Intelligent Edge devices and solutions were on full display at the Microsoft CES 2020 Showcase this week. New PCs, connected storefront and IOT solutions demonstrated the power of Microsoft’s unique and growing relationship with its partners around the world.

Working with this vibrant partner ecosystem has long been a priority for Microsoft and it is a key differentiator that’s helped make Windows 10 and Azure successful. Taking a collective, collaborative approach enables the top minds in our industry to work together, accelerate innovation, and ensure we bring great devices and experiences to market for our customers. Together with our partners, we are driving technology forward.

During the first CES of a new decade, we’ve been doing our own 10-year challenge this week, looking back at where we were in 2010 in contrast with how dramatically things have changed since then. Every year along the way has brought exciting innovation across the intelligent edge and computing as a whole, and it’s at these milestones where we can see the dramatic shifts in the tech landscape.

As we close out another great year at CES, let’s look at where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and where we’re headed.

A decade of disruptive change

In 2010, Intel launched its Core i7 line — the first six core desktop CPU. Blackberry owned double the market share of the iPhone and triple that of smartphones running other operating systems. The iPad and Instagram launched. Office 2010 was introduced and surpassed Microsoft’s previous records for adoption, deployment and revenue.

Ten years later, we can see how some of those innovations moved entire markets. Some of them played their role then passed the baton to other creations. And new, disruptive technology trends have emerged, affecting the entire technology industry.

Today we are in an age of services, cloud computing, AI and machine learning. Next-generation Windows PCs and entirely new product categories are being built to incorporate cloud and AI services, support new experiences like virtual and augmented reality, and address our insatiable demand for new ways to work with data.

With these emerging technologies and trends, we are creating new possibilities for the modern PC that weren’t on the radar in 2010. Yet in today’s PCs we still see parallels with the innovation from a decade earlier—in 2020 as in 2010, the whole ecosystem remains focused on delivering new customer scenarios. And as we move into a more connected, intelligent era of computing, PCs today can do what PCs simply could not do a decade ago.

Partner innovations at CES

The impact of the past decade’s innovations is showing up in many ways across a spectrum of devices. Features like Windows Hello, Windows Ink and Cortana all require specific hardware to work well, and this week, our partners have demonstrated innovations that complement our software, like fingerprint readers on the power button and cameras with security features, among many other advancements large and small.

Along with the evolution of devices have come changes in the expectations of both consumers and commercial customers. People want attractive, high-quality devices with no tradeoffs between cost and quality. At CES this week, we’ve seen how our partners continue to offer attractive, no-compromise devices packed with premium features to customers at all price points.

The Windows ecosystem is growing every year, and CES 2020 showcased some of the most innovative devices we’ve seen—from incredibly thin and light laptops, convertibles and 2-in-1s, to powerful gaming rigs, always-connected devices and more. Some of the devices at the show included:

• The Acer Swift 3, which supports fast-charging, enabling up to four hours of use with a 30-minute charge.

• The ASUS ExpertBook B9, which offers a frameless four-sided NanoEdge display meaning the 14-inch panel fits into a standard 13-inch laptop chassis with a 94% screen-to-body ratio.

• The latest version of the popular XPS 13 from Dell, which has reduced its InfinityEdge borders and has a 6.8% larger 16:10 display that spans from all four edges and is 25% brighter than before.

• The HP Elite Dragonfly, the first world’s laptop with built-in Tile technology, which allows users to easily find a lost notebook, and is made with ocean bound plastic material with more than 82% of the mechanical parts made from recycled materials.

• The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 with the exclusive Lenovo Q-Control Intelligent Cooling feature that uses AI to optimize battery life by an average of up to 20%.

• The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex α, which offers a long-lasting battery, an immersive QLED display capable of producing over 1 billion colors and featuring an ultra-thin bezel, and up to 17.5-hours battery life.

The power of these products shows how Microsoft’s vibrant ecosystem continues to enable the top minds in our industry to work together, accelerate innovation and bring great experiences to market.

Looking ahead

In the next 10 years, we expect this pace of innovation will only accelerate. The 5G networks coming online will process extremely high volumes of data at much faster speeds, driving new streaming experiences and even more services across a range of devices. Graphics will get even better as HDR displays continue to improve and 8K becomes ubiquitous. New types of devices are sure to appear, with dual screen and foldable PCs already on the horizon for 2020.

Customer expectations and demand for the most modern devices will keep rising, and the ways we use PCs will keep evolving as we expand our cloud computing capabilities and our understanding of AI and machine learning.

As we work through this new decade, Microsoft will continue to innovate with our partners to meet these demands, so everyone can achieve more. From 5G to the power of the intelligent edge, I’m excited to see what our partners will bring to market in the new “roaring twenties.”

A new Exotic has also made its appearance, packing a little bit of Unstoppable heat, so to speak. Load up the Sundial and start your quest to acquire the Devil’s Ruin Exotic Sidearm.

We’re still warming up from our holiday hibernation, but we’re hitting the ground running! This week, we have an update from our Game Security team, an announcement for a fundraiser to help send aid to Australia, and news on a hotfix coming early next week. Let’s get to it.

Keep it Clean

Helping Australia: Star Light, Star Bright

In the last few weeks, you may have heard about the bush fires that are currently impacting Australia. With every Bungie Foundation effort, we are reminded of how much good can come from the gaming community. Sr. Foundation Manager Christine Edwards has details on our upcoming efforts to assist those in need, opening an avenue for Guardians around the world to lend a helping hand.

Christine: Over the past two decades, the Bungie community has been an amazing force for good in our world by raising millions of dollars to assist those in distress. In addition to supporting thousands of children through our iPads for Kids Program, you have helped victims of hurricanes Katrina and Harvey and have donated to those affected by earthquakes in Haiti, Japan, and Nepal. Time and time again, you have been Guardians to others in their greatest time of need.

The bush fires currently ravaging Australia have been devastating. Many people have lost their homes, firefighters are risking their lives daily, and an estimated hundreds of millions of wild animals have fallen victim to the fires.

We are developing a limited-edition T-shirt fundraising campaign to support both Australia’s firefighting efforts and the country’s animal rescue and conservation efforts. The T-shirt, which comes with an exclusive Destiny 2 “Star Light, Star Bright” emblem redemption code with purchase, will be available for pre-order on the Bungie Store and Bungie Store EU between Thursday, January 16 and Tuesday, February 18 at 9 a.m. Pacific, ending with the weekly reset and the end of Crimson Days. The team is currently hard at work on the T-shirt design and we’ll share a preview early next week.

The first half of all profits generated by these T-shirt sales will be donated to WIRES, Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organization. The other half will be donated to NSW Rural Fire Service, which services the state of New South Wales, where the fires have been especially devastating and are in dire need of containment.

Be sure to check out next week’s edition of This Week at Bungie for more details on how you can support Australia through this fundraiser. In the meantime, our hearts go out to all that are impacted and we are wishing for clearer skies ahead.

Hammer Down

So, let’s talk about Titans. You know, the ones that like to punch everything into oblivion. The class that sometimes throws their weapon aside in favor of a good ol’ headbutt. This week, Destiny Player Support has some vital information concerning a specific exotic that could amplify the damage of a throwing hammer to game-breaking values.

This is their report.

WORMGOD CARESS DISABLED

Earlier this week, we identified an issue with the Wormgod Caress Exotic Gauntlets where the “Burning Fists” perk could retain increased melee damage after its intended timer countdown, allowing players to easily defeat raid bosses.

The Armor 1.0 and 2.0 versions of these gauntlets have been disabled until a fix can be deployed at a later date.

DESTINY 2 HOTFIX 2.7.0.2

Next Tuesday, January 14, we will release Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.7.0.2. This hotfix will resolve a few known issues, including the EDZ Obelisk accessibility and Eververse waypoint notifications. Please see below for our rollout timeline.

• 8 AM PST (1600 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance will begin.
• 8:30 AM PST (1630 UTC): Players will be removed from all Destiny 2 activities and will be unable to log in until 9 AM PST.
• 9 AM PST (1700 UTC): Players will be able to log in again and Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.7.0.2 will begin rolling out to all platforms and regions.
• 12 PM PST (2000 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude.

TRACKING KNOWN ISSUES

Over the past few weeks, a few more issues have surfaced that our Player Support team has been tracking. Below is a list of the latest known issues that were reported in our #Help Forum:

• The Leviathan’s Breath Exotic Bow currently cannot be acquired due to an issue with ‘The Arms Dealer’ strike where it can only be completed in Season 8.
• The Tower Obelisk can sometimes not be accessed. Players encountering this should return to orbit and launch back in to The Tower.
• The Giddy Laugh emote keeps loading in the Emote Collection and can’t be unequipped if slotted.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players should view our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

UNTIL NEXT DAWNING

As the holiday season comes to an end, so too does the Dawning. The Dawning ends this coming Tuesday, January 14, at the weekly reset. Players have until then to create their holiday gifts, upgrade their Dawning Sparrows, and earn double XP from Eva’s bounties.

That’s a lot of Crucible

This week’s winner features eight-minutes of pure Crucible carnage with a variety of weaponry, abilities, and straight up skill? Bows, throwing knives, Arc Beam, Hand Cannons, Sidearms… you name it. Legend of Acrius even snuck in for some love. Language warning for the final moments. Frostbolt, you’d better wash your mouth out with soap!

Movie of the Week: Mastery of Destiny

Honorable Mention: Solo Flawless Pit of Heresy using Two Sidearms and a Sword.

First TWAB of a new year. Prepare for things to ramp up here in the next few weeks. Season of Dawn still has more in store with an upcoming Exotic, Empyrean Foundation, Crimson Days and more.

Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you again next Monday.

Cheers,

-Dmg04

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Culver City, California

Join the visual arts team at Heart Machine to apply your wide range of skills and ambitious creative spirit to the production of Solar Ask Kingdom (and beyond!). We are looking for people with a broad skillset to make contributions to both combat and narrative experiences.

Requirements

• A strong demo reel that demonstrates expert knowledge of fundamental animation principles and acting skills
• Work closely with design and engineering to take gameplay concepts from pre-visualization to polish pass
• Embrace character development, establishing choreography, and nailing the timing of each move with the Creative Director
• Be actively involved in the design and integration of character and prop animations into the game engine, monitoring and troubleshooting any technical issues that might arise
• High level of proficiency in Maya
• Work well in a creative, team-oriented environment, exhibiting excellent communication, time-management, and organizational skills. Be able to reach across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and address cross-functional issue
• Possess the drive and talent needed to produce and implement the highest quality work
• Penchant for practical innovation and the ability to bring new ideas to the table
• Passion for video games

Preferred Experience

• Significant contribution to a released game or animation project
• Some knowledge of crafting interactive storytelling and/or minigames is useful
• Basic modeling skills and knowledge of rigging and Python a plus
• Personal animation work a plus

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.

Newsbrief: While past years have shown a rise in the number of games hitting Steam, the jump from 2018 to 2019 was significantly less dramatic than years past.

According to data from third-party tracker SteamSpy spotted by Kotaku, 2019 yielded around 8,400 new releases on Steam, only a small increase from 2018’s 8,195 releases. Previous years often saw increases in the thousands–2017, for instance, saw 6,322 releases while 2016 yielded 4,400 new titles–making this latest addition a bit of an anomaly.

That Kotaku writeup on the shift dives a bit deeper into why things look to have leveled out somewhat, and talks with SteamSpy founder (and current Epic Games Store publishing strategy director) Sergey Galyonkin to explore what factors might impact the data pulled from Steam. Though, as an added caveat, Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad points out on Twitter that SteamSpy’s data itself has been known to fluctuate as time goes on, which makes an exact read on Steam trends a bit more difficult to gauge.

Of all industries, retail is undergoing one of the most significant digital transformations. Various forms of computing are rapidly becoming embedded in every aspect of retail, from corner stores to the world’s largest retailers. Revenue from digital commerce is growing five times faster than from in-store sources, and global digital commerce sales now comprise 16.4 percent of total retail sales.

At the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference next week in New York, Microsoft will unveil our latest solutions to empower retailers all over the world to take advantage of this transformation. Central to these announcements will be our new vision for digital commerce and the toolkit that enables it. Our goal is to be a technology ally to the retail industry, to help retailers thrive — with more relevant and optimized e-commerce experiences, enhanced shopper-level personalization and expanded monetization opportunities. Today, we are announcing two new Microsoft solutions for retailers that do precisely that: Microsoft PromoteIQ and Microsoft Bing for Commerce.

Introducing Microsoft PromoteIQ

One of our key offerings for retailers is the Microsoft PromoteIQ commerce marketing platform. This is the next step in our journey of evolving our digital commerce offerings since announcing the acquisition of PromoteIQ in August 2019. Using Microsoft PromoteIQ, retailers can now dramatically increase revenue from their digital vendor marketing programs, while remaining fully in control of monetization and engaging brand partners.
 
Commerce marketing is a highly effective way for retailers to create powerful new high-margin revenue streams that can fund innovation elsewhere in their businesses, as well as provide brands with a powerful toolkit to market their products to shoppers. But competing for brand dollars with other marketing solutions can be daunting. Microsoft PromoteIQ helps make it easy by delivering an end-to-end commerce marketing platform with enterprise-grade capabilities to manage and scale vendor-funded digital marketing — whether on-site or off-site. The platform includes an extensive analytics suite to deliver audience insights and help brands understand incremental sales lift. It also includes integration with Microsoft Advertising, which opens up a powerful new source of incremental demand for retailers. With Microsoft PromoteIQ, a retailer remains fully in control and is finally able to turn commerce marketing into an essential growth engine for their business, funding new capabilities and innovations while strengthening their partnership with vendors and brands.

The Home Depot did just that. The world’s largest home improvement retailer needed to maximize the 170M monthly visits to homedepot.com, the fifth-largest ecommerce site in the U.S. They partnered with PromoteIQ to integrate a commerce marketing platform to manage and scale vendor-funded digital marketing efforts. Since the program launched in early 2019, customer engagement has increased by 35 percent and promoted products have seen double-digit growth compared to 2018. Numbers tell an important piece of the story, but it’s also great to see that the customer and vendor relationships are now stronger than ever. Customers are presented with relevant advertising for products they may need for their home improvement projects, and even may see content for complementary projects like décor to complete their room. Vendor partners now have enhanced marketing controls to drive better conversion, increase visibility, and learn from real-time performance insights.
 
Microsoft PromoteIQ offers great solutions to help retailers — and brands as well. For brands, the Microsoft PromoteIQ platform provides a robust offering for comprehensively managing advertising campaigns with key retailer partners, across campaign management, targeting, optimization and analytics. 
 
At NRF we’ll showcase customer examples and show the Microsoft PromoteIQ platform. If you are interested in learning more about the Microsoft PromoteIQ commerce marketing platform, please visit www.promoteiq.com.

Introducing Microsoft Bing for Commerce

Another important introduction for retailers is our new solution for an essential enabler of digital commerce: product search. Today’s shoppers expect convenience, to the point that 80 percent of them will abandon a site that produces poor search results. Microsoft Bing for Commerce is an intelligent search, personalization and product recommendation solution that helps gives retailers the power to meet today’s shopper expectations and grow revenue, thanks to more relevant and customized results that drive conversions.
 
Retailers can now leverage the power of Bing intelligence and Microsoft AI to searches on their websites, applying insights from millions of shoppers around the world. This puts advanced query understanding into the hands of retailers — helping to decipher the natural human language of shoppers on their sites and create a shorter path between shoppers and the product they’re seeking. 
 
Microsoft Bing for Commerce includes product recommendations that are relevant and personalized, as well as visual search innovation that helps satisfy emerging shopping behavior. Microsoft Bing for Commerce offers all of these intuitive capabilities on PC and mobile and does this with Microsoft’s dedicated approach to privacy and data compliance.
 
Microsoft Bing for Commerce is now available in public preview for large retailers as a stand-alone offering and will soon be available as a part of Dynamics 365 Commerce. More information is available at www.microsoft.com/bing/commerce.
 
It’s a time of unprecedented growth and transformation for the retail industry. We’re excited to see our partners and customers grow their businesses by taking advantage of the opportunities in digital commerce.
 
If you are at NRF next week, please visit us at the Microsoft booth on Level 3, #4051.

Pokemon Sword And Shield News & Guides

• Pokemon Sword & Shield Update Lets You Preview The New Expansions Today
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Expansion Will Let You Explore Raid Dens
• Three New Legendary Pokemon Revealed For Sword & Shield
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Adding More Old Pokemon
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Expansion Pass Adds New Pokemon, Areas, And More
• Pokemon Direct Recap: All The Biggest Announcements

Threat intelligence is often spoken about as being a key pillar of cybersecurity. But what is it and why is it so important?

In our latest #TechTalk, John Lambert, Distinguished Engineer and General Manager of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), explains how, while all organizations work to manage their security risks in cyberspace, these risks become threats when combined with malicious intent. The goal of threat intelligence is to give organizations context and awareness about the online threats they face and to help them prioritize their responses.

Cybersecurity threats reflect the geopolitical contests, competitions and conflicts occurring in the world, John explains. This means that many organizations face threats from adversaries seeking to cause financial, reputational, or even geopolitical damage. Microsoft studies the most significant threat actors in order to understand the techniques they use, and to build defensive measures into the services offered to customers. Every month Microsoft blocks around five billion attacks – including malware attacks and phishing emails, as well as more targeted threats – by tracking and limiting the actors behind them.

John also discusses how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which can be taught to detect and respond to cyberattacks, is speeding and scaling up Microsoft’s defensive efforts. However, he also warns of the new cyber-challenges that the same technology can bring, particularly in relation to the manipulation of image and speech patterns to spread disinformation via ‘deep fakes’.

In order to respond to the growth and sophistication of cyberthreats, John argues that organizations facing common threat actors need to work together far more proactively and share information to be able to anticipate and defend against common threats. At the same time, individuals can help protect themselves more thoroughly by better managing their passwords and credentials.

Watch the full #TechTalk below:

Tags: #TechTalk, AI, cybersecurity

Following on from our reader-voted Top 50 Games of the Decade, Nintendo Life staff members will be picking their personal favourite Nintendo games between the years 2010-2019. Today, Damien tries his hardest to remember where the nearest bonfire is before he runs into another angry skeleton…

Games are supposed to be fun, entertaining and – within reason – moderately challenging, so I’m not entirely sure why I fell so badly for FromSoftware’s brutal and almost sadistic Dark Souls when it launched back in 2011. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found that my tolerance for difficult video games has all but evaporated – there are too many other distractions in my life to contend with titles that require superhuman reflexes, extreme memorisation and saint-like reserves of patience, if you ask me – but Dark Souls, for some inexplicable reason, proved to be the exception.

I’d dabbled in the almost fatally obtuse and convoluted Demon’s Souls a couple of years previously, drawn in by its Berserk-like grim fantasy aesthetic and haunting atmosphere, but it was, if anything, too daunting; there were moments – such as the utterly terrifying Tower of Latria – which almost proved too much for my feeble resolve, especially in the total absence of the ability to save your progress mid-level. I trudged on nonetheless, respecting the game’s rewarding mechanics but utterly down-beaten by its stern, gleefully harsh gameplay.

Dark Souls, however, would ensnare me totally. Full disclosure: I played it on Xbox 360 on release (it would have been rather hard for me to obtain the Switch version in 2011, after all), and it consumed every moment of my waking life. I played it prior to shifting into my full-time position on this site, but I happened to be working with someone else who had bought it at the exact same time.

We’d convene on our coffee breaks to discuss progress in hushed, reverent tones; one day, I’d be able to offer advice on how to defeat a tricky boss, whereas the following day it would be my co-worker who had overtaken me and had tips to share. This back-and-forth exchange went on for weeks. Dark Souls deliberately left a lot for players to discover on their own – hence the brilliant in-game messaging system, where players leave helpful (or not) notes for fellow adventurers, warning them of traps or pointing out safe routes – and having someone else to bounce tactics off of was a real boon, especially during those early days when online guides weren’t quite as expansive as they could be.

I think a lot of the best video games are based around a very clear ‘risk and reward’ mechanic; the thrill of putting hours of progress on the line and knowing you could lose everything, but then overcoming the odds to emerge victorious… that, in my opinion, is one of the best feelings you can get from a game, and the Dark Souls series nails it perfectly. The flip side, of course, is that you’ll fail just as often, if not more. However, while Dark Souls is undeniably brutal, the fault always lies with you, the player. You failed because you didn’t react in time to repel an incoming blow; you didn’t look for the tell-tale sign that an enemy was about to strike; you didn’t prepare properly for a tough battle. It might delight in rubbing your face in the dirt, but Dark Souls is never truly ‘unfair’ – you just need to make sure you even the odds as much as possible, and take your time.

The other big reason I absolutely adore Dark Souls – and FromSoftware’s other titles – is the fact that the lore behind the action is so fully-formed and dense; even the smallest, most inconsequential item in the game is blessed with a lengthy backstory, filling in gaps and building a unique and foreboding world that arguably rivals the best the fantasy genre has to offer. I fully admit I was totally enraptured by Lordran and its many varied locations and inhabitants; I wanted to know everything about every environment and every character. The thing that makes this grand narrative so incredible is that much is left up to the player when it comes to joining the dots and fitting all of the plot strands together – if, indeed, they actually do fit together in the first place.

When Dark Souls was confirmed for Switch, I literally leapt for joy. I didn’t need an excuse to play through the game again, even if its punishing nature did bring back some bad memories (Blighttown, I’m looking at you); if only I’d had the ability to take the game with me on the road back in 2011, my progress – and that of my intrepid co-worker – would have been much more swift, and perhaps a little more collaborative, too.

I hope now that Bandai Namco will find some means of getting the oft-overlooked sequel onto Nintendo’s console, and perhaps even move mountains to bring Dark Souls III to the system. Being able to play the entire trilogy on the move would be a revelation for me personally, and I’m ready to admit that while my time is precious, I’d be more than willing to put my body (and mind) on the line once more to experience these absolutely incredible games.

While a great many games have had an impact on me during the past decade, few stick in the mind quite as strongly as Dark Souls – and that’s why it’s effortlessly the best game I’ve played during the past 10 years.