Starting at 2:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Skip Ahead and Preview Alpha Rings will begin receiving the latest 1904 Xbox One system update (19h1_release_xbox_dev_1904.190206-1920). Read on for more about the fixes and known issues in the latest 1904 system update.   For the next few releases we will keep Alpha Skip Ahead and Alpha builds in sync to test core functionality.

Fixes:

Skype

• We have fixed the issue with Skype crashing when starting a video call or conversation.

System

• Captive portal fixes.
• Localization fixes.

Known Issues:

Disney Adventures

• We are tracking an issue that this title is crashing on launch.

Broadcasting on Mixer or Twitch

• We are tracking an issue that causes broadcasting to fail with both Mixer and Twitch.
• This happens if you attempt to start Mixer or Twitch broadcast with Kinect/webcam captured content sharing turned off.  This privacy setting is at:  Account \ Privacy & online safety \ Xbox Live privacy \ View details & customize \ Game content \ “You can share content made using Kinect or another camera”.  The workaround is to turn this setting to “Allow”

Netflix

• We are tracking an issue with the Netflix app.  When you are playing 4k content and then pause and place the console in connected standby upon relaunching the Netflix app when starting you console back up the Netflix app crashes.  Workaround:  Close and relaunch the Netflix app.  Some users have also found if they change the console display resolution from 4K to 1080p then launch the app.  After the app launch change the console display back to 4k.

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI: Gathering Storm, all new content for Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI is Now Available on Steam!

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm introduces an active planet where geology and climatology present unique new challenges. The second expansion to Civilization VI adds new Environmental Effects, Engineering Projects, Power and Consumable Resources, as well as the World Congress and a new Diplomatic Victory. This new expansion also extends the Technology and Civics trees with a future era, and adds eight new civilizations, nine new leaders, a variety of new units, districts, wonders, buildings, and more.

This week at Bungie, Lord Shaxx is screaming sweet nothings into our ears. 

With the return of Crimson Days, flowers fall again in the Tower. Love is in the air. Lord Shaxx is handing out rewards in exchange for Confectionary Hearts. Go see him to load up on bounties, grab a date, and join the dance. 

Trials

Ever since Trials of the Nine went on hiatus back in Season 4, many of you have been asking when it will come back and how it will be evolving. We still don’t have a timeline for when it may return, but we do want to give you an update on our current thinking about Trials. Here is the team to fill you in. 

Destiny Dev Team: As longtime Destiny players know, Trials of Osiris was released in May of 2015 as the original high-stakes weekend PvP event. Trials had an amazing impact on our game and our community. It was a pinnacle venue for players to show off their best skills, strategies, and gear. The 3v3 elimination mode combined with the card system created the coveted reward of earning a trip to the Lighthouse.

With the introduction of Trials of the Nine in Destiny 2, we made a few changes to the formula which never really hit the same mark. We were unhappy with its role in the ecosystem. The new activity wasn’t achieving the goal of bringing the community together every weekend. Both Destiny and the online PvP scene have evolved since 2015, so we don’t believe that bringing back the 2015 version of Trials of Osiris would accomplish what our goals are today.

Until we have a solid prototype for a pinnacle PvP endgame activity, Trials is staying on hiatus indefinitely and will not return over the course of the next few seasons. When we have those new plans ready, we’ll be sure to share them with you.

Ironing Board

Next week, after the rose petals have been cleared out by the sweeper bot, Lord Saladin will return to the Tower with a competition fit for Iron Lords. He’s missing out on Crimson Days, so he’ll make up for it with another round of Iron Banner. This is the final Iron Banner for the Season of the Forge, as well as your last chance to collect the Iron Fellowship armor set before this vendor is refreshed next season. The Crimil’s Dagger Hand Cannon and Hero’s Burden SMG will continue to be available next season as post-match drops and rewards from Saladin. 

Take a look at the weapons Saladin will have available in his inventory next week.

Iron Banner

Begins: February 19, 2019

Ends: February 26, 2019

Make sure you turn in all of your completed bounties before the end of the season. When the Season of the Drifter begins, they will be removed from your inventory. Your Iron Banner tokens will persist into the next season. Good luck out there, Guardians!

Love Shaxx, Baby

Come rain, sleet, or snow—lots and lots of snow—the Player Support Team will always be there monitoring the Help forums and diagnosing issues.

This is their report.

Crimson Daze

In case you didn’t know it, Crimson Days has returned to Destiny 2. Lord Shaxx invites all players to engage in jolly cooperation, by forging their bonds in the Crimson Days Crucible playlist.

If you have yet to jump into this playlist, don’t worry. Listed below are the key features you should be aware of that set this playlist apart from the standard Crucible experience.

• Player Count: Crimson Days Crucible is a 2v2 experience. Players can jump in solo if they choose, or in a pre-made fireteam with a partner.
• Reunited: Reunited is a special buff that increases the recharge rate of Guardian abilities for teammates who stick close together.
• Falling Apart: Falling Apart is a debuff that grants enemy teammates waypoints to your locations when you and your teammate drift too far apart.
• Vengeance: Vengeance is triggered when a player’s teammate is defeated in combat. For a short time, the surviving player is granted significantly increased ability regeneration and receives a small portion of their health back.

If you’re looking for more information on Crimson Days, have a look at our Crimson Days Guide. Players who encounter gameplay issues should report them to the #Help forum.

Destiny 2 Update 2.2.0 Resolved Issues Preview—Part 1

With Season of the Drifter inbound, we’d like to kick off a new conversation on the current player-impacting issues that are expected to be resolved with Update 2.2.0 in early March.

These issues include:

• Black Armory Key Mold: Players can obtain the Black Armory Key Mold only on their first character to receive it from Ada-1. More info can be found here.
• Dreaming City Chests: Dreaming City chests do not count toward the Black Armory Key Mold objective.
• Obsidian Accelerator: Obsidian Accelerator consumables do not recover to the postmaster when the player’s inventory is full.
• “A Cold Wind Blowin’”: The emblem “A Cold Wind Blowin’” cannot be reclaimed from the Collection if stowed.
• “Relic Rumble”: The “Relic Rumble” Triumph is currently not achievable.
• In Update 2.2.0, this Triumph will unlock when players complete the Nightfall strike “The Corrupted” by defeating Sedia using no more than two relics.
• UPDATE 02/15: Previously, we reported that only this triumph’s description is incorrect, implying that this triumph was currently achievable. That was incorrect, and we have updated this section to make clear that players cannot currently pop this triumph.
• Character Boost Completion Rewards: Characters who use a Level 30 boost are not granted their class Sword or emblem if they have not already completed the Red War campaign.
• Base D2 Crucible Rewards: Players who own only the base Destiny 2 game can receive rewards from Lord Shaxx’s rank-up packages that drop at Year 2 Power levels, which cannot be equipped.
• Collection Counter: The Collection badge counter incorrectly only counts 10 badges instead of 11.

Check back next week for part two of our Resolved Issues Preview. For the full Destiny 2 Update 2.2.0 patch notes when they are available, players should monitor our Updates page.

Popped Corn

Welcome to yet another edition of Movie of the Week. This is where we feature you! Every week we pick a few of our favorite videos created by the community and share them here for all to see. The creators of said video get a special emblem for their effort to boot! Here are this week’s winners.

Movie of the Week: Shattered Throne Flawless Solo No Hud Run

Honorable Mention: RISE

News about Destiny is random and light this week. Winter visited in the Pacific Northwest and blanketed all its splendor with an immovable object. We don’t tend to maintain the irresistible force of a fleet of plow trucks for the one week out of the year that looks like this, so earlier in the week, we hunkered down with our laptops and waited for the whole thing to blow over. That doesn’t mean that our progress has been interrupted. We’ve been working from our homes to prepare for next season and are back in the office now as the white fluffy powder devolves into a brownish mush. Season of the Drifter will arrive on March 5 with some exciting evolutions for your Guardian lifestyle. We’ll begin that conversation soon…

Between now and then, you have a few weeks to reap all the rewards from Season of the Forge. Have you got the new Bow? I’ve got mine. I’m having a great time in Crimson Doubles. Keep an eye out this weekend and you might see me out in the wild. Enjoy the rest of Crimson Days!

<3 Cozmo

Gaming accessory maker YesOJO has now launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for its dedicated portable Nintendo Switch speaker – an accessory first revealed last September.

The speaker hopes to provide buyers with a way to experience greater sound quality while playing Switch on the go, with the design clearly focusing on enhancing tabletop mode play. The speaker system features dual stereo 10W speakers for what YesOJO describes as “perfect audio quality and volume, providing rich audio quality and a deep resounding bass”.

As you can see in the trailer above, it also doubles up as a Switch dock, connecting to your TV via an HDMI cable. Perhaps our favourite part of the design, however, is the interchangeable panels, which just so happen to match the colours of Nintendo’s very own Joy-Con.

YesOJO tells us that, if the campaign is successful, the company will give away a free game card holder, and if $300,000 or more is raised, it’ll give away a free retro-style pro controller.

You can find more details about the product on its Kickstarter page – and pledge your support to get one for yourself, of course. At the time of writing the project is 20% funded with 40 days remaining. There are a limited number of Early Bird options available, costing an approximated £77 after currency conversion.

What do you think? Does this look like a cool accessory for your Switch? Would you like to enhance your console’s audio quality when on the go? Tell us below.

Proof point: years ago, Ms. Northern had an idea to combat the dropping graduation rate at Raines.

“I had the idea to start with the end in mind,” Ms. Northern says, her careful cadence of words drawing her audience in. “So we held a baccalaureate at the beginning of the school year. We ordered the caps and gowns for everyone. I don’t care if they were an F student or a C student—they all had a cap and gown. Then we marched.

“Guess where I was during the ceremony?” Ms. Northern asks India.

“Where?” India says.

“Behind the video camera,” answers Ms. Northern, grinning.

“Of course you were, Ms. Northern,” India says. “Of course you were.”

That year, the graduation rate saw the uptick that the administration and Ms. Northern were hoping for.

*****

India was the kind of student that teachers want to duplicate, according to Ms. Northern. “If you gave her a project, she would see that project through from beginning to end. Then, she’d talk the other students into believing that they could accomplish it as well.”

And now, she’s pleased that India has come back, proud that she’d consider what Raines and the people who’ve been a part of her life have done to help her.

“She’s not only looked back, but she’s embraced her history,” Ms. Northern says. “And for that, I am so proud.”

Since junior high school, India dreamed about going to a four-year college. She had her mother’s unwavering support, and they would do whatever it took to get her there, but India would have to figure out the steps. No one in her family had done it before.

“That’s one of the struggles I think can be intrinsic to some kids coming from single-parent homes like I did,” India explains. “Maybe they’re dependent on food stamps or government assistance. Maybe they have to work while in college, whereas somebody else can just focus on going to school. They just have different challenges than some people would. They need help to figure out that path.”

That’s where Ms. Northern stepped in.

One of the larger segments of this week’s Nintendo Direct was given to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which is now planned to arrive on the system this summer following a minor delay. The Direct promised that a limited edition would make its way to retail but didn’t show it off, so here’s a look at how the bundle will likely appear when it arrives.

The European version will come with a physical copy of the game (that box won’t be final design, don’t worry), a steelbook, a fancy outer casing, an artbook, a pin badge set featuring the three houses, and some songs from the game’s soundtrack on a USB stick. We’re not sure why they’ve opted for a USB over a nice little CD, but there you are.

In North America, you can expect a similar bundle, albeit with a CD rather than a USB stick. The pin badges have also been replaced with a calendar.

This bundle will hit stores on the same day that the game launches, 26th July. The Direct segment revealed information about the game’s three house setup, showing off some lovely portions of gameplay along the way.

Will you be snapping up the limited edition bundle? Let us know if you’re looking forward to this one in the comments.

Explore how to use Microsoft Threat Protection to transform digital security for education organizations while enabling IT teams to combat modern phishing attacks.

It’s every educational institution’s goal to successfully get students to graduation and prepare them for the future—and it’s a lot of work. The last thing busy school administrators and faculty want to worry about is the digital security of their classroom technology.

Adopting technology that is easy to use and functions seamlessly allows IT administrators to focus on addressing the needs of their organization and securing the digital infrastructure in and outside of the classroom. With limited school budgets and already hardworking school staff, it’s important to develop a technology strategy that is easy to implement and enhances their work in the classroom while providing administrators peace of mind. And in today’s digital-first world, a big part of that peace of mind includes reliable digital security.

Essential security challenges facing today’s education organizations

More organizations each year are realizing the value of having strong digital security measures in place. The cost of cybercrime to the global economy is projected to be $8 trillion by 2022.

Education organizations face their own unique set of challenges when it comes to data security. For example, the high visibility and public nature of most education organizations means that valuable information is more readily available to potential bad agents. The date for a school’s new location opening, plans for a new university-wide technology initiative, important dates for student FAFSA processing, are all at risk. In addition, a potential bad actor can often view organizational leadership and staff online to identify key employees to target directly. For education organizations, data breaches could compromise bank account information and result in thousands of dollars in stolen stipends or paychecks, or could lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost technology.

One of the most common kinds of security breaches comes in the form of phishing attacks. These malicious cyberattacks present low risk for bad actors combined with the possibility of very high reward. As cyberattacks become more advanced, technology to successfully combat them must do the same.

Transformative approach to modern digital security with Microsoft Threat Protection

Microsoft’s cutting-edge cybersecurity solution, Microsoft Threat Protection (MTP), is designed to enhance data protection with a smarter, more comprehensive technology strategy. Powered by the cloud and built on Azure and Microsoft 365, MTP uses machine learning and other digital innovation to improve how the system recognizes and prevents phishing attacks. Rather than relying on a singular, siloed security solution, MTP leverages capabilities and insights from a collection of Microsoft solutions. For example, MTP runs on Microsoft 365’s all up security solutions stack to maximize its security offerings and ensure world class protection. The system can also expertly identify and consider comprehensive attack signatures, including location, specific behaviors, and recognizable patterns. As a result, MTP acts as a smart security tool that is versatile and agile enough to successfully combat even the most calculated phishing attacks.

One of the most valuable parts of the Microsoft Threat Protection software is its education and learning component. Because of its machine learning technology, the system has the capacity to evolve as the threat evolves—rather than building a whole new security measure each time a new threat arises. IT leaders and administrators can use the cloud-powered technology to learn how to adjust and develop the MTP solution to best fit the security needs of their specific organization. IT experts can take ownership of the overall tech strategy for their team to gain valuable insights into modern phishing trends. So, in addition to leveraging a cutting-edge digital security solution, education organizations can also empower and grow the skills of their in-house IT team.

Powering a secure organization with a better enabled IT team

Enabling IT teams to focus their energy and efforts on securing the classroom is top-of-mind for school administrators and IT leaders in education. Ensuring valuable personal data and digital interactions are secure and protected across technology platforms is critical. While phishing is estimated to have originated in the mid-1990s, this kind of data breach will likely be around well into the future—and education organizations need to be prepared. With Microsoft Threat Protection, IT decision makers and school administrators can feel more confident their technology infrastructure is being protected. And with the system’s strategic technology, education organizations can also benefit from IT staff that leverages relevant insights to expand their skills, grow their knowledge, and better protect their investments.

To learn more, register for the webcast and download the full infographic with more details.