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BetaBeacon

May 21, 2025

Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town now available for iOS, Android via Crunchyroll Game Vault

- Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town is a countryside adventure with mystery and new friends in Coal Town, a town frozen in time since the Showa era. - Shinnosuke meets a mysterious young girl and becomes friends with the energetic working-class people in the town. - Features include fishing in Akita's rivers, collecting bugs, growing vegetables, creating inventions, helping at the diner, and participating in the Trolley Race. - The Nohara family moves to a small village near Hiroshi's hometown in Akita, where they enjoy a carefree life in the countryside until Shinnosuke chases after a mysterious train and ends up in Coal Town.

AppWizard

May 21, 2025

UnderDog reveals gameplay trailer for PS5/PC adventure game Mukti

Indian independent game developer UnderDogs Studio has unveiled the gameplay for its upcoming PS5 and PC title, Mukti, through a new gameplay trailer. Mukti is a first-person narrative adventure set in mid-2000s India, where players control Arya, a young woman searching for her grandfather in a museum while uncovering mysteries related to human trafficking. The game is part of Sony’s India Hero Project, with UnderDogs Studio collaborating with Sony for over a year. Players can wishlist Mukti on the PS Store for PS5 and on Steam for PC. The game is designed to utilize PS5 capabilities, offering immersive environments and 4K resolution, with optimized haptics and adaptive triggers for the DualSense controller. The tentative PC specifications include minimum requirements of Windows 10, Intel Core i5-9400F or AMD Ryzen 5 3500, 8 GB RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 570, while recommended requirements include Windows 11, Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 7 7700, 16 GB RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT. The Steam version will feature achievements, family sharing, and full controller support. UnderDogs Studio was founded in 2011 by Vaibhav Chavan and has developed over 250 games across various platforms.

Winsage

May 21, 2025

Windows 11 Pro may be the most underrated PC gaming upgrade ever at $15

Windows 11 Pro is available for .97 until June 1, marking its lowest price ever (regularly priced at 9). It offers features like DirectX 12 Ultimate for enhanced gaming performance, Windows Copilot for AI assistance, and robust security features including BitLocker encryption and secure boot. Additional features include Snap Layouts, Virtual Desktops, Remote Desktop Access, Hyper-V, and Microsoft Teams integration.

AppWizard

May 21, 2025

Doritos and Minecraft Movie Mixed Reality Campaign Ends with a Golden Chip

A mixed reality campaign called ‘The Nether Lands’ promoted ‘A Minecraft Movie’ and positioned Doritos as the ultimate movie snack. The campaign was initiated by United Playgrounds, with creative direction from Fitzroy and real-time activation by Livewall, while immersive tech was developed by Beyond. It launched on March 28 with a full-scale Minecraft portal in Amsterdam’s Museumplein, allowing players to collect resources and battle Piglins using their phones for a chance to win an 18-karat gold Dorito chip worth €1,000. The activation expanded to cinemas, train stations, and over 135 DOOH screens in the Netherlands and Belgium, enabling anyone with a bag of Doritos to access an AR-powered Minecraft adventure. The campaign gained global attention, particularly in Times Square and Piccadilly Circus, and was covered by international media. Key results included 400,000 unique interactions, 42.5 million impressions, a 185% lift in association with “movie nights,” and a 27% increase in brand preference.

Winsage

May 21, 2025

Windows 10’s latest update packs a nasty bug, and while your system might be safe, it’s vital you check now

Windows 10 users are experiencing issues with the May update, which has a bug affecting business laptops with Intel vPro processors. This bug can cause update installation failures and repeated automatic repair attempts. Microsoft has released an emergency fix, KB5061768, which users should apply before installing the May update. The problem stems from the termination of the lsass.exe service, leading to automatic repair failures and potential lockouts for users with Device Encryption or BitLocker. To recover, users may need to disable Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and Intel VT for Direct I/O in BIOS settings, which typically requires the BitLocker recovery key. A workaround allows users to disable Intel TXT without changing Intel VT settings. Users can access BIOS by pressing keys like F2, F10, or F12 during startup, navigate to the Intel TXT setting, disable it, and then restart their PC to install the emergency patch. It is recommended to install the emergency fix before downloading the May update. Similar bugs have occurred in previous updates for Windows 10 and 11. Windows 11 users should note that a clean install of version 24H2 automatically applies Device Encryption, which requires careful management of Microsoft account credentials for recovery keys.

AppWizard

May 21, 2025

Google Play adds topic pages, audio previews, and new subscription tools for developers

Google is enhancing its Play Store with upgrades for Android app developers, including a robust toolset for managing subscription-based applications, allowing developers to pause live app releases. New "topic browse" pages will help users discover apps related to over 100,000 media and entertainment titles, and the "Where to Watch" feature will expand to the U.K., Korea, Indonesia, and Mexico. Developers can integrate new visual content options, such as a hero content carousel and audio samples, which have increased app installs for Health & Wellness developers. Curated spaces for user interests will expand, particularly in Japan. The Play Console will feature a new asset library for organizing visual assets and provide new metrics for app listing performance. Subscription management tools will allow multi-product checkout and enhanced reminders about subscription benefits, reducing voluntary churn by 3%. Developers can offer a grace period of up to 30 days or a 60-day account hold for declined payments. The Engage SDK will support additional categories and markets, while the Play Integrity API will improve security with enhanced abuse detection and device security update checks.

AppWizard

May 21, 2025

Major Google Play Store update grabs your attention with ‘browse pages’ and more

Google I/O 2025 announced new features for the Play Store aimed at enhancing user engagement. The "topic browse pages" will allow users to explore apps in a more interactive way, debuting in May in the U.S. with a focus on Media & Entertainment content. The "Where to Watch" feature will expand to users in Korea, Indonesia, the U.K., and Mexico, while developers will gain access to a hero content carousel for showcasing YouTube videos. "Audio samples" will be introduced on the Apps Home, starting with Health & Wellness content. Developers will receive new overview pages for Grow and Monetize statistics and can halt app rollouts if necessary. The Asset Library will be updated for easier management of app assets. Google is also streamlining the subscription process with "multi-product checkout for subscriptions," allowing users to bundle subscriptions with related add-ons. Enhanced controls for developers regarding subscription management and improved payment setup during device initialization are also part of the updates.

AppWizard

May 20, 2025

Google tweaks the Pixel Launcher in Android 16 QPR1 to leave more space for your apps

Google has released the first beta build of Android 16 QPR 1 for Pixel devices, introducing Material 3 Expressive design changes. The At a Glance widget has been resized, allowing for an additional row on the home screen for app icons and widgets. Users receive a notification about the new layout upon installation. The lock screen has also seen a similar reduction in the widget size to support new lock screen widget features.

Winsage

May 20, 2025

Microsoft Makes Individual Developer Accounts Free Next Month

Microsoft is removing all onboarding fees for individual developers to publish applications on the Microsoft Store, effective next month. This change allows developers to publish without a credit card, making the platform more accessible. Company accounts will still incur a fee, but individual developers can utilize the built-in developer mode on Windows 10, 11, and Xbox consoles to create unsigned applications. The Microsoft Store will also see improvements in discovery, delivery, and user acquisition processes. While developer mode is popular for running emulation software, it remains limited by the deprecated UWP application platform, affecting Xbox console applications.

Winsage

May 19, 2025

Microsoft’s Edit on Windows is a new command line text editor

Microsoft introduced a new command-line text editor, Edit on Windows, during its Build conference. This open-source tool allows developers to edit files directly within the command prompt by typing “edit” and is designed to enhance the developer experience. Edit on Windows is less than 250KB in size and includes features such as key bindings for menu options, support for multiple files with ctrl + P shortcut, find and replace functionality with match case and regular expression support, and word wrapping capabilities. The motivation for creating Edit was to provide a default CLI text editor for 64-bit versions of Windows, which previously lacked an integrated command-line editor. Edit on Windows will be available through the Windows Insider program in the upcoming months. Additionally, Microsoft is rebranding Windows Dev Home to Advanced Windows Settings, which will simplify customization for developers and integrate additional features into the main Windows 11 settings interface.