- Xbox’s Exclusive Game Drought is Officially Over – IGN NOW IGN
- Xbox is in its best-ever fighting form, but its opponent didn’t show up Video Games Chronicle
- Best games of E3 2021 TechRadar
- Opinion: Xbox’s Exclusive Game Drought Is Officially Over – E3 2021 – IGN IGN
- E3: Microsoft Expands Xbox Cloud Gaming, But Streaming Won’t Replace Consoles PCMag
- View Full Coverage on Google News
TechNews
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin – Extended Trailer | E3 2021 – IGN
- Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin – Extended Trailer | E3 2021 IGN
- The Monster Hunter movie has marines in it because of Metal Gear Solid, apparently PC Gamer
- Monster Hunter Rise – June/July Update Monster Hunter
- Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin trailer, E3 2021 Polygon
- Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin – E3 2021 Trailer Nintendo
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Xbox and Bethesda E3 Showcase in 7 Minutes – E3 2021 – IGN
- Xbox and Bethesda E3 Showcase in 7 Minutes – E3 2021 IGN
- Xbox is in its best-ever fighting form, but its opponent didn’t show up Video Games Chronicle
- Best games of E3 2021 TechRadar
- Opinion: Xbox’s Exclusive Game Drought Is Officially Over – E3 2021 – IGN IGN
- Xbox answers critics in emphatic fashion | Opinion GamesIndustry.biz
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Elden Ring Trailer Breakdown – With Help From Creator Hidetaka Miyazaki – IGN
- Elden Ring Trailer Breakdown – With Help From Creator Hidetaka Miyazaki IGN
- Did Elden Ring’s Gameplay Trailer Confirm Seath The Scaleless Screen Rant
- Sam & Max: This Time It’s Virtual – Official Gameplay Trailer | Summer of Gaming 2021 GameTrailers
- Elden Ring Has a Mechanic That Sounds a Bit Like… Pokémon – Summer of Gaming – IGN IGN
- Elden Ring: How FromSoft’s Largest, Most Free-Form Map Works – Summer of Gaming – IGN IGN
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Google’s Workplace suite is now free and available to anyone
Google is making a huge change to its online services. It’s opening up the Workspace offering (previously called G Suite) to all users with a Google account, meaning you no longer need to have an enterprise profile to use extra features in Drive, Meet, Docs, Sheets and more. According to a press release, “now, all of the company’s three billion-plus existing users across consumer, enterprise, and education have access to the full Google Workspace experience.”
You’ll have to turn on Google Chat in Gmail to enable this integrated experience, which frankly might not feel like a big change since free accounts already had access to things like Drive and Docs. But Workspace brings with it features like smart suggestions in emails or documents, the ability to @-mention other users to add them to tasks and present Google Docs, Sheets or Slides directly within your Meet calls.
While most of these features are now becoming free, the company is introducing a paid version today called Google Workspace Individual. It’s targeting small business owners and provides “premium capabilities, including smart booking services, professional video meetings, personalized email marketing and much more on the way.”
Google Chat gets more Slack-like with Spaces
Google’s not just opening Workspace up to everyone today, it’s also introducing some new features. First, it’s evolving Rooms in Chat (formerly known as Hangouts). “Over the summer, we’ll evolve Rooms to become Spaces and launch a streamlined and flexible user interface that helps teams and individuals stay on top of everything that’s important.” These one-page destinations will contain presence indicators, custom statuses, “expressive reactions” and offer collapsible views and the ability to pin messages.
Basically, it sounds like Google Chat is becoming more powerful for work, and quite a bit more Slack-like. Though it does offer more collaboration tools than the messaging app. Google also said “Spaces will seamlessly integrate with files and tasks,” allowing for “all the relevant information, conversations, and files for a project [to] be organized.” This consolidation of materials for topics can be moderated at an organization-wide level, too.
In some images the company provided, it looks like Spaces lets you have a column on the left for chatting with your coworkers while the other two thirds of the screen shows the Google Doc you’re all editing together. At the top of the chat column, you have the option to look at the conversation or switch to see your Files or Tasks. You could also pick a different group of collaborators altogether through a dropdown menu at the top of the page, which would open a new chat with its own set of files and tasks.
This is pretty much the Smart Canvas that Google teased at I/O, and is similar to Microsoft’s Fluid Framework that has similar notions of putting all your productivity tools on the same page.
Google Meet gets more Zoom-like
Video calls are also getting an upgrade, as the company continues to add more features that other services like Zoom and Microsoft’s Teams already offer. Google Meet will gain a Companion Mode, new moderation controls and updated Calendar RSVP options. Companion Mode, which was previewed at last month’s Google I/O, will let meeting participants access features like polls, in-meeting chat, hand-raising, Q&A, live captions and more regardless of the device they’re using. According to the company, “Companion Mode will be available on the web and Google Meet’s upcoming progressive web app in September, and it will be coming soon to mobile.”
To accommodate hybrid work forces as we transition back to working in physical offices, Google is letting people indicate their locations in RSVPs to Calendar invites so they can share if they’ll be joining a call remotely or in a conference room. Hosts will get new moderation tools that’ll let them mute and unmute participants, as well as block non-hosts from presenting during the meeting. They’ll also be able to suspend the in-meeting chat while a presentation is going on.
On the back-end, Google is also improving some security features in Workspace. It’s adding client-side encryption and new “Trust rules” and labels for Drive. The latter will let administrators “classify files and apply controls based on their sensitivity levels.” Finally, Google said it’s enhancing phishing and malware protections in Workspace, too.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Starfield is an Xbox Exclusive, Coming in 2022 – IGN Daily Fix – IGN
- Starfield is an Xbox Exclusive, Coming in 2022 – IGN Daily Fix IGN
- E3 2021: Xbox and Bethesda finally unveil release date for ‘Starfield’ CNN
- Xbox Game Pass Wins Big at Microsoft’s E3 TechRaptor
- Opinion: Xbox’s Exclusive Game Drought Is Officially Over – E3 2021 – IGN IGN
- ‘Psychonauts 2’ finally arrives on August 25, 2021 Engadget
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Rune Factory 5 – E3 2021 Trailer – Nintendo Switch – Nintendo
- Rune Factory 5 – E3 2021 Trailer – Nintendo Switch Nintendo
- Rune Factory 4 Special is coming to PC PC Gamer
- Rune Factory 5 Confirmed For English Release In 2022 Screen Rant
- Rune Factory 4 Special – Platform Announcement Trailer (PS4 / Xbox One) XSEEDgames
- Let’s watch the Future Games Show for E3 2021 Destructoid
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Psychonauts 2 – Official Release Date Trailer | E3 2021 – IGN
- Psychonauts 2 – Official Release Date Trailer | E3 2021 IGN
- Psychonauts 2 Release Date Set for August, Day One on Game Pass The Escapist
- Starfield Full Presentation | Xbox + Bethesda E3 2021 GameSpot
- Bethesda Shows Off Starfield, Coming November 11th, 2022 To Xbox And Windows MMORPG.com
- Starfield: Official Teaser Trailer Xbox
- View Full Coverage on Google News
E3 2021: all the news from Microsoft and Bethesda’s Xbox showcase | Games
This looks a lot like a new Forza Horizon game – excellent news, as these are my favourite racing games ever, as much because of the scenery as the cars. There’s some extreme weather on display here, with sandstorms and active volcanos. It’s set in Mexico, taking us from rainforests to deserts and through Mayan architecture (best not crash into that). It’s out November 9.
Watch Xbox and Bethesda press conference at E3 2021: start time, stream
This story is part of a group of stories called
E3 2021 takes place June 12-15 as a re-imagined, all-virtual online event. Nintendo, Xbox, Bethesda, Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, Capcom, and others will deliver new video game announcements, trailers, release dates, and more.
Microsoft’s annual Xbox E3 press conference returns, now with 100% more Bethesda. The freshly acquired video game publisher will be sharing the stage with Xbox’s growing stable of studios on June 13 at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT. You can stream the entire event here, just click play on the above embed!
What do we expect to see? Halo Infinite, for sure. Master Chief will be the centerpiece of the Xbox 2021 lineup. We won’t be surprised if we also see new entries in the Fable and Forza franchises, alongside new titles like Avowed and Everwild. Microsoft says the event will run for approximately 90 minutes.
Bethesda’s various studios have a variety of projects in development, including Starfield, The Elder Scrolls 6, and whatever Arkane Austin has in the works. But are any of these games far enough along to cross the E3 stage? We’ll see soon enough.
And considering Microsoft’s embrace of streaming and subscription services, we assume Game Pass will feature prominently in the event — especially considering the service will soon stream at Xbox Series X-quality on iPhone, Android, and browsers. Maybe we’ll even get an early look at the Xbox TV app or the stand-alone streaming stick?