Apple to reportedly invest $100M in struggling supplier Japan Display
By Mikey Campbell Wednesday, June 26, 2019, 06:15 pm PT (09:15 pm ET)
Apple has agreed to invest $100 million in Japan Display Inc., better known as JDI, as the struggling LCD manufacturer continues efforts to restructure its business in a bid to stay afloat, according to a local report Thursday.
Apple’s iPhone XR is expected to be one of the last to use LCD screen technology.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Asahi Shimbun reports Apple intends to increase aid to JDI through Chinese investment company Harvest Group which, along with Hong Kong fund Oasis Management, is negotiating a 58.2 billion yen (about $540 million) infusion into the Japanese display maker.
Apple initially planned to throw in with TPK Holding, a Taiwan-based electronics supplier that was part of a consortium negotiating a bailout of the embattled screen maker. TPK opted to walk away earlier in June, taking with it a planned $230 million contribution.
Apple’s $100 million sum is much lower than JDI’s original request of $185 million, which came with contingencies for waiving money owed and guaranteeing LCD orders. At the time, a Wall Street Journal source claimed Apple was willing to consider JDI’s ask, but warned the tech giant might not be willing to pay the full amount.
“We are not sure yet if we would really need to tap Apple to chip in, and the amount could be lower…, but they are at least showing willingness,” the person said. “You’d be surprised to see how supportive Apple is to us.”
Whether Apple is also considering to waive JDI’s debt as part of the continuing bailout talks is unknown.
A major Apple supplier, JDI has furnished LCD displays for iPhone for years. In a crucial misstep, however, the Japanese company continued to invest heavily in LCD technology while largely ignoring a wider industry trend toward OLED panels.
Apple, which accounts for some 60% of JDI’s sales, launched its first OLED handset with iPhone X in 2017, and last year debuted two OLED smartphones in iPhone XS and XS Max. The company is expected to field an all-OLED iPhone lineup in 2020.
JDI is working to build out its OLED production capabilities and is reportedly slated to supply a portion of OLED panels for a next-generation Apple Watch. While steps are being taken to reduce risk, including a split of JDI’s LCD business, the Japanese firm faces an uphill battle in a competitive field dominated by Korean companies like Samsung and LG Display.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 And Link’s Awakening Nominated For ‘Best Console Game’ Of E3
Now that E3 2019 has wrapped up, 64 judging publications for the Game Critics Awards have selected this year’s ‘best of E3’ nominees. The winners will be announced on 27th June.
First party Nintendo titles are featured across multiple categories. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is up for best console game, best action/adventure and best family/social game. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is also nominated for best console game and best action/adventure.
BEST OF SHOW Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox) Doom Eternal (id/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox) Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix/Square Enix for PS4) Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox) The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division for PC, PS4, Xbox) Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox)
BEST ORIGINAL GAME 12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna for PC, Xbox) Bleeding Edge (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios for PC, Xbox) Control (Remedy/505 Games for PC, PS4, Xbox) John Wick Hex (Bithell Games/Good Shepherd for Mac, PC) The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division for PC, PS4, Xbox)
BEST CONSOLE GAME Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix/Square Enix for PS4) Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo for Switch) The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo EPD/Nintendo for Switch) Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA for PS4, Xbox) Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft for PS4, Xbox)
BEST PC GAME Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox) Control (Remedy/505 Games for PC, PS4, Xbox) Doom Eternal (id/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox) The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division for PC, PS4, Xbox) Wolfenstein: Youngblood (MachineGames/Arkane/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox)
BEST VR/AR GAME Asgard’s Wrath (Sanzaru/Oculus Studios for PC) Lone Echo II (Ready at Dawn/Oculus Studios for PC) Minecraft Earth (Mojang/Xbox Game Studios for Android, iOS) Phantom: Covert Ops (nDreams/Oculus Studios for Oculus Quest, PC) Sniper Elite VR (Just Add Water/Rebellion for PC, PS4)
BEST HARDWARE/PERIPHERAL Sega Genesis Mini (Sega) Smach Z (Smach) Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 (Microsoft)
BEST ACTION GAME Borderlands 3 (Gearbox/2K for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox) Call of Duty Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox) Doom Eternal (id/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox) Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios for PC, Xbox) Wolfenstein: Youngblood (MachineGames/Arkane/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, Xbox)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE GAME Control (Remedy/505 Games for PC, PS4, Xbox) Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo for Switch) Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Respawn/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox) The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Grezzo/Nintendo EPD/Nintendo for Switch) Watch Dogs: Legion (Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox)
BEST ROLE PLAYING GAME Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (CyberConnect2/Bandai Namco for PC, PS4, Xbox) Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix/Square Enix for PS4) Monster Hunter: World Iceborne (Capcom for PC, PS4, Xbox) Pokemon Sword and Shield (Game Freak/The Pokemon Co. for Switch) The Outer Worlds (Obsidian/Private Division for PC, PS4, Xbox)
BEST RACING GAME Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Beenox/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox) F1 2019 (Codemasters for PC, PS4, Xbox) Forza Horizon 4: LEGO Speed Champions (Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios for PC, Xbox) GRID (Codemasters for PC, PS4, Xbox)
BEST SPORTS GAME EFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (Konami for PS4, Xbox) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Sega for Switch) Madden NFL 20 (EA Tiburon/EA for PC, PS4, Xbox) Roller Champions (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC)
BEST STRATEGY GAME Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Wicked Witch/Forgotten Empires/Tantalus/Xbox Game Studios for PC) Desperados III (Mimimi Games/THQN for PC, PS4, Xbox) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo for Switch) John Wick Hex (Bithell Games/Good Shepherd for Mac, PC) Phoenix Point (Snapshot Games for Mac, PC, Xbox)
BEST FAMILY/SOCIAL GAME Fall Guys (Mediatonic/Devolver for PC, PS4) Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo for Switch) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Sega for Switch) Minecraft Dungeons (Mojang/Xbox Game Studios for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox) Pokemon Sword and Shield (Game Freak/The Pokemon Co. for Switch)
BEST ONLINE MULTIPLAYER Bleeding Edge (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios for PC, Xbox) Call of Duty Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision for PC, PS4, Xbox) Gears 5 (The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios for PC, Xbox) Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox) Wolfenstein: Youngblood (MachineGames/Arkane/Bethesda for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch Xbox)
BEST INDEPENDENT GAME 12 Minutes (Luis Antonio/Annapurna for PC, Xbox) Carrion (Phobia Game Studio/Devolver for Linux, Mac, PC) FALL GUYS (Mediatonic/Devolver for PC, PS4) John Wick Hex (Bithell Games/Good Shepherd for Mac, PC) Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo/Annapurna for Switch)
BEST ONGOING GAME Destiny 2 (Bungie for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix for Mac, PC, PS4) Fortnite (Epic for Android, iOS, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox) Monster Hunter: World (Capcom for PC, PS4, Xbox) Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox)
If you’re wondering why certain titles such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons didn’t get nominated, here’s the reason:
To be eligible for nomination, games must be “hands-on playable” to voting publications for at least 5 minutes of gameplay at E3 2019.
Due to this rule, the following projects were ineligible for nomination by the jury: Cyberpunk 2077 (CD PROJEKT RED), Dying Light 2 (Techland), Marvel’s Avengers (Square Enix), Ghostwire: Tokyo (Bethesda), Deathloop (Bethesda), Elden Ring (Bandai Namco), Halo Infinite (Xbox), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo), FIFA 20 (EA), Sea of Solitude (EA), The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo), Gods & Monsters (Ubisoft), Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Quarantine (Ubisoft), LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (WBIE), Tales of Arise (Bandai Namco), Google Stadia, Outriders (Square Enix).
What are your thoughts about these nominated games? Do you expect Nintendo win any of these categories? Tell us below.
To promote the arrival of Toy Story 4 in cinemas, Disney has teamed up with Mojang to release a special Toy Story themed mash-up pack in Minecraft. Here are the details from the Minecraft blog:
Woody, Bo Peep, Buzz Lightyear, and some of the other charismatic characters you know and love have taken a detour to the world of Minecraft! All-new characters from Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 4, Duke Caboom and Ducky & Bunny are also joining the adventure!
In addition to playing as all of these characters, you’ll be able to explore Andy’s bedroom, Sid’s bedroom and various other Toy Story-themed locations:
Explore some of the places you love (Andy’s bedroom!) and maybe are a little afraid of (I still have nightmares about Sid’s bedroom), from the teeny perspective of the toys. Yes, you are indeed tiny, which means you’ll have to climb, jump, and solve puzzles to find your way through an enormous, yet familiar world!
Is this a mash-up pack you’ll be purchasing for Minecraft? Leave a comment below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-27-2019, 12:29 AM - Forum: Windows
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Azure premium files now generally available
Highly performant, fully managed file service in the cloud!
Today, we are excited to announce the general availability of Azure premium files for customers optimizing their cloud-based file shares on Azure. Premium files offers a higher level of performance built on solid-state drives (SSD) for fully managed file services in Azure.
Premium tier is optimized to deliver consistent performance for IO-intensive workloads that require high-throughput and low latency. Premium file shares store data on the latest SSDs, making them suitable for a wide variety of workloads like databases, persistent volumes for containers, home directories, content and collaboration repositories, media and analytics, high variable and batch workloads, and enterprise applications that are performance sensitive. Our existing standard tier continues to provide reliable performance at a low cost for workloads less sensitive to performance variability, and is well-suited for general purpose file storage, development/test, backups, and applications that do not require low latency.
Through our initial introduction and preview journey, we’ve heard from hundreds of our customers from different industries about their unique experiences. They’ve shared their learnings and success stories with us and have helped make premium file shares even better.
“Working with clients that have large amounts of data that is under FDA or HIPAA regulations, we always struggled in locating a good cloud storage solution that provided SMB access and high bandwidth… until Azure Files premium tier. When it comes to a secure cloud-based storage that offers high upload and download speeds for cloud and on-premises VM clients, Azure premium files definitely stands out.”
– Christian Manasseh, Chief Executive Officer, Mobius Logic
“The speeds are excellent. The I/O intensive actuarial CloudMaster software tasks ran more than 10 times faster in the Azure Batch solution using Azure Files premium tier. Our application has been run by our clients using 1000’s of cores and the Azure premium files has greatly decreased our run times.”
– Scott Bright, Manager Client Data Services, PolySystems
With premium tier, performance is what you define. Premium file shares’ performance can instantly scale up and down to fit your workload performance characteristics. Premium file shares can massively scale up to 100 TiB capacity and 100K IOPS with a target total throughput of 10 GiB/s. Not only do premium shares include the ability to dynamically tune performance, but also offer bursting capability to meet highly variable workload requirements with short peak periods of intense IOPS.
“We recently migrated our retail POS microservices to Azure Kubernetes Service with premium files. Our experience has been simply amazing – premium files permitted us to securely deploy our 1.2K performant Firebird databases. No problem with size or performance, just adapt the size of the premium file share to instantly scale. It improved our business agility, much needed to serve our rapidly growing customer base across multiple retail chains in France.”
– Arnaud Le Roy, Chief Technology Officer, Menlog
We partnered with our internal Azure SQL and Microsoft Power BI teams to build solutions on premium files. As a result, Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure Database for MySQL recently opened a preview of increased scale of 16 TiB databases with 20,000 IOPS powered by premium files. Microsoft Power BI announced a powerful 20 times faster enhanced dataflows compute engine preview built upon Azure Files premium tier.
Global availability with predictable cost
Azure Files premium tier is currently available in 19 Azure regions globally. We are continually expanding regional coverage. You can check the Azure region availability page for the latest information.
Premium tier provides the most cost-effective way to create highly-performant and highly-available file shares in Azure. Pricing is simple and cost is predictable–you only pay a single price per provisioned GiB. Refer to the pricing page for additional details.
Seamless Azure experience
Customers receive all features of Azure Files in this new offering, including snapshot/restore, Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Backup integration, monitoring, hybrid support via Azure File Sync, Azure portal, PowerShell/CLI/Cloud Shell, AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer support, and the list goes on. Developers can leverage their existing code and skills to migrate applications using familiar Azure Storage client libraries or Azure Files REST APIs. The opportunities for future integration are limitless. Reach out to us if you would like to see more.
With the availability of premium tier, we’re also enhancing the standard tier. To learn more, visit the onboarding instructions for the standard files 100 TiB preview.
Get started and share your experiences
It is simple and takes two minutes to get started with premium file shares. Please see detailed steps for how to create a premium file share.
Minecraft Adds Toy Story DLC, Including Skin Of Keanu Reeves' Character
The latest mashup pack for Minecraft is out now, and it brings Toy Story to the popular sandbox game.
The Toy Story Mash-Up pack adds a number of character skins from the Pixar franchise, including classics like Woody, Buzz, and Bo Peep, as well as new ones from Toy Story 4 such as Keanu Reeves' Duke Caboom and Ducky & Bunny.
Some of the new locations in the Toy Story Mash-Up Pack include Andy's bright and colorful bedroom and Sid's spooky bedroom of horrors. Everything is scaled down to be seen from the perspective of a toy. That puts a new spin on Minecraft as you'll need to jump and climb around.
The Toy Story Mash-Up Pack is available now on Xbox and PC for $8 USD. Click through the images in the gallery above to get a closer look at the new character skins.
Toy Story is just the latest mega-franchise to come to Minecraft with a Mash-Up Pack. Some of the other notable ones include The Simpsons, Pirates of the Caribbean, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Minecraft remains immensely popular, and Microsoft continues to expand the franchise with new extensions. While Minecraft 2 may not be happening, a new game called Minecraft Dungeons is on the way. Additionally, a Pokemon Go-style AR game called Minecraft Earth is in development as well.
If you haven’t been to see Pokémon Detective Pikachu in-cinema yet, you might want to hold out for the digital release arriving next month, on 23rd July. Following this is the release of the Blu-ray version, on 6th August. Here’s the official announcement from the Detective Pikachu Twitter account:
It’s twisty. It’s electrifying. It’s #DetectivePikachu. Available on Digital 7/23 & Blu-ray™ 8/6!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-26-2019, 11:59 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Steam Summer Sale 2019 Kicks Off With A New Way To Earn Free Games
The moment PC gamers have been waiting for is finally here--Steam's 2019 Summer Sale is live with thousands of deals on games across every genre. The sale will run now through July 9, so you have about two weeks to claim anything that catches your eye.
This year, the theme is Grand Prix, and players can earn various rewards and even free games on their wishlist by participating in a new, competitive mini-game. To get started, Steam will ask you to pick a team, with the choices being Hare, Corgi, Cockatiel, Pig, and Tortoise. Choose wisely (but Corgi is obviously the right choice here). You'll be able to track each team's rankings on the Grand Prix page.
During the sale, you'll have a Boost Meter that enables you to earn points, and every day you participate, you'll increase your Boost Meter's capacity by 100. You'll also boost your capacity by 100 for every $1 you spend in the sale. To earn points, you'll have to complete various Grand Prix Quests in your Steam games, with each point you earn pushing you closer toward your next Boost. Boosting increases your team's speed in the race, and every day throughout the Grand Prix, random members of the first, second, and third-place teams will get the top item on their Steam wishlist for free (so update that wishlist now if you plan to participate). You'll also earn Grand Prix tokens as you earn points, which can be redeemed for various freebies at the Pit Stop, including chat emoticons, profile backgrounds, and more. And because this is a competition, you can also earn and coordinate attacks to decrease other teams' Boost levels.
See some of our picks from Steam's Summer Sale below, and of course, you can browse the full offering of deals at the Steam Store.
428: Shibuya Scramble -- $15
Ark: Survival Evolved -- $17.49
Assassin's Creed Odyssey -- $30
Astroneer -- $22.49
Baba is You -- $10.49
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe -- $12
BlazBlue: CrossTag Battle -- $22.49
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon -- $6
Civilization VI -- $15
Danganronpa 1/2/V3 bundle -- $32.97
Darkest Dungeon -- $7.49
Dead Cells -- $16.74
Devil May Cry 5 -- $39.59
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition -- $27
Enter the Gungeon -- $7.49
Hollow Knight -- $9
Katamari Damacy Reroll -- $18
Left 4 Dead bundle -- $2.23
Night in the Woods -- $12
Nioh -- $20
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire -- $25
Prey -- $15
Return of the Obra Dinn -- $18
Scythe - Digital Edition -- $8
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice -- $48
Shadow of the Tomb Raider -- $24
Slay the Spire -- $12.49
Slime Rancher -- $10
Sonic Mania -- $6.79
SoulCalibur VI -- $19.79
Stardew Valley -- $12
Star Wars: Complete Collection -- $83.02
Two Point Hospital -- $17.49
Undertale -- $4
Valkyria Chronicles 4 -- $20.39
XCOM 2 -- $15
Yakuza 0 -- $10
Zero Escape Trilogy -- $22.38
Steam's Summer Sale is just the beginning of a long summer of deals. You can also save on thousands of PC games at Fanatical right now as part of its Red Hot summer sale (many of them redeem on Steam, so you can compare prices). Amazon Prime Day 2019 is quickly approaching as well, as the digital store finally just announced its annual sitewide sale will run July 15 and 16. Check back with GameSpot and follow us on Twitter for all the latest info.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-26-2019, 11:59 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Sea of Thieves is the game it is today because of Game Pass, says Xbox head
“As [Xbox] Game Pass continues to grow, it’s been an interesting way to watch our whole dynamic of, ‘What does it mean to engage customers with that game?’”
– Xbox’s Phil Spencer tells Kotaku that Sea of Thieves would be an entirely different game without Game Pass and that shifting dynamic.
Sea of Thieves is a very different game from when it first launched last year, and Xbox head Phil Spencer counts that gradual evolution as an example of how Xbox Game Pass is changing the way Xbox defines player engagement, and how community feedback plays into its development process.
In one segment of a multi-part interview with Kotaku, Spencer explained how releasing Sea of Thieves when and how they did, and having it be one of the first games to hit Xbox Game Pass on day one, made it a wildly different game than if development had continued another year without community feedback.
“At launch, and I read all the same feedback everybody else did, was: ‘Where’s the other half of the game?’ But I would also say it’s a game where what it is today wouldn’t be what it is if we had just waited another year and kept it to ourselves,” says Spencer. “It is a game that was literally created with the feedback of the community, and how you manage that through the traditional lens of how people think about what a game launch means is interesting for all of us.”
