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Dr. Dre's 'Compton' is an Apple Music exclusive
If you want to listen to Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre before it arrives on Friday, Apple Music has you covered. Cupertino's streaming service will offer an "exclusive" stream of Dr. Dre's new album starting Thursday at 9 PM ET and running to 12 AM ET when it's officially released. Compton was inspired by Dre's work on the N.W.A. film Straight Outta Compton that hits theaters August 14th. When it arrives on August 7th, the album will be an iTunes/Apple Music exclusive, making it one of the first high-profile releases for Tim Cook & Co. Of course, since Dr. Dre officially works for Apple now, having a show on Beats1 and all, it's no surprise that his new project would only be available through the service.
Microsoft says 'Quantum Break' coming April 5th, 2016
Microsoft first announced Quantum Break as an Xbox One exclusive quite a while ago, and it has finally revealed the launch date: April 5th, 2016. At Gamescom 2015, the company also showed off brand new gameplay from the title (below), which comes from the developer that created Max Payne, Remedy. Suffice to say, it looks beautiful and features a strong time travel component. The studio originally promised that it would have an in-game live action show, and Remedy's Sam Lake confirmed that's still the case.
Prince is still using Spotify to promote new music, one song at a time
Prince may have pulled his music from nearly every streaming service, but that's not stopping the artist from using them for promotional purposes. He has a new single, titled "Stare," that's available for streaming as a Spotify exclusive. Don't get your hopes up, though, as the new track is the only song you'll be able to stream from the service. Earlier this month, Prince pulled all of his music from Spotify, Rdio, Deezer and others leaving Tidal and Google Play Music All Access as the only two places you could listen via subscription. Despite revoking access the full collection of albums, it seems the musician still sees value in those other services as he's certainly using them to circulate new music.
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida reacts to the 'Nintendo PlayStation'
Shuhei Yoshida said he did play with a device that matched the characteristics of the famed "Nintendo PlayStation" prototype.
Holiday music exclusive battle: Apple/Eminem vs. Tidal/Lil Wayne
While many in the US are relaxing for the July 4th holiday, the folks at Apple Music and Tidal are hard at work trying to push their respective subscription music services. Apple has already announced plans for a Dr. Dre radio show on Beats 1 that will debut Saturday night, after airing shows hosted by artists Q-Tip and Run the Jewels on Friday. Just to add on, Apple Music revealed it nabbed the exclusive for Eminem's "music film" Phenomenal. Not to be outdone, Tidal came through with a surprise exclusive drop of Lil Wayne's new album, FWA, aka the Free Weezy Album. Whether or not those match your personal taste, it's evident both are gunning hard for the current subscription streaming leader, Spotify, to power the playlist at your barbecue this weekend. As far as Spotify and the rest, well, at least they have AC/DC too.
Apple Music wins indie label love and its first exclusive song
Pharrell Williams has announced that his upcoming song Freedom will be exclusive to Apple Music, the first of no doubt many such announcements to come. The news isn't a huge surprise, considering that the track was featured at Apple's WWDC 2015 developers conference during the Apple Music launch. It's still a coup for Cupertino, however, considering Pharrell's "Happy" was the number one US single last year. Williams made the reveal via a short video teaser on his Facebook page, which noted that the song would arrive "only on Apple Music" on the service's June 30th launch date.
Apple may be under FTC investigation for Beats deals
The hushed whispers surrounding the Federal Trade Commission's supposed investigation into Apple's Beats Music service relaunch have gotten a little louder. From the sounds of it, Cupertino's approached record labels and over a dozen of artists, throwing its weight around as the largest seller of music to snag "limited exclusive" rights and partnerships to pad out a new version of the formerly-owned-by Dr. Dre music service. Bloomberg's sources say that the FTC's still pretty early in the process, but the inquiry revolves around how Apple's dominance in the music sales space, coupled with exclusive deals, could put the likes of Spotify at a disadvantage. It's something other streaming outfits like Tidal don't exactly have to worry about because they don't have iTunes attached to them.
Xbox and HoloLens games now under domain of ex-Lionhead boss
Former Lionhead Studios boss John Needham is now in charge of internal development for several games and experiences on Microsoft's Xbox and HoloLens platforms, a Microsoft spokesperson told Engadget today. Needham reports directly to Kudo Tsunoda, head of Microsoft Studios' portfolio investments team and former creative director for Kinect Games. Needham took over as the head of Microsoft's Lionhead Studios in 2013 and he's been involved in the corporate gaming world since joining Sony Online Entertainment in 2001. As the leader of Lionhead, the studio behind Fable, Needham reported directly to former Microsoft VP Phil Harrison. Needham relocated to Microsoft's offices in Redmond, Washington, for his new role.
The making of Surface 3: Microsoft's little tablet grows up
Microsoft knows there's a lot riding on the Surface 3. And it looks like the company's finally listened to feedback from people who have asked for a little more oomph from these devices. Nearly three years after Surface with Windows RT was born, Microsoft is introducing its third-generation Surface, a tablet that runs full Windows, not the misstep of an operating system that was RT. This time around, Microsoft's tablet also features a screen designed to work with a pen, while an overhauled Type Cover promises to deliver a more solid, less wobbly keyboard and an improved trackpad. The Surface 3 is as much a PC as the Surface Pro 3, leaving behind the days of being just a would-be iPad competitor. It is, perhaps, what the Surface line should have always been.
BET brings live broadcasts to its iOS and Android apps
Nowadays, most TV networks offer live and on-demand content through mobile apps, including their own and those from service providers like Time Warner Cable, Dish and DirecTV. Today, just as ABC and others have done, BET is set to start broadcasting live on its iOS and Android applications, making it easy for fans of the channel to keep up with their favorite shows while on the go. The BET NOW app has served up access to on-demand programming for quite some time, but the addition of a live video feed will likely put a smile on the face of BET viewers.
Razer is launching an open-source VR headset this year
For the past three years at CES, I've met Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan and a grip of his colleagues in a large-ish suite in the MGM Grand. The first time, it was "Project Fiona" turning into the Razer Edge. Then in 2014, it was a crazy-looking modular computer codenamed "Project Christine." This year, there's no tease. No project name. This year, Razer's announcing an open-source software and hardware initiative known as "OSVR." First: Yes, there's a headset, and yes, I used it. Second: That acronym stands for -- you guessed it -- "Open-Source Virtual Reality."
An exclusive look at Bragi's ambitious smart headphones
Eleven months ago an audacious Kickstarter campaign promised a sports headphone like nothing we'd ever seen before. Bragi's spec sheet for "The Dash" read like a ridiculous wish list. There was touch control, two separate ear buds (that connect to each other wirelessly, as well as to your phone), 4GB of onboard storage, 3.5-hours battery life and a self-contained media player. That's impressive enough, but Bragi didn't stop there. The Dash would be stuffed full of sensors like an accelerometer, heart rate monitor and an oxygen saturation sensor. It didn't stop there either. Some pretty special-sounding software meant that The Dash would serve as a personal trainer through audio feedback; there would be a "transparent" mode so you could hear ambient sounds and more. Bragi didn't stop there.
Exclusive: Elsword's Ara becomes the Dark Fox
KOG Games is on the verge of launching new content for the North American edition of F2P sidescrolly MMO Elsword in the form of updates for character Ara. Ara is a speardancer with insane jumping skills, and starting tomorrow, she can follow a brand-new job path that ushers in the Masters of Darkness theme destined for the game. As the appropriately brooding Dark Fox, Ara can advance to Little Specter at level 15 and Asura at level 35, both of which roles feature phantom claws. "Explore the eerie side of Ara's mystical connection with Eun, the spirit of the legendary nine tail fox sealed in the ancient hairpin for centuries," hints the website. We've got an exclusive trailer below that shows off Ara's new path -- enjoy!
Rosalina amiibo exclusive to the Target Galaxy
Lucario, Shulk and Meta Knight aren't the only amiibo figures to sign exclusivity deals with various retailers across the country; now Princess Rosalina and her Luma buddy (which are packaged together as one figure) will also take some extra effort to track down. According to an online listing, the figure - which is due for release in February - will be sold exclusively at Target. Who knows how popular this particular amiibo will end up being or how many units Nintendo will ship, but if it's got your eye, it might behoove you to grab it while you can; Nintendo recently announced that, while the company may return select amiibo to shelves after their first run has sold out, "other [less popular] figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment." [Image: Nintendo]
Meet the bosses of TERA's upcoming Fate of Arun expansion
Announced abruptly just before Halloween, TERA's long-planned Fate of Arun expansion is due out in December, complete with a level cap bump and loads of new zones. Today, En Masse has provided us with an exclusive poster and a sneak peek at the bosses arriving to torment you in Arun. Check 'em out below!
Foresee a trip to GameStop if you want the Shulk Amiibo
Shulk is the first Amiibo unearthed as retailer-exclusive in the US, according to a listing on GameStop. The figurine of the Xenoblade hero is one of 11 coming to North America in February 2015, and yesterday Nintendo said "some of our retail partners will be releasing a certain number of these as exclusive figures, so stay tuned for details." Nintendo didn't say which Amiibos are exclusive to which retailers, but we're guessing that "certain number" isn't 1. Anyhow, the other ten toys due in February are Rosalina & Luma, Bowser, Lucario, Toon Link, Sheik, Ike, Meta Knight, Sonic, King Dedede and Mega Man.
Taking apart Google's modular smartphone
What do you want to know about Project Ara? Does a modular smartphone actually work? Yes. Is it very different from Android phones? In a basic how-a-phone-all-works, yes indeed. Paul Eremenko, Technical Project Lead on Google's modular phone project just called in at Expand NY, and he brought along the latest working prototype. Modular phones do indeed work: you can take out a component without bricking the device, it can already run Angry Birds and we just got to play with one.
Trion responds to ArcheAge's 10 percent patron discount controversy
Things are never dull in the ArcheAge community. The latest brouhaha, as exemplified by this 100-page (as of press time) threadnaught, has to do with the fact that patron account holders haven't received the 10 percent cash shop discount that was promised pre-release. Massively contacted Trion to see if it could shed some light on the controversy as well detail any steps it's taking to provide patrons with one of their perks. Click past the cut to view the firm's response.
Elsword reveals the Arc Tracer class... for science
KOG Games has just revealed Add the Arc Tracer, a new class coming to Elsword on October 1st. The Arc Tracer is a tech specialist who can manipulate drones, laser cannon, and flying disks to kick butt with science. At level 35, the Arc Tracer can become a Mastermind (eventually -- but not in this patch!). We've got brand-new screenshots, details, and an exclusive trailer after the cut!
Massively Interview: How Eleven is fighting to bring Glitch back
The Massively staffers were delighted to hear that one of our favorite quirky browser MMOs might be coming back from the dead. Fan projects such as Eleven and Children of Ur, the latter of which is in a playable pre-alpha, are often at an extreme disadvantage with such resurrection projects, as they can lack legality, resources, and access to the original code. However, in this particular case, it looks as though Glitch might be a go for a return, as Tiny Speck has blessed player efforts and released the source code and art assets to help out. Of course, this doesn't mean that there isn't a huge mountain of obstacles to surmount, but if anyone's to do it it, it might very well be the Eleven team. We reached out to Project Lead Jim Condren and several members of his team to get a better feel for where the project is at and when we might be playing Glitch once more.