All the Xbox Series S details, and more tech news you need to know today

Your Tech News Digest via the DGiT Daily Tech Newsletter for Tuesday, September 8th, 2020.

1. The Xbox Series S is $ 299 and the unofficial specs are good

Last night, some Xbox leaks revealed a lot more about the upcoming next-gen Xbox, but not the Series X and their large high-cube console, but a much smaller console. And for the first time a price: $ 299 for this smaller model and the Xbox Series X for $ 499.

This morning, Microsoft made it official
It unveiled the new Xbox Series S with the tagline “Next Generation Performance in the Smallest Xbox Ever” and confirmed the price of $ 299 (along with 299 euros and a cheap-sounding price of 249.99 euros in the UK).
No launch date was given but leaks indicate November 10th.

And to make it a big day, the leaks released even more, with a full 1 minute 30 second presentation video Revealing a batch of S-Series specification information:

Xbox Series S.::

First the design: it’s pretty small compared to the Xbox controller. It’s not tiny, but it’s shorter and a lot thinner than the beefy Series X.

And the price! Wow, the $ 299 price tag is a pretty solid value proposition. The X Series is expected to cost around $ 499, making this much more accessible.
At $ 299, this is also a $ 100 discount on the current Xbox One X, but much faster: the same processor as the Xbox Series X and faster memory.
And while we were guessing the specs for the first time this morning, the leak shows more.
We now know that the console targets games at 120 fps, up to 1440p resolution, and offers 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. (For reference, 1440p is 2560 × 1440 resolution, also known as Quad HD; 4K is 2160p, 3840 × 2160, or Ultra HD.)
That doesn’t keep it the real 4K gaming you get with the X Series, but as the leak shows, it can stream and media playback in 4K, upscaling games, and the S supports ray tracing, variable rate shading, and variable refresh rate .
Only digital means no drive, so only downloads.
The more compact design is small enough if you believe the leak, in the giant Xbox Series X machine:

‘All Access’:

Another thing is how you pay.
An Xbox All Access funding option, which is a monthly payment for the console, is being rolled out further and more aggressively with GamePass Ultimate.
Windows Central states that the Series S will cost $ 25 per month (24 months estimated?), While the Series X will be a $ 35 per month option.
There will be terms to deal with and apparently the program will be moving from US only to global so local pricing and availability will be interesting around the world.
Ultimately, this could be the most important Xbox to date. Much more accessible, much better tailored for Game Pass streaming, and very different from Sony’s approach with the PlayStation 5.
Either way may be right, but Game Pass access alone is a growing must for gamers.

? There are strong rumors that Apple will be announcing a new Apple Watch and iPad Air this morning. Some Apple Beat reporters think this is unlikely, but evidence like the Apple Watch 5, which isn’t available directly from Apple, suggests something is happening … (MacRumors).

? Two new Poco phones in the last 24 hours: the powerful Poco X3 and the cheaper Poco M2. The Poco X3 is the first smartphone with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 732G (Android Authority).

? The Samsung patent refers to a transparent phone straight from Sci-Fi (Android Authority).

? Another LG Wing video leak now shows the interface of the rotating phone. Looks good! (Android Authority).

? PUBG Mobile Terminates Tencent Games In India To Remove Chinese App Tag (And Current Ban) (Android Authority).

? Apple’s ‘floating’ store in Singapore opens on September 10th (Engadget).

⚖ Google’s Cartel Battles: What You Need To Know (CNET).

? Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, has published a book and is doing a press tour with lots of interesting contributions. First, an interview with Netflix’s Reed Hastings about working from home (may be paid) (WSJ, $) and a comprehensive Variety interview are good too. There will be more!

? Japan’s ‘Big Four’ motorcycle maker testing interchangeable electric batteries (Interesting Engineering).

? Doom is running on a … pregnancy test? (Kotaku).

? This is not an exercise: have you always wanted to own a gummy bear factory? Take part in this treasure hunt! However, you need to shop and only in the US (delish.com).

? “Which video games show that graphics are really not everything?” (R / askreddit).

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