Coming to Game Pass: Manor Lords, Another Crab’s Treasure, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and More

It’s nice to see you’re willing to take a break from watching “Fallout” on Prime Video, because I have the next round of amazing games for you to check out! We have new games coming to the Game Pass Core library, your PC, and even one you can download and start playing today! Let’s dive in.

Available Today

Harold Halibut (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
Available on day one with Game Pass! Harold Halibut is a handmade narrative game about friendship and life on a city-sized spaceship submerged in an alien ocean. Join Harold as he explores a vibrant retro-future world in his quest to find the true meaning of ‘home’. You can learn more about Harold Halibut in Xbox Wire’s recent hands-on preview here.

Coming Soon

Orcs Must Die! 3 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 17
Orcs Must Die! 3 ushers orc-slaying mayhem to a previously unimaginable scale. Solo, or 2-player co-op, arm yourself with a massive arsenal of traps and weapons. Slice, burn, toss, and zap hordes of repugnant orcs in this long-awaited successor to the award-winning tower defense series.

EA Sports NHL 24 (Console) EA Play – April 18
Just in time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL 24 is coming to Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play! Members can experience authentic on-ice action and give their Ultimate Team a boost with the EA Play Mega Players Pack until May 9, containing 30 items, all Gold Players, with at least five 80+ OVR Players for Ultimate Team mode in the game.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 23
Available on day one with Game Pass! Gather your allies for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, the grand JRPG adventure. Assemble your 6-party team from a cast of over a hundred heroes and shape your destiny in this lush, hand-crafted 2.5D world brimming with war, intrigue, and magic. Manage your town of vibrant characters, play delightful mini-games, and prepare for an unforgettable narrative of boundless charm.

Another Crab’s Treasure (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 25
Available on day one with Game Pass! A soulslike adventure set in a crumbling underwater world. As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean.

Manor Lords (Game Preview) (PC) – April 26
Available on day one with Game Pass! Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles and complex economic and social simulations. Rule your lands as a medieval lord — the seasons pass, the weather changes and cities rise and fall.

Have A Nice Death (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 30
In this darkly charming 2D action roguelike, play as an overworked Death, whose employees have run rampant, completely throwing off the balance of souls – and his vacation plans. Grab your trusty scythe and show your employees who’s boss.

More Games Coming to Game Pass Core on April 23

For Game Pass Core members, there are three more games coming to the library on April 23! Become a badass space Dwarf in Deep Rock Galactic, dance the slow-motion ballet of destruction in Superhot: Mind Control Delete, and face total demolition derby madness in Wreckfest.

DLC / Game Updates

Ark: Survival Ascended – Scorched Earth – Available now
Saddle up and stake your claim on the Scorched Earth! Build new Western-style structures like your own rootin’ tootin’ saloon, then tickle the ivories on your own piano for an authentic frontier experience. Hunt for buried treasure with your trusty shovel, tame hardy new creatures to pull your configurable wagon and even hop aboard your own chugging steam train to explore those harsh badlands!

Conan Exiles: Age of War Chapter 4 – Available now
 In the new Sacred Hunt, embark on a quest to fell the champions of Jhebbal Sag, Lord of Beasts. Discover a new hub area and uncover a new mystery. Unleash brutality with fatalities. Daze enemies by bringing their health low and then finish them off with a range of savagely animated finishing moves, depending on the weapon you have equipped. If there is glory in gore, you will find it.

Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition – Available now
The ultimate Grounded experience is now bulging with new content that’s sure to get you pumped! Experience new ant queens, new game + mode and an exciting array of new gear. Are you ready to get Fully Yoked?

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks

Fallout 76 Vault 33 Survivor Kit – Available now
Vault-Tec is happy to offer Vault Dwellers a handy bundle of Wasteland survival and a sturdy Vault 33 Backpack to use in this vast open-world multiplayer entry in the Fallout universe.

The Elder Scrolls Online 10^th Anniversary Pack #1 – Available now
Celebrate 10 years of The Elder Scrolls Online with a Perks bundle that includes three Grand Gold Coast Experience Scrolls and 500 Seals of Endeavor.  Explore and quest solo or with friends in the award-winning fantasy RPG today. 

Leaving April 30

The following games are leaving the Game Pass library soon. Jump back in before they go or save 20% on your purchase to keep them in your library!

• 7 Days to Die (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Besiege (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• EA Sports NHL 22 (Console)
• Loot River (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Pikuniku (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Ravenlok (Cloud, Console, and PC)

That wraps us up! Keep up with the coming games on social at @Xbox, @XboxGamePass or @XboxGamePassPC. Catch you next time!

The post Coming to Game Pass: Manor Lords, Another Crab’s Treasure, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and More appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Source: Xbox Blog
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Source: Nokia Mobile YouTube
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motorola edge 50 ultra, edge 50 pro, and edge 50 fusion are here with bold, artistic designs, AI-enabled camera features, and revolutionary performance. #hellosmARTphone

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3xHef6A

Source: Moto YouTube
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Unleash Productivity on the Big Screen: Introducing the ThinkPad E16 Gen 1! Struggling to be productive with a limited workspace? The ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 is here to change that. This powerhouse laptop boasts a 16-inch display, banishing the limitations of a cramped workspace and letting you tackle any project with ease, no matter where you are. Built for speed, it features an AMD Ryzen™ 7000 Series processor that crushes demanding workloads, integrated UMA graphics ensuring smooth visuals for everyday tasks, and up to 40GB of DDR4 memory guaranteeing lightning-fast responsiveness.

Designed with the modern professional in mind, the ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 is the perfect work-from-anywhere companion, offering both the power you need and the portability to stay productive on the go. See this productivity powerhouse in action by watching our full video tour!

Source: Lenovo YouTube
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Unveiling the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5! This video takes you on a guided tour of the latest ThinkPad E14 Gen 5, showcasing its sleek design, durable build, and powerful specs. This powerhouse boasts an AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU, smooth multitasking with 40GB RAM, and up to 1TB storage. Plus, integrated UMA graphics deliver stunning visuals for everyday tasks and even creative work. Durable design & all-day battery life keep you going wherever work takes you. See it all in our video tour!

Source: Lenovo YouTube
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• Virgin Media O2 is using satellite technology to boost mobile services in the country’s most remote locations
• The operator is working with satellite provider, Starlink, across the UK to accelerate its plans to boost signal in rural areas as part of the Shared Rural Network programme
• Starlink’s network of low-earth orbit satellites will carry data to and from mobile phone masts which are unreachable with traditional fibre optic cables, helping tackle not-spots and ensure that more rural communities can access reliable mobile connectivity
• The technology could also be used to maintain services during emergencies or exceptional events, such as disaster recovery scenarios

Virgin Media O2 is using Starlink’s Low Earth Orbit satellite technology to provide mobile backhaul for some of the country’s most remote locations to accelerate its Shared Rural Network (SRN) rollout.

The operator has already deployed the Starlink mobile backhaul solution to sites in the Scottish Highlands which are extremely difficult, prohibitively costly or impossible to connect using standard technologies such as fibre or microwave connections.

Typically, mobile phone masts require a fibre cable to carry calls, SMS and data to and from the phone mast – a connection known in the industry as ‘backhaul’ – but that is not viable in these extremely remote locations. Instead, a network of low-earth orbit satellites is providing backhaul to the masts, enabling Virgin Media O2 to provide a reliable mobile network to the areas.

The rollout of the satellite connections to these locations follows intensive testing and a recent trial in northern Scotland that proved how satellites can be used to carry mobile traffic to and from mobile masts in remote locations.

This is the latest development in Virgin Media O2’s push to improve mobile signal in rural communities through the Shared Rural Network programme. The operator is already going to extreme lengths to deliver on its commitments, recently using helicopters to deliver its 100^th SRN site to the remote Scottish island of Skye.

Virgin Media O2 is also exploring other ways satellite connectivity can benefit its customers in the future, including providing coverage for emergency services and improved mobile connectivity at special events.

This project has been delivered in collaboration with shareholder, Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), which is an official Starlink reseller.

Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2, said: “We’re leaving no stone unturned when it comes to improving rural connectivity and are continuously looking for new ways to boost signal in remote areas. Our commitment to delivering on our part of the Shared Rural Network programme has seen us turn first to helicopters and now to satellites to connect some of the most difficult and remote parts of the country. By constantly finding new ways to deliver for our customers, we are bringing reliable mobile coverage to rural communities faster and helping to close the UK’s digital divide.”

The post Mobile coverage that’s out of this world: Virgin Media O2 looks to Space to boost signal in rural areas appeared first on Virgin Media O2.

Source: O2 Blog
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Strategic partnership highlights:

• Expansion of partnership between Microsoft and G42 to deliver advanced AI solutions with Microsoft Azure across various industries and markets.
• Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in G42 for a minority stake in G42 and join its board of directors.
• Companies will support the establishment of a $1 billion fund for developers to boost AI skills in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and broader region.

Expanded strategic partnership:

Today, we announced a strategic investment in G42, a leading AI company in the UAE, to co-innovate and deliver advanced AI solutions with Microsoft Azure for various industries and markets across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in G42 for a minority stake in the company with Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President, joining G42’s board of directors — strengthening the long-standing collaboration and mutual synergies between the two companies. With the breadth of the Microsoft Cloud and its differentiated AI capabilities, the deal significantly advances G42’s strategy of delivering generative AI and next-generation infrastructure and services for a range of customers across financial services, healthcare, energy, government and education.

The commercial partnership is backed by assurances to the U.S. and UAE governments through a first-of- its-kind binding agreement to apply world-class best practices to ensure the secure, trusted, and responsible development and deployment of AI. Microsoft and G42 will work closely together to elevate the security and compliance framework of their joint international infrastructure. Both companies will move forward with a commitment to comply with U.S. and international trade, security, responsible AI, and business integrity laws and regulations. The work on these topics is governed by a detailed Intergovernmental Assurance Agreement between G42 and Microsoft that was developed in close consultation with both the UAE and U.S. governments.

Foundational to the partnership is G42’s trust and commitment in Microsoft’s cloud platform. G42 will expand its existing commitment to deploying Microsoft Cloud offerings, demonstrating confidence in Microsoft as its preferred partner to enhance services and deliver value-added solutions to its customers. With the partnership, G42’s data platform and other essential technology infrastructure will migrate to Microsoft Azure to benefit from industry-leading performance, scalability and security capabilities. Migrating to Azure will also support AI product development that allows G42 to create services that can scale to achieve faster delivery times for its customers globally. Together, we look forward to accelerating AI transformation in emerging markets and advancing equitable growth in AI globally.

Building on our technical co-innovation

G42 brings an excellent track record as a leader actively driving global progress and accessibility in AI technologies, and Microsoft and G42 have worked closely together to help optimize Cloud and AI solutions for the Middle East.

Last year, G42 was one of the first partners to commit to implementing Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty offering to UAE-based organizations. G42 is helping public sector and regulated industries to use new platform capabilities for securing sensitive data, providing access to the latest cloud and AI features available on Azure public cloud, and ensuring they comply with local privacy and regulatory requirements. G42’s deep understanding of UAE sovereignty requirements and technical capabilities are central to customizing Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty to help address customer’s specific needs.

Microsoft also announced that Jais, G42’s Arabic Large Language Model (LLM), will be available in the Azure AI Model Catalog. This model represents a significant advancement for the Arabic world in AI, offering over 400 million Arabic speakers the opportunity to explore the potential of generative AI. Jais is the world’s first Arabic LLM developed by G42 in collaboration with Cerebras, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), and Med42 LLM, a generative AI model to streamline medical reporting. The expanded partnership with Microsoft will help accelerate the adoption of G42’s groundbreaking AI products and services, such as Jais, making them available through Microsoft Azure.

Announced in March of this year, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank, will collaborate with Core42, a subsidiary of G42, to accelerate its digital transformation journey leveraging Microsoft Azure trusted cloud platform for enterprises. FAB will move its datacenter and workload to Azure, enabling the bank to use Core42’s sovereign controls platform, which is built on Azure and ensures the highest standards of data sovereignty and compliance with UAE regulations.

One of the leading examples of precision medicine in action is the collaboration between G42 subsidiary M42, a global health care company, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Microsoft, and the International Center for Genetic Disease (ICGD). The partners are using Terra, a scalable and secure platform for biomedical research, to enable data sharing and analysis across different institutions and countries. Terra, powered by Microsoft Azure, allows researchers to access and analyze anonymized genomic data from the Emirati Genome Program, which has completed over 500,000 whole genome sequences to date. By applying AI technologies to this rich data source, the collaborators aim to advance clinical genomic research and disease prevention, as well as support precision medicine and life science strategies globally.

Accelerating access to digital innovation in UAE and the region

Along with providing advanced AI capabilities, the partnership will benefit regions beyond the UAE in ways that will improve how enterprises experience cloud computing. By bringing expanded low latency datacenter infrastructure to emerging markets, Microsoft and G42 will help accelerate digital transformation across key industries in those regions. This will provide countries across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa with expanded access to services and technologies that will allow them to address the most challenging business concerns while ensuring the highest standards of security and privacy.

Furthermore, the partnership will also support the development of a skilled and diverse AI workforce and talent pool that will drive innovation and competitiveness for the UAE and broader region with the investment of $1 billion in a fund for developers.

The post Microsoft and G42 partner to accelerate AI innovation in UAE and beyond appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog.

Source: The Official Microsoft Blog