Over the past few days, I've watched my productivity drop (don't tell my boss) a fairly huge amount owing to a sudden explosion of consumer-friendly and highly memeable artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML) tools you might have seen on social media. Services like Craiyon that automatically generate rough AI images based on virtually any input prompt have produced a range of wild and wacky collages across the net, which you can peruse yourself over on subreddits like /r/weirddalle or Twitter accounts like @Dalle2Pics. Chatbots and weird AI-generated art are widely known, but what's perhaps more shocking is this more recent wave of sophistication, and how it is already making its way into the general public's consciousness. And hey, I admit I have a very surface-level understanding of some of this stuff, but my goal here is to try to outline and extrapolate potential applications we could see appear over the course of the Xbox Series X S console generation. After spending hours generating ridiculous AI stories and pictures to bug my friends and co-workers, I began to dig a little more into how it all works, and what the implications could be for practical applications that move beyond simple memery.

If existing styles of wireless earbuds have never quite worked for you, Bose is ready to try a new design. Instead they sit above it, allowing you to get the audio and still hear sounds of everything going on around you. The design looks a little awkward compared to other buds, but Bose claims they'll stay securely positioned in any weather conditions, with loud, clear audio you can hear without blasting it to everyone else. I'll need to see reviews from one of our audio experts before I believe fully in what it's selling, but the possibility of a headset with a better fit is worth a shot. Minecraft Earth players have until June 30th to play the augmented reality title before Microsoft shuts down its servers and it's no longer available to download from app marketplaces.

Microsoft will be shutting down its augmented-reality version of Minecraft, known as Minecraft Earth, beginning in June, 2021, the company said Tuesday. Microsoft blamed the pandemic as a cause, as well as the lack of freedom of movement that the game required. At its core, Minecraft Earth was a game based upon exploration and discovery. During the early days of lockdown, my kids and I would wander around the neighborhood, looking for animals, ores, and dungeons to explore. But Microsoft said that the "current global situation" prevented the free movement and collaborative play that allowed Minecraft Earth to survive.

A little over a year after bringing Minecraft Earth in the US, Microsoft announced this week it will shut down the game later this year. Minecraft Earth players have until June 30th, 2021, to play the augmented reality title before Microsoft shuts down its servers and it's no longer available to download from app marketplaces. Developer Mojang Studios blamed the coronavirus pandemic and all the changes to day-to-day life that have come with it for the shutdown. "Minecraft Earth was designed around free movement and collaborative play – two things that have become near impossible in the current global situation," the studio said. Like Niantic with Pokémon Go, Mojang had tweaked the game to make it easier to play at home.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Microsoft has made Minecraft Earth easier and more appealing to play at home. It introduced "adventure crystals" that spawn where you are, and it improved access to "tappables" that spawn more often and closer to you. Now, Microsoft is making it easier to share Minecraft Earth builds with just a link. When you're ready to share, you can simply navigate to your build of choice and click the share button. The change should allow players to get a bit more social, while staying safe at home.

Minecraft Earth, Microsoft's blocky answer to Pokémon Go, continues to evolve despite still being in Early Access mode. The latest update adds three important new features to challenge players and make it easier to keep track of past feats. Are you up for a Challenge? We've got a HEFTY update for you today, with plenty of new content to sink your pickaxe into! The first Challenge Season is here!

Microsoft's big experiment in real-world augmented reality gaming, Minecraft Earth, is live now for players in North America, the U.K., and a number of other areas. The pocket-size AR game lets you collect blocks and critters wherever you go, undertake little adventures with friends, and of course build sweet castles. I played an early version of Minecraft Earth earlier this year, and found it entertaining and the AR aspect surprisingly seamless. The gameplay many were first introduced to in Pokemon GO is adapted here in a more creative and collaborative way. You still walk around your neighborhood, rendered in this case charmingly like a Minecraft world, and tap little icons that pop up around your character. These may be blocks you can use to build, animals you can collect, or events like combat encounters that you can do alone or with friends for rewards.

Microsoft's big experiment in real-world augmented reality gaming, Minecraft Earth, is live now for players in North America, the U.K., and a number of other areas. The pocket-size AR game lets you collect blocks and critters wherever you go, undertake little adventures with friends, and of course build sweet castles. I played an early version of Minecraft Earth earlier this year, and found it entertaining and the AR aspect surprisingly seamless. The gameplay many were first introduced to in Pokemon GO is adapted here in a more creative and collaborative way. You still walk around your neighborhood, rendered in this case charmingly like a Minecraft world, and tap little icons that pop up around your character. These may be blocks you can use to build, animals you can collect, or events like combat encounters that you can do alone or with friends for rewards.

Six of us are huddled together in Cavendish Square Gardens in central London, fighting a horde of warrior skeletons. To passersby, however, we must look like a bunch of adults pointing our smartphones at nothing while shouting about incoming monsters. What we're doing is playing a beta version of Minecraft Earth, an augmented reality (AR) spinoff from the multimillion-selling block-building game – and very soon, parks all over the world will be filled with people just like us. This month, Minecraft is launching an early-access version of the game in a select few territories around the world, ahead of a global roll-out. Microsoft has yet to reveal exactly when and where, but soon thousands of fans used to playing on their console, PC or tablet, are going to be taking their creations to the streets.

Amid a slew of updates to iPhones, Macs and iPads, another tech giant took to the stage at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference to show off the latest version of Minecraft. Microsoft gave WWDC attendees a first look at the new Minecraft Earth augmented reality game, which takes after Pokémon Go to let users create immersive virtual environments in the real world. Thanks to Apple's ARKit, users can build 3D castles, fight off lifelike creepers that sneak up on them and feed virtual chickens through their iPhone. Microsoft first announced Minecraft Earth earlier this year, but the demo during WWDC on Monday marked the first in-depth look at the interactive game. Developers Lydia Winters and Saxs Persson from Mojang, Microsoft's game development studio, came onstage to show how Minecraft Earth works.