Tech
Nintendo and PlayStation will not attend E3 2023
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Nintendo [3,362 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/nintendo/”>Nintendo and PlayStation [6,843 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/playstation/”>PlayStation will not have a presence at this year’s revamped E3 show, according to an IGN report and VGC sources.
E3 2023 will officially run from Tuesday, June 13, until Friday, June 16, according to organiser ReedPop, which has taken over the running of the flagship industry event from the Entertainment Software Association [90 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/entertainment-software-association/”>Entertainment Software Association.
According to VGC’s publishing sources with knowledge of Nintendo’s plans, the company has decided to skip E3 2023 – the event’s first physical show in four years – because it feels it has fewer major releases than usual ready to show and which would justify significant event space.
Nintendo has traditionally been one of E3’s biggest supporters and was present on the show floor at the last physical event in 2019, when PlayStation and Xbox [6,335 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/xbox/”>Xbox were not.
Sony Interactive Entertainment [2,796 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/sony/”>Sony Interactive Entertainment’s absence this year is less surprising since it skipped the last E3 show in 2019 entirely, and announced it wasn’t planning to attend the 2020 event either, before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Forza Motorsport – Developer_Direct, presented by Xbox & Bethesda
Meanwhile, Xbox Game Studios (Microsoft) [2,425 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/microsoft/”>Microsoft will have some form of presence in Los Angeles this year with an already-announced summer showcase. However, according to IGN, the Xbox firm will not have a show floor presence at the Los Angeles Convention Center itself.
VGC’s own sources claimed discussions were ongoing with Microsoft, however, and that it could yet have a business and media presence similar to last year’s Gamescom [195 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/events/gamescom/”>Gamescom, if not a traditional booth.
Microsoft traditionally holds its E3 live event away from the LACC, and in 2019 it didn’t have its booth there either, instead opting for the neighbouring Microsoft theatre. So unlike Sony and Nintendo, there should still be plenty of Xbox news around the event.
Microsoft’s plans are understood to be complicated by the backdrop of recent significant job cuts across the company, in addition to cuts to its marketing budgets which would traditionally cover shows like E3.
Losing all three platform holders would represent a blow to the revamped E3, but sources suggested there should still be a significant presence from major game companies at the event.
New E3 organiser ReedPop told VGC that it had received “a tremendous amount of interest” from many of “the biggest companies in the industry” and that it was confident the line-up would be worth the trip.
“Since ReedPop took on the contract to run E3 six months ago, we’ve worked diligently with ESA members, using their feedback to create a new type of E3 that supports their goals and needs,” a spokesperson said.
“This process takes time and we are working to balance getting it right, and being inclusive, with getting it done quickly. E3 is a deeply significant event for the game industry and being entrusted with an important cultural touchstone is not a responsibility ReedPop takes lightly.
“We continue to work tirelessly to create a show that brings together the global gaming industry. We believe we’ve created a new format for the event that serves the needs of both the industry and its fans, and are committed to building and growing it in the coming years.
“We have received a tremendous amount of interest from many of the biggest companies in the industry, and when we are ready to announce the exhibitors we are confident it will be a lineup that will make the trip to Los Angeles well worth it for the industry and consumers alike.”
When the games industry’s other flagship expo, Gamescom, returned from its pandemic hiatus last August, over 500 companies attended, including 2K Games [383 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/take-two-interactive/2k-games/”>2K, Bandai Namco Entertainment [669 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/bandai-namco-entertainment/”>Bandai Namco, Sega [583 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/sega/”>Sega, Ubisoft [837 articles]” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/ubisoft/”>Ubisoft, Warner Games and Plaion.
VGC has requested comments from Nintendo, Sony and Xbox, and will update this article upon their response.
Details of E3’s revamped 2023 format, which will see separate business and consumer events split between four days in June, were revealed late last year.
Under the revamped format, the first two days of E3 2023 (June 13-14) will be reserved exclusively for business. The third day (June 15) will welcome both business and consumer visitors, while the final day (June 16) will be dedicated to consumers.
As well as running high-profile events in the US and Europe, ReedPop is the owner of Gamer Network, which runs websites such as Eurogamer, GamesIndustry.biz, VG247 and Rock Paper Shotgun, and is the network partner of VGC.
The City of Pointe-Claire presents the candidates for the District 1 – Cedar/Le Village by-election that will take place on April 23.
Lois BUTLER
Claude COUSINEAU
Teodor DAIEV
Linda DE WITT
François GIASSON
Jeremy SEARLE
Your elected municipal officers are essential players, responsible for making decisions in the interest of the population they represent. Anyone on the list of electors for District 1 can vote. It is the voter’s responsibility to ensure that they are registered.
During the month of March, a notice of registration indicating the names of the persons registered on the list of electors at each address was sent by mail. If your name does not appear on this list, you must go to the board of revisors to proceed with your registration. The board of revisors will meet on April 3 and 4 at City Hall (451 Saint-Jean Boulevard).
For more information, visit the 2023 By-elections page of our website.
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Apple iOS 16.4 has been released six weeks after iOS 16.3.1, and it is both feature-packed and full of security fixes. Here’s everything you need to know.
Tip: bookmark this page because I will keep it up-to-date if/when new problems are found. I will deliver my final verdict in a week.
Who Is It For?
Apple iOS 16.4 is available for all iOS 16-compatible devices, which means the iPhone 8/iPhone X and newer. iOS 16 dropped support for the iPhone 6S and 7 ranges and the iPod Touch. Apple has also released a dedicated security update in the form of iOS 15.7.4 to protect older devices.
If you don’t receive an update notification, you can trigger the latest updates manually by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update. If you are running newer beta software (see ‘The Road Ahead’ section at the end), you must unenroll your device before publicly released updates will appear.
Note: this guide is not focused on older iOS updates, iPadOS or macOS, but I will touch upon pertinent issues in these guides.
The Deal Breakers
The first 24 hours after release have been relatively smooth for iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 upgraders. There are no obvious deal breakers, though a number of graphical glitches appear to have made it through to the final release. These include isolated reports of the cellular strength icon disappearing, the Reminder widget not populating and wallpaper distortion.
Concerns also remain over iOS 16’s reporting of ‘system data,’ which again ballooned in several instances for users after updating to iOS 16.4. Apple needs to address this in iOS 17.
So What Do You Get?
Apple’s iOS 16.4 release notes list the following new features and fixes:
— 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard.
— Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
— Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you.
— Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
— VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app.
— Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected.
— Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent’s device.
— Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home.
— Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models.
These additions are actually just the tip of the iceberg. Even by Apple’s standards, the iOS 16.4 release notes are unusually incomplete, missing out a whole host of new features and tweaks, including:
- Support for badges on home screen web apps.
- Support for home screen web apps via third-party browsers.
- PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge controller support comes to iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, tvOS 16.4 and macOS Venture 13.3.
- Apple Podcasts UI changes, including a new profile icon, playback controls in the Up Next section and Channels access via the Library section.
- CarPlay Up Next adds similar functionality as well as adding podcast discovery in Browse.
- A new Always-on Display filter for Focus Mode
- An order tracking widget has been added for Apple Wallet.
- In Settings, AppleCare ‘Coverage’ shows all your active and expired AppleCare policies
- 13 new and 11 updated Shortcut actions
- The long-awaited return of the traditional page-turning animation in Apple Books.
- Emergency SOS via Satellite adds support for Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal.
- 5G standalone support for T-Mobile (US).
It’s a substantial list (credit to MacRumors) and significantly longer than the official iOS 16.4 release notes. Why Apple would exclude so many new and useful additions is unknown.
iOS 16.4 Security
Apple’s iOS 16.4 security page reveals no fewer than 33 new security patches. The good news is none of the vulnerabilities are so-called ‘Zero Day’ threats, which means hackers were unable to exploit them before Apple came up with a fix.
That said, the new patches are extensive, covering the Apple Neural Engine, Calendar, Camera, CarPlay, Bluetooth, Find My, iCloud, Photos, Podcasts, Safari, Webkit (the browser engine behind Safari) and more.
There are also two fixes (CVE-2023-27969 and CVE-2023-27933) for the Kernel, the core of the iOS and iPadOS operating systems, which patch vulnerabilities that could have allowed hackers to execute malicious code on iPhones and iPads. In short: iOS 16.4 is an important update.
Apple iOS 16.4 Verdict: Upgrade
Major iOS updates tend to cause bigger problems, but as iOS 16 matures, it is no surprise to see iOS 16.4 introduce a stack of new features and security updates without any significant issues. Bear in mind that we are only 24 hours into the release, so problems may still be found as more iPhone and iPad owners update, but I am happy to recommend keen upgraders hit that button now.
If you are a cautious iPhone or iPad owner and prefer to wait, I will deliver my final verdict in a week. So bookmark this page.
The Road Ahead
While iOS 17 will be unveiled at WWC in early June, I would still expect several more ‘minor point’ updates to iOS 16 (such as iOS 16.4.1) before its successor launches in September.
I would also not rule out seeing iOS 16.5, though we should know about this in the next few weeks, given the 6-8 week testing process Apple carries out for major point updates. If you want to try iOS updates during the testing phase, you can join the Apple Beta Software Program, but be warned: there will be bugs!
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Microsoft Corp., extending a frenzy of artificial intelligence software releases, is introducing new chat tools that can help cybersecurity teams ward off hacks and clean up after an attack.
The latest of Microsoft’s AI assistant tools — the software giant likes to call them Copilots — uses OpenAI’s new GPT-4 language system and data specific to the security field, the company said Tuesday. The idea is to help security workers more quickly see connections between various parts of a hack, such as a suspicious email, malicious software file or the parts of the system that were compromised.
Microsoft and other security software companies have been using machine-learning techniques to root out suspicious behaviour and spot vulnerabilities for several years. But the newest AI technologies allow for faster analysis and add the ability to use plain English questions, making it easier for employees who may not be experts in security or AI.
That’s important because there’s a shortage of workers with these skills, said Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft’s vice president for security, compliance, identity and privacy. Hackers, meanwhile, have only gotten faster.
“Just since the pandemic, we’ve seen an incredible proliferation,” she said. For example, “it takes one hour and 12 minutes on average for an attacker to get full access to your inbox once a user has clicked on a phishing link. It used to be months or weeks for someone to get access.”
The software lets users pose questions such as: “How can I contain devices that are already compromised by an attack?” Or they can ask the Copilot to list anyone who sent or received an email with a dangerous link in the weeks before and after the breach. The tool can also more easily create reports and summaries of an incident and the response.
Microsoft will start by giving a few customers access to the tool and then add more later. Jakkal declined to say when it would be broadly available or who the initial customers are. The Security Copilot uses data from government agencies and Microsoft’s researchers, who track nation states and cybercriminal groups. To take action, the assistant works with Microsoft’s security products and will add integration with programs from other companies in the future.
As with previous AI releases this year, Microsoft is taking pains to make sure users are well aware the new systems make errors. In a demo of the security product, the chatbot cautioned about a flaw in Windows 9 — a product that doesn’t exist.
But it’s also capable of learning from users. The system lets customers choose privacy settings and determine how widely they want to share the information it gleans. If they choose, customers can let Microsoft use the data to help other clients, Jakkal said.
“This is going to be a learning system,” she said. “It’s also a paradigm shift: Now humans become the verifiers, and AI is giving us the data.”
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