Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Microsoft has promised that the arrival of Game Mode in Windows 10 Creators Update will improve the performance of games. This sounds great in principle, but how does it work?

Microsoft has already said a little about what's going on, but really it has not gone far beyond saying that more processor and GPU cycles will be dedicated to compatible games. But speaking at the Game Developers Conference this week, Xbox Advanced Technology Group's Eric Walston went into a little more detail.

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Back in November, Microsoft started to talk about its Unified Update Platform (UUP), with the promise that differential packages would lead to a reduction in the size of updates for Windows. Now the company has announced that the same technology means new builds of Windows rolling out to Insiders will also be smaller, and it's something everyone will enjoy from later in the year.

It's an idea that's not entirely removed from the differential sync technique that's due to arrive in OneDrive -- another change that sees Microsoft reducing bandwidth usage. Smaller Windows Update downloads and smaller sizes for major updates to Windows itself will hit the retail version of the operating system from Windows 10 Creators Update onwards.

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Just a few days ago, Google announced that Google Assistant was going to spread to Marshmallow and Nougat smartphones. The wait is already over, as the company has made a follow up announcement in the form of a YouTube video indicating that the rollout starts today.

Google previously told us that Google Assistant will first make its way to the US, followed by Australia, Canada, the UK, and then Germany. The assistant's growing repertoire of talents will soon be little more than a long-press of the home button away.

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is not going to receive her annual bonus this year as the company punishes her for failing to react quickly enough to a security breach in 2014. Her bonus is to be shared between staff instead.

The security breach, followed by another in 2016 involving the use of forged cookies, meant Yahoo's sale to Verizon had to be renegotiated, slashing millions of dollars from the price. The company has revealed that around 32 million user accounts were accessed using forged cookies, and while this is nothing like the 500 million accounts affected by the 2014 breach, it rocked faith in Yahoo and Mayer felt it best to also pass on her stock award.

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It seems like a little while since we heard anything about Windows Holographic, and that's not something that's going to change any time soon. Microsoft is not killing off the project (and HoloLens lives on), but has revealed that it is now going under a new, more descriptive name: Windows Mixed Reality.

The company says that the change of name is a reflection of the fact that there is a broader vision for the platform. It also helps to convey the idea of virtual-reality-meets-augmented-reality that Windows Holographic/Windows Mixed Reality represents. Microsoft also says that the Acer Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition headset is on the verge of shipping.

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Over the years, as the number of megapixels boasted by cameras spirals upwards, file sizes have generally increased. Despite this, many email providers still place a strangely low limit on the size of files that can be sent and received as attachments. With Gmail you can now receive attachments up to 50MB in size.

It's important to note that the new attachment limit only applies to incoming email. Google would much rather you make use of Google Drive if you want to send large files to people.

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Twitter's assault on abusive accounts and its famous problem with trolling was stepped up a gear today as the company announced a series of new measures designed to crack down on harassment.

Having recently introduced account timeouts and refinements to blocking and muting, the company today said it was making it possible to block tweets from Twitter eggs -- those with no profile picture which therefore default to an image of an egg. Other filtering options are available, and algorithms are to be used to automatically identify abusive content.

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Facebook is updating the tools it offers to help try to prevent suicide. Aimed both at those thinking of suicide, and friends and family who are concerned about loved ones, the revamped support tools make use of artificial intelligence and real people to offer help when it is needed most.

This is not the first we have heard about suicide prevention tools from Facebook, and the latest announcement sees the social network taking its "unique position" even more seriously, seeing it as a way to offer help and a means of intervention. It comes after a number of suicides have been streamed via Facebook Live.

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Google Keep may not be something that is used by a huge number of people, but that could be about to change. Google is finally doing something that should have happened from the start -- bringing Keep to G Suite to allow for integration with Docs.

The company has taken the decision to boost its notetaking app to a key member of its cloud app lineup.  Google says that as well as being a G Suite core service when used within a domain, Keep notes can also be accessed from within Google Docs.

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At a meeting with journalists at MWC 2017 in Barcelona, Google's hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, said there are no plans to release any more premium Pixel laptops. We may have seen the last of Google's top-of-the-range Chromebook.

The Pixel name is these days reserved solely for Google range of smartphones. These have proved so popular that the company has struggled to meet demand -- something that also blighted the Nexus phone launched in the past.

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Google has announced a few changes to the Play Store, one of which means that listings for games will be promoted not based solely on the number of downloads. The company is tweaking its algorithms to take into account how much time is spent playing games -- so a game which achieves large numbers of downloads but isn’t played much will drop down the rankings.

Another change that has been a long time coming is the option for developers to list sale prices for their apps and games. While it was previously possible to manually change the price of a title, now devs can list the full and sale price at the same time, so buyers can easily see what savings they are making. New editorial pages are also due to be added to Google Play.

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Gaming can be an expensive business, with games often costing $60. Starting later this spring, however, things are set to get cheaper. Microsoft is about to launch Xbox Game Pass, a $9.99 per month subscription that gives unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games.

Fears that this might just mean access to a substandard set of titles appear to be unfounded -- games such as Halo 5: Guardians, Payday 2, NBA 2K16 and SoulCalibur II are to be found on the list. Microsoft is quick to stress that this is not a streaming service; subscribers will be able to download full games to the console.

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When Facebook first introduced Reactions users were pleased to finally have the chance to be more expressive, rather than simply 'liking' something. But the excitement soon waned when the social network revealed that it didn’t make any difference which Reaction users clicked -- it was simply registered as an interaction.

But now Facebook has revealed that the Reaction you have to individual posts has a greater influence over what appears in your News Feed. A Like registers as a Like, but if you react with Love, Wow, Angry or one of the other reactions, Facebook notes that this is a stronger reaction and tweaks your News Feed accordingly.

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It is really starting to feel as though the days of SMS and MMS are well and truly numbered. Google has already updated its Messenger app, renaming it Android Messages as it aims to branch out into Rich Communication Services, and now Samsung has announced that it's ready to jump in too.

After new tablet announcements at MWC 2017, Samsung says that its acquisition of NewNet Communication Technologies' RCS solution means it is ready to expand its messaging services. Samsung's embracing of RCS will bring features such as group messaging, file transfers and video calls to users and Samsung says its RCS cloud will help mobile operators to quickly roll out new services.

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Mozilla Corporation has loosened its purse strings and splashed an undisclosed sum of money on buying Read It Later, the company behind web service and browser plugin Pocket.

Described as the company's "first strategic acquisition", Mozilla's purchase of Pocket is part of a drive to promote the discoverability and accessibility of online content. Read It Later will clearly benefit from Mozilla's acquisition, and the Firefox producer says that the developer will also help to accelerate its Context Graph initiative.

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