Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-17-2019, 02:56 AM - Forum: Lounge
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No Borderlands 3 Cross-Play At Launch, But Gearbox Is "Committed" To It
Borderlands 3 will not have cross-play support at launch in September across any of its platforms: PS4, Xbox One, and PC. However, the feature could be added at some point after release, as Gearbox is "committed" to making it happen, according to Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford, who set out to temper expectations for a teaser of something to come on July 16.
His statement came after Gearbox released a teaser inviting players to a "celebration of togetherness." Some people saw this as a reference to cross-play, but that's not the case. The teaser was for something else; whatever it is, it'll be revealed on July 16 at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET. [Update: The time has arrived, and it's turned out to be a new Borderlands 3 trailer in which the game's various playable Vault Hunters all dance around, albeit with the sort of Borderlands-y twist you might expect. Beyond that, there was no news regarding the game, despite the initial expectations given the teaser.]
"Some folks may be speculating that this thing tomorrow may be about cross-play," Pitchford said. "Tomorrow's thing is awesome, but *not* about cross-play. But, Good News: We are committed to supporting cross-play for Borderlands 3 with our partners as soon as practicable after launch. #talklater"
Pitchford went on to confirm outright that Borderlands 3 has no cross-play at launch, though conversations are ongoing about making this a reality. "To be clear, there will not be any cross-play functionality in Borderlands 3 at launch as we work closely with our partners to create a positive cross-play experience as soon as practicable," he said. "We are committed to cross-play on as many platforms as possible."
According to Pitchford, Borderlands 3 publisher 2K Games makes all the decisions about "platform partnerships," and this would presumably include cross-play. "Myself and the team at Gearbox have a very keen interest in cross-platform play," Pitchford said back in April.
Borderlands 3 has four-player co-op support, so it appears cross-play functionality would be for this. However, nothing is confirmed at this stage.
Borderlands 3 launches on September 13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, while the game is also coming to Google Stadia.
Guide: Where To Pre-order PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mini
Following the shock news that Konami are planning to release a PC Engine Mini console (TurboGrafx-16 for our US readers) we have been eagerly waiting to slam down a pre-order as we’re sure that these will sell out quicker than the original NES Mini due to limited supply at launch.
Amazon UK is now listing the pre-order for the PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini priced at £99.99 and it is currently set to ship on 19th March 2020. That’s lovely, but don’t fret if you’re jealous of the more attractive PC Engine version – that can also be pre-ordered, provided you can get your head around how to place an order on Amazon Japan. And if that wasn’t enough, the US TurboGrafx-16 Mini can also be pre-ordered from Amazon US also for $99.99.
Which of the three shall we choose? The correct answer is, of course, all of the above, although our bank balance is still reeling after getting hit by the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini. That mini PC Engine is calling us, though, despite not being much smaller than the original console.
If Amazon Japan is proving tough to navigate, we’ve also added Play Asia links, although these are not fully active at the time of writing. Be sure to check back to catch them once they’re up and running.
Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale which helps support the site. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Let us know if you plan to pick up one of these lovely retro delights with a comment below.
Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love is a satirical point-and-click inspired by the classic adventure games. It smuggles you out of your comfort zone and throws you into the middle of a Cold War spy intrigue ? where there?s an even bigger game being played?
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-17-2019, 01:30 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Gears 5 to drop depictions of smoking after urging from Truth Initiative
Gears 5’s rootin-tootin chainsaw-gun-wielding COG soldiers won’t be blowing any smoke when the game launches later this year. That’s because Microsoft-owned developer The Coalition has announced the development team is working to remove all depictions of tobacco use and smoking after urging from Turner and anti-smoking advocacy group Truth Initiative.
The cause-and-effect of this decision is actually rather notable, as The Truth Initiative began this push by approaching Turner, who has exclusive rights to broadcast Gears 5 esports events through the ELeague sports division. According to Variety, Turner then worked with The Coalition and Microsoft to ensure Gears 5 would be the first Gears of War game where characters didn’t use cigars or cigarettes.
Senior VP of Turner Sports Sales pointed out to Variety that while it may seem hypocritical to keep Gears’ intense violence while removing smoking, there’s a large amount of research indicating a correlation between depictions of tobacco use in media and use among smoking in young people (who are the target audience for Turner’s ELeague). The link between game violence and real-world violence is a far fuzzier correlation.
Gears of War development veteran and studio head of The Coalition offered a particularly interesting perspective on what Truth Initiative’s ask meant for the Gears of War 5 team. “I’ve seen firsthand the devastating impact of smoking.”
“It’s always been important for me to not use smoking as a narrative device, which is why we made the conscious choice to avoid highlighting or glorifying smoking in ‘Gears 5’ and throughout the Gears of War Universe moving forward.”
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-17-2019, 01:30 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Video Game Deep Cuts: Switch Lite-s Up, 2019’s Best Games So Far
The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from video game industry ‘watcher’ Simon Carless (GDC, Gamasutra co-runner), rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend.
This week’s roundup includes a look at the Switch Lite announcement and Valve’s experimental discovery mechanisms, as well as some picks on 2019’s best games so far, indie pinball innovation, Dragon Quest Builders 2, and a bunch more besides.
Nintendo’s Switch Lite doesn’t have to switch to be a success(Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge – ARTICLE) “In the wake of the Switch Lite’s announcement, there’s been a lot of debate over whether the Switch’s idealism toward play-anywhere multiplayer failed or if people just weren’t using it with their TVs. But unless Nintendo decides to clarify the issue, that’s not the problem the Switch Lite is meant to solve.”
How developers build the tutorials you skip(Xalavier Nelson Jr. / PC Gamer – ARTICLE) “It’s a common piece of knowledge in development circles that no matter how important it is, many players will avoid or miss pieces of your tutorial. They clearly need to know how to play the game—how do you move past their natural reluctance with as much success as possible?”
The Benevolent God-King of Traffic Exists and Here He Is Fixing Virtual Gridlock on YouTube(Michael Ballaban / Jalopnik – ARTICLE) “America’s infrastructure is broken. Part of that is because we refuse to maintain it, but a large part is because it wasn’t designed correctly to begin with… But what if we could experiment with it, and improve it, on the fly? Just look at what this one guy does in Cities: Skylines to see what I’m talking about.”
Warframe developer on avoiding crunch: “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon”(Emma Kent / Eurogamer – ARTICLE) “At this year’s TennoCon, I sat down with Digital Extremes chief operating officer Sheldon Carter to discuss the ongoing development of Warframe’s Empyrean expansion (and all its newly-revealed features), along with topics such as how the studio is avoiding crunch, Digital Extremes’ future plans, and whether there will ever be a Warframe 2. [SIMON’S NOTE: you should pay more attention to this game – these self-contained fandoms are the future for GaaS (Games as a Service).]”
Hours Played 12:56pm – 3:10pm(Duncan Robson / YouTube – VIDEO) “This is a proof of concept for a planned 24 hour video game supercut in which every piece of footage contains a clock, watch or has someone saying the the time. These are arranged so that if you play it in sync with the real time it also functions as a clock. [SIMON’S NOTE: I’m a buddy of Duncan’s, but independently of that bias – this is greeeat, please spread the word about it!]”
The deeproot Tour: Whitewood Wonderland and the Cart Before the Horse(This Week In Pinball – ARTICLE) “Recently I was in Austin, Texas, not far from deeproot headquarters in San Antonio. I asked Robert Mueller, the man behind deeproot Pinball, if it would be alright if I came by for a tour of the deeproot facilities to see how things were going there, and he graciously obliged. [SIMON’S NOTE: deeproot is a well-funded dark horse in new-school pinball design with bold claims to ‘reinvent everything’ – and I have no idea whether they will!]”
My Friend Pedro’s journey from Flash cult hit to indie success(Cian Maher / Gamasutra – ARTICLE) “Developed by one-man studio DeadToast, this Matrix-esque amalgamation of bullets and bedlam quickly cemented itself as a cult classic, but was unfortunately lost in the bygone era of browser games. Recently, however, My Friend Pedro received a massive overhaul, to the extent that an entirely new set of systems and mechanics were assimilated into its makeup.”
A Guide To Auto Chess, 2019’s Most Popular New Game Genre(Nathan Grayson / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “Over the weekend, Dota Underlords lured 200,000 concurrent players onto its checkered battlefield of swords, sorcery, and slot machines. Meanwhile, Riot’s Teamfight Tactics continued to duel with Fortnite for the Twitch throne. Also, I played Dota Underlords like it was my dang job. If it feels like these Auto Chess games have taken over the world overnight, that’s because they kinda have.”
The best games of 2019 so far(RPS Hivemind / RockPaperShotgun – ARTICLE) “Just look how many videogames have escaped from their developers in the past six months and are now running amok through the blistering streets, getting stuck in the melting tarmac, like ants in jam. It’s unsanitary. So allow us to round up these unruly games and trap them in a handy list.”
Behind the Scenes with the Games Media at E3 2019(Noclip / YouTube – VIDEO) “Noclip investigates the evolution of E3. With behind the scenes interviews from CD Project, Twitch, IGN, Vice Games, Rebb Ford, Tim Schafer, Ben Pack, SkillUp and many others, we look at how the conference has changed over the past 25 years in response to the changing face of games coverage.”
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge becomes a live-in video game with the Disney Parks app(Todd Martens / LA Times – ARTICLE) “Nestled inside the 1-year-old Play Disney Parks mobile app is an exploration-encouraging experience called the Star Wars Datapad. Largely a home to mini-puzzles and short quests that can only be activated while inside Disneyland’s recently opened 14-acre area, the Datapad not only fleshes out the Galaxy’s Edge back story but also contains an ongoing game for control of the land itself.”
What Works (And What Doesn’t) In Apex Legends’ Second Season(Javy Gwaltney / Game Informer – ARTICLE) “After spending several hours with Apex’s new additions, I’ve discovered that the new season does a lot to add enticements to keep the playerbase busy, but maybe not enough to chart a clear path forward to the amazing service game that Apex Legends could be. Here’s what works and what doesn’t work about Apex’s newest season.”
Who Shot Guybrush Threepwood? | Genre and the Adventure Game(Innuendo Studios / YouTube – VIDEO) “We’re talking about adventure games again! Or, more accurately, we speaking in the context of adventure games about why some genres are hard to define, different ways of thinking about genre, and what genre is even for. [SIMON’S NOTE: there’s a transcript too.]”
Pirate our games, don’t buy them from key resellers, say indies(Leo Kelion / BBC – ARTICLE) “Small video games studios are asking the public to stop buying their titles from “unauthorised” markets, saying the sales cost them more than they earn. Several have said it would even be better if consumers pirated their games rather than purchased discounted unlock codes from the “key resellers”.”
Spawnpoint: Nolan North and Troy Baker(Keza MacDonald / Spawnpoint / ACast – PODCAST) “Keza MacDonald presents a video game podcast for tired people. Interviews with players, developers and creators on how parenting and gaming co-exist, plus discussion and opinion on games from a time-pressed perspective.”
Top 10 Most-Watched Twitch Content, First Half 2019(Max Miceli / eSportsObserver – ARTICLE) “League of Legends is on pace to break 1B hours watched as Fortnite sees a decline in viewership for the first half of the year. Meanwhile, Just Chatting’s emergence has generated notable growth for non-game-related content compared to its predecessor, the “IRL” category.”
‘Dragon Quest Builders 2’ Is a Giant To-Do List, and I Love It(Cameron Kunzelman / VICE – ARTICLE) “Dragon Quest Builders 2 is cute. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is simple. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the game that I’ve been playing until 1 AM all week, completing “just one more task” before bed. If this is a measure of whether or not a game is good, then the game is excellent. [SIMON’S NOTE: there’s also a very entertaining Tim Rogers video about this very game.]”
Steam’s new Interactive Recommender is built for finding ‘hidden gems’(Adi Robertson / The Verge – ARTICLE) “Valve is launching a new “Interactive Recommender” that generates personalized lists of Steam games users might like based on what they’ve played before. It’s not replacing the platform’s existing recommendation systems, but it’s supposed to give users another way to navigate Steam’s massive backlog of games — especially smaller titles that often get lost in the mix.”
It’s Becoming Impossible To Keep Up With More Than A Couple “Forever” Games(Caty McCarthy / USGamer – ARTICLE) “The question that comes up the most when I meet others in the games industry is, how do I keep up? The answer is simple: I don’t. No one does, and no one can. There’s always the new thing. It’s an endless Las Vegas buffet of crab legs. I used to try though, until I realized it’s healthier to accept that there’s only so much I can play.”
Peter Jackson’s King Kong was the most innovative game of its console generation(Xalavier Nelson Jr. / Polygon – ARTICLE) “King Kong’s combination of cinematic stylings, rudimentary but working ecosystems, improvisational combat, a minimal HUD that forces information to be shared through more clever means than numbers on a screen, muddy textures striving for realism, and focus on player freedom within tightly-scripted encounters, functions as a prophetic statement of intent for the generation that would come.”
Double Fine’s Psychonautical E3 2019(Double Fine / YouTube – VIDEO) “It’s been a couple of weeks since we returned from E3, but only now do we feel recovered; rejuvenated by a long weekend of BBQs and fireworks. It was one hell-of-a show though, possibly our busiest ever, and certainly the first time we ever had our own booth on the showfloor, which made it all the more exciting! [SIMON’S NOTE: great documentary work behind the scenes here – Dean Hall’s Rocketwerkz is also getting into the dev video game.]”
This Year’s Steam Summer Sale Was A Mess, Game Developers Say(Nathan Grayson / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “Two weeks ago, Valve apologized and altered the sale’s meta game… after players found it unbalanced and confusing, and developers suffered a bloodbath of sudden wishlist deletions. Now, with the sale winding down, it seems that Valve’s efforts weren’t enough to undo the damage the confusing sale structure did to indie developers. [SIMON’S NOTE: the above misunderstanding didn’t help wishlists, but I think most of the indie issues are around the fact that Valve tends to boost games that already sell well, making them sell… even better. But this probably DOES maximize total store revenue. It’s just not that small/medium indie friendly.]”
The calm chaos of Samurai Shodown(Patrick Miller / Medium – ARTICLE) “To me, the Samurai Shodown series has stood out as a remarkable example of fighting game design because when people play it, they routinely recreate moments that look like they were ripped out of a classic samurai drama, not because they’re landing elaborately animated cutscene supers, but because the game’s core combat rules are designed in ways that make fights feel like cinematic samurai duels.”
The Lost Soundtrack of SimCity NES(8-Bit Music Theory / YouTube – VIDEO) “One of my favourite things about transcribing and analyzing music is trying to get inside the composer’s head and figure out what he or she was thinking. SimCity’s soundtrack for the SNES gives a perfect opportunity to do just that, due to an unearthed completed soundtrack for an NES version of the game that never saw official release. [SIMON’S NOTE: just discovered this whole YT channel, which is GREAT game music analysis.]”
Facebook AI Pluribus defeats top poker professionals in 6-player Texas Hold ’em(Jennifer Ouellette / Ars Technica – ARTICLE) “Playing more than 5,000 hands each time, five copies of the AI took on two top professional players: Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, six-time winner of World Series of Poker events, and Darren Elias, who currently holds the record for most World Poker Tour titles. Pluribus defeated them both. It did the same in a second experiment, in which Pluribus played five pros at a time, from a pool of 13 human players, for 10,000 hands.”
Working group of game companies announces plan to tackle crunch and workplace stress(Colin Campbell / Polygon – ARTICLE) “Take This, a not-for-profit dedicated to addressing mental health problems in the game industry, today announced a working group made up of five games companies: Big Huge Games, Bungie, Certain Affinity, Wooga and Zenimax. Human resources leaders from the companies will work with Take This on addressing the game industry’s excesses.”
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[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at tinyletter.com/vgdeepcuts – we crosspost to Gamasutra later, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra & an advisor to indie publisher No More Robots, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Pre-order NBA 2K20 Today on Xbox One The next iteration of the top-rated NBA video game simulation series of the past 18 years returns with NBA 2K20. NBA 2K has evolved into much more than a basketball simulation, redefining what’s possible in sports gaming with best in class graphics and gameplay… Read more
Psychological Investigative Thriller Dry Drowning to Hit Xbox One in 2020 A new game from a brand new publisher, pushing new boundaries with an old genre, and finding home on an especially well established platform: It’s no exaggeration to say it’s a genuine honour for us here at Studio V – the aforementioned fresh-faced publisher in your midst… Read more
New Games with Gold for July 2019 Welcome to another Games with Gold reveal for Xbox One and Xbox 360! In July on Xbox One, survive against all manner of threats in the mysterious Inside and then enjoy frenzied action against friends in Big Crown: Showdown. On Xbox 360… Read more
Find out the Latest on Battlefield V from EA Play Did you miss all the big Battlefield V announcements unveiled at EA Play? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered in this recap. Find out all about Chapter 4: Defying the Odds and get a sneak peek of Chapter 5 and the front coming later this year – the war in the Pacific… Read more
Free Play Days – Grip: Combat Racing We’ve just launched our Grip Summer of Combat campaign and could think of no better way to celebrate than teaming up with Xbox for a Free Play Days event! The Free Play Days event begins Thursday, July 4 at 12:01 a.m. PDT and runs through… Read more
E3 2019: Watch Dogs: Legion Lets You Play an Entire City London has gone to hell in Watch Dogs: Legion. An authoritarian organization called Albion has taken over the city, populating it with private soldiers, filling the sky with militarized observation drones, and controlling the population through data and fear… Read more
Showdown at Fort Truth in Rainbow Six Siege on Xbox One Rainbow Six Siege is heading out west for Showdown, a special limited-time event on Xbox One. Available now until July 16, Showdown introduces a new 3v3 mode that pits the attacking team, The Law, against the defending team, The Graveltop Gang… Read more
Burn Rubber and Shred Metal in Wreckfest, Coming Soon to Xbox One Whether you’re sitting atop your lawn mower or behind the wheel of a hopped-up muscle car, it’s almost time to get racin’ in Wreckfest! The team at Bugbear sets Wreckfest apart with our true-to-life physics that allow you to not only feel the damage during competition… Read more
Prepare to Rise and Survive in Code Vein on Xbox One Experience the power of blood and dive into the destructive world of Code Vein on Xbox One. With stunningly dark anime visuals and a connected dungeon experience, we’re excited to announce that Code Vein is now available for digital pre-order. In Code Vein… Read more
Welcome to Shadow Fencer Theatre, Available Now on Xbox One “Hey, you look like you’re into puppets!” This is our icebreaker of choice when showing our game Shadow Fencer Theatre at conventions. The typical responses are along the lines of “What a weird thing to say” or “What about my face says that?” or just straight up… Read more
Riverbond Brings Co-op Craziness to Xbox Game Pass Ahoy, friends! We’re proud to announce that Riverbond, a voxel shoot-and-slash dungeon crawler is available now on Xbox One and with Xbox Game Pass for Console and Xbox Game Pass for PC. We invite you and your friends to explore the eight hand-crafted worlds… Read more
Gears 5 Versus Multiplayer Tech Test Kicks off on July 17 At E3, we unveiled a brand new way to fight the Swarm in Gears 5: Escape. We wanted to show how we’re pushing the envelope by doing new things never seen in a Gears game before, and that throughout the summer, we’ll reveal more about Gears 5… Read more
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for July 10 to 12 Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One… Read more
Now Available on Steam Early Access – Killsquad, 20% off!
Killsquad is Now Available on Steam Early Access and is 20% off!*
Unleash hell on a coop A-RPG where bounty hunters raid planets for glory. Choose your quest on the Online Contract System. Unlock skills mid-mission to adapt. Wreak havoc with unique weapons. Scavenge materials to boost them. And, if you survive, spend your bounty on gear to live another day.
The Nintendo Switch typically has a retail price of $300. Right now, on Ebay, there's a brand-new Nintendo Switch selling for $265. Of course, the final price will fluctuate depending on where you live in the US, as each state has different tax policies. Regardless, that's a pretty steep discount, especially considering the rarity that Switch consoles go on sale.
This isn't the first discounted Nintendo Switch to become available on Ebay during Prime Day--the previous deal, which featured the neon red/blue Joy-Con edition, offered the console for $351 and sold out incredibly fast. So don't wait long to grab this deal, as there's no knowing when the Switch will be marked down again. So far, Amazon and other major retailers haven't discounted the console on its own, only offered it in various bundles with different perks. You check out those deals and more in our Prime Day Nintendo Switch roundup.
The aforementioned Switch console discount brings the price of a normal Switch closer to that of a Switch Lite, a completely handheld version of Nintendo's current generation console. The Switch Lite comes in three colors--grey, blue, and yellow--and features an actual D-pad. However, the handheld device is smaller than the traditional Switch, can't be docked, and is unable to play certain Switch game (like Super Mario Party).
We're compiling all of the best deals going on right now, from anime Blu-rays to tabletop games and Funko Pops to PC accessories. If you're in the market for something new, look below to see if you might be able to buy it at a discount.
A new ransomware targeting Linux-based (NAS) devices
A new ransomware family has been found targeting Linux-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices made by Taiwan-based QNAP Systems and holding users’ important data hostage until a ransom is paid. Dubbed “QNAPCrypt” by Intezer and “eCh0raix” by Anomali, the new ransomware is written in the Go programming language and encrypts files with targeted extensions using AES encryption and appends .encrypt extension to each. Source: The Hacker News
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-16-2019, 08:50 PM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
Digital distribution centers — The future is here
The pace of change has never been as fast as it is now. Globally, the population is becoming more urban and income levels are rising. By 2050, nearly 70 percent of the global population will live in cities or urban areas—that’s six billion people. Consumer behavior has also materially changed over the last decade, and omnichannel retail, personalization, and demand for same day deliveries are growing. To cater to the changing landscape, urban distribution centers that stage products closer to users within large cities are on the rise to enable faster delivery and greater customization.
Within the four walls of the distribution center, picking and packing tasks account for more than 50 percent of the total labor cost of warehousing operations. Access to labor has become increasingly challenging, particularly in urban centers, and staffing levels shoot up five to ten-times normal levels during the holiday season. Space constraints and difficulty in staffing are pushing companies to look at adopting distribution center technologies that cut labor costs, optimizes the flow of products, and improves productivity and utilization of these centers.
Since announcing Microsoft’s $5B commitment to developing an industry leading internet of things (IoT) platform last year, we’ve continued to work with our ecosystem partners to build solutions to address such problems. In “Our IoT Vision and Roadmap” session at Microsoft Build, we announced a partnership with Lenovo and NVIDIA, to bring advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to Azure IoT Edge. The demonstrated solution showed Lenovo hardware, a single SE350 Edge Server, running the Azure IoT Edge runtime with NVIDIA DeepStream to process multiple channels of 1080P/30FPS H265 video streams in real-time, transforming cameras into smart sensors that understand their physical environments and use vision algorithms to find missing products on a shelf or detect damaged goods. Such applications of Azure IoT Edge technology enable customers to quickly and cost effectively deploy retail solutions that optimize their logistics operations.
Today, we are excited to announce the next milestone on this journey, the preview of Lenovo’s Digital Distribution Center (DDC) solution. Lenovo’s DDC is an IoT solution developed in collaboration with NVIDIA and Microsoft. Through real-time scalable package detection, tracking, and validation, DDC delivers for better optimization and increased utilization of distribution centers for retail, manufacturing, and logistics operations. The solution uses multi-video stream analytics with artificial intelligence and machine learning inferencing to self-learn, optimize, and scale. Additional releases will include geofencing alerts, palletization, depalletization, and last-mile sorting.
DDC is built with Azure IoT Central, Microsoft’s fully managed IoT app platform that makes it easy to connect, monitor, and manage your IoT devices and products. Azure IoT Central simplifies the initial setup of your IoT solution and reduces the management burden, operational costs, and overhead of a typical IoT project. This allows solution builders to apply their energy and unique domain expertise to solving customer needs and creating business value, rather than needing to tackle the operating, managing, securing, and scaling of a global IoT solution. Partners like Lenovo and NVIDIA add unique value through schemas that are relevant to industry solutions like DDC, including common industry hierarchies that organize people, places, and environments.
Join us for a demo of our solution at the Microsoft partner booth during Microsoft Inspire—July 14-18, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you are interested in joining our preview program about the solution, please contact IoTSolutions@lenovo.com
