Windows 10’s Game Bar tests Spotify support and meme generator

Microsoft updates its Game Bar overlay in beta to add a few features you gamers might welcome. One is adding a Spotify widget to let you play, pause, and skip tracks within a game. You can also change the current playback device as well as adjust volume without leaving the game you’re playing. The widget will offer playlist recommendations, too. Another feature coming to the Game Bar is letting you create memes you can share to Twitter, right in the game. It’ll let you edit the videos, add overlay text to the screenshots, and send it off to the social network.

The overlay also adds new features to the Xbox Social widget. You can text and voice chat your friends, watch their Mixer streams, and see what they’re playing. You get the same friends list and communication features on the Xbox One as well as within the Xbox App on Window 10, iOS, and Android. You also now have customization options that will let you show, hide, and pin specific widgets. Microsoft said they made the changes based on user feedback. To access the Game Bar, just press the Windows key + G.

Source: Xbox Wire

Netflix announces cast of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ adaptation, John Cho takes lead role

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Late last year, Netflix announced that it was making a live-action version of the anime Cowboy Bebop. They were bringing on the anime’s director Shinichiro Watanabe as a consultant. Now, the streaming service announced some of the actors who will be joining the show. John Cho will be taking the lead role of bounty hunter Spike Spiegel. He will be joined by Luke Cage star Mustafa Shakir as Spiegel’s partner Jet Black. The Originals’ Daniella Pineda will play the amnesia-stricken Faye Valentine. And British stage actor Alex Hassell will play notorious hitman and Spiegel’s rival, Vicious. The show has an initial 10-episode run and its first episode is said to be written by Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok screenwriter Christopher Yost.

Source: Engadget

Skype now supports group calls of up to 50 people

Skype is catching up with its competitors by expanding the capacity of group calls to 50 people instead of 25. The service has been testing it out this feature since last month, but now it’s rolling out to all users. Skype is also adding a notification feature for these calls. Instead of it ringing your device, you could get a notification prompt for a group call. It’s also still possible to call people individually to join said group. Or if you have a call with less than 25 members, you can call everyone, if the notifications aren’t enough to get them to jump into the conversation.

Twitter tests out labels for conversation threads

Twitter is testing out a new way for its users to make sense of the threads. The social network has added labels—which include author, mention, and follow. This is said to make it easier to prevent spam as well as adds some context and clarity to a jumbled thread. Some users claim these are distracting and unnecessary, but Twitter seems adamant to try out new things and find ways to make it easier to track conversations on its service. What do you think? Do you find this useful?

We want it to be easy to follow and join conversations on Twitter. We’re testing out labels on replies: author, mentioned, and following. If you see them, let us know what you think! pic.twitter.com/L228sMbh75

— Twitter (@Twitter) April 4, 2019

Source: Engadget