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Activision reports stellar Q1 2020 earnings, driven by digital surges in monetization, game purchases, and strong engagement.

Actvision's latest earnings report re-affirms it as the lord of monetization, second only to Tencent's mobile might. Activision-Blizzard's Q1 earnings were boosted by COVID-19 quarantines, which saw more players jumping into Call of Duty and Blizzard games over March. Warzone in particular amassed 60 million players and helped spiked microtransions by 20% YoY to $956 million. Warzone also sparked Modern Warfare sales and helped the game become the best Q1 performer in Call of Duty history.

In the three-month period ended March 31, 2020, Activision-Blizzard earned a total of $1.788 billion in net revenues, up a mighty 23% from last year. The company beat its net revenue forecast by $148 million, and total net bookings by $247 million.

Activision confirms Warzone's massive success is spiking Modern Warfare game sales, cementing this F2P-and-premium gameplan as a permanent fixture in the company's business model.

With the new free-to-play Warzone battle royale, Activision has created their own Game Pass effect: A live operation is pushing full game sales while monetizing and engaging players in the process. Warzone features cross-play, cross-SKU, and cross-progression with Modern Warfare, meaning it's also tied into and with the premium game, but it's also a standalone free download. It's the perfect entry point to Activision's billion-dollar live Call of Duty empire. Think of Warzone as the connective sinew in between Call of Duty's muscle.

In its recent earnings report, Activision confirmed two things: Their intended plan to use Warzone as a gateway to full game sales is working, and Warzone is also monetizing players quite strongly.

Apple has announced that it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference virtually kicking off on June 22. The virtual conference will be held in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website. While some may be disappointed that the conference is going to be virtual this year, the good news is it's also free for all developers.

While announcing the free virtual conference, Apple has also confirmed the Swift Student Challenge, which is an opportunity for student developers to create their own Swift playground. Apple says that WWDC20 will be an opportunity for millions of "creative and innovative developers around the world" to learn more about the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

Apple Senior Vice President of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller says that WWDC20 will be the biggest event yet and that more details about the virtual conference will be provided as we get closer to the event. Apple says that Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that makes learning the Swift programming language interactive. Apple is asking student developers from around the world to submit their Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced within three minutes.

Ubisoft's new Assassin's Creed Valhalla takes place in a war-torn England during the brutal and ambitious age of Viking invasions.Now Ubisoft pinpoints the exact yearly timeline and highlights what to expect from the game's historical setting.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is set in the bloody backdrop of the 9th century Dark Ages, more specifically during a time of expeditious and violent expansion from the Vikings in Scandinavia. The game chronicles the Norseman's journey from Norway to the Anglo Saxon kingdoms to the south, letting players take part in the chaos of the Viking hordes and their surprisingly skilled settling of England.

Ubisoft confirms Valhalla starts in 873AD when England (or more aptly described as Angland, thus named after the Anglo Saxons that settled the area) comprised of three kingdoms: Northumbria in the north, Mercia in the midlands, and Wessex to the south. King Alfred (also known as Aelfred) the Great reigns over the last unconquered kingdom of Wessex and is shown in the reveal trailer as the game's principal antagonist.

As expected, Respawn Entertainment revealed the next character that will be coming to Apex Legends, introducing Loba, the thief that's hellbent on revenge.

The new character was revealed in the Season 5 trailer titled "Fortune's Favor", where we are introduced to Loba invading what seems to be a secret underground base beneath Kings Canyon. In this base are what seems to be backups for Revenants body in the event of it being destroyed; there's also the original mind that Revenant uses to copy every time he makes another edition of himself.

Loba is unable to destroy the original mind, and instead triggered the facilities' defensive system, barely making it out alive. Throughout her escape, we can see that Loba uses her teleport to get out of several close call scenarios, I'd imagine this will also be her ability in-game. When Loba makes it out of the facility, she meets the rest of the Apex Legends, and her dreaded nemesis, Revenant. Revenant asks her, "come to kill me little girl?"

SpaceX is performing some upgrades on its new Crew Dragon spacecraft, adding touchscreens so that astronauts going to the International Space Station receive some next-gen SpaceX innovation.

Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first astronauts to take off in the Dragon capsule, headed up to the International Space Station, and will now get to tweak and play around with a touchscreen versus buttons and dials of yesteryear.

In a recent press interview with NASA, Behnken explained: "It's probably a dream of every test pilot school student to have the opportunity to fly on a brand-new spaceship, and I'm lucky enough to get that opportunity with my good friend here".

If the dizzying heights of 8K at 7680 x 4320 weren't high enough, then 15,360 x 8640 (16K) might tickle your pickle -- and USB 4.0 is going to be dropping in 2021 and it should support both displays... all on a single cable.

CNET is reporting that USB 4.0 Type-C ports will pack DisplayPort 2.0 wiring, which will enable single-cable 8K displays and even more insane single-cable 16K displays. USB 4.0 will feature up to 40Gbps of bandwidth, and up to 80Gbps in x2 mode, and will pack tunneling technology that Thunderbolt currently enjoys meaning you can daisy chain devices all day long.

The 8K and 16K resolutions will both run at 60Hz over a single-cable USB 4.0 Type-C connector, as well as next-gen VR headsets. USB 4 is getting some major injections of bandwidth and features thanks to some of the Thunderbolt technology from Intel, where Thunderbolt 3 adopted the USB-C physical connector and now runs in USB alt mode.

I didn't think I would have to be writing an article like this, but Tom Cruise is making a movie with Elon Musk's space company SpaceX in a new project with NASA.

The news is coming from Deadline, which reports that it is not a new Mission: Impossible movie, saying: "and no studio is in the mix at this stage but look for more news as I get it. But this is real, albeit in the early stages of liftoff".

Tom Cruise is no stranger to dangerous stunts, so venturing into space makes sense for the veteran actor. Cruise recently broke his ankle filming Mission: Impossible Fallout -- where in the same movie he is hanging from a helicopter. Speaking of hanging, Cruise clung to the side of a plane in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation... and he's not scared of heights considering he climbed the Burj Khalifa (in Dubai) in Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

HBO Max is offering some pretty nice discount to its upcoming streaming service, which if you sign up to the pre-order promotion the company will drop the monthly charge from $15, to just $12 per month.

The deal of $12 per month lasts for the first year, and it will apply to new subscribers as well as a "returning eligable" HBO Max customer. The discounted monthly price of HBO Max is only available if you sign up on the official HBO Max website, or go through WarnerMedia directly.

HBO Max will be launching on May 27 with some rather big exclusives, with Warner Bros. Picture Group opening a new production wing in Warner Max, that will create streaming movies for HBO Max. HBO Max will also have the entire Friends catalog, the hour-long Friends Reunion Special, the entire seasons of The Big Bang Theory -- something that cost WarnerMedia a huge $1 billion for the exclusive rights to the show.

Elon Musk has just announced that he has become a father again, with Elon confirming on Twitter that his Canadian girlfriend Claire Boucher -- who is known as Grimes -- have had a healthy baby boy.

Musk tweeted that: "Mom & baby all good", but it was the next tweet that kinda blindsided me -- Musk was asked about the name of his baby, to which he replied: "X Æ A-12 Musk". Yeah, I think Elon is being serious by saying that he's named his baby X Æ A-12 Musk. I don't even know how to begin to think about pronouncing that.

Musk has been with Grimes for two years now, meeting at the Met Gala back in 2018. Grimes announced her pregnancy on Instagram back in January, but didn't confirm Musk was the father at the time. In March 2020, Grimes was interviewed by Rolling Stone where Musk was confirmed as the father.

Halo 2 Anniversary is coming to PC next week on May 12, 2020, dev 343 Industries today confirmed.

The Master Chief Collection's PC port is expanding at a surprisingly quick pace. Just a few weeks after initial beta testing, Halo 2 is coming to PC next week via Steam, the Microsoft Store, and Xbox Game Pass, complete with optimizations across the board. This version is a port of the 2014 Halo 2 Anniversary remaster included with MCC on Xbox, and includes PC bells and whistles like native 4K support, 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio support, high-res textures, and uncapped frame rates for higher-end PCs.

Expect battle rifle and grenade carnage, dying a whole lot in the tough campaign (modern shooters really do spoil us), and lots of nostalgia. The multiplayer includes 7 classic maps revamped with modern graphics and assets

Activision won't delay any games for 2020, and plans to ship four titles in the year: Call of Duty 2020, World of Warcraft Shadowlands, and two mystery games based on Activision IP.

The coronavirus hasn't disrupted Activision's games slate for this year. In a recent earnings call, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed four games are on the way, and only two of them are major releases: the Shadowlands expansion, and the other major one is of course Call of Duty 2020.

The pipeline also includes two unannounced games from Activision's trove of IPs. What could they be? Rumor has it a new Tony Hawk remaster is on the way, and the other one could be the rumored Crash Bandicoot game.

One of the biggest smartphone launches in recent memory wasn't a very expensive and high-end device; it was the budget-priced iPhone SE. That smartphone launched at $399 and was widely hailed for packing the fastest processor around into a mid-range device. Samsung has competition for the new iPhone SE in the form of the Galaxy A51, which has now been widely launched in the US.

The Samsung Galaxy A51 is priced at the same $399 that the iPhone SE demands with one major caveat for those who value performance. The Galaxy A51 uses a Samsung Exynos 9611, which is inferior to the Apple A13 Bionic processor that's found inside the new iPhone SE. Samsung shouldn't feel too bad considering that the $400 iPhone SE processor is faster than every single Android phone on the market, even the S20 Ultra.

Where the Galaxy A51 shines compared to the new iPhone SE is in screen size. The A51 has a 6.5-inch screen with 2400x1080 resolution compared to the iPhone SE with its 4.7-inch display and 1334x750 resolution. Samsung's offering also has an in-screen optical fingerprint reader. The A51 has a camera array that may be more appealing to some users with a 48-megapixel primary camera, 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth camera.

Activision will massively accelerate Call of Duty's new free-to-play Warzone mode with new content and updates in the coming months.

Warzone is an absolute monster. The mode has already hit 60 million players since launching in March 2020, and Activision wants to keep that momentum going. In a recent earnings call, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick confirms the company will "continue to invest in Warzone significantly." Not only is Warzone generating incredible engagement and monetization revenues, but it's also spiking full game sales of Modern Warfare too.

Gamers are using Warzone as a F2P entry point to the ecosystem and buying Modern Warfare to further the experience. In other words, everything's going according to Activision's plan. Warzone was specifically designed to do this with cross-platform and cross-SKU play.

Google announced earlier this year that once spring came around, it would require all Nest account users who weren't enrolled in two-factor authentication or had not migrated to a Google account to take an extra step to verify their identity via email. Nest is trying to take steps to make its network more secure and safer for users. Any nefarious user who gained access to a Nest account could have access to video feeds directly from within the owner's home from cameras and other security products.

Google has announced on the official Nest Help page that beginning this month, Nest will be adding a new account security feature. With the new feature in effect, when a new login is initiated, users will receive an email from accounts@nest.com that contains a six-digit verification code. That six-digit verification code must be entered to log into an account successfully.

Google says that the code verifies that it is the account owner attempting to access the account, and there will be no logins without that code. Adding the new feature helps to keep users' accounts safe from hackers, even if the hackers have the username and password. Nest says there are additional security steps that users can take advantage of to make their accounts safer.

Unreal Engine 4, one of the most popular games engines in the industry, now natively supports PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X console hardware with platform-specific optimizations designed to tap each system's respective feature sets.

Epic just released Unreal Engine v 4.25, a new update that opens the doorways to high-end enhancements on next-gen consoles. The update also includes real-time raytracing support which is well-timed for next-gen consoles. Epic says this is just the beginning of their support for PS5 and Xbox Series X system hardware and we should expect more updates over time.

"For game developers, this is the first release with initial support for Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X as first-class platforms, and throughout the year we will be updating the 4.25-Plus branch with optimizations, fixes, and certification requirements to support developers launching on the next generation of consoles. Features include platform-specific functionality, such as new audio advancements, initial support for online subsystems, and early support for TRC and XR certification requirements," Epic said in the post.

Microsoft has published a blog post that talks about some details of the Windows 10 operating system. One of the more interesting factoids Microsoft is offering up is that customers are using Windows PCs to stay productive, connected, and learned during the coronavirus pandemic around the world significantly more than before the pandemic. The software giant says that over 4 trillion minutes are being spent on Windows 10 devices each month.

Four trillion minutes is a 75% increase year-over-year. Microsoft also talked about what it's doing to help Windows 10 users in the future. One of the most significant changes to Windows 10 will be the May 2020 update that will land as a free upgrade this month. Microsoft's May 2020 update will make things easier and faster for customers. It will bring more streamlined Bluetooth pairing, among other things. The update will also bring improved tablet experience for two-in-one laptop users when the keyboard is detached.

Microsoft says that this holiday and in the holiday season of 2021, it intends to accelerate innovation in Windows 10 to ensure that Windows devices are the best way to work, learn, and play. The software giant is shifting priorities for Windows, saying that the world is a different place than it was last October when it announced its vision for dual-screen Windows devices. Originally Windows 10X was meant for dual-screen devices, which have now been delayed.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone was once the top of the line device from the company. It's now several generations old. As happens in the smartphone world as devices age, they eventually lose support from the manufacturer for OS and security updates. Samsung's Galaxy S8 has been around for about three years now, and Samsung announced this week that it would be ending monthly updates for the smartphone.

That doesn't mean that the Galaxy S8 is being abandoned altogether, rather than monthly updates as it's been getting will now change to quarterly updates. The last major software update for the S8 and S8+ was the bump to Android Pie. Despite not getting another major OS update, monthly security fixes had been offered for the phone.

The security updates will now only be offered quarterly for the S8 and several newer Android devices from Samsung, some of which are newer than the Galaxy S8. Only Samsung's flagship devices typically receive monthly updates. Some newer Galaxy devices, including the A71 5G, A41, A31, A11, M11, and the Tab S6 Lite, never received monthly updates and were always on the quarterly schedule.

Google's SVP of devices and services, Rick Osterloh, recently sent out a tweet that seemed innocuous enough. The tweet was celebrating a badge he had earned on the Fitbit that was for walking 7,900 miles. The tweet was made on May 4th, and what he tweeted isn't what has Pixel fans excited.

What was exciting is that the tweet was accompanied by a screenshot taken from the smartphone he's using, which appears to be the unannounced Google Pixel 4a. The screenshot doesn't brag that it's from the Pixel 4a. What gives it away is that the status icons at the top are significantly shifted to the right.

The shifting of the icons to the right would be to accommodate the hole-punch display that's been leaked a few times. Scuttlebutt suggests that the screenshot is from a Pixel 4a device that's been customized by Pixel Themes. Other interesting tidbits that can be gleaned from the screenshot include that the original resolution of the image, according to Twitter, is 2048x945, which is admittedly an odd resolution for a smartphone.

Microsoft today announced the new Xbox 20/20 initiative, which will deliver new Xbox reveals and info every single month throughout 2020.

Microsoft is going all-out with their transparency plans. They've pretty much outlined the entirety of Xbox Series X's hardware (3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU, 12TFLOP 1.28GHz Navi 2X GPU, PCIe 4.0 SSD, etc) and software (DirectStorage, Velocity Architecture, Smart Delivery, etc).

All that remains now is games and info on optimization upgrades, and that info is coming in May. But that isn't enough. Starting on May 7 with the big new next-gen gameplay reveal, Microsoft will host Xbox events every month through the remainder of 2020. Microsoft says that "every month will bring something different," so expect info on services to be sandwiched between big announcements. That means events for the next eight months.