Microsoft is adding touch controls to its Xbox apps for iOS and Android devices. The software maker started testing the touch controls in beta versions of the Xbox mobile apps this week, allowing Xbox owners to remotely control their consoles and play games on phones and tablets without a Bluetooth controller.
The touch controls are identical to the ones found on Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service, providing an on-screen overlay to let you remotely navigate around the Xbox UI and open up games and stream them all from your own console without needing to use a controller.
Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge
The Xbox touch controls work on any game.
The touch controls are surprisingly good in a pinch,...
Enlarge/ The Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard is making a comeback. (credit: Microsoft)
In April, Microsoft announced that it would stop selling Microsoft-branded computer peripherals. Today, Onward Brands announced that it's giving those discarded Microsoft-stamped gadgets a second life under new branding. Products like the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard will become Incase products with "Designed by Microsoft" branding.
Beyond the computer accessories saying "Designed by Microsoft," they should be the same keyboards, mice, webcams, headsets, and speakers, Onward, Incase's parent company, said, per The Verge. Onward said its Incase brand will bring back 23 Microsoft-designed products in 2024 and hopes for availability to start in Q2.
Incase also plans to launch an ergonomic keyboard that Microsoft designed but never released. Onward CEO Charlie Tebele told The Verge that there's "potential" for Incase to release even more designs Microsoft never let us see.
Western Digital is about to launch a new Xbox storage expansion card. | Image: Best Buy
Microsoft appears to be readying new Xbox expandable storage options from other manufacturers. A new Western Digital 1TB expansion card for Xbox Series S / X consoles has been spotted early on Best Buy, priced at $179.99. It’s the first time we’ve seen Xbox expandable storage that’s not manufactured by Seagate.
Microsoft originally launched Xbox expandable storage cards nearly three years ago with its Xbox Series S / X consoles. The 1TB cards were priced at $219.99 and manufactured exclusively by Seagate. While we’ve seen 512GB and 2TB options appear from Seagate, prices have stubbornly remained high, despite similar storage for PS5 consoles dropping significantly.
Image: Best Buy
Western Digital’s Xbox expandable storage also works with the Xbox Series X.
An additional manufacturer for Xbox expandable storage is much-needed and will hopefully help push prices in the right direction. Best Buy’s listing (which has now been removed) of the Western Digital C50 1TB expansion card is $40 less than the Seagate model. At $179.99 it’s still hugely overpriced for 1TB storage, especially when you can find a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB PCIe Gen4 drive for $79.99 right now.
Microsoft decided to go with proprietary storage for its Xbox Series X / S consoles, which makes the installation a lot more consumer friendly. But pricing has suffered with only a single manufacturer. Sony opted for a rather standard M.2 SSD expandable storage slot instead, which allows PS5 owners to use a variety of drives on the market. You can even use slow PCIe Gen4 drives on the PS5.
It’s not clear when Western Digital’s new 1TB expansion card for Xbox will be available. The Best Buy listing has no preorder dates, so we’ve reached out to both Western Digital and Microsoft to comment on the listing.
Update, April 2nd 6:30PM ET: Best Buy has now removed the listing.
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Earlier this week, Microsoft released a patch to fix a Secure Boot bypass bug used by the BlackLotus bootkit we reported on in March. The original vulnerability, CVE-2022-21894, was patched in January, but the new patch for CVE-2023-24932 addresses another actively exploited workaround for systems running Windows 10 and 11 and Windows Server versions going back to Windows Server 2008.
The BlackLotus bootkit is the first-known real-world malware that can bypass Secure Boot protections, allowing for the execution of malicious code before your PC begins loading Windows and its many security protections. Secure Boot has been enabled by default for over a decade on most Windows PCs sold by companies like Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and others. PCs running Windows 11 must have it enabled to meet the software's system requirements.
Microsoft says that the vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker with either physical access to a system or administrator rights on a system. It can affect physical PCs and virtual machines with Secure Boot enabled.
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Image: Best Buy
