7 Days is a weekly roundup of the Editors' picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (Irish) coffee.
It's been a long week, and there's been a lot of news around the world of technology, but don't panic... 7 Days is here to bring you up to speed on what's been happening, walking you through the week's top tech news.
While there were tons of gaming news at E3 2017 this week, an interesting bit came from outside of the conference. Atari is getting back in the console market with the Ataribox; however, we know little about it right now.
But if you're into new games that are coming, look no further than our E3 2017 coverage. Of course, you can read on for specifics.
Sony was all about the games this year, as were most presenters. Here's some of what it showed off:
- Elder Scrolls V
- Monster Hunter: World
- Destiny 2 exclusive content
- Spider-Man
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Detroit: Become Human
- The Inpatient
- Shadow of the Colossus
- God of War
Nintendo had the same approach with games as Sony, but its event was a bit shorter.
- Rocket League
- Metroid Prime 4
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild expansion pass
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Kirby
- Yoshi
- Sonic Forces
Of course, game companies had their own events. Let's start off with Ubisoft.
- Assassin's Creed Origins
- Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle
- Skull and Bones
- Far Cry 5
- South Park: Phone Destroyer
- The Crew 2
- Just Dance 2018
- Beyond Good and Evil 2
Next up is Bethesda:
- Fallout 4 VR and Doom VR
- The Evil Within 2
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Creation Club
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
- Elder Scrolls Online DLC
EA has a number of games to show off as well:
- Anthem
- A Way Out
- Need for Speed Payback
- Star Wars Battlefront II
- Battlefield 1 expansion
- FIFA 18
- Madden 18
- NBA Live 18
- Star Wars Battlefront II expansion
Oh...right...you might have heard something about the Microsoft news from E3. Sure, it had some games too.
- Forza Motorsport 7
- Metro Exodus
- Battlegrounds
- State of Decay 2
- Minecraft is coming in 4K
- Crackdown 3
- Sea of Thieves
- Shadow of War
- Cuphead
- Anthem
- Life is Strange
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Ashen
- Halo Wars 2
Yes, yes, you wanted to hear about the new console. As was rumored before the event, Project Scorpio, which is now and permanently known as the Xbox One X, will cost $499 and arrive in November, promising True 4K gaming. According to one executive, the company is proud of the pricing, and it won't turn a profit on console sales.
You can also check out our full rundown on the console, or see it being built piece-by-piece.
There's also a new logo for the Xbox One S, something that was very mysterious a week ago. In other One S news, Microsoft took a shot at the PS4 Pro, saying that it's more of a competitor to the lower end console.
Also in interesting Xbox news, Microsoft is bringing backward compatibility for original Xbox games to the Xbox One. In fact, it might also bring the tech to PCs.
Xbox Insiders in Preview Ring 3 got their first taste of the next feature update for the console, version 1706. It shouldn't be too long until it's available for all Insiders.
But while new gaming hardware was being announced, Microsoft released some new hardware: the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. To coincide with the launch of the Laptop and therefore Windows 10 S, Office 2016 is now available from the Windows Store.
There are also some new accessories coming, although we don't know when. Listings for the Modern Keyboard with Fingerprint ID and Modern Mouse showed up in the Microsoft Store.
It was Patch Tuesday this week, which normally means that Microsoft patches supported versions of Windows, but this time, it didn't stop there. All versions of Windows 10 were patched, along with other unsupported versions like XP and Vista.
But once again, there's bad news for phones. As we know, mainstream support for Windows Phone 8.1 ends in a few weeks, which could mean that Windows 10 Mobile upgrades might no longer be available. We also learned that Microsoft has no plans to take Windows 10 Mobile off of the feature2 branch, and Night Light isn't coming to the platform.
To add insult to injury, all but one Lumia has been removed from the Microsoft Store, as the company has confirmed plans to stop selling phone hardware by the end of the month.
Windows Insiders did receive a new feature2 build this week though: 15223.
While PCs didn't get a new Fast ring build this week, they did get a much-anticipated new feature: OneDrive Files On-Demand. You can check out the bonus content below for a hands on video, but in the meantime, please rejoice with the following:
Interestingly, Box also rolled out its alternative to placeholders, called Box Drive.
Dell announced a range of Alienware devices, including two new Area 51 desktops. Also, the Inspiron Gaming Desktop is now available in the US.
But speaking of new sync clients, Google is launching a new Backup and Sync app for Mac and Windows users.
Lenovo is having an event on the 27th of the month, where it will likely announce the Moto Z2, and possibly Moto Z2 Force. The company also introduced the Moto E4 and E4 Plus for budget-friendly consumers.
In a stunning turn of events, the HTC U11 is apparently outselling its predecessors. The news is surprising given that the U11 is only available from Sprint and HTC.com, where previous devices were sold by all major carriers.
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There's a new Android Things Developer Preview, although it's apparently a minor iteration, as it's Developer Preview 4.1. In other beta news, Chrome on Android has a new design in the Dev channel.
Apple was relatively quiet this week, but there was some news. The company updated its App Store policies so that you can tip developers. Developers also got new betas for iOS 10.3.3, macOS 10.12.6, watchOS 3.2.3, and tvOS 10.2.2.
Amazon finally updated its Alexa app on iOS so that users can block calls and messages from contacts, a staple feature for any communication service.
Also, in a surprise move, the company purchased Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.
Bonus content
As promised, I made a hands on video of OneDrive Files On-Demand. If you're more curious about build 16215 as a whole, which contained a ton of new features, you can check that out too.
Usama Jawad broke down his thoughts on Microsoft's presentation at E3 2017. Check it out for a deep dive on the keynote.
Timi Cantisano was our boots on the ground on the conference, and he composed a few galleries for you to check out, such as this one with the Xbox One X.
If you're wondering what it was like to be there, you can also check out Timi's tour of the Xbox booth.
Since the Xbox Design Lab has some new designs and color options, Timi put together a gallery for that too.
The new 10.5-inch iPad Pro came out this week, and I unboxed it and gave it my first impressions.
I published my review of the HTC U Ultra, giving it a 7 out of 10, mainly because there are better and cheaper alternatives.
Finally, our managing editor Andy Weir spent the week in Nairobi with Dona Sarkar and the rest of the #Insiders4Good East Africa Fellowship. He asked for you to submit your questions for Dona, and the answers are in! The interview will be published in the upcoming week.
Stay tuned to Neowin in the days ahead for what’s sure to be another exciting week, filled with official news, lots of updates, and plenty of insights from around the world of technology.
For now, though, there’s lots more to read across the site – including all sorts of interesting discussions over on our forums.
From all of us
on the Neowin team,
have a great weekend!
