Microsoft announces Xbox One X, showcases 42 games with exclusives at E3 2017

Microsoft announces Xbox One X, showcases 42 games with exclusives at E3 2017

Microsoft has announced the next Xbox one gaming console. Xbox One X super spec’d and comes with everything thing right this time around, after listening to feedback.

Xbox One X

Microsoft announced a number of stuffs at the Xbox briefing of this years Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  Amongst such is a new console we’ve know for sometime as Xbox project Scorpio.  Microsoft also showcased a record 42 games during the briefing with about 20 plus games being exclusives.

Here’s a summary of the Xbox E3 2017 briefing.

If you missed the briefing and will like to watch it in full or you just didn’t get enough and want to re-live the announcement. Click to watch here.

Meet the XBOX ONE X

There’s something you should know about the Xbox One X; It has the fastest most advanced processor to ever power a console, so it’s 40% more powerful than any other gaming console. It’s compatible with all other Xbox One games, has true 4K resolution. Other cool stuff is backward compatibility is coming for over 400 games right down from Xbox 360.

The console is small, yeah it’s small. If you saw the Xbox One S you’ll notice some familiarities with the design. You can place it horizontally, vertically or get a stand for it. It comes with a 4K UHD Blu-ray player with built-in power supply. It has an IR blaster and 3 USB 3.0 ports. Good news you can reuse your cables from your Xbox One S. Microsoft says the port locations are designed to be an easy plug-and-play swap in your existing gaming setup. The console can clock up to 9GB of it’s memory during gaming.
 
Xbox One X
 
The new console starts at $499 USD / 449 GBP / 499 EUR / 599 CAD/ 649 AUD and begins shipping out on November 7th. Microsoft says every Xbox One X unit will come with a 1TB hard drive, a matching Xbox Wireless Controller, HDMI cable, power supply, a 1-month free Xbox Game Pass subscription and a 14-day free Xbox Live Gold membership.
Xbox One is the only console system designed to play the best games of the past, present and future. The Xbox One games and accessories you already own are compatible with Xbox One X, so if you’re an Xbox gamer, chances are you already have a library of games that will look and play better on Xbox One X. – Phil Spencer  

 
The games showcased at the event will include free updates to some to leverage it’s 4K power.

 

Xbox or Play Station fan? Tell us what you think about the new console and features. Also Some friends have been asking about the gaming community in Ghana. Are you a gamer tell us about the community where you live. Which console is the most favored by gamers, maybe share why?  

Microsoft Educator Exchange E² Africa event in Johannesburg, South Africa

Microsoft Educator Exchange E² Africa event in Johannesburg, South Africa

Over 50 educators from across the African sub region participated in this years Microsoft Educator Exchange Africa event in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Microsoft Educator

Microsoft Educator Exchange E², is an educational event that recognises and celebrates the achievements of educators.  Who combine content, pedagogy, and technology in ways to prepare students for success.
This event brings together innovative educators to collaborate, create and share their experiences on how to integrate technology and pedagogy to advance learning.  They also discover new ways to implement effective program-based learning to achieve student outcomes, and transform education. The event also provides insight into the latest trends in education.

Microsoft says they are always committed to helping educators and students create and share in new ways.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) is the foundation of our kid’s education. – Sonja Delafosse

Sonja Delafosse of Microsoft World Wide Education, spoke during the keynote on STEAM and its use in education. Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) is the foundation of our kid’s education. We are able to connect and stay connected, making the world a smaller place. Teachers should let their students do problem solving exercises everyday.

Minecraft education edition gives students an immersive way to learn while tackling problems. – Stephen Reid

Stephen Reid, Immersive Minds shared on game based learning in the classroom, of  Games in Education.

Microsoft Educator

From a statistics he shared 56% of parents say video games positively affect their children. Some very interesting games that can be used in teaching children include LittleBigPlanet, Ico, From Dust, and Valiant Hearts. They are some of the best games used to teach kids about all sorts of things.

Don’t forget about Microsoft’s strides with Minecraft in education and how that is rapidly being adopted and used in the class room. There was a demo of the Minecraft Education edition. On how by using Minecraft as a platform for learning, educators can motivate and inspire every student to achieve more and ignite a passion for learning.

? : MicrosoftSA

Microsoft 4Afrika AppFactory Academy Launched in Ethiopia in Partnership with Wollo University and Tulane University

Microsoft 4Afrika AppFactory Academy Launched in Ethiopia in Partnership with Wollo University and Tulane University

Microsoft 4Afrika AppFactory Academy launched in Ethiopia. The AppFactory Academy is in partnership with Wollo University, Kombokcha Institute of Technology campus(KIOT) and Tulane University – CGHE.

AppFactory

The Microsoft AppFactory Academy is an internship program that empowers developers and technology entrepreneurs. The 9th of it’s kind in Africa with others already running in South Africa, Egypt, Rwanda,Nigeria and Ghana. It is aimed at equipping young software developers and coders with hands-on experience, while helping them build critical business skills to secure jobs or create their own businesses. Participants will be mentored by senior software architects and application developers on how to design, implement and manage complex projects.

Microsoft 4Afrika has partnered with Wollo University and Tulane University International – Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE), to launch the AppFactory Academy in Ethiopia. Wollo University will host the academy on its campus and Tulane University CGHE will provide technology mentors to work with the interns on contributing to their current healthcare suite and creating new applications.

Wollo University wants the Ethiopia AppFactory to focus on a different sector each year, starting with healthcare. All applications developed in the AppFactory academy will run on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud platform.

The Wollo University AppFactory Academy

The Academy will focus on certain sectors each year to ensure quality graduates in various disciplines are developed. The focus for this year will be in health care hence the partnership with health care research University, Tulane.

The trainees will spend six months working on real-world software development projects under the mentorship of senior software engineers. At the end of the 6 months, graduates will be able to design, implement and deploy cloud-enabled mobile solutions.

Currently the Microsoft 4Afrika initiative has over 300 graduated developers from the AppFactories. With 90% of the graduates placed in jobs.

I’ll do an update on how to join this program if you are in Ethiopia and interested.  So look forward to this.

UPDATE:

The first intake of this academy was opened to only Wollo University students. There are plans to expand the program in Ethiopia with other universities.

How does anyone interested in the Appfactory academy get to join the program?
There are 2 possible interested groups – 1. Interns who want to join an AppFactory, and 2. Universities who may want to host an AppFactory.
Students can reach out to Wollo University directly.Institutions which will like to host an AppFactory, should reach out to Microsoft 4Afrika.

Are you excited about the program? Have you been a part of the 4Afrika AppFactory program from Microsoft in your country? Share with us your experience.

?: Wollo University

Nigeria FG introduces #PEBECHack Hackathons series to deliver smart solutions to promote Ministry accountability and transparency

Nigeria FG introduces #PEBECHack Hackathons series to deliver smart solutions to promote Ministry accountability and transparency

Nigeria’s federal government council tasked to implement reforms PEBEC, is organizing a series of hackathons, #PEBECHack. Delivering smart solutions to check and promote accountability and transparency in government ministries and agencies.  

#PEBECHack

Are you a developer, coder, engineer, techie, designer with a passion to help make business work in Nigeria and keep government honest? This looks like a great opportunity to help in the development process of the nation. Also win up to 1 million Naira.

The Hackathon series is organized by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC). Set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to implement reforms that would make it progressively easier for small and medium sized businesses to start and thrive in Nigeria.

The first #PEBECHack will focus on developing a tool that will promote accountability and transparency among key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) crucial to the success of Nigeria’s Ease of doing Business reforms.

The competing teams would develop a service management solution that will allow citizens monitor, provide feedback, report, make complaints, and ‘blow-a-whistle’ about the quality of service received from key Federal Government Doing Business MDAs or at strategic locations such as airports, seaports and land borders.

Microsoft is partnering with the Nigerian federal Government and another organizations for this project. Microsoft will be offering Bizspark Startup packages to the top 3 winners of the hackathon.

Interested participants can register as a team of 4 members with different skillsets or an Individual can also register and specify skillset. Selected individuals will be matched with others with different skillsets and placed in teams of 4 members. A total of 10 – 12 teams will be selected in all.
Registration commences on Tuesday May 23, 2017, and ends by midnight on Tuesday June 6, 2017. There would be no further applications after that date.

1st prize winner gets NGN 1 million, 2nd prize NGN 300,000 and 3rd prize NGN 200,000. In addition, Top 3 teams will get Microsoft’s Bizspark + a start-up stand at Techplus conference in July with an opportunity to meet potential investors and promoters.

Visit PEBECHack page to register. All the best to all participants.

Let us know what you think about this initiative in the comments.

Microsoft South Africa hosts Windows 10 Creators Event with a splash of Art

Microsoft South Africa hosts Windows 10 Creators Event with a splash of Art

Microsoft South Africa brought together a number of invited guest to the Artjamming gallery where they talked about technology, art and creativity.

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The event was to share with participant new features released in the Windows 10 Creators Update. Microsoft released Windows 10 Creators Update to the public on April 11th this year. The update is still trickling in so you might not have gotten the update yet. Or you probably have received the notification to update. We shared on how to get the update if you want it now.

Here’s a gist of what was shared with the guests.

Our mission is to empower every person and every organisation to achieve more. Part of that is delivering ongoing innovations in Windows 10.

artjamming

Windows 10 is for everyone. We believe every idea can make an impact and we want Windows 10 to be the place you love to create and play.
Windows 10 Creators Update inspires new ways to build, create, learn, play and transform your ideas.

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Participants also learnt about security in Windows 10 with how Windows defender keeps your PC safe from viruses and malwares. Mixed reality wasn’t left out of the topics.

Read our post on the new features in the Windows 10 Creators update to know more.

Later guests got their creative groove on as they took the challenge of painting some art work.
artjam

 

?’s : MicrosoftSA