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A few months after announcing its redesigned Xbox One dashboard, the company has confirmed a release time frame.

Microsoft says Windows 10 will launch for the console in November, powering the dashboard.

Most of the updates around the dashboard are simplifying the design, but there will be speed and performance upgrades, as well along with the integration of Cortana, Microsoft's voice activated digital personal assistant.

For example, you can ask Cortana to record your gaming and then publish it, or start or a party, or plenty of other things without needing to actually move (if you have Kinect, of course).

Seagate has teamed up with Microsoft's Xbox team to make the first external drive designed exclusively for Xbox One or Xbox 360.

The green external device packs 2TB of extra storage to load up with games and other data, and supports USB 3.0 for top performance with Xbox One. Ditching discs and downloading games is convenient in many ways but can present a problem when it comes to capacity. The latest generation of consoles come with at least 500GB of internal storage, but upgrades are necessary sooner than you might think.

The simplest solution is an external storage device. The Seagate Game Drive for Xbox One and Xbox 360 will be ready for data transfer and storage in a matter of seconds, just plug and play.

"Free up space on your console's internal drive while consolidating 50+ Xbox One games into a single location," Seagate's product page reads.

Game Drive goes on sale later this month from Gamespot, Amazon and the other usual suspects, with a MSRP of $109.99 USD.

Are you still waiting for your free upgrade to Windows 10? It may take days or weeks to be ready for you, but if you don't want to wait then maybe this can help.

NOTE: These instructions require that you edit the Windows registry in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, and that you have been offered (and have reserved) your free upgrade. You are completely responsible for your actions. Please also remember that these instructions do not guarantee a flawless upgrade to Windows 10, so make sure to backup ALL of your personal files and be ready to deal with a recovery operation if necessary. All you will learn to do here is force Windows to start the update for you, rather than waiting. We are not responsible for any mistake you make or problem you might encounter.

With that aside, there are several methods floating around that allow you to bypass the waiting period in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, meaning you can begin the upgrade to Microsoft's shiny new consumer OS now. The method shown here only requires that you add or edit a registry value. It worked for us on multiple systems, but we can't guarantee it on every system.

STEP 1 - Open RegEdit and Navigate to OSUpgrade Key

Microsoft has revealed that the sequel to the Halo Wars real-time strategy game will drop during the Fall of 2016.

It is being developed by Creative Assembly (Total War) and will be available on both Xbox One and Windows 10 next fall. Microsoft used its Gamescom media presentation to show off a short video that doesn't provide much information, but we are told it will tout fast-paced action, massive battles, and an all-new Halo story.

The original Halo Wars was released in 2009, developed by the now-closed Ensemble Studios.

Check out the short video:

From the developers of Max Payne and Alan Wake, Quantum Break will arrive on April 5, 2016 and features a star-studded cast.

Quantum Break is part video game, part in-game live-action show, where your in-game choices will affect the outcome of the fast-paced fusion between game and show, "illustrating one story perceived in many ways for a completely unique entertainment experience."

It is being developed by Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne, Alan Wake) and published by Microsoft Studios, and set around a time travel experiment that has gone horribly wrong forcing time itself to break down. The story's three main characters (Jack Joyce, Beth Wilder, and Paul Serene) gain some time manipulation abilities.

It is broken up into segments of gameplay that are followed by an episode of the show.

Quantum Break features a really impressive cast that you will recognize instantly from TV shows:

• Shawn Ashmore ("X-Men: Days of Future Past") as Jack Joyce
• Dominic Monaghan ("Lost") as William Joyce
• Aidan Gillen ("Game of Thrones") as Paul Serene
• Lance Reddick ("Fringe") as Martin Hatch
• Marshall Allman ("True Blood") as Charlie Wincott
• Patrick Heusinger ("Black Swan") as Liam Burke
• Mimi Michaels ("The Ugly Truth") as Fiona Miller
• Amelia Rose Blaire ("True Blood") as Amy Ferraro
• Brooke Nevin as Emily Burke
• Courtney Hope as Beth Wilder
• Jacqueline Pinol as Sofia Amaral
• Jeannie Bolet as Kate Ogawa
• Sean Durrie as Nick Marsters

In this first look at Crackdown 3 we are shown a virtual environment vulnerable to total destruction at the player's will!

Microsoft and developer ReAgent gave a first glimpse of Crackdown 3 at Gamescom 2015 earlier today, in which we can see entire buildings being demolished and causing considerable destruction to their surroundings. The game will feature 100 percent destructible environments, we are told.

The demo shown today included pre-alpha in-game footage, with a 2016 release schedule still the goal.

Give the video from Gamescon a view.

Microsoft has announced a special edition Xbox One bundle to launch a week ahead of Halo 5: Guardians, available to pre-order immediately.

The bundle will be released on October 20, a week ahead of the Halo 5 launch. It includes a uniquely designed Spartan themed Steel Book containing a full game download of Halo 5: Guardians (which can be downloaded immediately but not played until October 27), Warzone REQ Bundle, FOTUS-class armor and multiplayer emblem. It features custom Halo sound effects too.

Inside is a 1TB hard drive to store games and other data, while an Xbox One Chat Headset is also included. The bundle also features a Guardian model by Metal Earth, Halo: The Fall of Reach - Animated Series, and Spartan Locke's Classified Orders.

It is available to pre-order now for $499.99.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will be opening its flagship Microsoft Store in NYC this fall.

The new store will be located at 677 Fifth Avenue, the former location of high-end retailer Fendi.

As with their other retail locations, the store will showcase Windows and Xbox products, as well as accessories.

Apple has expanded its Apple Maps vehicle program, sending out vans to new places like France and Sweden while expanding supported U.S. cities.

The vans are all equipped with cameras and advanced sensors that Apple hopes will improve their mapping service, which is still second-best compared to Google's long standing service. Apple also hopes to improve their 3D imagery and to improve on street level views of locations.

Apple will send out vans to France throughout August, but it is unclear when you might see them in your Swedish town.

In addition, the UK and U.S. will get improved service as a number of cities are already scheduled to be surveyed.

According to new reports, CBS will live stream all the Super Bowl commercials starting next year, meaning you don't have to be next to a TV to get your fix.

Super Bowl 50 is on February 7th, 2016 and each 30 second ad is expected to cost advertisers a mini fortune at $4.5 million.

It also appears that CBS will not let advertisers opt-out of the live streaming, whereas in the past, advertisers had a choice. Many made the same choice in 2015, with just 18 out of 70 putting their commercials online.

The sources also suggested that the live stream will almost be in real-time, with potentially as little as a 20-second delay.

We've gone over Windows 10 in depth here at Afterdawn and the operating system has finally gone live; available as a free upgrade to legitimate Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers in 190 countries.

Says Microsoft: "For Microsoft, Windows 10 begins to deliver on our vision for more personal computing. In this world experiences are mobile, moving with you seamlessly and easily across your devices. Interacting with technology is as natural as interacting with people – using voice, pen, gestures and even gaze for the right interaction, in the right way, at the right time. And in our connected and transparent world, we respect your privacy and help protect your information."

The software giant has been slowly unveiling all the new features of Windows 10, and beta users have been testing it for months now. Microsoft has brought back the Start menu, introduced a new browser (Microsoft Edge), introduced the Cortana voice-activated personal assistant, Windows Hello for biometric security, Continuum to better sync your Windows 10 phone to your desktop and ensured that all your existing apps work with the new operating system.

Perhaps most importantly, Microsoft has finally created an ecosystem that can thrive on your Xbox console, your phone, your PC, your tablet and even on your Raspberry Pi. Until now, Microsoft had become pretty fractured but Microsoft seems to be ready to truly play ball.

The Nintendo Wii U, launched in 2012, has finally reached 10 million units sold.

Nintendo noted the milestone during its quarterly earnings report, which shows that there is still some demand for the console following major blockbuster releases last year like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros.

For the quarter, the company sold 470,000 consoles, lower than expectations but Nintendo says they still expect to sell 3.4 million units worldwide for the fiscal year that ends March 2016.

Many in the industry balked at that projection given the fact that Nintendo has delayed their highly anticipated Zelda title into 2016. Nintendo is now hoping that Super Mario Maker and Yoshi's Woolly World can make up some of the slack.

Gaming hardware company Razer has acquired the carcass of Ouya, including its software, tech and its technical and developer relations teams.

Razer will use Ouya and its team to help expand their own Android TV gaming business, specifically the Forge TV console and its Cortex platform.

Of note, Razer did not acquire the Ouya hardware (the set-top micro-console).

Ouya launched in 2012 after raising $8.5 million on Kickstarter but delays and lack of support ensured it could not compete when bigger players jumped into the industry, companies like Amazon and Google, for starters.

If you had an Ouya account, your games and account will be integrated into Razer's Cortex TV gaming platform. If you still have the hardware, Razer will support you for another year: "There are about 200,000 users on the OUYA platform and for the hardware users, we intend to, out of goodwill (as we didn't acquire the hardware assets), keep the lights on for their gaming service for at least 12 months as we encourage them to migrate to the Razer service which will have a lot more features, new content and new games," said the company. "We will have more follow up announcements soon on the transition to the new service."

Samsung will officially announce their next major product on August 13th at their latest 'Unpacked' event.

The anticipated devices are the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus although Samsung could have some surprises under their hat.

Samsung had previously launched new Note phones in September but this should give consumers a few extra weeks of availability before the next iPhone launches.

OnePlus officially unveiled their upcoming flagship device today during a VR event. The device appears to live up to the hype, and will be available on August 11th.

The device has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, is powered by a custom Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor and 3 or 4GB or RAM depending on the model you choose. The selfie cam clocks in at 5MP while the standard camera is 13MP with OIS and two-tone flash.

Most importantly, OnePlus has managed to keep their margins razor thin and keep the price low, as well, with the 16GB storage/3GB RAM model selling for just $329 and the 64GB/4GB RAM model selling for just $389. Given the fact that the specs match up with any high-end phone out now, the prices are shocking and are about half the price you would pay for an unlocked Galaxy/Nexus/iPhone, etc.

The phone is also the first device to launch with the USB-C connector, so be prepared to buy all-new chargers all over again. As rumored, the phone also has a fingerprint scanner that OnePlus claims boldly is "faster than Apple's."

OnePlus is shipping the phone with Android 5.1 and their own OxygenOS user interface overlay on top.

If you are interested in purchasing, you will need to secure an invite from a OnePlus super fan, or you can sign up for their new waiting list which will offer phones on a first-come-first-served basis.