By Christine McKee
Thursday, July 25, 2019, 08:40 pm PT (11:40 pm ET)

Amazon has dropped prices on Apple’s latest iPad Pros with discounts of up to $250 off, and prices as low as $649. These markdowns deliver the lowest prices available since Prime Day, with a wide range of models in stock for fast delivery as students prepare to head back to school and college.

Both 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models are heavily discounted during the iPad sale, with several of the markdowns matching Prime Day pricing. Along with deals on the tablets themselves, Amazon is also knocking $5 off the Apple Pencil 2, creating a robust note-taking setup for students heading to college. As with Amazon’s Apple deals, supplies may be limited and prices are subject to change at any time, so shop early for the best selection.

11-inch iPad Pros (Late 2018)

12.9-inch iPad Pros (Late 2018)

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The day is finally here! Fire Emblem: Three Houses is out in the wild, and it’s rather excellent.

Now, while the game features potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay for you to enjoy, there’s one particular question on everyone’s lips: which house will you join?

The Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer all sound like more than suitable options to us, but we want to know which one is screaming out to you. Maybe you’ve already chosen one? Or perhaps you already know who you’ll pick when you load up the game?

We have more info on each house below if you need it – when you’re all clued up, make sure to go ahead and vote in our poll a little further down!

House Profiles:
Black Eagles | Blue Lions | Golden Deer

Are you grabbing a copy of the game today? Excited to get stuck in? Share your hype levels with us in the comments below.

Nintendo has removed voice actor Chris Niosi’s name from the credits of Fire Emblem Heroes following admissions from the actor, animator and producer that he has abused and mistreated friends and partners over the past decade.

Chris Niosi – also known as Kirbopher – is perhaps most famous for creating the web series TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise, and has lent his vocal talents to the likes of Pokémon, Bakuman, Queen’s Blade Rebellion, Tales of Zestiria, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, Sailor Moon and Octopath Traveler.

He also plays the role of Byleth in the new Switch game, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, as well as the mobile spin-off Fire Emblem Heroes. A week ago, Niosi – who refers to himself as a ‘high functioning’ Asperger syndrome sufferer – published an admission on his Tumblr account that he had “horribly mistreated and abused friends, colleagues and even my significant others” and that he had decided it was time he “addressed each and every one of those people and responded to their feelings with individual apologies for what I’ve done to hurt them”.

Naturally, Nintendo might not have been aware of these abuses prior to hiring Niosi to work on Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Heroes, but it would seem that it has taken retrospective action following Niosi’s confession.

Nintendo has so far refused to comment on the situation. We’ll update this post if that changes.

(Editor’s note: The original version of this story incorrectly started that Niosi’s name had been removed from the credits of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, when in fact it was removed from the credits of Fire Emblem Heroes. We apologise for the error.)

Every year, we bring together thousands of Microsoft partners from around the world to celebrate, connect, and learn about what’s coming in the next year. Just last week, I had the chance to join this year’s Microsoft Inspire with 13,000 of our partners in Las Vegas, and it was an amazing week full of energy and excitement.

I had the opportunity to share how we’re accelerating innovation with Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform in two featured sessions. Hayden Stafford joined me to talk about the business opportunity in FY20 for Business Applications, and Charles Lamanna and Arun Ulagaratchagan showed off the innovation and partner investments across the Power Platform. In both sessions, partners from Hitachi Solutions, VeriPark, WorkSpan, and EY joined me on stage to talk about the opportunities they’re seeing in the market. Check out the session recordings to see more.

We also shared a few major announcements with the partner community throughout the week that will deepen our partnership, align with how our business is growing, and help customers realize the potential of digital transformation. Take a look at a few highlights below.

Launching the new Microsoft Business Applications ISV Connect Program

ISVs that build on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and PowerApps can offer their customers innovative apps they couldn’t build elsewhere using connections to industry-leading cloud services on Azure and developer tools built just for them.

After previewing elements of the program in the spring, we officially launched the Business Applications ISV Connect Program on July 15th. This program brings together platform and program benefits created specifically for ISVs to support their success. We’re laying a path for a stronger partnership with our ISVs through ongoing platform investments, development tooling enhancements, and go-to-market support for mutual success. Read Steven Guggenheimer’s blog for more information about the program’s requirements and benefits.

Expanding our Dynamics 365 Industry Accelerators

We know our partners want to go to market fast. Our industry accelerators help them do just that.

At Inspire, we introduced two new industry accelerators: the Dynamics 365 Automotive Accelerator and Dynamics 365 Banking Accelerator. We also announced significant updates to the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator.

Each of these accelerators was developed in deep partnership with industry experts to provide pre-built dashboards, sample data, and workflows that align with common industry scenarios. Steven Guggenheimer’s blog has more on this update as well.

Updating our Dynamics 365 packaging model

In October, Microsoft will be moving from “one-size-fits-all” Microsoft Dynamics 365 licensing plans to focus on providing customers with the specific Dynamics 365 applications that meet the unique needs of their organization. Customers need software that aligns to their functional roles and scenarios, and they require the ability to add or remove applications as their company grows and changes over time. The new licensing model will allow customers to purchase the applications they need, when they need them. Each application is extensible and applications can be easily mixed and matched to configure integrated solutions that align to a customer’s unique business requirements.

To learn more about these new options for your customers, check out the Inspire sessions “Customer Engagement Licensing Updates” and “Unified Operations Licensing Updates.”

Introducing new licensing options for PowerApps and Microsoft Flow

Over the past few months, we’ve announced a set of continued investments in the Power Platform and vision for one connected platform that enables everyone, regardless of their skill set or background, to innovate.

In addition to the general availability of innovations like AI Builder and PowerApps Portals, we will be introducing new licensing options in October 2019 shaped by the feedback we’ve received from our customers and the community of makers and creators who have been with us on the Power Platform journey. At Inspire we previewed new licensing options for PowerApps and Microsoft Flow that:

• Make it easier to get started with a single use case before rolling out the full platform for all users.
• Make licensing easier to understand by simplifying the complex feature-level differences between P1 and P2 plans.

To learn more about these new options for your customers, check out the Inspire session Microsoft Power Platform business model and licensing updates or read the PowerApps community blog post with additional details.

Customers realizing the potential of digital transformation

Throughout the event, we heard inspiring stories from customers and partners around the world.

One highlight came in Monday’s Corenote with Judson Althoff. We saw how Unilever is transforming its business with Microsoft technology, including Power BI and PowerApps. With connected data at the core, Unilever is able to increase productivity with more accessible insights and empower individuals to solve problems on their own, without a developer.

On Wednesday, Satya Nadella talked about Crane Worldwide Logistics, a Dynamics 365 customer who grew from a startup to a major player in the global logistics industry over the past 10 years. With Dynamics 365 for Sales and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Crane can seamlessly combine customer engagement data with data about customer and seller activities from Office 365, as well as from LinkedIn – even when these interactions take place outside their CRM. And with Dynamics 365 Sales Insights, sellers are able to focus on the right customers, thanks to AI-driven insights that flag existing accounts that need extra attention, as well as leads that offer the most potential.

These are just two of the stories we shared at Microsoft Inspire this year. If you missed any part of this year’s event, take some time to check out the content on-demand to learn how you can build success in the coming year.

By AppleInsider Staff
Wednesday, July 24, 2019, 06:59 pm PT (09:59 pm ET)

After an embarrassing delay, Samsung on Wednesday announced its first folding smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, will launch this September after undergoing a redesign to account for screen reliability issues.

Samsung’s redesigned Galaxy Fold will debut in September.

The Korean tech giant in a post to its website said the device will be ready for sale in September after missing a rollout originally set for April. The new timeline puts the foldable handset in direct competition with Apple’s iPhone, new versions of which are expected to debut that same month.

According to Samsung, the new and improved Galaxy Fold features a top protective layer that has been extended beyond the bezel, making it “apparent that it is an integral part of the display structure and not meant to be removed.” A number of early reviewers attempted to remove the layer thinking it was a screen protector, a user error that broke the smartphone’s flexible OLED panel.

Special reinforcements like “protection caps” have been added at the top and bottom hinges and are designed to keep particulates out of sensitive areas, while additional metal layers beneath the Infinity Flex Display help strengthen the mechanism, the company said. Further, the space between the hinge and the device chassis has been reduced.

The tweaks should help alleviate problems impacting pre-release review units that went out to select news outlets and media influencers in April. Reliability issues were among the early complaints, with many noticing a distinct crease appear along the hinge line of the 7.3-inch OLED panel after repeated folding and unfolding. Some users noted corrupted graphics that in some cases rendered part, one half or the entire panel completely non-functional.

Following multiple reports of screen failures, graphics problems and other issues, Samsung decided to push back a consumer launch as it assessed the situation.

Samsung’s announced enhancements are in line with previous rumors about the Fold’s redesign.

In addition to hardware enhancements, Samsung has worked to optimize more apps for the unique foldable display.

Samsung Electronics CEO D.J. Koh earlier this month admitted the Fold was introduced prematurely.

“It was embarrassing. I pushed it through before it was ready,” Koh said in a statement. “I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery.”

An official launch date will be announced in the coming weeks.

Heraclitus of ages past surmised that, at heart, fire is the fundamental element of things. In other words, all things are beset by constant change. That philosophy has been boiled down to the saying ‘no man steps in the same river twice’. Sure enough and true to its name, no one plays the same game of Fluxx twice, for the party game is an ever-mutating affair. Its cavalcade of rules and action cards mean upsets are the norm. Fluxx been a standby filler game for ages now, and the app has always been a serviceable one. Thanks to a new 64-bit version, the game is back from the grave. It plays like a breeze but lacks the pep and polish most party games need to shine.

Fluxx has a metagame built right into its rules. Most of the cards in the deck tweak what’s possible and required on a ‘normal’ turn. ‘Draw X’ and ‘Play X’ are the usual culprits, with some rascally limits on hand size and Keepers popping up here and there. Most crucially, the Goal of the game itself is also a moving target: the winner is the player who, at the end of their turn, has Keepers in play matching those described on the goal card also in play. It’s a lock and key system which always gets jumbled up, since the same player who has the required Keepers rarely has the corresponding Goal. It’s a right mess trying to line up the victory conditions. The deck just reshuffles and play marches on interminably until someone wins. I’ve had games done on the first turn (my maiden voyage on the app was like this, somehow) and games which last an hour. The bedlam is entirely the point.

It’s manageable, just. And the app is well-organized, with big, bold icons and buttons for the UI. The game is mostly about timing and holding back strategic options for last-ditch switch plays. Fluxx has a story-like quality because even in lightning-fast rounds of the play, things feel stretched out and even long-winded. So if a million betrayals and thefts happen, the injury and insult is leavened by the game’s rapid-fire changes. Easy come, easy go makes for easy-going players.

Fluxx is in excellent company. There are a few playing-deck games about changing rules and guessing rules, like Mao and Eleusis. (Sidenote: The latter game was the seed inspiration for Zendo, another game published by Looney Labs) The conceit of changing rules feels nominally ‘clever’ without actually adding any difficulty. It’s not really that sophisticated, but it is good for a laugh, and I enjoy the volatility and uselessness of deep planning. Fluxx never puts on airs, it never promises a grand or thoughtful experience. Just some good old-fashioned sloppy fun. It’s a little old-school, though, and there are plenty of other short games which do pack in some mental crunch-time, even in just twenty minutes. As far as comparisons go, you might like Fluxx if Munchkin or Exploding Kittens are up your alley. It’s also useful as a kind of pressure-release valve for when the gamer brain wants to get its fix without too much strain involved.

Now, all of this might sound like one long back-handed compliment. Au contraire, my friend. Fluxx simply has settled into an unusual and somewhat dated niche, that of the insane, anything-goes filler. One of the most egregiously Type-A dudes I know loves Fluxx to pieces, though, so you never know who might become a fan. You play the game, or rather the game plays you, more than a bit. Technically part of the appeal of Fluxx is that it has a million different versions, with decent themes and comic-style art for all of them. The mix-and-match aspect isn’t present in the app, though, unfortunately. The regular deck of cards is plenty robust from a gameplay standpoint, strictly, but it’s missing the flair that Chthulu Star Trek Anatomy Mega-Fluxx has. This boast is only half in jest.

For all its zaniness, the game really is quite simple and shockingly devoid of decision-making. Depending on your breed of gamer, flat decisions might be an absolutely deal breaker. For the omnivore it’s no big. Far from a knock on Fluxx’s design, this straightforwardness makes it a great beer-and-pretzels game. Low mental overhead means extra presence of mind for banter and the hey-how-are-ya catchups which are part and parcel of why tabletop gaming is fulfilling. Systems and socialization in the same package. Fluxx fits in the flow of life, what with its playtime and light ruleset.

Well, on the socializing front Fluxx as an app oversells and under-delivers. Because there is only one physical index to track the game’s state, people’s attention wanders just a tad too much. If there’s much food, drink and merriment to be had, a lonesome iPad is bound to get lost in the shuffle. So while Fluxx is a great party game, the app itself won’t make a splash at those same parties. Whereas with a deck of cards spread out on the table, there are constant reminders of what’s going on. It seems a cruel paradox, but I find light-weight games have a harder time justifying their app versions, because the book-keeping and portability gains are offset by this reduced social presence on the table.

One could argue, fairly, that this reviewer has been rather hot-and-cold on the most pressing issue: is the Fluxx app any good? Well, the answer depends (fluctuates, even?) on what kind of void it is meant to fill. It’s certainly good for a bit of nostalgia, or shooting the breeze, and must be said that the game’s online play options are good. But as an app for premeditated play-sessions, the digital Fluxx has lost some of its spark.

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