built for the platform, World of Tanks on Xbox One fully harnesses the power of the console and brings a world first to gamers with cross-platform play between the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions of the game. With the addition of enhanced graphics and a new Player versus Environment (PVE) mode, the new generation of tank warfare has at last arrived.

World of Tanks on Xbox One delivers a first-to-market function for console tankers with never before seen cross-platform multiplayer tank battles on Xbox. Furthermore, with a single Xbox Live account sign-in between the two platforms all tech tree progress and in-game research is preserved, no matter which Xbox console a player is using to access the fight.

"Across all platforms, World of Tanks has one of the most dedicated online communities of players and we are expanding that community as we break new ground with this revolutionary cross-platform play functionality on consoles," stated Denny Thorley, SVP of product development, Wargaming, "With this technological innovation we are able to bridge the battle between Xbox One and Xbox 360 tankers, and we're excited to offer players their first-ever opportunity to play across the two, together and seamlessly."

World of Tanks cross-platform gameplay delivers another innovation with voice chat between platforms and shared achievements through a single Xbox Live account. The game also ramps up the combat with enhanced graphics and lingering battle damage thanks to the heightened Havok damage physics.

The all-new "Proving Grounds" PVE mode also debuts, providing the perfect entry point for new tankers and an excellent practice arena for existing tankers. Finally, players will be able to share every glorious victory via the full slate of social and streaming support offered on the Xbox One platform.

Will you be downloading World of Tanks on Xbox One? Will you be bringing over your file from the Xbox 360? Take a look at the trailer below and tell us what you think.

Play as the Terminator if you want to live in 'WWE 2K16'

WWE 2K16, the latest installment in Take-Two's yearly wrestling franchise, will feature a familiar face stretched around a nigh-indestructible metal skeleton: the Terminator, as portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. The Terminator is a playable character inWWE 2K16, but only for those who pre-order the game on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One or Xbox 360. Pre-orders are live now and the game is due to hit shelves on October 27th, just in time to perfect your "Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator as a wrestler in a WWE video game" Halloween costume.

In other WWE gaming news, long-time series participant Hulk Hogan will not make an appearance in WWE 2K16, following reports of a video where he describes himself as a racist and uses the n-word. A 2K Sports representative confirmed Hogan's removal to gaming and culture site Polygon last week. Our dreams of a Terminator-Hulk Hogan death match are shattered once more.

Xbox One screenshots are coming to SmartGlass on Android and iOS

Xbox One users who also own a Win 10 phone have long been able to share their gaming screenshots using Microsoft's Smartglass app. Now that ability is coming to both Android and iOS devices. Users will be able to view, share, and save their screenshots. There are some restrictions however. For Android users, the new features will only be available, at least initially, on the Android Xbox One SmartGlass Beta. And for Apple fans, only those users who have already signed up for the iOS Xbox One SmartGlass Beta program through the Apple Store.

New Twitch rules let users restrict chat languages

It might be easy to broadcast your gameplay on Twitch, but engaging with the audience, attempting to be entertaining, playing whatever game you're streaming proficiently and keeping an eye on chat for trolls simultaneously is the exact opposite. A new feature from the Amazon-owned company should make at least the latter part a bit simpler, though. When you set your native tongue in "Broadcaster Language Mode," only folks who choose your selected language can chat. Basically, it's a way to help prevent people from using a different language to say stuff that'd otherwise get them banned.

It's optional for hosts, you turn it on via the broadcaster dashboard or options -- and it works on mobile too. The thing is, even if you choose the channel's language as your own you can still chat in whatever language you want, which robs the feature of a lot of its potential power; it's basically like an age gate on a porn site in its current state. Twitch explained the reasoning to us as such:


Broadcaster Language Mode is an opportunity for foreign language broadcasters to create communities inclusive of their native language for a more cohesive chat experience. This helps create vibrant foreign language communities that can easily engage with one another.

It's up to the broadcaster and their moderators to decide how exclusive their channel is. Therefore, all messages will be sent since we don't moderate for what language is being used in a chat with Broadcaster Language Mode enabled. A broadcaster may like that they have viewers with a different language participating in chat, or they may have viewers who use English colloquialisms. We don't want to force any of that out on our side.​

If Twitch could promote chat questions pertaining to Lightbar support, then we'd really be in business.

Sorry, Bethesda can't make any more 'Fallout 4' Pip-Boys

The special edition of Fallout 4 comes with a pretty spectacular piece of swag: a real-life Pip-Boy that works with your smartphone. Understandably, the $120 bundle sold out almost as soon as it went on sale, but as much as the game's publisher wanted more of your cash, it's admitted that it simply can't make any more. Bethesda's Pete Hines has told GameSpotthat the factories that produced the device were working at full-tilt, but simply couldn't fit more manufacturing runs into their production schedules.

Hines also moved to dispel the notion that the company only made a "few thousand" of the accessory in order to generate interest. As far as he's concerned, "we made a shitload of Pip-Boys, and we went back and made more," eventually producing "more of these things that we did for any collector's edition we've ever done, ever." That said, we'd like to think that the folks over at ThinkGeek are watching the demand for Pip-Boys with interest, since if there's any firm capable of giving fans what they want, it's them.

The latest 'King's Quest' adventure starts today

In case Shenmue 3 and a Castlevania spiritual successor were a bit too recent and console-centric for your nostalgia kick, maybe the new King's Quest will tickle your fancy. The hand-painted adventure game's first episode is out today across a wide swath of platforms (PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 an Xbox One, Windows). Creative director Matt Korba writes on the PlayStation Blog that the aim was to make a family-friendly game in an effort to bridge the gap between players of yore and today. What's more there are apparently quite a few references to the original games hidden here and there. Should you want to try and find 'em for yourself, it's $9.99 per episode or $39.99 for the season pass.

Microsoft has a trick for making holograms from live video

We've seen Microsoft's HoloLens do an awful lot of different things so far, but Halo,Minecraft and even medical applications are just scratching the surface of what the augmented reality headset is capable of. In a new research paper, Redmond outlines how it plans to grab live video that'd work as fodder for the device's holographic capabilities. Perhaps most importantly these holographic video feeds would be streamable over the internet, as Road to VR points out. By taking advantage of some 106 RGB and infrared cameras and a green screen, Microsoft says that it's able to capture, compress and recreate pretty lifelike results.

Hands and faces (high-detail spots) get more polygonal attention, while other, not-as-important areas are a bit less precise. The video embedded below says that the current target is a 12 Mbps MPEG file, and the sample footage contained therein is actually pretty impressive so far. Here's to hoping that Microsoft can expand the headset's narrow field of view, though: As it stands, the illusion of an awkwardly dancing astronaut in your living room would break pretty easily.

HBO Now comes to Verizon's internet customers

Cablevision isn't the only big US internet provider offering HBO Now -- Verizon* is alsojoining the fray. Anyone with broadband on Big Red can now use their existing account to sign up for the cord cutter service, complete with the usual 30-day trial run and $15 per month subscription. It's ultimately not much different than subscribing yourself, and you've probably already done that if you were determined to watch Game of Thrones or Veepwithout paying for traditional TV. Look it at this way, though: if nothing else, it's a token kindness from a telco that's known for trying to stifle net neutrality and otherwise limit the success of internet video services.

*Verizon has acquired AOL, Engadget's parent company. However, Engadget maintains full editorial control, and Verizon will have to pry it from our cold, dead hands.

'Titanfall' is going free-to-play in Asia

Free-to-play games are big business outside of America and Titanfall is the next big shooter joining the ranks of Halo and Call of Duty in taking that route. Publisher Electronic Arts is working with Nexon (the company behind Maple Story and FIFA Online 3) to take developer Respawn Entertainment's mech-based shooter to China, Japan, Korea, Macau and regions of Southeast Asia including Cambodia and Thailand. Naturally, it'll only be a PC version of the game since that plays well in internet cafes, but any other details aren't known at this point. However, the F2P model could actually translate pretty easily considering the game's Burn Card system that rewards players with single-use power-ups is similar to how existing microtransaction-based games function. Stand by for Titanfall, Asia.

Android security flaw puts your phone into a near-coma

Android has more than one video-related security hole on its hands at the moment. Trend Micro has found a flaw that uses a malformed Matroska (MKV) video in apps or websites to crash Android's "mediaserver" service, effectively turning the target device into a paperweight. It'll not only render your phone's interface mostly or completely unresponsive, but silence all calls and notifications. You might not even get past the lock screen, if your phone is locked during the incident. An intruder could take advantage of this seemingly brain-dead state to hold your handset for ransom, threatening to shut you out unless you pay up.

Trend Micro says it told Google about the exploit in mid-May, but that it was marked "low priority." A spokesperson tells Engadget that a "future version of Android" will patch things up and that there's "no evidence of actual exploitation." We have a hunch that Google may want to move more quickly than the priority level suggests, though. The recent Stagefright flaw has drawn a lot of attention to video-related attacks, and the Matroska glitch exposes every device running Android 4.3 or newer -- that's about half of the hardware using the platform. Even though it's possible to uninstall offending apps and avoid malicious websites, that's not much comfort if your phone becomes at least a momentary paperweight.

Some of the cars on Uber's maps don't really exist

If you've ever wondered why Uber will show you a horde of available cars but still quote you
an oddly long wait time for a ride, you now have an explanation: some of those cars don't exist. Motherboard has learned through a study that the app's map activity doesn't correlate that well with reality, even in those areas where you simply can't get a lift. Why? That depends on who you ask. A spokesperson insists that the number and location of cars is "generally accurate," but the company's help staff disagree. One claims that it's a glitch stemming from map zooming, while another says that the cars are purely there for a "visual effect" that indicates the presence of cars looking for fares.

Those drivers get a more accurate view, but even they don't get as much help as they'd like. While it'll say whether or not they're in surge pricing areas, it doesn't tell them how many other drivers know about the surge and how long it's likely to last. They could easily end up hovering around a busy area without realizing that the surge is over, or finding out that there are already hordes of Uber cars headed into the region.

The company does have reasons to be cautious about giving you accurate data. Theoretically, Lyft or another rival could use these maps to find weak points in Uber's coverage. However, the concern is that neither passengers nor drivers have proper insight into how Uber actually works -- the only ones that do aren't on the street at all.

You can delete Samsung's phone bloatware in China

Samsung isn't waiting around for the verdict of a Chinese lawsuit over bloatware to take action. The company will offer patches in August that let local Android phone owners delete unwanted pre-installed apps on both the Galaxy Note 3, the example cited in the suit, as well as more recent phones like the Galaxy S6. It's not clear just which apps you can purge, but it's safe to presume that many of the non-essential apps are now eligible.

Not that this necessarily lets Samsung off the hook. The Shanghai Consumer Council is waiting to see if Samsung will "meet its own promise" before dropping its legal action, and it's even threatening to expand its campaign if the Galaxy maker drops the ball. Either way, this won't mean much if you live outside of China -- that American or British smartphone will still have just as much non-removable cruft as it does today.

'Five Nights at Freddy's' movie lands the director of 'Poltergeist'

If you're hoping that the movie adaptation of the Five Nights at Freddy's games will get the director it deserves... well, we have mixed news. Deadline understands that Gil Kenan, best known for helming Monster House and the Poltergeist remake, will both direct and co-write the big-screen tale of animatronics gone very, very wrong. Kenan is definitely in the right genre and might be well-suited to Five Nights' fondness for jump scares and suspense, but his critical track record suggests that you aren't going to get a horror master on the level of John Carpenter or Wes Craven. With that said, the man mostly needs to capture the spirit of the titles -- the movie doesn't have to be a tour de force to reward loyal fans.

Razer's Android gamepad is now on Google Play for $80

If you're tired of having to pause games on your Android mobile device just to wipe finger grease off the screen, you are in luck. For $80, the Bluetooth-connected Razer Serval gamepad will ensure that you never touch that screen again (at least until playtime is over). Razer initially announced the Serval back at CES in January but it has finally hits Google Play's virtual store shelves.

The Serval is an integral part of Razer's Forge TV Micro-Console system. It (and up to three other controllers) connects to the Forge hub either via a USB or Bluetooth 3.0 link, allowing users to play Android games on properly sized screens instead of rinky dink mobile displays. The controller itself runs on a pair of AA batteries and can cradle your device onboard as a mobile gaming system or to simply use the device as a second screen. The controller's layout should seem familiar as well -- it's nearly identical to the XBox's. Take note, however, you will need to be running at least Android 4.2 in order for this all to work so be sure to double-check your OS build before pulling out your wallet.

'Dropsy' the clown threatens to hug you in September

Dropsy, a new game from publisher Devolver Digital, is a pixelated acid trip disguised as a point-and-click adventure. It's stars a bald, nearly toothless clown covered in thick white face paint, bright red lipstick, too-small suspenders and high-water pants, who wanders around giving people hugs and going on adventures. It's a non-linear game emphasizing exploration and bright, oozing colors. Yeah, terrifying.

In the game, Dropsy attempts to clear his name after a lethal circus fire, and during his journey he meets plenty of interesting people and animals. He speaks to everyone (including the animals) via visual icons, rather than traditional text trees. These conversations, puzzles and trinkets that Dropsy picks up along the way reveal secrets from his past -- and surely that can't be any more disturbingly cheerful than the game's new trailer. We hope. The full game is due to hit Steam (PC, Mac, Linux), Android and iOS on September 10th.

PlayStation helps Sony to big profits, but mobile's struggling

Sony is actually doing all right despite a lot of turmoil, and it's got the PlayStation 4 to thank. This quarter, the company moved 3 million PS4s, bringing total sales of the console to 25.3 million units. Peripheral and software shipments also went up, boosting gaming revenue by 12.1 percent over last year. Despite lower PS3 sales, the division still hit 288.6 billion yen ($2.3 billion) and made around $160 million. Sony recently said that the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One in most of Europe by nearly double, and has outsold its rival considerably overall. It originally expected to sell 16 million PS4s in 2015, but has now bumped that forecast to 16.5 million.

Sony's imaging division also did its part. Sony Devices makes the sensors in many high-end smartphones, including models from Apple and Samsung. That unit saw a 35.1 percent increase in sales to 237.9 billion yen ($2 billion), and the company recently said it would invest up to $3.6 billion to boost sensor production. Its Imaging Division (cameras) also saw a 5 percent increase in sales and made 21.3 billion yen in profit ($174 million) thanks to popular (and expensive) cameras like the Sony RX100 IV and Alpha A7 II.



Unfortunately, Sony's Mobile division continues to be a black hole sucking profits. Sales dropped 16.3 percent over last year, though Sony claims that was partly due to "a strategic decision not to pursue scale in order to improve profitability." In other words, Sony's trying to focus on profitable high-end smartphones like the Xperia Z3+, but so far the plan isn't exactly working. Another division not doing well is Sony Pictures, which dropped 11.9 percent thanks to lower licensing revenues.

Despite that, the company still made 82.44 billion yen in net income ($665 million), triple the profits of last year. That means that the turnaround under CEO Kaz Hirai is actually working, other than in mobile. We're not sure how much more patience he has for that division, but if it doesn't start making money soon, it could end up on the Vaio chopping

Former 'Dead Island 2' developer can't pay its bills

The situation with Dead Island 2 and developer Yager took another turn today as the company announced it's filing for insolvency. Yager Productions, the team formed to work on the zombie sequel, can't pay the money it owes to debtors. "At the moment, there are different options to be assessed while wages for employees have been secured for the upcoming months," a company statement reads. The filing is a direct result of being removed from Dead Island 2's development, managing director Timo Ullmann writes. Insolvency helps protect the company's staff and will allow "time to sort out the best options for reogranizing this entity," he says. The rest of Yager, including the team working on the sci-fi, ship-to-ship combat game Dreadnought are in the clear however and are "independent and remain unaffected" by today's news.

This isn't the first time a European developer (or a gaming company) has filed for insolvency, but the details here make it a bit more interesting. Yager formed a separate company to work on Dead Island 2, and you could infer that it did so because it had an idea the deal might go south from the outset. The studio proper's been around for awhile but only really has one hit to its name, Spec Ops: The Line.

Publisher Deep Silver, on the other hand, picked up a ton of properties from the THQ bankruptcy sale but aside from developer Volition's Grand-Theft-Auto-without-the-boring-bullshit Saint's Row series and apocalyptic shooter franchise Metro, hasn't had a ton of critical success. The company also went through some strife with Homefront: The Revolution when developer Crytek was faced serious financial troubles. That ended withDeep Silver buying not only the Homefront property, but also the team at Crytek London (the studio working on The Revolution) and making it an internal studio.

The road to AAA game releases is paved with good intentions, I guess.

'Fallout 4' won't support user mods this fall

One of the biggest surprises from E3 this year was that Fallout 4 would support user modsacross PC and Xbox One. That's still in the cards, but it definitely won't happen at launch. Of course, that's because the tools that'd allow you to, say, replace the game's fearsome bear-like enemies the Yao Guai with 3D models of Yogi the Bear don't exist yet according toIGN. Publisher Bethesda Softworks' vice president of marketing Pete Hines says that the team's focus is on making sure the game ships on time. "Our entire focus is on finishing the game," he said. "Nobody cares about mods if the game sucks." Concise! Once Fallout 4proper is done (and the team likely takes a bit of a break), work on The Creation Kit will begin; it'll take "clearly into next year," according to Hines.

Let's hope that includes support for the PlayStation 4 version, too. Of course if you're itching for more user additions to Bethesda's catalog, there's always Skyrim and the community's taken to creating all sorts of new stuff for Fallout: New Vegas lately as well.

JXE Streams: A piece of puzzle pie in 'The Talos Principle' DLC

There's nothing about pies in The Talos Principle. We're probably just hungry. Either way, today we jump into The Road to Gehenna, a bit of DLC for The Talos Principle that features brand new puzzles, a fresh storyline and (most likely) philosophical questions about the meaning of life, humanity and the technological singularity. We're going deep, people. The Talos Principle is a truly incredible game, blending a rich story of gods and robots with mind-bending spatial puzzles in a gorgeous 3D environment. Join us at 5PM ET (2PM PT) on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, the Engadget Gaming homepage, or right here in this post. And, please, try not to laugh too hard when it takes forever to figure out some of these riddles. We can't all be puzzle gods.

'Yooka-Laylee' snags a publisher after record-breaking Kickstarter

What's the next step after fully funding your game in 40 minutes on Kickstarter? If you're the team behind Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic, you get a publisher to help with stuff like localization (translating dialogue and text for different regions), QA testing and other unglamorous but still necessary elements of game development. To wit, the former Banjo Kazooie creativeshave hooked up with indie label Team17, perhaps best known for the Worms and Alien Breed franchises. This partnership means that Playtonic can worry about working on the game itself while Team17 takes care of the more menial bits and bobs. Good thing, too considering Playtonic is still planning to hit a simultaneous October 2016 release acrossPlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U. If you'd like to check out more, hit the jump for our interview with the folks from the studio.

'Super Smash Bros.' gets tournament modes and YouTube replays

Nintendo isn't done with the 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros. just yet. The company has released an update today which adds tournament modes and the ability to post video replays to YouTube. Both features were teased just before E3, but we weren't expecting a slew of new character outfits and stages to go along with them. Nintendo is offering the Hyrule Castle and Peach's Castle arenas from the original Super Smash Bros.on N64, priced at $1.99 per platform or $2.99 across both. They're joined by a deluge of Mii fighter costumes, including King K. Rool from Donkey Kong, Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening and Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia. All eight are available for $0.75 or $1.15 across both 3DS and Wii U. Alternatively, you can get everything as a bundle for $9.98 or $15.18 on both Nintendo systems. One last thing: there's a K.K. Slider Mii Fighter costume from Animal Crossing too. It's free to download and looks darn cute.

The business of eSports in numbers

It takes about 50 years for a "game" to become a "sport," according to Andrew Paradise's calculations. He's an entrepreneur who recently joined the wave of investors getting in on the eSports game: His app, Skillz, allows mobile-gaming fans to win real money while playing some of their favorite titles. That's right, mobile eSports. From smartphones to dedicated eSports arenas, Paradise knows why professional gaming is a booming market and he explains it all in a straightforward, money-focused manner. If you've ever looked at eSports and wondered, "Why?" Paradise might have your answer.



"Just like video games, basketball and football weren't initially considered sports and certainly weren't mainstream for the early years of their existence," Paradise says. "We are now hitting the 50-year milestone in eSports history as people who grew up playing Ponghave children playing League of Legends and Call of Duty. In many respects, eSports have already gone mainstream."

Hear that, eSports haters? According to Paradise, dismissing eSports only demonstrates how out of touch someone is with an emerging new reality -- kind of like a musician deciding to abandon streaming services or tech companies opposing net neutrality.

A number of recent, high-profile acquisitions support the idea that eSports are an accepted, legitimate sport, at least on the investment side of things: On July 1st, Swedish entertainment company MTG acquired the Electronic Sports League, the largest eSports organization in the world, spending $86.4 million for a majority stake in the company. In September 2014, Amazon bought video game-streaming site Twitch for just under $1 billion. Even CaptainSparklez, a popular YouTube personality, has entered the mobile eSports market in a partnership with Activision co-founder Howard Marks.A screenshot from Valve's eSports documentary, Free to Play




It's easy to see why investors are excited about the future of eSports. The industry is valued at $612 million in revenue worldwide, with 134 million total viewers, according to SuperData Research. Paradise says analysts expect these numbers to grow by roughly 30 percent over the next five years. Investors today look at the direct revenue generated by professional gaming, including competitions, sponsorships, online ads, paid viewership, merchandise, licensing, tickets, game sales and fantasy sports, to name a few pipelines, Paradise says. One eSports championship tournament, the Dota 2 International, has a prize pool of nearly $18 million this year, largely funded via fan contributions.

Investors have to consider the fans "as an important metric for the future of the industry and for potential revenue," he adds.


League of Legends is one of the top eSports at the moment, alongside Dota 2, StarCraft II,Counter-Strike and StarCraft: Brood War, Paradise says.One of today's most popular eSports games demonstrates the industry's ability to rack up a lot of cash quickly: In October of last year, SuperData calculated that League of Legends was poised to generate $1 billion in revenue in 2014 alone, and that's just via in-game transactions. It's worth noting that League of Legends is a free game. The $1 billion comes from voluntary player investment in new characters, fresh outfits, aesthetically customized items and boosts, and it doesn't include revenue from major, sold-out tournaments, streams or merchandise.

"Measured by the number of participants or by minutes played, video games are already a bigger industry than all offline sports," he says. "Additionally, video games are much younger in their evolutionary history than offline sports and are growing at a much faster rate."





A new, booming industry means big bucks for investors. Paradise says that his company, Skillz, facilitates eSports competitions across games from more than 1,100 studios. "While many of the games we power are not household names, the combined prizes paid in these games represent 30 percent of all eSports prizes paid so far this year," he says.

Paradise sees eSports as a rapidly evolving, lucrative industry that will soon compete directly with -- and perhaps surpass -- traditional sports.

"Looking at physical spectators, Game [8] of Major League Baseball's first World Series drew 7,455 spectators in 1903 -- 64 years after the game was invented," Paradise says. "By comparison, last year's League of Legends Championship -- which came just 42 years after the release of Pong [in 1972] -- drew over 40,000 spectators. ESports are well on their way not just to legitimacy, but to true sports supremacy."

New Google Glass for businesses will reportedly attach to other eyewear

The next edition of Google Glass will target enterprises and feature an attachable design, a news report suggests, shedding new light on rumors that have been circulating over the past several months.

The device will feature a curved, rectangular form factor much the way the first, consumer-focused Glass edition did, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. It will differ from that version, however, in that it will reportedly feature a button-and-hinge system rather than a fixed frame, making it attachable to different kinds of eyewear.

Google aims to have the device in use by this fall at companies in healthcare, manufacturing and energy, and is already distributing it to software developers creating applications for that purpose, the WSJ reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation.

A new consumer version is also in the works, but it reportedly won’t appear for at least a year.

Google didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment for this story.

The original $1,500 Google Glass version is widely considered to have been released before it was ready for consumer use, and it encountered a strong backlash over privacy concerns.

Expected in the new, enterprise version are a faster Intel processor and improved wireless connectivity. An external battery pack connects magnetically to the device, the latest news suggests, promising better battery life than what was offered by its predecessor.

Finally, a longer and thinner prism display is adjustable both vertically and horizontally, the WSJ said, offering improved flexibility.

“The new Google Glass story sounds much better the second time around,” said wireless and telecom analyst Jeff Kagan.

Consumers will probably become more comfortable with such technology eventually, but “it will take a while before the average person gets to that point,” Kagan added. In the meantime, “taking Glass to certain industries to start sounds like a much better idea.”

Apple Watch supplier misses 2M unit break-even point for Q2, FUD flinging ensues

According to Bernstein Research analyst Mark Li, cited by The Wall Street Journal, a subsidiary of Taiwanese firm Advanced Semiconductor Engineering revealed the "disappointing" numbers during a recent conference call for investors. ASE is responsible for assembling Apple Watch's S1 system-in-package design.

"The shortfall of Apple Watch is a disappointment," Li wrote in a research note. "We came in with a low expectation but below break-even still surprised us."

It is unclear what role the ASE subsidiary, or ASE itself for that matter, plays in Apple's supply chain. While many of Apple's supply chain partners are well known, the intricate web of alliances — from smelters to chipmakers to assemblers and beyond — and inventory operations pose major obstacles to predicting sales with any accuracy. Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the issue during the company's most recent earnings call, warning analysts not to draw conclusions from supplier reports as such information is but a small part of a much larger picture.

Apple refuses to break out Apple Watch sales numbers to prevent competitors from gaining unwanted operational insight, and instead lumps the wearable in with iPod, Apple TV, Beats hardware and accessories in an "Other" accounting category. Interestingly, the segment turned a profit for the first timelast quarter, the first to include Apple Watch, jumping 56 percent sequentially.

Cook during Apple's conference call for the third fiscal quarter of 2015 dispelled reports that Apple Watch sales collapsed after what appeared to be strong initial demand, saying shipments have held steady and actually peaked in June.

Despite Apple's assurances that Apple Watch is meeting internal expectations Wall Street saw the non-announcement as a miss. The reaction was a swift one that briefly sent AAPL stock tumbling even after the company posted yet another record quarter.

Adding to the confusion are analysts who continually adjust their own wildly differing forecasts. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, for example, estimates Apple moved 2.5 million Watches last quarter and will ship the same amount for the upcoming three-month period. On the high side, Canalys believes Apple shipped 4.2 million units in the prior quarter. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who forecast some of the lowest estimates for Apple Watch, predicts Apple will ship 4 million units during the upcoming quarter.

At this point analysts, pundits and mainstream media reports are extrapolating from supposition, hearsay and cherry-picked data to the detriment of readers and themselves

'League of Legends' pirate Gangplank is dead; long live Gangplank

Gangplank is dead. Riot, the developer of League of Legends, took an unprecedented move this week and killed off one of its champions, the pirate Gangplank. He's completely unavailable in the game right now, even for people who have thrown down real money for skins. Gangplank's surprising death came as part of the Bilgewater event, which builds up the lore in League of Legends' more pirate-y champions, including Gangplank and his apparent assassin, Miss Fortune.

"We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation," Riot writes. "At this time we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we'll do our best to make things right for everyone." The fact that Riot has killed a champion and isn't offering refunds to dedicated players suggests that a larger plot is afoot. What do you think Riot plans to do with Gangplank, now that he's taken a long walk off of his own, short plank?

Camera Test: Moto G 3rd Gen vs Moto G 1st Gen Original

As the Moto G 3rd generation smartphone is released, second sequel to the original best-selling Motorola phone, we have a look at how its camera stacks up. We're not comparing this device's camera to the other hero phones on the market today. We're not even comparing the Moto G 3rd gen's camera to the budget smartphones it's up against. Today we compare the camera on the 3rd Gen Moto G to the original Moto G from 2013. This is for all the original Moto G users that are 2-years into Moto G ownership seriously considering upgrading.








We were going to run a "blind" battle between these two shooters like we did with the Galaxy S6 vs LG G4 vs iPhone 6, but after we compared the results of our short journey through a number of photos this afternoon, we decided that'd be silly. It should be painfully obvious which of each of these photos belongs to the newer, better device, and the other to the original.

Maybe There Doesn’t Need To Be An Apple Watch App For Everything

Should Apple be concerned that a number of popular app makers like Facebook, Google and Snapchat have yet to embrace its Apple Watch platform with apps of their own? That’s a question raised by a recent New York Times piece detailing how many developers are taking a “wait-and-see” approach when it comes to Apple’s new wearable.

But maybe the right question to ask is not, where are the apps, but rather, do we even need them?

Personally, I can’t imagine wanting to browse or interact with Facebook from my Apple Watch – especially when I have a good-sized screen nearby thanks to my iPhone, which provides a much better experience. I’m not interested in getting Facebook alerts on the Apple Watch, either. There’s no urgency in knowing that someone tagged me in a post, or added me as a friend, or shared a photo.

I don’t need a Facebook app. In fact, I don’t need many Apple Watch apps at all.

In the past week, I’ve only visited the Apple Watch’s “apps” screen one time – and that was to look up something in a text message thread from a few hours before. Beyond that, the only way I tend to interact with apps on the Apple Watch is through notifications and, on occasion, Glances (those widget-like displays you can swipe up to see).

But after a few months of wearing this thing almost daily, even Glances don’t get regular attention. At best, I may check out the Activity Glance after a run, view the weather, or use Apple Maps. I’m less inclined to read the top headlines or Twitter trends via Glances. And if Facebook had an app or Glance, I probably wouldn’t use that either.



It’s possible that the Apple Watch simply isn’t going to be a significant “app” platform in the traditional sense. That’s not to say there aren’t apps available – according to App Annie, there are now 7,567 Apple Watch apps live in the iTunes App Store.

But the Apple Watch has arrived at a time when users are already overburdened with mobile applications on their smartphones. Though consumers are spending 85 percent of their time on their phones using apps, only five third-party apps see regular use, a recent study found. People have chosen their favorites, and don’t have room in their lives for much more.

Meanwhile, the mobile app ecosystem itself continues to grow. The top app stores now haveclose to a million-and-a-half apps apiece, which has made it more difficult for newcomers to find an audience, much less hold their attention over the long run.

And with new apps still arriving at break-neck speeds, that has led to a market where many of the recent app launches actually seem more like one-hit wonders that boom, then fizzle, then bust as the initial attraction wears off. (See for example, the recent demise of Frontback, the once-promising selfie app backed by nearly $4 million in venture funding. Or, is anyone really playing Flappy Bird anymore? And aren’t we done with Foursquare by now?)

In other words, a third mobile app ecosystem beyond the phone and tablet isn’t in high demand. What users need today are not Watch apps, but actionable pieces of information.



The best Apple Watch apps today deliver on that promise by way of notifications. They are contextually aware of your surroundings or your activities, and then provide you with relevant information. Or they let you know of the most urgent things – an incoming call, a text. Your Uber is arriving. It’s about to rain. Your flight is delayed. Your boss just pinged you on Slack. They’re like Apple’s own, app-infused version of Google Now.

The best apps aren’t lean-back experiences, either, where you tap around a tiny interface and browse through content. They are not places where you go when you’re bored to waste time.


Instead of being rich counterparts to their big-screen cousins, the “apps” you end up really using on Apple Watch are a subset of the Notification spam you receive today on your iPhone. Because so many app makers now have to rely on push notifications to re-engage users (and tinkering around in your phone’s settings to disable these for each app becomes cumbersome), many iPhone owners have developed something of “notification blindness” to their iPhone’s incoming alerts.

Sure, your phone may have buzzed, but did it really mean anything? However, when set up correctly with only the apps you care about, a buzz on the Apple Watch matters.



To some extent, users’ disinterest in using Apple Watch apps could be because they are painfully slow to load in that rare moment you actually try to use them. But even if they launched snappily, I don’t think that would significantly change user behavior or interest.

Apple said that it will make native Watch apps possible in watchOS 2, and this will make the apps more powerful and therefore more capable, eliminating some of these concerns. This may move the bar forward to a degree, but only by a bit. I’m not sure there will ever be more than a core group of apps that a user will want outside of the default apps – especially considering most people barely use half a dozen regularly on their iPhones.

And even when the watchOS 2 apps arrive, it’s not likely users will often visit the Watch’s app screen to launch them – instead, they’ll interact with the incoming notifications when there’s actionable information.

None of this means that Apple Watch isn’t a compelling platform, or that the watches themselves won’t sell. (They are.) It’s still an attractive and useful piece of hardware, and easily fits into your daily life.

Still, the bigger question is whether everyone will want one. For now, that answer is no.

The Apple Watch today remains a curiosity: Friends and family, checkout clerks and strangers have asked me for my thoughts when spotting it on my wrist. Do you like it? Should I get one?,they want to know. But unlike with the iPhone, I can’t heartily answer “YES!”

The Apple Watch is not world-changing. It doesn’t have a must-have app or use case. It’s a nice accessory for your digital lifestyle and is certainly a convenience. It’s pretty to look at. It’s a great watch and a handy health monitor and activity tracker. I like that I can keep my phone in my purse. I like tapping a button to reply “OK” and “Yes” to incoming texts. I’ve even Dick Tracy’d a phone call or two on the thing.

But it doesn’t need a Facebook app.

I’m not missing Snapchat for Apple Watch.

I’m not counting the days until any one of my favorite iPhone applications makes its Apple Watch version. (At this point, anyway, they’d be doing it just to say they did.)

So maybe there never will be an Apple Watch app for everything. But maybe there doesn’t need to be.

With over 10,000 businesses signed up, Android for Work expands to carriers for the first time

Android for Work, which encompasses all of Google’s enterprise-oriented features and services for its mobile operating system, has expanded to 40 companies today, including new device manufacturers, application makers, and management providers. At the same, Google has announced that more than 10,000 businesses are now testing, deploying, or using Android for Work.

Google first unveiled Android for Work at its I/O developer conference in June 2014. In February 2015, the program hit general availability, as Google released an Android for Work app, a Google Play for Work business-oriented app store, and new apps that support common productivity tools.

Here is the full list of Android for Work partners:



As part of the partner expansion today, mobile carriers are joining Android for Work for the first time. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Rogers, Bell Canada, Telus Mobility, and KT are now offering broad support for Android for Work, which essentially translates into customers being able to turn to their carriers for Android for Work’s integrated security, management, and productivity solutions.

Google today also highlighted how the Android for Work program is showcasing devices built for regulated industries that have strict security and compliance requirements. They include additional hardware and software-based security enhancements on top of what Android already offers. Right now, only two devices are listed: the Samsung Galaxy S6, thanks to its high levels of government certification, and the Blackphone by Silent Circle, which includes enhanced privacy and security features.



This is an excellent example of how the Android for Work program makes sense for Google. The company can essentially work with partners to feature a variety of offerings, rather than building out the whole ecosystem by itself.

At the same time, Google is also expanding the security features that ship out-of-the-box with Android. Android M, the next release of Google’s mobile operating system, is expected to arrive later this year. It will support fingerprint sensors and multi-process security.

Report: Get ready for a new Apple TV this September

Truth be told, we were a little disappointed when we didn’t get a new Apple TV announcement during WWDC in June, but it looks like Apple is finally blowing the dust off its old streaming media device.

According to BuzzFeed, Apple is planning to announce a new Apple TV during its iPhone event in September—“for real this time.” BuzzFeed’s unnamed sources confirm that the next-generation Apple TV will be slimmer, come with Apple’s A8 processor, include more built-in storage, and will have a better operating system. This iteration of the set-top box will also support Siri voice commands and have aredesigned touch-pad remote control. Additionally, this new Apple TV will have its own App Store, with a developers kit that will also be announced at the event.

This next-gen Apple TV was originally rumored to be the anchor for a new Internet TV service that Apple has been trying to launch for years. But don’t cancel your cable subscription just yet. According to the BuzzFeed report, Apple’s deals with TV networks have still not yet been finalized. It looks like we’re going to have to wait until 2016 for that.

This gives Apple more time to get customers and developers onboard and comfortable with the new Apple TV product by the time Internet TV finally launches. It also gives Apple a few more months to find their Jimmy Iovine in the TV world.

Why it matters: Apple TV has been long overdue for a refresh—it hasn’t been updated since 2012. Despite that, Apple TV has become the leading set-top for paid TV streaming, surpassing Roku, Xbox, and Playstation, according to data compiled by Adobe Digital Index.

“When TV broadcasters build an app they focus on Apple first,” Adobe Digital Index analyst Tamara Gaffney said about Apple’s TV efforts. “It’s very hard to build a streaming video app for every platform [Android, Roku], so going with Apple is a natural consolidation.”

YotaPhone 2 likely not coming to US after all

Despite raising far more than enough money required, Russian phone maker Yota Devices will not be offering its unusual, double-sided YotaPhone 2 in the US. At least not this year.


Those who backed the device through the crowdfunding website now have two options: obtain a refund, or receive the international version of the YotaPhone 2. Although the global model does work on AT&T and T-Mobile networks, it doesn't support their respective 4G LTE bands.Yota Devices purportedly emailed a letter to backers of its successful Indiegogo campaign, citing logistical issues that are causing the company to scrap its short-term North American plans, tech site The Verge reports.

The YotaPhone 2 is an interesting device in that it has two displays: a traditional LCD panel with an e-ink screen on the rear. Powered by Android KitKat, other notable specifications include an 8-megapixel rear camera, 32GB of storage and a 2,500mAh battery. Be sure to check out CNET's review of the handset here.

On the brighter side, Yota Devices has secured a new manufacturing partner that may be able to handle scalability demands. Provided everything goes according to plan, a new-generation YotaPhone will offer more impressive hardware at a lower cost -- even in North America.

Yota Devices did not respond to a request for comment.

Windows 10 may share your Wi-Fi password with Facebook

If you're taking up Microsoft on its offer of a free upgrade to Windows 10, you should know that the new operating system has a feature, called Wi-Fi Sense, that automatically shares your Wi-Fi passwords with others.

When Wi-Fi Sense is enabled, anyone you have in your Skype, Outlook or Hotmail contacts lists — and any of your Facebook friends — can be granted access to your Wi-Fi network as long as they're within range. Microsoft added this feature to save users' time and hassle, but as independent security blogger Brian Krebs put it, some security experts see it as "a disaster waiting to happen."

MORE: Windows 10 vs. OS X El Capitan: Why Microsoft Wins

Krebs and others worry about the potential for strangers or untrustworthy friends being given access to users' home Wi-Fi networks. Microsoft has tried to reassure them by pointing out that you have to agree to enable Wi-Fi Sense every time you join a new network, that those people to whom you grant network access can't pass along that access to yet more people, and that the feature doesn't share an actual password, but rather an encrypted version of it.

Despite the safeguards, the issue is nonetheless dangerous for those users, and there are many of them, who agree to everything their computers ask of them. If they agree to share Wi-Fi Sense with their Facebook friends, then, yep, all of their Facebook friends will be given access to their networks. (We've already encountered this request from Windows 10, which didn't really explain what the feature entailed.)

Wi-Fi Sense makes sense if you're visiting a friend and don't want to enter a long string of random characters to get onto his or her network. But have you pruned your contacts lists down to just the people you trust? Are all of your Facebook friends really your friends? Probably not. Most people have many contacts or Facebook friends whom they barely know — would you really trust your Wi-Fi password with your second cousin's boyfriend, or that guy in the neighborhood who once fixed your toilet?


The other problem is that Wi-Fi Sense lets you share access to more networks than just your own. You can share access to any network that you got onto the old-fashioned way — by typing in the password. Wi-Fi Sense doesn't distinguish between your home network, your office network or your grandmother's home network. If you typed in the password, they're all fair game.

Personally, we're going to ask that people never enable Wi-Fi Share if they bring a Windows 10 laptop or tablet — or a handset running Windows Phone 8, which also has the feature — into our house. We keep our password, which is somewhat complicated, taped to our home router for anyone who needs it.

Once Wi-Fi Share-enablers have typed that password into their Windows 10 devices, all of their friends can access our home network if they're within range. Even though we trust our friends and family, we haven't spent time with all oftheir contacts and Facebook friends, and we have no idea whether they're trustworthy.
How to stop Wi-Fi Sense sharing

If you want to disable Wi-Fi Sense on your computer and wipe its memory, that's not difficult. Go to Settings, select "Network & Internet" and then click on "Wi-Fi." Select "Manage Wi-Fi Settings," scroll to the Wi-Fi Sense section, and turn off each and every feature.

But that won't stop people who already have access to your network from sharing that access with others. You could just change your network password, but as soon as you share that password with anyone else, the problem starts all over again.

Microsoft offers a permanent solution to this problem, but it's somewhat insane. You have to change your wireless network's name, or SSID, so that it ends with the characters "_optout". So if it's called "joe-network", it'll have to be adjusted to "joe-network_optout".

There's another way to avoid this: Buy a wireless router that allows the creation of a guest network that has Internet access, but no access to other devices on the network. Many high-end routers already have this feature. Set up a guest network with an easy password, or no password at all, and sleep easy.

Now, you'll never have to worry whether that guy named Bob you met at the holiday party at the office you worked at seven years ago can lurk on your network.

Nvidia recalls some Shield tablets due to battery fire fears

Nvidia Corp said it was recalling some of its Shield 8-inch tablets in the United States as the battery in these devices can overheat, posing a fire hazard.

The Android-based tablet, which has a price tag of $300-$400, is targeted at gaming enthusiasts and comes equipped with batteries that are made to last longer.

Nvidia, better known for its graphics chips, said it would replace Shield tablets with battery types that test Y01 it sold in the United States since the product's launch in July 2014.

Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez said the company will "continue to aggressively adopt best practices to avoid such concerns in the future."

"Products containing lithium-ion batteries have been the subject of numerous recalls across the electronics industry," Marinez told Reuters, adding that the costs associated with the recall are not expected to be significant.

Nvidia did not disclose Shield tablet sales in other markets, though a statement on U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) website states that about 5,000 were sold in Canada.

Stifel Nicolaus and Co analyst Kevin Cassidy, who owns a Shield tablet, estimated that the optional recall may cost Nvidia $1 million at the most. Cassidy said he has asked the company for a replacement.

Nvidia has asked owners to use the tablet only to initiate a replacement process on the company's website and to back up data.

The chipmaker has received four reports of batteries overheating due to thermal runaway, including two reports of damage to flooring, according to the CPSC statement.

The recall does not affect any other Nvidia product, the company said.



(Story corrects headline and first paragraph to say Nvidia was recalling some tablets, not all. Also corrects to say company will replace Shield tablets with battery types that test Y01, not all 83,000 tablets, in paragraph 3)





(Reporting By Lehar Maan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Mozilla CEO blasts Microsoft for making it harder to keep previous settings when upgrading to Windows 10

In an open letter published addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, he chided the Redmond, Washington-based company over the its apparent decision to take away “choice and control” from the user. Beard admits that his team tried to work it out with Microsoft, but it “didn’t result in any meaningful progress.”

To pressure Microsoft to “undo” its actions, Mozilla isencouraging users to tell the Windows 10 manufacturer to “hit Ctrl+Z” and bring back user choice.SPONSORED BY VB
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At issue is Beard’s contention that when users upgrade to Windows 10 (which debuted yesterday), the new operating system wants them to have an Internet experience that Microsoft wants them to have — specifically with Microsoft’s new Edge browser. Although it’s “technically possible” to retain your previous settings and defaults, Beard believes that somehow Microsoft has buried these settings somewhere deep in the operating system that makes it hard to get to.

“With the launch of Windows 10 we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backward,” says Beard. In a separate post, he writes:


Sometimes we see great progress, where consumer products respect individuals and their choices. However, with the launch of Windows 10, we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backward. It is bewildering to see, after almost 15 years of progress bolstered by significant government intervention, that with Windows 10, user choice has now been all but removed.

Although Beard says that his team has reached out to Microsoft prior to publishing this letter, nothing has been disclosed about how far talks have gone and why no progress was made.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has been ripped over user control. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against the technology company claiming that it was monopolizing the computer software industry in coupling Windows with Internet Explorer. It was alleged at the time that Microsoft had attempted to persuade Netscape to not compete against it. Netscape obviously didn’t comply.

Additionally, federal authorities claimed that Microsoft was misusing its stranglehold on the operating system world by requiring manufacturers to adopt certain standards that Microsoft set. To Beard, it doesn’t want Microsoft to “roll back the clock” to that era.

We’ve reached out to Mozilla for comment and will update this if we hear back.

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson has responded to VentureBeat’s inquiry, saying: “We designed Windows 10 to provide a simple upgrade experience for users and a cohesive experience following the upgrade. During the upgrade, consumers have the choice to set defaults, including for web browsing. Following the upgrade, they can easily choose the default browser of their choice. As with all aspects of the product, we have designed Windows 10 as a service; if we learn from user experience that there are ways to make improvements, we will do so.”

I am writing to you about a very disturbing aspect of Windows 10. Specifically, that the update experience appears to have been designed to throw away the choice your customers have made about the Internet experience they want, and replace it with the Internet experience Microsoft wants them to have.

When we first saw the Windows 10 upgrade experience that strips users of their choice by effectively overriding existing user preferences for the Web browser and other apps, we reached out to your team to discuss this issue. Unfortunately, it didn’t result in any meaningful progress, hence this letter.

We appreciate that it’s still technically possible to preserve people’s previous settings and defaults, but the design of the whole upgrade experience and the default settings APIs have been changed to make this less obvious and more difficult. It now takes more than twice the number of mouse clicks, scrolling through content and some technical sophistication for people to reassert the choices they had previously made in earlier versions of Windows. It’s confusing, hard to navigate and easy to get lost.

Mozilla exists to bring choice, control and opportunity to everyone. We build Firefox and our other products for this reason. We build Mozilla as a non-profit organization for this reason. And we work to make the Internet experience beyond our products represent these values as much as we can.

Sometimes we see great progress, where consumer products respect individuals and their choices. However, with the launch of Windows 10 we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backwards.

These changes aren’t unsettling to us because we’re the organization that makes Firefox. They are unsettling because there are millions of users who love Windows and who are having their choices ignored, and the increased complexity put into everyone’s way if and when they choose to make a choice different than what Microsoft prefers.

We strongly urge you to reconsider your business tactic here and again respect people’s right to choice and control of their online experience by making it easier, more obvious and intuitive for people to maintain the choices they have already made through the upgrade experience — and easier for people to assert new choices and preferences, not just for other Microsoft products, through the default settings APIs and user interfaces.

Please give your users the choice and control they deserve in Windows 10.

Sincerely,

Chris Beard
CEO, Mozilla

Uber reaches $50B valuation with new funding, report says

SAN FRANCISCO -- Uber has raised another monster round of funding to value the car-booking company at a whopping $50 billion, making it the highest-valued venture-backed company in the world, according to a report Friday.



Uber, the gorilla of ride-booking apps, has raised close to $1 billion from investors, according a report from The Wall Street Journal. With the fresh round of financing, Uber surpasses Xiaomi to lay claim to the highest valuation among private companies with VC funding. China's Xiaomi, an electronics company and one of the world's largest smartphone distributors, is valued at $46 billion.





Uber's valuation now matches the high-water mark set by Facebook in 2011, when the social network company reached a $50 billion market cap.





With the reported new funding, San Francisco-based Uber, just five years old, has raised more than $5 billion, more than any other VC-backed company. The company had initially planned to raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, but closed short of that.





Investors in the latest round include Microsoft and the investment arm of Indian media conglomerate Bennett Coleman & Co., a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.





Lyft, the second-largest ride-booking company in the U.S., has raised about $1 billion and is valued at $2.5 billion.





The cash flow will likely fuel Uber's aggressive global expansion, which comes with hefty expenses as the company fights regulators, the powerful taxi industry and even criminal charges in countries across Asia and Europe. Uber on Friday announced it would invest $1 billion in India over the next nine months to improve operations and expand the number of cities it serves there. Its entry into India has been anything but smooth, and the company has been at odds with authorities in New Delhi since an Uber driver there was accused of rape in December. After the incident, Uber was banned from New Delhi and briefly shut down operations, and the Indian woman who said she was raped sued -- one of dozens of lawsuits the company is battling over safety issues and the ways it treats its drivers.





Uber is currently in 58 countries and 311 cities.



Although an impressive sum, the new funding round is far from Uber's largest. In the first quarter this year, Uber raised $1 billion, nearly 17 percent of the total $6 billion VCs and other funds invested in Silicon Valley, according to data from the MoneyTree Report, a quarterly breakdown of investing by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, using data from Thomson Reuters. That followed Uber's $1.8 billion of financing in the fourth quarter last year, which was nearly 28 percent of the total sum -- $6.3 billion -- invested in the valley during that period, and a $1.2 billion round in the summer of 2014.

Biz Break: New Apple TV said to be coming in September

Today: Apple will update its set-top box soon, according to a Buzzfeed report, but its long-rumored streaming TV service is still likely months away from launching. Also, social media stocks take a beating, and Netflix and Pandora show some Friday pop.

THE LEAD: APPLE TV UPDATE REPORTEDLY WILL LAUNCH BEFORE STREAMING SERVICE IS READY

Apple will unveil a revamped Apple TV in September, according to a new report, but its long-rumored subscription streaming TV service won't debut for months to come.

Buzzfeed reported Thursday that the Cupertino tech giant would launch its upgraded set-top TV box at its annual iPhone event in September. The device will reportedly feature Apple's new A8 chip, a touchpad remote control, Siri voice control and a dedicated TV App Store. Apple TV has not had a significant upgrade since 2012.

Consumers will have to wait a little (or a lot) longer for Apple's streaming TV service, though. While some expected details to be revealed at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, ReCode reported days before the conference that the service would be delayed until later this year, or 2016. And Apple stayed mum.

ReCode's report seems to support an unnamed source who told Buzzfeed that it's now expected "late this year -- maybe, but more likely next year." The report noted the lag time may help developers create better apps for the new device once the service finally does launch.

"One of the theories bandied about when WWDC came and went without any Apple TV announcements -- no new hardware, no SDK -- was that Apple didn't want to announce the new Apple TV until the subscription TV service was ready, too," John Gruber wrote on his Daring Fireball blog Thursday. "My guess: Apple held it back for September to have something significantly 'new' to announce alongside the new iPhones."





The service hopes to provide a bundle of about 25 streaming broadcast and cable channels, such as ABC, Fox, CBS, ESPN and FX, priced at around $30 to $40 a month, according to a Wall Street Journal report in March. That could speed up the trend toward cable TV cord-cutting, which isalready a viable alternative for many consumers.



In other Apple news, analyst Jeffrey Kvaal of Nomura Equity Research offered a glowing report on the company's future, upping it to "buy" status and raising its target price to $145.

"We expect Apple to extend its share gains in 2016," Kvaal wrote. "The strong iPhone 6 cycle still leaves plenty of scope for growth both with the 6S cycle and in China." Kvall said he expects Apple to eat away at Android sales in emerging Asian markets. He also said that while initial Apple Watch sales have been disappointing, the device still has long-term potential.

Apple shares slipped 0.87 percent Friday, or $1.07, to $121.30.

SV150 MARKET REPORT: SOCIAL NETWORKS SLUMP, NETFLIX AND PANDORA POP

The major U.S. indexes fell slightly Friday, largely due to disappointing earnings from Chevron and Exxon Mobil, whose second-quarter profits were both hurt by falling worldwide oil prices.

Social networks' stocks finished a miserable week despite earnings reports from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn that each beat expectations but revealed flaws. Twitter ended the week down more than 12 points after reporting weak user growth; Facebook was down 3 percent as spending rose and investors cashed in on profits; and LinkedIn finished down more than 9 percent as its ad business softened.

For the day, Twitter was down 1.48 percent, or 47 cents, to $31; Facebook was down 1.26 percent, or $1.20, to $94.01; and LinkedIn plunged 10.49 percent, or $23.82, to $203.33. And there was one bit of good news to end the week: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are expecting a baby girl.

Netflix shares rose 2.47 percent, or $2.75, to $114.31, as the Los Gatos video-on-demand leaderlaunched its latest comedy series, "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp," continuing its relentless quest to produce more content than any other subscription cable channel, a milestone it should reach in the next year. Pandora jumped 3.61 percent, or 61 cents, to $17.52, as the Oakland-based Internet radio company rolled out its Sponsored Listening program for advertisers this week.

Yahoo dropped 2 percent, or 75 cents, to $36.67, as the Sunnyvale Internet giant announced the purchase of Polyvore, a Mountain View-based shopping startup. No price was announced, but Yahoo said it was particularly happy to acquire the company's native ad technology.

Shares in Santa Clara chipmaker Nvidia slipped 0.35 percent, or 7 cents, to $19.95, after it recalled its line of Shield tablets because of a fire risk. Electronic Arts was down 1.04 percent, or 75 cents, to $71.55, after an underwhelming earnings report Thursday, but the Redwood City video-game maker raised its full-year forecast, predicting record revenue based on "extremely strong" pre-orders for its highly anticipated "Star Wars: Battlefront" game due in November.

Google shares fell 1.06 percent, or $7.06, to $657.50, as the Wall Street Journal reported a new version of Google Glass is quietly being distributed to workplaces -- especially health care, manufacturing and energy businesses. The report said a consumer version of the device is not expected for at least another year.

Silicon Valley tech stocks

Up: Oracle, Intel, Cisco, VMware, Juniper, Netflix, Zynga, Pandora

Down: Apple, Google, HP, eBay, Gilead, Yahoo, Tesla, Salesforce, SunPower, SolarCity

The SV150 index of Silicon Valley's biggest companies: Down 7.82, or 0.44 percent, to 1,765.61

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Down 0.50, or 0.01 percent, to 5,218.28.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Down 56.12 or 0.32 percent, to 17,689.86.

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Down 4.79, or 0.23 percent, to 2,103.84.

Microsoft Windows 10 is big on improvements and light on the processors, but Cortana and microphone are not getting along. We found a couple of fixes that might help

If you were one of the early users to sign up and reserve Windows 10, then Microsoft must have rolled out the update to you now. The update requires some patience as Windows downloads the necessary files and prepares the computer for the installation.

Users are keen to try out Microsoft Edge, tweak around the new features, marvel at the polished UI, and give commands to Cortana. Yes, the last one is what most users are looking forward to. The personal digital assistant from Microsoft that got debuted on Windows Phone with hopes to come to the desktop OS.

Microsoft finally made that possible with Windows 10 and users are quite excited to use it but most have run into some trouble, including us. We took to some forum searching and some fiddling with the settings to come up with possible solutions.




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What usually happens is that Cortana and the built-in microphone do not get along quite well. Some users have also reported that it’s not just the internal microphone that has compatibility issues but external as well. While using Cortana, the microphone levels drop quite low, sometimes all the way down to zero. The digital assistant is unable to hear any commands at all. Possible fixes and solutions indicate, and what we tried that worked out well now with some glitches include:



Fix # 1: This is a trial-and-error process, head towards your speakers settings and select "Recording devices." Select your default microphone and click on properties. From the levels tab, ensure that the microphone is turned way up 1o 100 and tweak the "Microphone Boost" section. +10.0db is what worked for us, but it requires us to speak up. Some users turned it up to +30.0db and have claimed success but then Cortana picks up a lot of background noise and understand your command.



Fix # 2: If the microphone boost trick did not work for you then head to the "Microphone Enhancements" tab in the microphone properties section and tick the box that says "Acoustic echo cancellation" and "Adaptive Noise Reduction." This won’t make a huge difference, but currently it claimed that Microsoft might fix such an issue with an update in some time.



Fix # 3: Another possible fix that also resides in the microphone settings is heading to the "Advanced" tab and ensuring that the two options underneath the "Exclusive Mode" section are turned on. If they are turned on by default, then try unchecking them and see if it works.



Fix # 4: Some users claim that putting Cortana on auto-pilot might solve the issue. What we mean by auto-pilot is that head to the search Cortana box and type "Cortana Settings." Once in the menu head to the "Hey Cortana" section and turn on the "Let Cortana Respond to Hey Cortana." This way instead of clicking and bringing up Cortana, she’s always listening for the catch-phrase and will activate once spoken. Also training Cortana to answer to only you by making her learn your voice also makes her respond better.



Fix # 5: Sometimes a restart fixes the situation but it is not recommended to try restarting every time you run into such trouble. A very basic fix could be actually setting up your microphone. To do that type microphone in Cortana search and select "Set up your microphone" option. Follow the procedure to set it up and hopefully your microphone will respond better and Cortana won’t run into any trouble.







If you find a different fix that resolved your problem, please let us know in the comments below. And if Cortana is working perfectly for you then tell us the how's your experience and the witty suggestions that she came up with.