Microsoft

There will be a panel at 4:45 PM ET (1:45 PT) today at BlizzCon where more info will be revealed, but for now you’ll have to satisfy your thirst for fire, brimstone, and Sanctuary with this short teaser.

We’ve got almost no details beyond that, but Blizzard told Variety that “this is only the beginning, with even more taking shape across our universes.” So we might finally get those Overwatch and World of Warcraft series as well.

After Microsoft removed the Copilot buttons from some Windows 11 apps, the latest Insider Release Preview builds (26100.9539 and 26200.9539) add an option for easily changing that dedicated AI key back to a control or Context Menu button, without using workarounds.

I’m a sucker for Phanteks cases, and the company’s new EX5 has got me thinking about a new PC build. It organizes all the key components of a PC into dedicated chambers, which not only looks neat but is also great for airflow. It means ugly GPUs get hidden away, and there’s a dedicated area for all-in-one liquid coolers instead of everything packed into a glass case. The EX5 starts at $109.99 and comes in three options, with a $159.99 Plus variant bundling an all-in-one cooler and the $229.99 EX5 Max adding a 6-inch display for the cooler.

The terms of the contract apply to nearly 1,900 workers across Blizzard, including teams that work on World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, quality assurance, and more. The contract comes after two years of bargaining and includes new protections that give workers the opportunity to be “recalled” into open positions within 14 months after a layoff.

Logitech is launching a standalone version of its MX Keypad for developers. Previously bundled in the MX Creative Console, the miniature keypad has customizable keys that can be configured to control apps. Logitech has worked with GitHub to launch the MX Keypad with native integration for VS Code and GitHub’s Copilot app. Logitech’s keypad is available today, priced at $99.99.

Most Windows 11 widgets haven’t been all that useful so far, but a new battery option is reportedly coming soon that looks like something I’d use daily. Much like Apple and Google’s batteries widgets, it tracks battery levels for any devices connected to a PC. Once it’s officially rolled out, you should be able to use it on the lock screen or widgets board.

And it’s not because of post-work cocktails. The Trump administration decided to mark 25 years of Xbox with a flagrant disregard for copyright. It would be funny, if not for the fact it’s all a promotion for a website full of mini games for deporting people.

The NBA has announced penalties from its investigation into cap circumvention allegations around the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, and a string of companies that inked shady “endorsement” deals with the star: Aspiration, Daktronics, Boingo Wireless, and Lockton Insurance, as detailed in a report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Acer is announcing the Vero 16: a 16-inch laptop with tool-free internal access. The battery and SSD are user-replaceable, and the hinge and ports are also removable. Acer also says the processor can be upgraded for “at least two generations.”

Text predictions are like Marmite (Vegemite), you either hate them or you love them. It turns out that a lot of people hate them in Word and Outlook, so Microsoft is turning them off by default. The feature was supposed to help you write documents and emails faster by guessing what word you’d type next, but Microsoft’s predictive text could often be more of a distraction. The change is rolling out on Word for Windows, iOS, and Android, as well as Outlook on Windows and Mac.

It feels like Microsoft adds AI features to Office on a weekly basis, and now one of the company’s main executives in charge of those efforts is getting tired of AI slop generated at work. Ryan Roslansky, who took over leading the Office org at Microsoft last year, posted a warning on LinkedIn last week about AI slop “happening in the day to day of work,” after he received a fully AI-generated document from a colleague. Roslansky also oversees the group responsible for LinkedIn, which recently added an AI slop reporting button that’s proving to be rather popular.

How can Xbox possibly get to a billion users per day while cutting studios? Oh, just by obtaining three more hits as big as Minecraft, Call of Duty and Candy Crush. “We’ve got three billion-dollar annual franchises every year. I think we should have six to eight in the coming years,” she tells BBC News.

Data center developers typically have to apply for permits to install generators that create local air pollution. The DataOne facility in New Jersey is the latest project accused of violating federal law by running on gas-fired generators without approval.

You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to preorder the $899.99 translucent green Xbox Series X (unless you received an early invitation from Microsoft), but you can preorder the matching controller now for $79.99. The device will begin shipping on October 20th.

The Microsoft-owned developer platform was down for hours on Monday, which is becoming a bit of a habit. “If you were trying to ship software that day, we let you down,” CTO Vlad Fedorov says, blaming the outage on a capacity failure after traffic hit “a new peak.”