Much like the Windows Insider program, the Xbox Insider members can test out upcoming features on their Xbox One before they go live for the masses. Now, Microsoft has announced plans to open up admissions to anyone who wants to opt in.
Previously, only certain Xbox Live members were invited to take part in these tests, according to a report from Gamespot. The doors are now being flung wide open for everyone, but there are certain tiers to the program that determine what individuals will get access to.
The basic group is labeled Omega, and will be used to test minor tweaks to the most recent monthly update. Members of the Omega group will typically get those monthly updates a little earlier than the bulk of users.
Then there’s the Delta group, which is open to anyone who has been an Xbox Insider for more than a month, and has attained Xbox Insider Level 2 or higher by participating and providing feedback. These testers might get to tinker with new features ahead of time, but not all of them will receive the same updates simultaneously.
The next step up is the Beta group, which is open to any Xbox One owner who has been an Insider for over three months, and is sitting at Insider Level 4 or higher.
The zenith of the Insider hierarchy is the Alpha group, which is invite-only. Beta and Delta group members who provide a lot of feedback, issue clear instructions on how to reproduce problems, and are particularly active will sporadically be given the opportunity to graduate to Alpha.
However, there’s a caveat to these tests: If your internet bandwidth is a concern, the higher tiers might not be a good idea. The Alpha ring will receive around 15 to 20 updates a month, which could tear through as much as 60 and 80 GB of bandwidth. Lower tiers aren’t quite so intensive, with the Omega group expected to use between 4 and 32 GB across up to eight updates.
For more details on the Insider program, as well instructions on how to sign up, check out the announcement post published this week via Xbox Wire.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.