Ridley Scott’s ‘Halo’ series to serve as prequel to ‘Halo 5: Guardians’

If you want to have more background information on the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians game, then you best check out Ridley Scott’s upcoming Halo-themed show called Nightfall. With Scott at the helm, it helps bring Microsoft’s game to full circle as the franchise has taken inspiration from Scott’s deep-space horror film, Alien. The origin story will revolve around Agent Locke, which 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross has said plays a pivotal role in the game. There is no word yet on how many episodes there would be but you will be able to catch five before the beta version comes out.

Source: Engadget

Microsoft redesigns Skype for iPhone

Microsoft has refined its Skype app further for the iOS ecosystem with a new update for the iPhone. Version 5.0 of the app now has an updated notification system that works across different Skype platforms, including iPhone, PC, and Xbox. The group chat feature has also been revamped so you can access it from the main hub. The app is also said to be five times faster than the previous version. An iPad update is supposedly in the works but there is no information when it will be available.

Source: Ubergizmo

Video: Possibly the best World Cup video ever made

World Cup kicked off earlier this week and love for the game is all over the place. This advert from, of all places, McDonald's is so well made and really captures why football is such a universal sport. Enjoy the ad and enjoy the games.

Priceline to buy OpenTable for $2.6 billion

Eminent online restaurant reservation service OpenTable is being bought by airline ticket reservation giant Priceline for a whopping US $2.6 biillion. Priceline, which leads the market for flight, hotel and car rental reservations will be able to add restaurant reservations to their menu of services.

I recently had the chance to visit OpenTable's San Francisco offices where I saw first hand the impressive breadth and scope of their operations for web a well as mobile app services. OpenTable's been around since the early days of the Internet as an online reservation service, they also have a massive database of user ratings and reviews spanning close to 15 years and they've branched out into guest management, table mangement and seating, POS integration as well as reports and even mobile payments. Staring local in San Francsico, OpenTable currently serves 5 million diners each month at 31,000 restaurants globally.

Stay tuned for a more comprehensive story on OpenTable as a developer. Priceline owns popular online reservation properties Booking.com, Kayak and RentalCars.com among others.

Source: New York Times