Daily Authority: 🎮 Xbox Keystone won't happen

⚡ Good morning! Keep reading for weird collabs!

Microsoft’s cloud game streaming device

The hot news of today is Microsoft’s Xbox streaming device: and that it’s not following the path documented by rumors.

• At the same time, Microsoft confirmed those rumors. Let’s take a look.

The low down:

• Some kind of Xbox streaming device stick/puck/box/accessory has been a pretty substantiated rumor for a few years now.
• It was given a little more of a push when Microsoft clearly said that it wants people to play Xbox games on any device, not just an Xbox itself, and last year it announced it was making streaming devices.
• A key pillar to that is its GamePass and Xbox Cloud Gaming service.
• Microsoft calls this Xboxless-gaming “Xbox Everywhere,” and it’s something like watching Netflix on whatever device you have, but you’re gaming.
• And now, a device is confirmed — it’s just that we won’t be getting it.

What’s new: 

• The latest is that a “Keystone” codename device was on its way but a Windows Central report reveals things are changing.
• Microsoft reveals in a statement that it’s a real thing but that it needs more time.
• Quotes from a Microsoft spokesperson: “Our vision for Xbox Cloud Gaming is unwavering, our goal is to enable people to play the games they want, on the devices they want, anywhere they want. As announced last year, we’ve been working on a game-streaming device, codename Keystone, that could be connected to any TV or monitor without the need for a console.”
• “As part of any technical journey, we are constantly evaluating our efforts, reviewing our learnings, and ensuring we are bringing value to our customers. We have made the decision to pivot away from the current iteration of the Keystone device. We will take our learnings and refocus our efforts on a new approach that will allow us to deliver Xbox Cloud Gaming to more players around the world in the future.”

• Okay! So nothing coming out soon, it would seem.
• Whatever pivot is going on here might be something to do with hardware or software, we don’t know, but this will need to be a better launch than poor old Google Stadia.
• Other hints I’m seeing suggest that this doesn’t mean we’ll wait another few years, but just that Microsoft is iterating and trying to get things right over the months to come.
• It’s not clear what OS it would run or the UI involved, yet. (Probably not Windows 11!)

What’s next:

• The next Xbox launch comes on June 12, where a showcase of Xbox and Bethesda games will be on display, though …maybe not a lot of Starfield and Redfall, given their recently announced delays?
• And while you’re here, consider this dive into if 8K gaming is even worth it, with TCL talking TVs and next-gen gaming. (Though clearly TCL hasn’t signed an NDA with Sony/Microsoft, as the article points out.)

Roundup

😴 Your Android phone could soon get snore and cough detection abilities, with some kind of eventual goal being more sleep insights (Android Authority).

👉 Samsung Galaxy XCover 6 Pro is on the way, the rugged phone might have a big processor boost this time around (Android Authority).

🎮 Hey, you might actually get to buy a PS5 this year: Sony’s ramping production by some 63% (Android Authority).

🥽 Also, Sony says PSVR 2 will have at least 20 games at launch and maybe Half-Life: Alyx is one of them? (Engadget).

⛔ Samsung’s bundles are great incentives for buyers — so why isn’t Apple doing it? (Android Authority).

🍎 Apple’s reportedly flat iPhone production target for 2022 isn’t a great sign (The Verge).

👉 Twitter investors sue Elon Musk over stock manipulation claims (Engadget).

🌋 Why was the Tonga eruption so massive? Scientists have new clues (Wired).

🌠 AstroForge raises $13 million to harvest platinum from asteroids. Of course! It’ll break asteroids apart from distance, and hoover up the aggregate, rather than land probes on the surface. The US company has booked a SpaceX flight to launch a test in Jan 2023. (Gizmodo).

📚 By the way, I’m having a great time reading Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. Yes, it came out in 2021, but I’m not speedy about these things! He wrote The Martian. Anyway, it’s enjoyable hard science fiction, just like The Martian.

🚗 Another electric-hydrogen car idea: this one from Renault suggesting 800km of range (pv magazine).

🚤 “Why can you see where a boat’s wake was long after the boat has left and the water has stilled? Seems like the wake can be seen for hours on evenly calm water?” (r/askscience).

Friday Fun

Ever since Samsung did the limited edition Poké Ball x Galaxy Buds 2, and then Leica switched teams from HUAWEI to Xiaomi, I’ve been thinking about brand collabs.

And now there are fresh collaborations that make little sense to me but here we are:

• First, Oura and Gucci have partnered on a “luxury” wellness ring, which is the normal Oura Gen 3 but for $950!
• It features black-coated titanium, the Gucci logo …and the same features and sensors as a standard Gen 3.
• That’s about $600 more than the normal titanium metric tracker but you apparently also get a lifetime Oura membership. That normally costs $6 a month. So if you plan to wear one for 100 months or just over 8 years, it’ll pay itself off?
• Also: Incredibly, Gucci built a persistent town inside of Roblox.

And then there’s VW and its ID Buzz electric vans which did a collab with Star Wars and the new Obi-Wan TV series, a Disney Plus show which dropped a little earlier than expected with two episodes on the platform out now.

• For whatever reason, VW made a dark side and a light side edition of the vehicles (that you can’t buy):

Have a great weekend,

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor.