Microsoft had to abandon its original plans to let people play xCloud games on iPhones and iPads via an iOS app, the same way it does on Android (above photo), but is reportedly “very close” to a public preview of a web-based workaround.
The project shouldn’t be confused with the iOS Xbox app, which lets you stream games from your own Xbox to your phone. xCloud, in contrast, lets you stream games directly from Microsoft servers.
Microsoft employees are said to be testing the approach, with a public preview described as “very close” …
Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox cloud gaming is coming to iOS in 2021. In a new blog post today, the company says that cloud gaming as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will come to iOS via web browser in spring of 2021.
According to Apple’s support website, the company is currently working together with Microsoft to bring Xbox Series X and Series S controller support to iPhones and iPads. The support website states, “Microsoft and Apple are working together to bring compatibility for the Xbox Series X controller to customers in a future update.”
After being available as a limited beta app, the new Xbox app for iOS is finally available on the App Store with the new “Remote Play” mode, which lets Xbox owners stream Xbox One games on the iPhone and iPad.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen Apple open up its software by allowing third-party hardware to run Apple TV and even HomeKit and AirPlay 2 support. Now Microsoft’s Xbox consoles look to be the latest hardware to be gaining the Apple TV app.
A report earlier this week indicated that Microsoft’s new Xbox app would come to iOS with support for streaming Xbox games to your iPhone. The app is now available in beta, and The Verge has a hands-on look at how it works.
Microsoft has hinted that you’ll soon be able to stream Xbox games to iPhone.
The company has so far only officially announced the feature for Android smartphones, but it separately indicated that we can expect it for iPhones too …
With all of its latest OS updates shipped, Apple Arcade is now available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Mac and a new feature for the company’s hardware is support for Xbox and PS4 wireless controllers. Now Apple is selling the Xbox Wireless Controller on its online store with in-store availability starting from October 11.
The AllCast media streaming app–which allows photos, music and video to be beamed from a mobile device to an Apple TV, Roku, Xbox, FireTV and a range of smart TVs–has now made it to iOS, following the release of the Android app last month (shown in the above video). It’s compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and is optimized for iPhone 5 and up.
The app works in a very similar way to the Chromecast stick–or, as the developer puts it, “no setup necessary, it just works like magic” … Expand Expanding Close
Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath first debuted on the original Xbox in 2005 to praise from critics and today the game has officially arrived for iOS devices with some new additions and enhancements specifically for the smaller screens.
Developed by Oddworld Inhabitants, Stranger’s Wrath is the latest installment in the franchise despite being first released on the original Xbox almost 10 years ago. The title foregoes the side scrolling puzzler gameplay that made the original Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and follow up games in the series popular when released on PlayStation in the late 90’s. Instead, Stranger’s Wrath is half first-person shooter, half third-person platformer with lots of the usual Oddworld exploration and theatrical soundtrack.
The developers say the new iOS release includes “exciting new controls that make the most of the mobile format and improved visuals throughout.” The game also includes support for Made-for-iPhone game controllers and supports English, German, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Finish, Swedish, and Polish languages.
2K games has announced that it is bringing the original 2007 BioShock game to iPhone and iPad later this summer, via Engadget. Graphics have been toned down significantly from the original Xbox title, but the game will no doubt offer plenty of nostalgia for fans of the series.
“BioShock delivers a true triple-A first-person shooter game experience on the iOS platform, by sending players on an underwater adventure to explore the submerged Art Deco city of Rapture, fighting deranged survivors of a failed objectivist utopia and genetically modifying their own DNA to gain superhuman powers.”
Although pricing and other specifics is not yet known, Engadget says that the developer 2K games wants a ‘premium game’ to carry a ‘premium price’, seemingly in the $10 to $30 range. Although visuals are substantially behind-the-curve of modern iOS games, the game will at least support MFI Game Controllers for more tactile interaction. BioShock will launch in the coming months, for iPad 4 and later, iPhone 5 and later.
Microsoft is considering taking Xbox Live cross-platform and allowing developers to integrate the service in iOS and Android games, according to a report from The Verge. The report cites a job listing from the company’s website seeking an engineer to work on “a modern framework that is open-source, lightweight, extensible and scalable across various platforms,” including iOS and Android. The report also cites its own sources reportedly familiar Microsoft’s plans to take Xbox Live cross-platform.
“New Devices and Gaming” is looking for passionate and experienced developers to join us. Your contribution will have direct impact on how we win back our game developers from our competitors. As a member of the newly formed team, you will have the rare opportunity to influence our planning and design from the beginning. We will create a modern framework that is open source, light-weight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS and Android. Working on the gaming technologies, you will collaborate with both internal partner teams across the company and external ecosystem partners to enable end-to-end gaming scenarios.
The idea, according to the report, is that Xbox Live would act as a cross-platform alternative to Apple’s Game Center and similar services, allowing users to earn achievements, manage friends and more through a single service across Xbox and mobile platforms. No details on specific features or when we might expect to see more.
Following the announcement last August that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was out the door as soon as the company could find a new captain to lead the ship, the Board finally announced today that it has found its guy: Satya Nadella.
As part of the changes, founder and former CEO Bill Gates has agreed to step down from the Board and into a new role as ‘technology advisor’. Gates says he will step up his time at the company meeting with various groups and helping with future products at the request of Nadella. Expand Expanding Close
iOS gamers are not going to be short of options when it comes to choosing a games controller for their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. After earlier dock-based controllers from Logitech and Moga, and Monday’s announcement by SteelSeries of the first Bluetooth controller, Signal has just announced the first full-size Bluetooth controller in the shape of the RP One … Expand Expanding Close
Microsoft has released its companion iOS app for the new Xbox One console today, according to Engadget. A similar app has existed for the Xbox 360 for some time now, but owners of the newest Microsoft console will need to use the app released today.
The app allows Xbox One users to control their Xbox remotely using their iOS device, enhance their gaming and media-viewing experience with second screen functionality, and access many Xbox Live features such as messaging, achievements, and more.
Xbox One SmartGlass is the perfect companion app for your Xbox One, both in your living room and on the go. Connect and control your Xbox One. Stay connected with the games and gamers you like. And add a new dimension to your console entertainment with the mobile device you already own.
In the living room:
•Navigate your Xbox One console using your device’s keyboard and touch
•Control your media and set top box with the SmartGlass remote control
•Browse the web on your TV using your mobile device
•Enhance what you are watching or playing with SmartGlass companions
•Increase performance with faster connections and reliability
In the living room and on the go:
•Search, browse, and pin content to play on your Xbox One console
•Track achievements, get game help, message friends, and watch game clips
Much like Apple organizes its executive and engineering teams around functions and services rather than specific products, Microsoft is today unveiling its plans to reorganize its divisions and bring together its various hardware and software teams. According to an email sent to employees from CEO Steve Ballmer and published on the company’s website, the move will see Microsoft bring together its separate teams from Windows, Xbox, Office and elsewhere and reassign managers to oversee broader engineering, marketing and finance groups: Expand Expanding Close
According to a report from Nikkei (via Reuters), Microsoft has signed up Japan-based game developer Klab Inc to bring some of its console and PC games to the iPhone and Android devices. There aren’t many other details, but the report claims Microsoft’s next title to arrive on smartphones will be a free-to-play version of Age of the Empires:
Microsoft’s “Age of the Empires” will be available as a free-to-play game worldwide on smartphones by the end of the fiscal year 2013 and other titles will follow, the report said.
KLab is behind a few titles already on the App Store and Google Play, including Arcadia, Gigabot Wars, Eternal Uprising, and Lord of the Dragons.
It actually wouldn’t be the first game that Microsoft has published for iOS devices as it recently brought its previously Windows Phone only title “Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin” to the App Store for both iPhone and iPad.
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Logitech UE Mini Boombox Bluetooth speaker, ‘the best portable speaker you can buy’: $59 shipped
During a presentation with advertisers, CW Network president Mark Pedowitz announced that the network would be expanding its content offerings to new multimedia devices. This strategy will include a spot as an app on the Apple TV set-top-box’s home screen.
It’s a dedicated CW app that will work like our Xbox and mobile and tablet apps – no cable authentication required, full episodes of our shows available next day after air, ad-supported.
Notably, as noted in the above quote, the CW content will be ad-supported.
CW currently streams its content to software on Microsoft Windows devices such as the Xbox. Apple recently added Hulu Plus and sports content to the Apple TV, and the current generation Apple set-top-box has sported YouTube and Netflix integration since launch.
According to a job listing from game developer DICE, EA might be looking to bring its popular Battlefield 3 franchise to OS X. The Battlefield3Blog pointed us to the job listing seeking a Mac OS X engineer to be”part of a team focusing on bringing Frostbite to Mac.”
Frostbite is looking for developers who want to join us in taking our engine to the next level. You will be part of a team focusing on bringing Frostbite to Mac and work closely with game team customers and the Frostbite team to deliver an engine as great on OS X as it is on Windows and traditional console platforms.
With plans to bring the Frostbite game engine to Mac, it could also mean EA plans to bring Frostbite-powered titles previously only available on Windows, Xbox, and PS3 to the Mac. There is no mention of specific games, but on top of the Battlefield series, Frostbite has been used for Need for Speed and Medal of Honor titles. We’re assuming this is for Frostbite 2, but there’s also a possibility it could be a next generation of the engine.
Xbox SmartGlass: Microsoft updated its My Xbox LIVE app for iPhone and iPad last night, renaming the app “Xbox SmartGlass” and introducing a number of new features. The app now works as the full fledged second screen “SmartGlass” experience for Xbox that Microsoft originally unveiled for Windows 8 devices.
Xbox SmartGlass lets you:
• Navigate your Xbox 360 with swipe and tap
• Use your phone’s keyboard to type to your Xbox 360
• Browse the Internet on your Xbox 360 with full keyboard and zooming
• Play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and stop videos and music on your Xbox 360
• Search the full Xbox catalog of music, video, and games
• Enjoy rich, interactive experiences from select game and entertainment content creators
• Track and compare your achievements with your Xbox friends
• Change up your 3D avatar
• Message your Xbox friends
• Edit your Xbox profile
Sparkling Maps version 1.1:Apple has decided to accept an update to Sparkling Maps that brings “vastly improved turn by turn navigation” and “better StreetView” powered by Google data. According to its developers,”This is now the first available app on Apple devices that offers streetview and turn by turn navigation on google maps data.”
Curiosity – what’s inside the cube: Developer of the Fable series Peter Molyneux is out with an interesting cross-platform title that is also now available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. The game consists of users tapping away at a giant cube made up of billions of smaller cubes. Nobody knows what’s inside (unsold copies of Fable?), but users will work together across platforms to find out the mystery inside of the cube.
Deep in the centre of the cube is something life-changingly amazing, but only the first person to reach the centre will discover what’s inside.
Tweetbot for Mac version 1.0.1: The Tweetbot Mac App Store app was just updated with a ton of new features, fixes, and improvements. Included in the update is support for “Reading list as a Read Later service” on 10.8 and up, the ability to disable Streaming from within preferences, as well as better keyboard support in “people searcher”. You can also now navigate the timeline using the jk keys. A full list of what’s new is below: Expand Expanding Close
Microsoft is considering taking Xbox Live cross-platform and allowing developers to integrate the service in iOS and Android games, according to a report 
