Microsoft is unveiling a new Xbox PC app that launches "up to 60 percent faster" than before, with an overhauled design to match new updates to Xbox Cloud Gaming on the web and smart TVs. Xbox Insiders will be able to start testing the updated Xbox PC app today, and the updated Xbox Cloud Gaming interface will start rolling out over the next few weeks.

Ever since Microsoft launched its Xbox Ally handheld devices last year, it was clear the Xbox PC app still needed a lot of work to feel more like an Xbox console experience on Windows. Microsoft has greatly simplified the app now, with a design that no longer feels like you're clicking a mous …

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I revealed yesterday that the new Xbox Nano controller supports a Wi-Fi connection directly to Xbox Cloud Gaming, and now Microsoft is making it official today. Two new Xbox previews will let players try out using a phone as a controller on smart TVs, as well as cloud connect on the Xbox Nano to connect directly to cloud servers.

"Instead of a Bluetooth connection to your TV, cloud connect uses your Wi-Fi to connect directly to the cloud server running your game," says the Xbox team. "That can help reduce input latency, so gameplay may feel more responsive."

Players in the US will be able to preview the new cloud connect option for the Xbo …

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Microsoft is about to launch its new Xbox Nano controller tomorrow, and the tiny device has a little secret. The Nano can connect directly to Xbox Cloud Gaming over Wi-Fi to improve latency. It's a feature Microsoft hasn't officially announced yet, but one I've been anticipating since the Xbox Nano leaked earlier this year.

The Nano will be able to connect directly to Microsoft's cloud servers to reduce latency, much like how Google's Stadia controllers used to work. This new cloud connect feature for the Nano is being privately tested on the new Xbox Cloud Gaming website, and it will require you to pair the controller over Wi-Fi to Microso …

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Even though I knew Microsoft's new Xbox Nano controller was tiny, I still gasped when I unboxed it a few days ago. The compact controller is small enough to slip into a pocket unnoticed, and it has been designed specifically for younger people, or for anyone with smaller hands.

I'm not young, but I do have small hands, and I've been surprised at how comfortable the Nano is during gaming sessions. At just over 5 inches long, almost everything on this controller has been shrunk down somehow. The ABXY buttons are ever so slightly smaller than a regular Xbox controller, and the thumbsticks feel like miniature versions. Microsoft hasn't changed …

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Bethesda is officially confirming today that the next Elder Scrolls game will be called The Elder Scrolls VI Sentinel. The confirmation came in a less than 10-minute video celebrating 40 years of Bethesda game studios.

It's been more than eight years since Bethesda officially announced the existence of the sixth game in its Elder Scrolls series, and studio chief Todd Howard made the announcement today and called it the "perfect time" to fully name the game.

Bethesda isn't sharing any more details on The Elder Scrolls VI Sentinel today, though. The Xbox Wire press release on the name is literally just a picture of the logo.

I reported in …

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Xbox's former chief operating officer, Helen Chiang, suddenly left Microsoft less than two weeks ago after being promoted into the role in July. I wrote in my Notepad newsletter last week that it seemed very weird for Chiang to suddenly depart Microsoft after 21 years with a surprisingly short memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. Now, Chiang says she has "serious concerns" about how she was treated.

In a lengthy LinkedIn post - entitled "Clarity is Kindness," a reference to Sharma's WSJ profile - Chiang doesn't dispute that she was fired, but she doesn't say why she was let go. Eurogamer reported last month that Chiang had been "terminated for p …

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To anyone listening closely to what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been saying over the past couple of years, this week felt like the clearest sign yet that AI is about to fundamentally change the size of Microsoft's workforce. Microsoft is now offering voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees across the US, UK, Canada, and India.

It's the first time the company has presented such an offer to so many employees, expanding greatly upon the retirement offer that was limited to around 9,000 employees earlier this year. It's all part of an ongoing effort to avoid reducing investment in AI infrastructure by lowering Microsoft's operating cos …

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Xbox's first chief operating officer (COO) is leaving after the new role was created just a few months ago. Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today, according to an internal Xbox memo seen by The Verge. Chiang has been at Microsoft for 21 years, serving as the head of Minecraft before being promoted to Xbox chief operating officer in July.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced Chiang's departure in a surprisingly short memo today. "Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today. I'm grateful for her years of service and wish her well," said Sharma. As Chiang is departing today, her immediate responsibilities are being split up between other Xbox leaders …

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Fortune dropped a bombshell report on the future of gaming this week. According to the publication's Microsoft insiders, the next Xbox is projected to cost between $1,200 and $1,800 when it arrives in 2028.

My first reaction: The next Xbox is dead on arrival. It's DOA.

My second thought: Microsoft knows people won't pay that much. It couldn't possibly charge that much money if it wants next gen to be a success. "I wouldn't release it at all," former Microsoft exec Mike Ybarra recently said.

My third thought: Didn't Microsoft already say out loud that it knows people won't pay that much?

• Didn't old Xbox boss Phil Spencer say "We're no …

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