Back in the day when the Indiana Jones movies were on every Christmas (what do you mean they still, are?) I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time as a kid and being enthralled.

I watched the gameplay reveal of Lucasarts/Bethesda/MachineGames at the Xbox Developer Direct and was transported back to that Christmas childhood once again. Grandparents sat around, Mattel Intellivision temporarily turned off.

For two and a half minutes this was everything I have ever wanted from an Indy game. I remember the point-and-click Fate of Atlantis absorbing me as well – that was a game where you needed to buy a second sound card (a Roland MIDI device) for your early PC to get the best music. We did. In fact, my brother sent me a text last night saying, “Do you think we will need a new soundcard?”

Set as a  sequel to the aforementioned Raiders, the Indiana Jones and The Great Circle (disclaimer, I don’t like the title) trailer takes us on a ride with Indy in mortal danger, yet still managing to headbutt a Nazi in the face. We had puzzles, running, leaping – okay we had a new Tomb Raider, but then Lara was always loosely based on Indiana Jones anyway.

The voice acting seems decent. Sure it’s not Harrison Ford, but nor is it the AI-cloned cyborg monstrosity that it could have been, with Troy Baker, famous for his role as Joel in The Last of Us, picking up the whip and doing a more than passable impersonation. 

We had views of the Vatican and the Himalayas alongside jungle terrain and sunken temples. Indy is clocking up the air miles in this one and it looks the part. It looks like Indiana Jones, sounds like Indiana (mostly) Jones and we all hope it feels like Indiana Jones. Oh, and that music.

This could be the start of a new franchise of games and an opportunity for new gamers to experience the thrill I got when I first saw Raiders, but in the medium of the 2020s rather than the 1980s.

And with a release date of 2024 (vague, but still soon enough), we should not have too long to wait.

Featured Image: AI-generated by Midjourney

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Figure, a developer of autonomous humanoid robots, has signed a major deal with BMW to bring its robots to the car maker’s US factory.

Under the commercial pact, Figure announced on Thursday it will initially identify potential applications for its robots on the German multinational’s auto assembly lines. Then will follow a gradual deployment phase where it’s hoped the robots will take over dangerous, tedious, and repetitive tasks from human workers at the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.

The Californian artificial intelligence (AI) company has been developing autonomous general-purpose humanoid robots since 2022 and picked up $70 million in Series A funding last year. The goal of this new partnership is to increase productivity and safety by enabling BMW employees to focus on higher-value assignments that require human skills and oversight, according to the companies.

“The potential of general purpose robotics is completely untapped,” said Brett Adcock, Figure’s CEO. “Our robots will enable companies like BMW to increase productivity, reduce costs and create a safer and more consistent environment.”

In addition to deploying robots, BMW and Figure will collaborate on exploring advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual manufacturing and robot integration.

“The automotive industry is evolving rapidly and BMW aims to be an innovator,” said Dr. Robert Engelhorn, BMW Manufacturing’s President and CEO. “The use of robotics solutions has the potential to drive greater efficiency and support the transformation ahead.”

Excited to announce that Figure has signed a commercial agreement with BMW

We will deploy our general purpose robots into automotive manufacturing environments.

More below: pic.twitter.com/LPisMeZZbi

— Figure (@Figure_robot) January 18, 2024

What does Figure’s deal with BMW mean for jobs?

It all sounds great on paper but what does this mean for human jobs? BMW’s massive plant in Spartanburg employs 11,000 people and generates around $27 billion for the state each year.

Figure says their humanoid robot is designed to address “jobs that are undesirable or unsafe, and to support supply chain and manufacturing on a global scale.” The robots may be used to supplement the work of existing workers or to take on entirely new production methods.

It’s not yet clear how the implementation will affect workers.

Earlier this month Readwrite reported Figure’s significant progress in achieving its mission to “expand human capabilities through advanced AI” by demonstrating how its artificial intelligence (AI) performs simple human tasks like making a coffee.

Robotic workers utilized on a large scale are still a while off. This is very much the early stage of this technology, but the partnership with BMW is a significant step and one to pay attention to.

BMW was approached for comment.

Featured Image: Figure AI

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Reddit is set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in March, following up on plans more than three years in the making according to an exclusive report from Reuters.

It would represent the first IPO of a significant social media platform since Pinterest was floated on the market in 2019, and at a time when there is significant competition for advertising revenue with the likes of Facebook and TikTok.

Reddit is a San Francisco-based mega-website combining elements of social media, messageboards and news aggregation. It was founded in June 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian who sold the platform to Condé Nast the following year. Huffman left the company in 2009 before returning as CEO, in 2015.

Last month, he spoke on speculation of an IPO to follow as well as the admission that Reddit was not profitable despite enjoying a user base of approximately 400 million accounts.

An IPO offering has previously been suggested but plans have been delayed until the company is closer to returning a profit and it looks like the time is now to test the water.

Floodgates to open

Reuters has indicated the company is “seeking to sell about 10% of its shares in the IPO”, whilst it “will decide on what IPO valuation it will pursue closer to the time of the listing,” according to their sources.

The information came with the caveat detailing the plans could be pushed back again but after Reddit quietly filed for its IPO back in December 2021, it will eventually need to strike out if the aspired returns are to be delivered.

It will be interesting to gauge to what extent Reddit users back the proposed listing, whilst Nasdaq reported “Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the two investment banks working with Reddit” with a sense of optimism and aiming for a breakthrough IPO launch that could open the floodgates for others to go public in 2024.

The IPO market has been muted since the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to stave off the pressures of inflation but that could be about to change with candidates like Reddit, as well as Shein, inching toward a public launch.

Image: Brett Jordan/Pexels

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As we recently discussed, the max level in Palworld is 50. And while you may not want to race to that number on the first day of Early Access, then get bored of the game, end up uninstalling it, and moaning on X that there is not enough content, you also need to know how to level up yourself and your Pals at the maximum rate so that you can catch better Pals quicker.

So with that in mind let’s have a look at the best ways to level up fast and efficiently in Palworld.

Level up quickly in Palworld

We did mention yesterday that Level Sync comes into play and Pals that are stronger than you scale down to match your level so it is advantageous to at least get to a decent level first up, especially as many of the enemies you will come across initially can be much higher than you, especially when you wander off the beaten path and into areas you are maybe not quite ready for.

Base building

You get XP for building your base so it is quite possible you could just hang out there doing a bit of construction work here and there and still climb the levels, but the key to this page is getting those levels quickly, so we are going to have head out and catch some new Pals for our collection.

Adventuring

For every new Pal you capture you will get XP, but di you know if you catch several of the same Pal quickly, you get a bonus that increases with each you bag. So you want to look for, let’s use the word flock, as nobody has told me the correct collective noun of a group of Pals yet, let me know when we have one,  of levels Pals and take them out quickly in succession.

Once you get your level into double figures it’s safer to start taking on the higher level Pals and adding them to your collection and even locating the Alpha Pals that lurk in the South East corner of the map and are easy to find.

Start knocking a few of those off and you will soon get your levels rising quickly.

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So we know Palworld is almost with and we looked at some of the key information you might want to know before joining the fun earlier today. But the game is coming out in Early Access so does that mean there is an initial level cap and if so, what is it? Let’s dive in and see what we know about the leveling system in Palworld so we know what we are aiming for when we all start playing.

Does Palworld have a max level?

When the game arrives on Steam and Xbox Game Pass the maximum level you are going to be able to reach, certainly in this phase of Early Access is Level 50. The Level 50 cap applies both to you and your Pals.

There have been some rumors flying around that the ultimate level cap once the game is released properly and comes out of Early Access will be set at 100. This is unconfirmed at this stage.

Later down the track if Pocket Pair decides to release DLC it is possible it could get pushed even higher, but we are seriously into the hypotheticals now.

For now, we will have to be content with level 50, and our advice is don’t try to be the first there and leave yourself with little to do. Early access suggests all the content is not in place yet so sit back and enjoy a leisurely stroll to the level cap instead. You will appreciate it more if you do.

Once you hit the 50 cap your XP will stop rising, but if you have any Pals who aren’t at the max level you can still work to get them to the top as well.

What is Level Sync in Palworld?

Level Sync is just the name used in the game to make sure things don’t get too frustrating. When you equip a Pal if it has a higher level than you it will magically come down to match your own level, meaning that you won’t feel the benefit of higher-rated Pals until you hit the higher levels as well.

The post What’s the max level in Palworld’s early access? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has confirmed a setback with its second plant in Arizona delayed by up to two years, while the company is still waiting on certainty over US government grants.

It is another blow for the $40 billion site after news broke in July that the first factory will not be up and running until 2025, as reported by Bloomberg.

TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor chip foundry, is aiming to start second phase operations in 2027 or 2028, which is also a disappointment to the Biden administration in the White House in its aspirations to boost the manufacturing of key components on US soil.

The first site will only commence the production of 4-nanometer chips next year with labor and cost factors cited by the company in the announcement last year.

“Our overseas decisions are based on customer needs and the necessary level of government subsidy, or support,” stated chairman Mark Liu.

At TSMC’s earnings conference in Taipei on Thursday, its chief financial officer Wendell Huang added the decision on the second factory comes as a consequence of delays to the first plant.

Delays to US government funding

Taiwan’s flagship company is locked in talks with the US government on incentives and tax credits, whilst still facing challenges in hiring its workforce. Decisions on grants are set to influence the scale of advances at the second location which is also up against the clock.

TSMC has intimated a delay of two years could result in a one-generation evolution of semiconductor tech.

Incumbent US President Joe Biden passed the Chips and Science Act into law more than one year ago but the legislation aimed to inject billions of dollars toward the likes of TSMC and Intel for further US expansion has yet to yield any subsidies.

The situation is likely to be a source of frustration for the iconic chipmaker given that TSMC has already received funds from the Japanese government for a lesser project in Kumamoto, which was unveiled after the Arizona plan.

Production at the site in Japan is anticipated to get underway later this year.

Image credit, pixabay, pexels.com

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Spotify has fired a scathing response at Apple after the tech giant set out new commission fees of up to 27% in the United States.

Apple confirmed it would allow app developers to sell products outside its store, as long as a significant transaction fee was paid.

The streaming heavyweight claims the decision is “outrageous”, in what is the latest saga in an ongoing tussle over fees between the two firms. Spotify, based in Stockholm, Sweden, has urged authorities in the European Union and the United Kingdom to prevent a similar fee imposition.

The iPhone maker’s decision comes following another long-running dispute with Fortnite developer Epic Games which led to a court finding Apple had acted in contravention of US competition laws by not allowing developers to inform users of other ways of paying. This included links that bypass the Apple Store payment system and the 30% fee that is charged to use it.

The outcome is the multi-trillion dollar company installed a commission of up to 27% as part of its new rules for app developers to allow users to sign up and pay for services without using its system in the US.

Apple accused of negating competition and choice

Spotify has reacted with fury in a statement in an interview with the Financial Times.

“Once again, Apple has demonstrated that they will stop at nothing to protect the profits they exact on the backs of developers and consumers under their app store monopoly. Their latest move in the U.S. — imposing a 27% fee for transactions made outside of an app on a developer’s website — is outrageous and flies in the face of the court’s efforts to enable greater competition and user choice.”

Last year, Spotify accused Apple of having an “insane” level of control over the internet in a previous fee wrangle and now it wants the British government to oversee a different approach in the UK, as outlined in the BBC report.

Image credit, PhotoMix Company, pexels.com

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Microsoft’s Xbox closed out 2023 with a decreasing number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers, according to third-party data.

Estimates on Xbox Game Pass subscriber numbers at the end of the last year place it at around 33 million users, reports IGN. This rings true with reports that adoption is slowing down and growth falling by two percentage points in 2023 according to industry analysts.

“We’re seeing slowing adoption of Xbox Game Pass even though Microsoft will claim otherwise thanks to the repositioning of Xbox Live Gold as Xbox Game Pass Core,” Omdia senior game analyst James McWhirter told IGN. “Our forecast estimates total Xbox Game Pass subscriptions (excluding Core/Live Gold) to be at 33.3 million at the end of 2023, which represents subscriber growth of just 13% – down from 15% in 2022. Notably, over half (55%) are currently on the device-agnostic Ultimate tier.”

Xbox is typically shy of sharing exact hardware or software numbers publicly, so it’s worth taking these numbers with a pinch of salt. However, what can’t be denied is that there’s immense pressure on Xbox to stand up to the big boys of Sony and Nintendo, especially with the Activision Blizzard deal now tidied away.

Pressure on Microsoft’s plans for 2024 subscriber growth

Microsoft has long since voiced plans to “meet gamers where they are”, not wanting to force players to buy consoles to play games. Indeed, it put its money where its mouth is in 2019, releasing previously exclusive games Cuphead and Ori and the Blind Forest to Nintendo’s Switch store.

This is an unusual move for gaming companies that sell their own consoles, with the majority pursuing Apple-style campaigns where consumers need to own the consoles to buy the in-house games. This still applies to some major titles on Xbox, but crucially not all. After all, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play games on console, PC, or cloud, negating the need for a console on all Xbox Game Pass titles.

However, with Xbox Game Pass subscribers now flagging, it might be that Microsoft will need to think of another way to appeal to the wider market of gamers in 2024.

Featured image: Jakub Sisulak/Pexels

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So in a mere matter of hours, we will get Palworld – the game that has (perhaps a tad unfairly) been categorized as Pokemon with guns.

It’s not that, there is so much more to it than that, or at least there will be as it progresses its way through Early Access. So we have been out and about collating everything we think you might need to know before actually playing the game and have put it all together in this handy guide.

Is Palworld on Xbox Game Pass?

Yes, it is and that is great news. The fact that it will be on Microsoft’s huge subscription platform means a couple of things – a) lots more people will get to play it than might have done otherwise, as the option to just download and play it is there and b) well, it is legitimized by being there. Any fears about it being taken down for being too much like Pokemon, or even that the game is a scam – something the devs have had to unfortunately had to defend themselves against according to PCGamesN should now be eased somewhat.

Is Palworld any good?

The million-dollar question. There is no doubt that when it launches on January 19th that Palworld will look and behave in many respects like an Early Access game. A lot of the animations and even some of the graphics appear to have not been added in yet. Harnesses are missing from pets, trees just fall down, and so on, and picking things up off the floor just means they move from the floor to your hand, but we are sure all that will be added in.

The graphics, ignoring the animation glitches, are stylish and colorful, and even after a few hours of playing and watching, it doesn’t grate on you.

The last thing I can think of that launched that was janky,  in Early Access AND on Game Pass was Grounded, and that turned out to be an amazing game. It just took a while.

How big is Palworld?

Well in terms of download size, the Xbox app is reporting it as 16.35 GB, so it is no Call of Duty, but neither is it small.

What kind of game is Palworld?

Forget the Pokemon with guns line, that is just a distraction. At its heart, Palworld is a survival game. In the words of the devs, Pocket Pair, “You can peacefully live alongside mysterious creatures known as Pals or risk your life to drive off a ruthless poaching syndicate. Pals can be used to fight and breed, or they can be made to work on farms or factories.

You can even sell them or eat them.”

Is Palworld on Steam?

If you don’t have an Xbox Game Pass subscription you can pick Palworld up on Steam instead for $29.99 during Early Access which of course also gives you access to Steam’s refund policy as long as you play it for less than two hours you can claim your money back if it turns out it is not for you.

And that’s all you need to know at this stage. And now the world waits to play Palworld and see if it lives up to initial expectations, or whether we all got overly excited by a few streamers getting carried away.

How do Palworld’s levels work?

If you want to know more about level caps and how Palworld’s level sync works, we have a full guide that you can check out.

The post Palworld – Everything you need to know ahead of launch appeared first on ReadWrite.

While Bing’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) has sent usage of the search engine skyrocketing, Google still remains the top dog with the biggest market share in internet search by a huge margin.

Google has been synonymous with search engines for years, so much so that it is now a common verb for looking something up on the internet (‘Google it’). While Microsoft’s Bing has rebranded and redesigned its service several times since its birth in 2009, it’s only the recent integration of AI that has made it hold its head above the parapet.

Powered by OpenAI’s generative AI technology, the new version of Bing stands out from ChatGPT (backed by the same tech) by answering questions in a natural, easy way. Despite US monthly active Bing users more than doubling year-over-year, reaching 4.4 million in actual terms, Microsoft’s search engine still ended 2023 with only 3.4% of the global search market, reports Bloomberg using data from analytics firm StatCounter. That marks an increase of less than one percentage point since the ChatGPT integration announcement.

The bottom line is in the face of huge increases in the number of people using Bing, Google is still holding steady with the biggest market share in search with a whopping 92%. Perhaps 2024 is the year Google delivers on its plans for defending its position too, with fast-tracked plans to integrate AI into its search services.

Google plans to incorporate AI

In May 2023, Google launched an experimental, early version of its signature search engine, known as the “search generative experience” (SGE). Much like Bing’s counterpart, it delivers conversational responses alongside the familiar list of links that Google users are comfortable with. There’s no need to use a separate tool; rather, AI capabilities are being incorporated into the existing search engine.

SGE is still not widely available, initially open to beta testers via manual sign-ups, but Google has confirmed its plans to embed its latest large language model, Gemini, into SGE sometime in 2024.

On Thursday (Jan.18) the search giant announced Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S24 will benefit from Gemini, following a joint statement from the two companies.

Featured image: Dall-E

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Australian betting platform SportChamps has been hit with a fine of AUS $17,500 (USD $11,481) for repeated gambling advertising violations.

As reported by Gambling Insider, the Sydney-based operator has fallen foul of regulations for the sixth time, all for similar offenses.

The sanction was issued after an investigation by Liquor & Gaming NSW, the New South Wales state authority, found the company was guilty of inducing people to gamble and open betting accounts through its website and social media accounts.

With adverts such as “Punt for free. Learn the game!” and “Receive a free bet each day,” under the spotlight, SportChamps pleaded guilty in court to two offenses under the Betting and Racing Act, in violation of NSW law.

Their strategy to attract new customers has been a flawed one, with new accounts able to access the SportChamps Tournament Betting Lobby webpage once signed up, with free and paid gaming tournaments up for grabs. This initial process involved soliciting credit card details and deposits to play, increasing the likelihood of a user engaging in gambling on the site.

Extremely concerning

Jane Lin, a representative of the state regulator, provided a stern response to the findings from the investigation.

The Executive Director of Regulatory Operations at Liquor & Gaming NSW stated “SportChamps has five previous convictions for gambling advertising offenses from 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. It’s extremely concerning that this operator has amassed multiple convictions for breaching laws which are in place to protect people from gambling harm.”

Lin went on to point out the key guideline that operators should not specifically promote offers or bonuses to entice new customers, as much as they are free to advertise their products.

The NSW government is leading several gambling reforms, including reducing cash limits on electronic gaming machines, introducing responsible gaming officers, and a pilot of cashless gaming in partnership with a panel of industry experts.

It is also targeting gaming room advertising with non-compliant venues facing fines of up to AUS $11, 000 for each offense.

Image credit: Pexels

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What do you get if you cross the amazing gaming worlds of Call of Duty and Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40k? Something that could be amazing that’s what.

Call of Duty’s Season 1 Reloaded update recently went live soi, as per usual, data miners immediately dug deep into the files, loading screen art featuring a could of MW3 operators bedecked like Warhammer 40k grunts.

This has only just started circulating on X fully but Semtex Leaks s has put together a decent-sized list of, not only the artwork, but icons, skins, and data that suggests strongly that a full Warhammer 40k event is coming to Call of Duty. If true, this would be a pretty major collaboration. Warhammer 40k is huge right now with a surge in popularity among video gamers after games such as Darktide and Rogue Trader in the last year have propelled it more in the digital space.

WARHAMMER x #MW3 CROSSOVER

In the upcoming Warhammer x @CallofDuty crossover, the Baton Jailer, Swamp Monster (Fenbeast), Orgre Butcher and Mummy will make an appearance in-game! pic.twitter.com/d713AASfhD

— Semtex (@SemtexLeaks) January 17, 2024

From the leak, it looks as though we will also be getting new animations including one for a chainsaw – a favored weapon of the Warhammer Space Marines. There are snippets of code there that show items and how they will work in the game. It’s unclear how all this will fit into Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone at this stage but it’s a safe bet it will be hugely popular for fans of both camps.

Call of Duty is not a complete stranger to crossover events with a Diablo one already in the bag, but they are both Activision Blizzard games so it was seen as more obvious than this one perhaps.

One thing we can probably count on though is that to get the coolest Warhammer 40k skins on our operators means it is going to cost us. You better start saving up for those in-game transactions folks.

Remember though, it is a leak and not confirmed news, so we all know what that could mean.

The post Is Warhammer 40k coming to Call of Duty? Leak suggests this might be epic appeared first on ReadWrite.

Xbox Games Pass is a way for subscribers to play certain titles for free, but one game won’t be available for much longer.

Although the Xbox Games Pass roster is updated each month with new options, some games stay on there for much longer than a few weeks, offering players enough time to play them through in full. One such title is Hitman: World of Assassination, the third in the Hitman series.

The assassin-themed game has been on Xbox Games Pass since the beginning of January 2022, making it over 12 months on the platform. However, that time is now coming to an end, with it leaving the line-up of free titles at the end of the month.

Considering Hitman: World of Assassination is around 24 hours in total, and as long as 171 hours if you want to complete every side quest and achievement, you’ll want to start playing it soon if you want to complete it for free.

How to play Hitman: World of Assassination for free on Xbox Game Pass

You’ll need to sign up for the Xbox Games Pass subscription via the ‘Memberships’ tab in the Xbox Store before you can access the Xbox Games Pass roster. From there, your Game Pass Ultimate or Console membership will enable you to begin downloading console titles like Hitman: World of Assassination.

With cloud gaming, you don’t even need to download the game to start playing, so long as you have a strong internet connection. You can find a number of items on your Xbox home screen or search directly within the Xbox Store.

Hitman: World of Assassination brings a new freedom to the trilogy through its sandbox-style format, meaning the main avatar Agent 47 can take out targets through a wide variety of methods, from simple silenced pistol shots to much goofier techniques. The wilder your imagination, the crazier your eliminations can get.

Featured image: IO Interactive

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Indian IT giants HCL, Infosys, TCS and Wipro reported strong financial results in their latest quarterly earnings, fueled largely by rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Though hiring remained slow, revenue and margins grew substantially across India’s ‘big four’- HCL’s revenue rose 5.3% to $3.41 billion; Infosys increased margins by 0.1% to $4.66 billion; TCS grew revenues by 2.9% to $7.28 billion.

Despite a 6.9% decline to $2.66 billion for Wipro, its CEO Thierry Delaporte struck an upbeat tone, stating “It’s been a strong performance this quarter and it gives us good optimism for the quarters to come.”

“Viral” AI for business strategy

On the upward curve, AI is a dominant feature contributing to the outlook on the future.

“Almost every discussion with clients involves some element of Generative AI,” said Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, while his HCL counterpart C Vijakumar revealed his firm had 30 wins on their books in Gen-AI projects.

That sentiment was further endorsed by Wipro’s Delaporte who commented,  “AI is now moving from the curiosity and experimentation stage to becoming vital, I was going to say viral as well, to business strategy. In fact, we can confidently say that every long-term large deal now has an AI component.”

TCS also declared “AI.Cloud led the demand among Service Lines with strong momentum sustaining for Cloud migrations and increasing interest among customers for AI and Generative AI,” in a powerful indicator of the importance of AI for India’s leading businesses.

On staffing levels, HCL stood apart as the only one of the four firms to increase its numbers. Over the quarter, they recorded an added 3617 to their headcount, up 1.6% whilst the rest saw a decline, contributing to a total loss of 12,637 employees for the ‘big four’, collectively.

The automotive and aerospace industries were highlighted as key markets targeted for growth, with AI remaining a dominant trend leading to investment and returns.

Featured image: Pexels

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Oh, how we have waited for Skull and Bones. So long in fact even the most faithful doubted it would ever make it to the shore. It looks like it has however, and within a couple of weeks we could well all be knee-deep in the bilge in Ubisoft’s amazing-looking pirate adventure. 

February 16th is the date for your calendar and if you don’t know much about Skull and Bones yet, then think Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, but just the cool shippy bits.

Which version of Skull and Bones should you get?

It comes in two flavors, the Standard and Premium. Standard is coming in at $59.99/£49.99 and gets your base game. If you pre-order it then you get the pre-order bonus as well (see below) as you might expect.

The Premium Edition ($89.99/£74.99) will bag you the base version of the game alongside three days of early access (starts February 13th) along with the cosmetics listed below:

• Ashen Corsair Ship Set
• Bloody Bones Captain Outfit
• 11 ship items

You also get two missions, The Ashen Corsair and the Bloody Bones Legacy, which presumably will tie in with the above cosmos, and completing these missions will get you some more unlockables.

You also get the Smuggler’s Pass which is Skull and Bones’ name for a Battle Pass, as well as the obligatory Soundtrack and Digital Art Book.

Is Skull and Bones on Ubisoft +?

The quick answer is yes it is. Ubisoft changed all its subscription models earlier this week and promised that not only will you get all the games on Day One, but they are the Premium versions as well, so you should get all the above as long as you sub to the Ubisoft + Premier tier, which means you will be playing for £14.99/$17.99 per month)

What is the Skull and Bone pre-order bonus?

If you pre-order Skull and Bones you will get some cosmetics including the Notoriet Garb and Coronation Firework as part of the Highness of the High Sea pack.

We think Skull and Bones is going to be huge and cannot wait to get our hands on it soon.

The post Skull and Bones – All editions, pre-order bonuses, and info you landlubbers need ahead of release appeared first on ReadWrite.

PlayStation has several PS4 games available for low prices but for a limited time only.

We might be halfway into January already but the PlayStation New Year Deals sale is still on, continuing until January 31. That means you can still score some massive savings on popular games, from well-known titles like Mortal Kombat X to smaller horror games like Slender: The Arrival.

There are savings of up to 75% on some games, ranging from niche games that you can pick up for less than £2 to huge AAA titles that are reduced by over half the original RRP. With the weather getting colder, now is the perfect time to stock up on games that have been on your wishlist for a while and hibernate with your PS4.

What’s included in the PlayStation New Year Deals sale?

Many games are discounted to less than £5 a pop, including:

Featured image: Respawn Entertainment

The post How to get PS4 games for next to nothing – if you move fast appeared first on ReadWrite.

Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S24 will benefit from Google’s Gemini, its latest and most advanced AI model, following a joint announcement from the tech giants.

A Google press release detailed how the S24 range would specifically benefit from Gemini Pro, the median offering of the AI feature in addition to Gemini Ultra and Gemini Nano. The three models are designed for different uses, depending on the type of task required.

Gemini Pro will be the power behind Samsung’s Notes, Voice Recorder, and Keyboard apps, set to bring “better summarization features”, including the ability to record a lecture on Voice Recorder and later receive a summary of the key details.

Gemini Nano will also be deployed on the S24, in Google Messages, with the introduction of Magic Compose which will influence messages in styles such as “excited,” “formal”, and “lyrical” without the need to be connected to the internet.

Samsung and Google’s AI collaboration is only beginning

Samsung has been confirmed as one of the first partners to test Gemini Ultra before it is generally available to wider developers later this year, in what could be a further upgrade to follow for the new smartphone series.

AI advances have been credited for delivering other new features such as Circle to Search, which will enable searching for anything on your Android handset without having to toggle between apps. The innovative technology will let users select images, videos or text on their phone with a simple gesture to search for almost anything – a product, a phrase, or an item, – that is visible on the device.

Android Auto will be able to summarize long messages and suggest relevant replies to make it easier, and hopefully, less time-consuming, to communicate whilst you are on the road.

Google said it was “excited” about the possibilities of collaboration with Samsung for Android and the Galaxy S4 series with a pledge of more to follow.

Image credit, Google press release

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Before the Holidays we reported that Starfield was due to get some major updates every six weeks or so. Bethesda’s end-of-year update said we could expect that to start in February but they would first be tested out in a beta branch on the Steam version of the game before being pushed to Xbox Live and other versions.

Yesterday was supposed to be the first day of the Steam beta updates, but a post on the Bethesda Game Studios X account stated, “We discovered an issue we want to address before releasing our update into the Steam Beta. We’re aiming to release it later this week but we’ll confirm the timing when we know for sure. Thanks for your patience!.”

This followed a post last week stating, “Next week, on January 17, we’ll be putting our biggest @StarfieldGame update yet into Steam Beta with over 100 fixes and improvements, with a planned release date for all players two weeks later.”

Further news followed a few hours later suggesting the issue has been resolved and that the update will be pushed out to Steam any time now. With the fix being so quick hopefully that means we may not even get a delay when it gets pushed through the main branch and other services besides Steam, meaning everybody gets to play the same version of the game sooner rather than later.

Update: the issue has been resolved and the Steam Beta for our next update will be going live tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for the full patch notes when it opens!

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) January 17, 2024

What does the Starfield update contain?

Bethesda says this first major update will include:

“This update contains a multitude of fixes to Quests. Eye of the Storm issues such as being unable to dock with the Legacy or data transfer not starting, and Temples not showing up in Into the Unknown, will no longer prevent Constellation from exploring the cosmos.

“Additionally, this update brings stability improvements and numerous graphic improvements ranging from additional widescreen support to improved textures, lighting, and shadows.

“Other fixes and improvements include sun disk geometry, planet ring shadows, bulldozed objects reappearing when returning to an Outpost, ship hatches marked inaccessible, and another fix for asteroids following ships.”

We have yet to get any full patch notes but we will pick through the best bits when they are finally released.

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Google has published several new features to its range of services, but only available to those in the EU.

Tech companies around the world are making changes to fall in line with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a bill that aims to make digital markets fairer and open. There are various new obligations that tech companies will need to adhere to, ranging from preventing the removal of pre-installed apps on their systems or stopping the tracking of end users outside of their core platforms without user consent.

Several improvements are on the way to Google services in particular along these lines, as announced in a recent blog. As the changes come into effect, EU Google users may start to some changes in how they look and function.

What changes are coming to Google services in the EU?

The changes are across four main areas: consent for link services, changes to search results, choice screens, and data portability.

At the moment, Google shares user data across certain products and services. In the next few weeks, the platform will present EU users with an additional consent banner to confirm whether this data can continue to be shared. It’s worth noting that if you don’t consent, some features will be limited or unusable but you can change your decision at any time.

For search results, many changes are coming to the results page, from grouping links to comparison sites from across the web to query shortcuts designed to help users find what they need faster. This will be especially applicable when comparing things like hotels or bookable services online, with extra information like price comparisons, images, and star ratings available to see directly from the results page.

According to the DMA, Google will also start to show additional choice screens on Android when setting up a device to make Chrome your default search engine, as well as on iOS for desktop devices.

Finally, EU users will be able to download or transfer a copy of their data from more than 80 Google products and services. This is to meet new requirements from the DMA around moving user data to a third-party app or service.

Featured image: PhotoMIX Company; Pexels

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The first major livestream from Microsoft Xbox takes place today and we are expecting a whole host of good stuff to be shown off during it. So it is a pretty exciting day.

We can expect news from many of Microsoft’s partner studios – although Blizzard will be hosting its own event around Season 3 of Diablo IV before the Xbox livestream, rather than hijacking it with pure D4 content.

One of the games most people are looking forward to seeing is the new Indiana Jones title. Equally exciting, and one we have been waiting for for a few years now is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, the follow-up to the amazing well-ahead-of-its-time Senua’s Sacrifice.

It is still probably MachineGames/Bethesda’s Indy title that will garner the most attention though. We have had some leaks about what it may be called, but the prospect of a ‘proper’ Indiana Jones game excites the 80s kid in me who grew up thrilled by the movies the first time around.

The other big title we cannot wait to get a real glimpse of is Avowed from Obsidian. RPGs are big time at the moment as Baldur’s Gate 3 set the bar high, but this first-person affair looks more Skyrim than BG3. If Obsidian gets this right, it could be huge.

How to Watch Xbox Direct

The show will be broadcast on the official Xbox and Bethesda channels – basically, tune in to any streaming set-up or turn on your Xbox and you should be able to find it with minimum fuss.

Here are the times of the showcase for your region so you can make sure you don’t miss out.

8 pm GMT (London)

12 pm PST (Los Angeles)
3 pm EST (New York)
9 pm CET (Paris)

If you can’t make the show live, you will be able to watch it on demand on all the key channels after the event.

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