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It’s officially game over at E3 2018, which means it’s time for us to take stock of the achievements unlocked by the exhibitors at this year’s event. So let’s dive right into it. Microsoft Has Created A New Studio and Bought Four Others For a while now Microsoft has been hamstrung by the low number of marquee exclusive games offered on the XBox. They’ve now taken some big steps towards ameliorating that situation. The Redmond-based company announced at E3 that it is setting up five new studios internally in an effort to create more exclusive titles for the XBox One. Four of those studios will be acquired. The fifth is one, called The Initiative, it’s setting up itself. The studio will be helmed by Darrell Gallagher, who was previously head honcho at Crystal Dynamics, the operation responsible for the Tomb Raider games. Fortnite Made A Controversial Arrival onto The Nintendo…

Many of our good intentions to go greener or support charity are hard to execute and even harder to sustain. In a lot of cases ‘baby steps’ are the answer–small changes that are easy to make and easy to stick to. Like switching to compostable packaging. Or now, something as simple as changing your default search engine. We spoke to Christian Kroll, CEO and Founder of Ecosia, a social startup trying to empower everyone to easily do good. You just search the web, and they plant the trees. Well, there’s a little bit more to it than that… What is your background? What else have you been a part of? I studied Business Administration and was involved in the stock exchange and online trading. I was quite good at it and could’ve made a lot of money, but already during university I realized I didn’t want to work on something corporate…

Self-driving technology is among the sexier technologies out there, but the sector has taken a mildly un-sexy (although still largely appealing) turn lately. The future you envisioned where you sit back in a car as it weaves through traffic all by itself is a little more distant than you might have first thought. Or it might be just as distant as you thought, depending on how sanguine you were of the capabilities of the technology. Either way, it’s clear by now that cars won’t be doing the whole self-driving thing for a while–not unless we’re prepared to risk the lives of anyone who ventures out onto streets. What seems more likely is that the technology will be used to get us groceries and laundry and stuff like that, like a futuristic Postmates. That’s right, it turns out self-driving vehicles will be just as interesting to Amazon and FedEx as they…

Did you know that 3 out of 4 startups won’t be successful? It’s bleak to think about, but the reality is that decisions made during early startup stages can greatly affect if the company succeeds or fails. Read on to learn about six common mistakes made during early startup stages so you know what not to do when it comes to the early stages of your company. 1. Lacking Focus A lot of startups have a great amount of ambition and aim to accomplish big ideas and goals. This is great for brainstorming sessions and boosting team morale, but it can also result in losing focus about the big picture. Startups that lack focus and aim to accomplish too many things often spread themselves too thin and will eventually fizzle out. 2. Overthinking and Analyzing It’s important for startups in their early stages to be decisive, overthinking and analyzing can also backfire and cause…

What’s the back story to how you became the founder and CEO of Elyland, and the creator of Draconius GO?     Back in school and university times, I used to play computer games a lot. Later, I had a retail shop selling computer games on CDs. At the same time, I was an active player of OGame, a browser-based massively multiplayer online game. Later, I decided to create my own first browser-based strategy game; that’s how the Elyland company and the My Lands online strategy game were created. I do not believe in VR. It’s not user-friendly and in the coming years, VR games will not become massive. I thought about creating an AR game long before Pokémon GO. After the release of Pokémon GO, I became their fan and was shocked by the decisions of Niantic: they were steadily killing their game. I thought of sending them an email, offering…

Google–or Alphabet, to be more accurate (it’s hard to get used to that)–is putting Toronto’s eastern waterfront on a fast track to the future. The tech behemoth has announced an initiative as part of which it will transform a 12-acre region of the city into a futuristic smart neighbourhood and large-scale open-air lab experiment. The project is being helmed by Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet subsidiary. Sidewalk Labs is an operation that is finding ways to accelerate urban innovation by running pilot projects that can serve as prototypes for more such enlightened municipalities across the world. Sidewalk Toronto is the first such pilot, for which they’ve partnered with government agency Waterfront Toronto. The $1 billion dollar project aims to transform the physical and digital infrastructure of the neighbourhood of Quayside. Sidewalk Labs will use a combination of technological innovation and community engagement to create what they hope will become a model…

Up until recently, convenience was defined as being able to talk to your appliances to control them. Today however, that’s old news. Home automation is increasingly becoming more advanced, and while devices can’t yet read our minds, they’re getting pretty close. A startup called Intellithings is on the road to launching RoomMe, a patented smart home sensor that detects who has entered a room, syncs with smartphones and other smart home software, and leverages user data and customization to automatically adjust devices to serve preferences around things like temperature, lighting, entertainment and even security. The list of other controllable devices, as you would imagine in the IoT world, is quite extensive; RoomMe can be used to control TVs, lights, thermostats, lamps, cameras, coffee makers, ceiling fans, smart outlets, and window blinds. In essence if it’s a HomeKit, Wink, Nest, SmartThings, or WeMo device, you’re good to go. There’s also iOS and Android SDKs…

Websites are great for showcasing your products and services, however they’re only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to addressing questions and concerns your customers might have. While businesses used to rely on phone and email communications, in today’s rapid society, those solutions aren’t enough. The key to success in today’s competitive landscape is to address customer concerns as soon as they come up. There’s where live chat software, such as SalesIQ comes into play. It enables you to cut call center costs by allowing customer success representatives to communicate with multiple individuals at once. Aside from cutting costs, you’ll also boost customer satisfaction. Now, imagine for a second you were able to go beyond simple conversations and proactively engage prospects when they’re most likely to make a purchase. With SalesIQ, you can trigger chats based on on-page times or targeted landing pages. With built-in geolocation, you can…

According to recent surveys, more Americans are using technology than ever before. This growth in technology has changed the way we work, communicate, and access entertainment. Technology isn’t slowing down, either. Big businesses and startup companies alike are introducing innovative tech advancements that are continuing to change the world. With all these advances and all the noise that comes along with them, it can be hard to know what’s soon to be in the past and what’s bound to define our future. You can be sure that these 5 tech trends are in it for the long haul. And they’re taking us all with them. Artificial Intelligence Will Not Slow Down Since Apple released Siri in 2011, AI personal assistants have become a popular technology trend. Amazon and Google have added variety to the options available to consumers. In 2017, we expect more companies to introduce their own personal assistants to the market. This AI…

The statistics for Lyme Disease are as frightening and getting worse. Around 300,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year, and that number is on the rise. A major issue in the treatment of the disease is that current tests for Lyme in the first month of infection are frequently wrong, meaning that people can wait months or even years to get a correct Lyme diagnosis, and subsequent treatment. And there lies the crux of the treatment problem for Lyme. When diagnosed and addressed early, the infection is treatable. Get to it too late, however, and it can become chronic and result a wide and debilitating range of symptoms, leaving as many as 40 percent of Lyme patients suffering from long-term health problems.   Concerns about the unreliability of Lyme testing have resulted in some state governments in areas heavily affected by the disease requiring…

The tech world is constantly evolving. Ideas that were once considered brilliant have now become obsolete. Some ideas for the future don’t yet have the technology to bring them to life. And some lucky startups hit upon the perfect idea at the perfect time, resulting in tremendous success. Wherever your idea lies on the spectrum, one of your biggest ongoing concerns as a business owner is product growth. Since a dismal three in four startups fail, this is a valid concern. How will you advertise your brand? Who will buy your product? Read on to learn five key ways to drive product growth. Maximize The Relevance & Responsiveness of Your Brand To spur growth, your brand needs to have momentum behind it. How can you create that momentum? Consider the following: How important is your brand’s promise to your customers? Does your product help customers make money or save time? How…

According to the National Federation of the Blind, there are as many as 10 million individuals in the US along who are blind or visually impaired. Unfortunately many of these individuals have to rely on standard canes as their sole source of finding their way around. A Boston-based startup is looking to inject some innovation into the arena with a wearable designed to help the blind navigate their surroundings with more precision and confidence.     The device is called Sunu band and it is the world’s first fully accessible wearable that uses sonar and echolocation technology with precision haptic feedback to augment awareness, perception, and independence.   Sunu band works by emitting a high-frequency ultrasound wave that bounces off objects around the wearer. By measuring the strength of the reflection, it produces a vibration that is stronger or weaker depending on the distance of the object. Sunu band augments…