Gamescom, YouTube, and Windows 10 news: Softonic Roundup

This week on the Softonic Roundup we give you the highlights of Gamescom, talk about Youtube 301 counter, check in on Cortana, and give our now customary Windows 10 check in. Youtube has made headlines twice last week. Firstly, as you may have noticed, Youtube has launched a new player. This redesign has been in testing since April, and is now available to everyone. The new interface it cleaner and transparent, but the base functions remain the same. The second bit of Youtube news is that they have altered counter display so that it won’t remain sat at 301 if you get a lot of views in a short period. This was to avoid false viewing figures created by bots of paid for views, with Youtube engineers freeze the number after 300 to confirm the number way real. The result of this was that many people saw the counter at 301 in many videos. Now however, Youtube has announced a new system where they count all views that they are confident are real – removing the 301 view count… unless you actually have 301 views. Windows 10 news is a little different this week. For starters, Cortana has just on Android in private beta. Available to those on the windows insider program, it seems that Microsoft’s personal assistant is able to take the place of Google Now. The assumption is that all android users will be able to download Cortana in the next few weeks, with an iOS version coming by the end of the year. Windows 10 seems to be a huge success with, some sources speaking of 25 million activations of the new operating system. One of its most acclaimed developments is the Start Menu has received a design award. Incidentally, this start menu – along with other innovations - is coming to Windows 8.1 RT. Unfortunately of course Windows 8 RT users will not get a free upgrade to Windows 10, but these updates should make up for some of this when they release in September. Finally, for Windows 10 this week, Microsoft has opened the door to Windows code Bridge, the program that makes life easier for iOS developers to port their work to Windows 10. This should see a huge influx of apps to the Microsoft platform, as developers transfer their work from the App Store. At least that’s the hope – figures crossed. Last up this week, we have a quick look at Gamescom. The biggest news from the show for PC gamers is that Microsoft has introduced cross play, allowing Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers to play against each other and share save games between devices. During the conference it was also hinted that purchases could be shared between devices, although in interviews Microsoft stated purchases would be limited to DLC's and in-game purchases, at least for now. Some of the games already confirmed with cross play are Gigagntic, Legends Fable, and Halo Wars 2. Here is hoping this list continues to expand. Other quick hits from Gamescom, include EA’s announcement of a new expansion for The Sims 4. Called Get Together it will add new ways Sims socialize in new locations, like swimming in rivers, playing football, and even having a romp at the bar. Blizzard also announced a new expansion for World of Warcraft, called Legion details are still scares – but there will be a new continent known as the Broken Isles filled with new dungeons and raids, plus a level cap of 110. We will be back next week with more news, see you then.