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The limited edition Forza 6 Xbox One has racing stripes and sound effects

Jun24
by on June 24, 2015 at 6:45 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Forza Motorsport 6, Gadgets, Limited Edition, xbox one

Xbox One Forza edition

Microsoft has just unveiled a limited edition Forza Motorsport 6 Xbox One console to celebrate the popular racing franchise’s 10th anniversary.

The console features a new paint job inspired by the game’s cover car, the Ford GT. The super high-gloss finish has racing stripes as well as a Forza 10th anniversary badge.

It also features automotive sound effects for various system actions like a revving engine at startup:

There’s also a matching controller with steering wheel-inspired knurled rubber grips and titanium-colored triggers.

The custom Xbox One controller
The custom Xbox One controller

The 1TB console will be available for $399 in the US, bundled with a mono headset and a download code for Forza Motorsport 6 with a 10-year anniversary car pack.

Both the console and the the game will launch on September 15 in the US and September 18 in Europe. The customized controller will be available separately too.

You can pre-order the bundle now from Microsoft, Amazon and others.

➤ Xbox One Limited Edition Forza Motorsport 6 Bundle [Microsoft Store]

Read next: Sony’s summer gift to you: A new 1TB PlayStation 4

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Apple inks deals with indie label Beggars and rights group Merlin for its streaming music service

Jun24
by on June 24, 2015 at 6:04 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Beggars Group, Merlin

AppleMusicTNW1

Apple has signed up indie music company Beggars Group and digital rights organization Merlin for its upcoming streaming music service, according to Billboard.

This could be huge. Beggars Group owns many independent labels including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, and XL Recordings with artists like The XX and Adele on its roster. Merlin represents over 20,000 labels and distributors in more than 40 countries and licenses music to the likes of YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Google Play and Rdio.

In a letter sent to its members, Merlin CEO Charles Caldas said:

I am pleased to say that Apple has made a decision to pay for all usage of Apple Music under the free trials on a per-play basis, as well as to modify a number of other terms that members had been communicating directly with Apple about. With these changes, we are happy to support the deal.

News of the deal comes just a day after Apple ceded to Taylor Swift’s open letter criticizing its policy to not pay rights holders during Apple Music’s three month trial period for listeners.

Beggars Group had, until now, stood opposed to Apple’s deal for the same reason. Only a week ago, the company said in a blog post:

Whilst we understand the logic of their proposal and their aim to introduce a subscription-only service, we struggle to see why rights owners and artists should bear this aspect of Apple’s customer acquisition costs.

We’ve contacted Apple, Merlin and Beggars Group for more details and will update this post when we hear back.

➤ Apple Music Signs Beggars Group, Merlin: Sources [Billboard]

Read next: Apple responds to Taylor Swift’s open letter, promises to pay royalties during free trial

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Box is teaming up with IBM to sell cloud services together

Jun24
by on June 24, 2015 at 5:25 am
Posted In: Around the Web, box, IBM, Insider

IBM Box

Box and IBM have just announced a global partnership that will see the two companies integrate their technologies and jointly sell their existing enterprise products.

As part of the alliance, Box and IBM will aim to develop new services for several industries that are increasingly relying on cloud-based solutions for managing data, including healthcare, finance, law and scientific research.

Box will plug into IBM’s enterprise content management services and use Big Blue’s Watson Analytics to deliver insights on content uploaded to its storage. It will also add its capabilities to IBM’s Verse email software and Connections collaboration platform.

Plus, Box customers will be able to store their content on the IBM cloud in data centers across the globe for increased resiliency, privacy and localization. That’s good news for companies that need to keep their data in the country to comply with local laws.

In addition, Box will integrate IBM’s security technologies to offer threat detection, mobile device management and identity protection in its enterprise storage offerings.

IBM will also allow enterprise developers to integrate Box APIs on its Bluemix platform to help them build rich mobile and Web apps.

Box has previously partnered with Microsoft to offer its storage services in the Redmond giant’s Office 365 productivity suite.

The new partnership signals another milestone in Box’s journey that started with basic cloud storage services and now sees them moving steadily into the enterprise services space.

➤ Box and IBM Partner to Transform Work in the Cloud [Box Blogs]

Read next: Verizon officially completes its AOL acquisition

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TripAdvisor’s airport pages take off

Jun24
by on June 24, 2015 at 5:00 am
Posted In: Airports, Apps, Around the Web, travel, tripadvisor

TripAdvisor

On average, travelers spend 150 minutes at airports waiting for flights. TripAdvisor has just launched dedicated airport pages to help globetrotters get more out of that downtime.

Easily accessible via TripAdvisor’s search engine, each airport page includes reviews, ratings, amenities like duty free stores, boutiques and lounges, as well as nearby hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Changi Airport page

Singapore’s Changi Airport is the first to be listed on TripAdvisor. The site will also cover other major hubs like John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Heathrow Airport by July, and list 200 locations globally in the coming months.

The new airport pages will be accessible on all 45 TripAdvisor sites in 28 languages. They’ll also be available in the site’s mobile app, which includes a ‘Near Me Now’ to help users spot amenities around them before take-off.

➤ TripAdvisor

Read next: A drone didn’t strike a Southwest Airlines plane leaving New York, a VFX designer faked it

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