Microsoft officially announces Xbox One with 1TB of storage and new controller

Turns out you won't have to wait until E3 next week to see the newest Xbox One. After an Amazon posting revealed the existence of an Xbox One with more storage and a new controller, today Microsoft has made it official. The latest version of the Xbox One features 1TB of storage and a wireless controller with a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the new console will start shipping in the US on June 16th for $399. For a limited time it will also be bundled with Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Meanwhile, starting today the 500GB model of the Xbox One will have its price cut to $349 permanently. And for those who don't need the added storage, the controller will be available separately in both black and black-and-silver camouflage versions. Finally, Microsoft also announced that the Xbox Wireless Adapter will be shipping later this fall, so that you can use an Xbox One controller with Windows 10 PCs, laptops, and tablets. You can grab it for $24.99 or bundled with the new wireless controller for $79.95.

Microsoft is scared of Sony's Project Morpheus

The whole Oculus ecosystem is really coming together. After all the excitement surrounding the development kits over the last couple of years we're now getting solid details about the consumer version.

First there was the minimum specs announcement for the PC needed to power your new VR world. Then there was the reveal last night about the final design of the Rift and lastly the Oculus Touch controllers.

Oh, and Phil Spencer also got up on stage last night because Microsoft doesn't have anything VR-y to talk about at E3 next week.

So what was he doing up there? Talking about how the Xbox One was going to be streaming games to the Oculus Rift.

Wow, that's big news, right? That's Microsoft's answer to Sony's Morpheus and with a much more advanced system too. But the Xbox One with Rift isn't actually going to be delivering a virtual reality gaming experience, more a virtual lounge experience.

Xbox One games are going to be played on a virtual screen in a virtual theatre that you can virtually enjoy.

The weirdest thing is that it's all being done through Windows 10 and its forthcoming ability to stream Xbox One games to your PC. In itself that's a potentially exciting development; streaming your console games to a basic Windows 10 desktop or laptop somewhere else in the house if someone is demanding use of your real-life lounge.

But streaming Xbox One games to the necessarily powerful gaming PC you've already had to buy to make sure you can properly experience the Rift just seems a redundant feature.

Any cross-platform game would surely be purchased and played natively on your powerful gaming PC, in full virtual reality, via your Rift. Quite why you'd want to instead stream the lower quality console version, using your beefy gaming PC as a basic streaming device is utterly beyond me.

Especially as it's not even going to be proper VR gaming anyway.

Do you want to watch GTA V on a far away virtual screen or have GTA V all around you? So long as I'm not actually getting shot I want to jump right into Los Santos.

The only reason I can see for any of this happening at all is because Morpheus is set to launch around the same time as the Rift and is surely going to be plastered all over E3. With no native VR response of its own Microsoft needs Oculus to appear on stage with them next week to make it seem like it's got the VR side of things sewn up too.

Maybe that's how Oculus gets to bundle free Xbox One controllers in with the consumer Rift...

The thing is Sony is actually going to have a proper VR experience with the PS4 and Morpheus while the Xbox One definitely isn't - even if it can get to the stage where the Rift plugs directly into its console, bypassing the connected PC, for that virtual lounge experience.

The Xbox one struggles to hit 60fps at 1080p on a single screen; hitting the desired 90fps on a 1200 x 1080 per eye display is going to be virtually (wink) impossible.

The VR gaming revolution then seems to be quickly passing Microsoft by and I don't think this weak Xbox One tie-in with Oculus is nearly enough.

Lonely Apple Watch Users Connect Via Heartbeats

The Apple Watch can do many things – everything from reading a user’s vitals to taking phone calls — but did you know that it can even help those lonely hearts around the world make an intimate,wrist-to-wrist connection?

By pressing two fingers on the watch’s screen, a built-in heart rate sensor can record and send a user’s heartbeat to another Apple watch wearer.

Those butterflies and fireworks you feel when falling love are actually just brain chemicals flooding your system.

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DCI

DCI

While it’s a great, quick way to share how you feel, there’s just one problem – what about those who have nowhere to send their digital beating hearts?

One reddit user has found a way to connect all of those looking for a wearable tech soul mate.

It started as a group of Watch buyers who didn’t know anyone else that was getting one and wanted to play with the Watch to watch heartbeats, sketches, and tap features,” reddit user nooshaw told Wired.

Nooshaw started r/lonelyheartbeats as a forum for users to exchange their iMessage details in order to find strangers out there to connect through these more intimate Apple Watch features.

Of course, while many users are sending simple messages like “hi” or innocent drawings, the connections being made as a result of the subreddit aren’t always so chaste.

Nooshaw added that many users are sending suggestive pictures to these new Apple Watch connections.