Nest Aware might be coming to you Google One subscription

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Nest Aware might be coming to you Google One subscription
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Google One is the company’s premium subscription service that offers additional cloud storage and a few other perks. Well, thanks to an APK deep-dive, we now know of another perk that could be coming to the service. According to the report, Google may add Nest Aware to Google One.

This news comes shortly after Google announced the Google One AI Premium plan. This is a plan to get if you want to use Gemini Advanced, the most advanced chatbot provided by Google. The service costs $19.99/month. At the time of writing this article, you can get two months of the service for free.

Nest Aware might be made available through Google One

Most companies that offer subscription services throw in additional perks to entice more users. Subscription to YouTube Premium also includes a subscription to YouTube Music. That’s just one example. When it comes to Google One, the service offers additional perks along with more cloud storage. This can include perks like 10% back on Google Store purchases, VPN Services, better customer support, Etc.

Well, according to 9To5Google, there are some strings sitting within the latest version of the Google Home app (version 3.13). These strings allude to Nest Aware being made available through a Google One subscription. One string includes the text, “Nest Aware subscription included in your Google One Plan. You can add more video history through Google One.” Another one has the text, “Nest Aware Plus subscription added to your Google One plan.”

The typical Nest Aware subscription costs $8/month. With it, you’re able to preserve and view 30 days’ worth of video history. With the Nest Aware Plus plan ($15/month), that gets boosted to 60 days.

This transition could come with some complications

It appears that you might have to contact customer support when transitioning to the Google One Subscription. One string has to text “Your old subscription was successfully replaced but it may still be active.\n\nContact support to check if your cancellation and refund is successful. You may continue paying for your old subscription if it was not canceled.”

That’s a bit odd. People’s subscriptions could be moved over to Google One, but they run the risk of continuing to pay for their old subscription along with the new subscription. So, to check and see if their old subscription was shut down, they’ll have to contact support. That seems poorly handled on Google’s part. Another string in the code points to an error message you receive if Google detects that you’re paying for an old subscription that’s not being used.

A bit of good news is that Google will be handing out refunds for people who have an active Nest Aware subscription and move over to Google One.

At this point, we’re still waiting for more details to come out. Since this is an APK deep-dive, you don’t want to take this news 100% to heart. The company could change or shelf this whole thing altogether.


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Bose Ultra Open earbuds launched with a stylish open-ear design

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Bose Ultra Open earbuds launched with a stylish open-ear design
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Bose has officially launched the Ultra Open earbuds. As the name suggests they feature an open-ear design that does not obstruct the ear canal completely. The latest audio device was initially announced last month in collaboration with fashion and lifestyle brand Kith. The Ultra Open come three years after the Sport Open earbuds in 2021. Open-ear design earbuds could be the next big thing in the TWS segment. Huawei launched the FreeClip last month.

Bose Ultra Open are now official

The design of the Bose Ultra Open earbuds is in such a way that the user stays fully aware of their surroundings while listening to their content. This makes them ideal for athletes and those who don’t want to experience discomfort caused by earbuds and headphones.

The Bose Ultra Open are stylish and fashionable. They ditch the silicone or memory foam tips commonly found on most TWS earphones. The flexible joint or arm as called has a soft silicone coating to gently rest on the user’s skin. There’s also a round barrel that sits behind the user’s ears. It has a button for controlling the music playback and accessing other features. Bose says that the Ultra Open offers a cuff-like fit for all-day wear. They hang out of the ear and almost look like earrings.

Bose Ultra Open
The Bose Ultra Open’s design looks G-shaped

The earbuds pack premium audio features but lack ANC

The Bose Ultra Open earbuds have the company’s signature OpenAudio technology that delivers high-quality and private audio only to the wearer. There is also a Bose Immersive Audio feature that creates a spatial effect and makes it seem like the sound is playing in the room around the user instead of through the earbuds. Users can choose this feature in Still mode when they are sitting still or Motion mode when they are out and moving.

The Bose Ultra Open earbuds come with Snapdragon Sound technology and Qualcomm aptX Adaptive codec. This helps the audio device to deliver lossless audio streaming and seamless connectivity with devices. Based on the user’s surroundings, the Ultra Open can automatically adjust the volume level. Other features of the earbuds include Google Fast Pair, IPX4 water-resistant rating, Bluetooth 5.3 (no multipoint connectivity), and the ability to pair with Bose select soundbars and speakers.

The Bose Ultra Open earbuds are rated to deliver 7.5 hours of playback on a single charge. The battery life drops to 4.5 hours with the Immersive Audio feature enabled. The total battery life extends to 19.5 hours with the charging and storage case.

Bose Ultra Open earbuds pricing and availability

The Bose Ultra Open earbuds carry a price tag of $299. They are available in Black and White color options. The audio device can be purchased from the company’s official website and select retailers starting today.

Bose Ultra Open case


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Galaxy Z Fold 6’s rumored camera upgrade may not materialize

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Galaxy Z Fold 6’s rumored camera upgrade may not materialize
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Yesterday, a report surfaced that Samsung plans to equip the Galaxy Z Fold 6 with a 200MP main camera, the same as the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, the plan may not have materialized, at least not yet. A noted industry source claims the company is currently testing the new foldable with a 50MP primary camera at the back, which means no upgrade over the Fold 5.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 may not get a camera upgrade

Samsung hasn’t upgraded its flagship camera hardware in recent years. It has been using the 50MP ISOCELL GN3 sensor as the primary shooter on the smaller two Galaxy S models since 2022. The Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S24, and Galaxy S24+ all feature this camera. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 also use the same sensor, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra have a 200MP main camera.

Over the past few months, there have been conflicting reports about the camera setup of the Galaxy Z Fold 6. While some said Samsung will keep the camera hardware unchanged, others hinted at an upgrade. Most recently, a noted tipster claimed that the new foldable could end up getting the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 200MP shooter. It would have been a massive upgrade but chances look slim, at least according to the latest report.

GalaxyClub, which has a reputable track record of Samsung leaks, reports that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is currently undergoing tests with a 50MP camera, the same as the Fold 5. In fact, the Korean firm may not upgrade any of the five cameras on the new foldable. We are looking at a 12MP ultrawide lens, a 4MP under-display selfie camera on the inside, and a 10MP selfie camera on the outside.

The publication couldn’t confirm the specs of the telephoto zoom camera. However, there’s little chance Samsung will upgrade it. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 may ship with the same 10MP 3x optical zoom camera as the Fold 5 or the Galaxy S24 lineup (the Ultra model has a second 50MP 5x optical zoom camera). Unless Samsung changes things down the line, a camera upgrade may not be on the cards for the new foldable.

The phone may feature a bigger battery

Rumors say Samsung will make the Galaxy Z Fold 6 slimmer and wider than the Fold 5. It is also planning to increase the battery capacity. The firm has already picked up a regulatory certification for the foldable’s battery, but details are missing. We should see more leaks and rumors about the new Fold in the coming months. The device will debut alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 6 in the second half of 2024.


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OpenAI is working on GPT-5, and it will be “better at everything”

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OpenAI is working on GPT-5, and it will be “better at everything”
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The World Government Summit just happened in Dubai. Speaking at the summit was OpenAI CEO Sam Alton. He dropped some news about the next-generation GPT model the company is working on. According to reports, Sam Altman talked about GPT-5, and how it’s going to be “better at everything.”

Just recently, OpenAI announced Sora. This is the company’s AI text-to-video generator. It was able to create some extremely realistic videos that could fool most people. Currently, it can produce up to 1-minute long clips based on text input. Right now, the company is only testing this internally, so people in the general public cannot use it.

Sam Altman talks about GPT-5

The World Government Summit just happened, and we got a little bit of insight into what OpenAI is planning on doing next. The company already has GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo. These are the most powerful AI models that are available to the public. Under those, there’s GPT 3.5, which users can access with a free ChatGPT account.

Right now, all these models are extremely powerful and capable of deep understanding and reasoning. So, it’s hard to imagine that the company could push things even further. However, according to Sam Altman, it’s “going to be better at everything across the board.” That’s to be expected, but we’re all wondering how much better it will be. Obviously, every Leap forward makes AI more comparable to human intelligence. An AI that’s as smart as a human is called AGI (artificial general intelligence).

As for how much more powerful GPT-5 will be compared to GPT-4, when it’s coming out, where it’ll be available, and whether it will give human beings a run for their money is yet to be seen. We’re certain that the company is doing some very early testing with this model. One bit of information that we have about its capabilities is that, via Microsoft, GPT-5 can decipher a 3,000-year-old language that no person in today’s society can understand. 

As for speculation, we’re pretty certain that will include image generation via DALL-E, video generation via Sora, and possibly audio generation. However, that remains to be seen. We know that it’s going to be multimodal, so it’s possible that it’s going to be true.

And “Gobi” is its name-o

Currently under the code name “Gobi”. We don’t have an exact release date, but the company does plan on releasing it sometime this year. Seeing as chatGPT originally launched in November of 2022, maybe the company will stick to releases around that time frame. That, along with everything else about gp5 remains to be seen.


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Israeli NSO Group Suspected of “MMS Fingerprint” Attack on WhatsApp

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Israeli NSO Group Suspected of “MMS Fingerprint” Attack on WhatsApp
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NSO Group, an Israeli spyware firm, is suspected of exploiting a novel “MMS Fingerprint” attack to target unsuspected users on WhatsApp, exposing their device information without needing user interaction.

Swedish telecom security firm Enea reports that the Israeli NSO Group, targeted journalists, human rights activists, lawyers, and government officials with a novel MMS Fingerprint attack by exploiting a vulnerability in WhatsApp.

The report that the company shared with Hackread.com on Thursday 15, 2023, WhatsApp discovered a vulnerability in its system in May 2019, allowing attackers to install Pegasus spyware on users’ devices. The flaw was then exploited to target government officials and activists globally. WhatsApp sued NSO Group for this exploitation, but appeals failed in the US appeal court and Supreme Court.

The attack, reportedly used by NSO Group, was discovered in a contract between the Israeli agency’s reseller and the telecom regulator of Ghana, which can be viewed in lawsuit documents here (PDF).

Enea launched an investigation to find out how an MMS fingerprint attack occurs. They discovered that it can reveal the target device and OS version without user interaction by sending an MMS.

The MMS UserAgent, a string that identifies the OS and device (such as a Samsung phone running Android), can be used by malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities, tailor malicious payloads, or craft phishing campaigns.

Surveillance companies often request device information, but UserAgent may be more useful than IMEI. It’s important to note that MMS UserAgent is different from browser UserAgent, which has privacy concerns and changes.

The problem, according to Enea’s report, was not in the Android, Blackberry, or iOS devices but in the complex, multi-stage MMS flow process. The MMS flow examination suggested this was launched possibly through another method involving binary SMS.

For your information, MMS standards designers worked on a way to notify recipient devices of an MMS waiting for them without requiring them to be connected to the data channel. MM1_notification.REQ uses SMS, a binary SMS (WSP Push), to notify the recipient MMS device’s user agent that an MMS message is waiting for retrieval.

The subsequent MM1_retrieve.REQ is an HTTP GET to the URL address, which includes user device information, which was suspected to be leaked and potentially lifted the MMS fingerprint.

Researchers obtained sample SIM cards from a randomly selected Western European operator and successfully sent MM1_notification.REQs (binary SMSs), setting the content location to a URL controlled by their web server.

The target device automatically accessed the URL, exposing its UserAgent and x-wap-profile fields. A Wireshark decode of the MMS notification and GET revealed how an attacker would execute an “MMS Fingerprint” attack, demonstrating it was possible in real life.

Israeli NSO Group Suspected of "MMS Fingerprint" Attack on WhatsApp
Enea’s report outlines the stages in an MMS flow and provides insight into the initial attack notification sent to the target. (Screenshot: ENEA)

The attack highlights the ongoing threat to the mobile ecosystem. Binary SMS attacks have been steadily reported over the last 20 years, highlighting the need for mobile operators to evaluate their protection against such threats.

To prevent the attack, disabling MMS auto-retrieval on mobile devices can help, but some devices may not allow modification. On the network side, filtering Binary SMS/MM1_notification messages can be effective. If a malicious binary SMS message is received, it is essential to prevent messages from connecting to attacker-controlled IP addresses.

  1. Israeli spyware hacked phones of journalists globally
  2. iShutdown Tool Detects Pegasus Spyware on iOS Devices
  3. Fake WhatsApp clone aim at crypto on Android and Windows
  4. WhatsApp OTP Scam Allows Scammers to Hijack Your Account
  5. iPhones of State Dept officials hacked by NSO Pegasus spyware

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Microsoft Exchange vulnerability actively exploited

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Microsoft Exchange vulnerability actively exploited
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As it turns out, there was another actively exploited vulnerability included in Microsoft’s patch Tuesday updates for February.

When Microsoft said in its update guide for CVE-2024-21410 that the vulnerability was likely to be exploited by attackers, they weren’t kidding. Soon after they changed the status to “Exploitation Detected”.

Today, I was alerted to the fact after spotting a warning by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) about the same vulnerability, Something the BSI does not do lightly.

The Exchange vulnerability is listed in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database as CVE-2024-21410, an elevation of privilege vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10.

Microsoft’s description of the vulnerability is a bit more revealing:

“An attacker could target an NTLM client such as Outlook with an NTLM credentials-leaking type vulnerability. The leaked credentials can then be relayed against the Exchange server to gain privileges as the victim client and to perform operations on the Exchange server on the victim’s behalf.”

In a Windows network, NTLM (New Technology LAN Manager) is a suite of Microsoft security protocols intended to provide authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users. An attacker being able to impersonate a legitimate user could prove to be catastrophic.

Microsoft Exchange Servers, and mail servers in general, are central communication nodes in every organization and as such they are attractive targets for cybercriminals. Being able to perform a pass-the-hash attack would provide an attacker with a paved way into the heart of the network.

As part of the update, Microsoft has enabled Extended Protection for Authentication (EPA) by default with the Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 14 (CU14). Without the protection enabled, an attacker can target Exchange Server to relay leaked NTLM credentials from other targets (for example Outlook).

If you are running Exchange Server 2019 CU13 or earlier and you have previously run the script that enables NTLM credentials Relay Protections then you are protected from this vulnerability. However, Microsoft strongly suggests installing the latest cumulative update.

Last year, Microsoft introduced Extended Protection support as an optional feature for Exchange Server 2016 CU23.

If you are unsure whether your organization has configured Extended Protection, you can use the latest version of the Exchange Server Health Checker script. The script will provide you with an overview of the Extended Protection status of your server.

Our business solutions remove all remnants of ransomware and prevent you from getting reinfected. Want to learn more about how we can help protect your business? Get a free trial below.


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Galaxy Z Fold 4, Flip 4 & Tab S9 get February update in the US

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Galaxy Z Fold 4, Flip 4 & Tab S9 get February update in the US
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Another day, another batch of Samsung devices gets the February update. The company has released the latest security patch for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 globally, including in the US. The Galaxy Tab S9 series is also picking up the new SMR (Security Maintenance Release) stateside.

Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 grab Samsung’s February update

Earlier today, Samsung released the much-awaited first update for the Galaxy S24 series. It brought the February security patch, bug fixes, and performance improvements. While this update has yet to reach the US, we can confirm the availability of the latest SMR for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 here.

As of this writing, the new security patch is rolling out to the factory-unlocked variants of the 2022 foldable duo. The new firmware build number for the Fold model is F936U1UES4EXAD, while that for the Flip is F721U1UES4EXAD. The update should soon be available for carrier-locked variants in the US.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 are also picking up the February security patch in other markets. The build numbers for Korean versions are F936NKSS2EXAF and F721NKSS2EXAF, respectively. For the rest of the world (excluding China and Canada), they are F936BXXS5EXAB and F721BXXS5EXAB, respectively.

Regardless of the build number, the changelog for the update is the same globally. “The security of your device has been improved,” the only entry in Samsung’s official release notes states. This means the devices aren’t getting anything more than this month’s security patch. The February SMR fixes 69 vulnerabilities across all Galaxy devices.

Note that Samsung has already pushed the February update to its third-gen and fifth-gen foldables globally. This leaves the original Flip and the Fold 2 as the only Galaxy foldables left to update. Since these devices are no longer eligible for monthly security patches, they may or may not pick up the latest release.

The new security patch is available for the Galaxy Tab S9 series

The Galaxy Tab S9 series joins the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in Samsung’s February update party, which already includes dozens of smartphones. Both the flagship lineup and the FE (Fan Edition) models are picking up the latest security patch in the US. The build numbers for the new tablets end with “BXA8”. A global rollout should be just around the corner. Like Galaxy phones, these tablets are also only getting this month’s security fixes with this update.


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New York City files a lawsuit against social media platforms over youth mental health crisis

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New York City files a lawsuit against social media platforms over youth mental health crisis
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Wednesday that the city filed a lawsuit against TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube for their “damaging influence on the mental health of children.”

The City of New York, the New York Department of Education, and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation have jointly filed the lawsuit with the California Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that social media companies intentionally design their apps to be as addictive as possible to teens. The city officials also blame social platforms for children’s poor school performance.

“Our city is built on innovation and technology,” said Mayor Adams. “But many social media platforms end up endangering our children’s mental health, promoting addiction, and encouraging unsafe behavior.”

The plaintiffs also demand that social platforms change their behavior and compensate for their damaging impact on public health. The state of New York claims it spends over $100 million on youth mental health programs and services a year.

Social platforms respond to the New York City allegations

Meanwhile, all social platforms in the New York City lawsuit responded to the allegations and emphasized their firm will to protect children. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Axios that the company has “spent a decade working on these issues and hiring people who have dedicated their careers to keeping young people safe and supported online.”

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the tech firm is working with youth, mental health, and parenting experts to provide its youth users with age-appropriate experiences. TikTok and Snapchat also alluded to their parental tools and procedures to keep children safe.

US might need federal laws to protect public mental health on social media

The declining youth mental health and social media’s impact on making it worse is a hot topic of debate among US lawmakers. Back in November, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to assess the impact of social media on teen mental health. The Senate also held a hearing for Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord, and X (formerly Twitter) CEOs in January to discuss kids’ mental health on social media.

There is no federal law yet to protect children’s mental health in online environments. As a result, filing lawsuits is the only remaining way for states to keep social media companies accountable.


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This Google Pixel Fold 2 concept looks great & is based on a leak

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This Google Pixel Fold 2 concept looks great & is based on a leak
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The Google Pixel Fold 2 appeared in a leaked image quite recently. That image did cover the phone’s backplate, so the vast majority of details were hidden. The shape of the rear cameras and the front side design were shown, though. Well, a Google Pixel Fold 2 concept has just appeared, and it actually looks great.

A Google Pixel Fold 2 concept is here, and it’s based on a recently leaked image

This concept is obviously based on that leaked image of the phone. You’ll notice that the camera shape is the same, but the designer had to fill in the gaps. Some really nice shots are shown in the video embedded below the article, while we also took some screenshots for your viewing pleasure. Those are also included below.

You’ll immediately notice that the entire shape of the device is different compared to the original Pixel Fold. The original Pixel Fold was quite wide and short, while this phone is narrower and taller, like most other book-style foldables in the market. That’s what’s expected out of the actual Pixel Fold 2, by the way.

In any case, the phone is shown in black and blue colors here, inspired by Google’s actual phone colors. On the back, you’ll notice an oval camera island, with two pill-shaped cutouts for the phone’s rear cameras and sensors.

The camera is not visible on the main display, and the bezels are very thin

Three cameras seem to be included on the back, and one selfie camera on the cover display. There doesn’t seem to be a camera included on the main display, or it sits under it. In any case, it’s not visible in these renders.

The bezels around both the main and cover displays are quite thin, which is nice to see, as the Pixel Fold was rather weird when it comes to bezels, especially around its main display.

Google is expected to announce the Pixel Fold 2 later this year. The device will most likely arrive in May, as that’s when the first-gen model launched last year. We’re only guessing, as Google could change its plans and push back the launch.


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Microsoft is bringing four Xbox-exclusive games to rival consoles

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Microsoft is bringing four Xbox-exclusive games to rival consoles
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Microsoft is bringing Xbox-exclusive games to its rival consoles. The Redmond-based company’s Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed that they have made the decision to release four games on Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. This announcement was shared in an official Xbox podcast. The development could turn out to be big in the gaming industry with the days of console wars about to be over from Xbox’s side. This is because video game players are attached to their specific consoles.

Microsoft confirms that it will release Xbox-exclusive games to other consoles

The decision to bring games exclusive to Xbox on other consoles is said to be a part of a broader strategy shift inside Microsoft’s gaming business. Spencer believes that over the next five or ten years games exclusive to one piece of hardware will be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry.

Spencer refrains from revealing the names of the four titles that will be released. However, Microsoft says that two are community-driven games while the other two are smaller titles. Citing sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans, The Verge reports that the first two games could be Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment. They will be followed by Sea of Thieves and Grounded. Furthermore, the executive confirms that Starfield and Indiana Jones are not a part of the list. However, their potential arrival on PS5 in the future is not ruled out. Both games were previously rumored for Sony’s console and indicated Microsoft’s ambitious plans for multiplatform games.

More exclusive titles could make their way to other consoles in the future

For years Microsoft has been releasing games across platforms and consoles. In the podcast, Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty revealed the cross-platform success of Fortnite and Roblox. In an interview with The Verge, Spencer says that the video game industry should not rule out a game going to another platform. Microsoft is focused on the aforementioned four games and learning from the experience.

It seems that Microsoft wants to make its games available for as many players as possible. However, not every Xbox-exclusive game will suddenly make its way to rival consoles. Spencer did seemingly confirm the possibility of more multiplatform games with the Bethesda and Activision Blizzard lineup.

Meanwhile, the podcast also teased the arrival of the next-gen Xbox with the largest technical leap.


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