Fully Charged: Dead Island 2 drops its developer, and Microsoft’s foldable keyboard is out
All the morning's top tech news, conveniently wrapped up in our breezy roundup
Dead Island 2 scraps its maker
This is rarely a good situation: publisher Deep Silver has punted Dead Island 2 developer Yager Development. The publisher issued a statement, saying, "With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve. After careful consideration, today we announce the decision to part ways with development partner Yager."
It’s unclear what led to this decision or what it means for the game, although it’s likely that Dead Island 2 will be retooled if not fully restarted if a new developer takes over. Yager’s had a better run of late than Dead Island, to be honest: Yager made the cult favorite Spec Ops: The Line and is behind this year’s anticipated Dreadnought, while last year’s Escape Dead Island was ravaged in reviews and the free-to-play Dead Island: Epidemic took flak for its paid beta test.
Still, it’s surprising to see a public parting like this. We’re sure to hear more details in the days and weeks to come, but hopefully the move ends up being for the best for all involved – including fans of Dead Island. Eventually, at least.
[Source: Polygon]
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Microsoft’s foldable keyboard releases
Microsoft has become surprisingly platform agnostic with its mobile software, releasing apps on iOS and Android at a rapid pace – and it’s starting to do the same with hardware too. The very neat Universal Foldable Keyboard, which was introduced at MWC back in March, is now available for purchase, and it works with iOS, Android, and Windows devices alike.
Priced at £100/US$100, the Bluetooth keyboard folds in half and magnetically clasps together for easy transportation, plus it can stay connected to two devices at once – so if you have a Windows Phone and iPad handy, for example, you can flip a switch to swap between them with the keyboard. We’re looking forward to spending more time with it now that it’s available.
[Source: SlashGear]
Movie Batman in Arkham Knight
The Batgirl: A Matter of Family add-on for Batman: Arkham Knight released yesterday, but Warner Bros. isn’t going to let a moment pass without putting something else on the horizon. And fans of the first Batman movie, take note. Season pass owners will be able to download the Batman skin and Batmobile inspired by 1989’s Batman film, along with a couple of tracks based on sequel Batman Returns.
Warner will also release a Bat-family skins pack then that includes 1990s Catwoman, One Year Later Robin, Arkham Origins Batman, Iconic Grey & Black Batman, 1970s Batman, and Original Arkham Nightwing (all descriptors theirs). All that stuff is coming in August, and it’ll surely all be sold separately as well. However, it probably won’t hit the PC version until later, since all DLC is on hold for that platform until the game’s extensive problems are fixed.
[Source: GamesPress]
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TiVo adds Apple TV streaming
TiVo has finally addressed a longstanding complaint with its DVR service: the inability to use the iOS app to mirror recorded content to an Apple TV for viewing. Thanks to an update released yesterday, TiVo Stream, Roamio Plus, and Roamio Pro users can watch their recordings via AirPlay on an Apple TV, offering another option for catching up on your epic TV backlog.
[Source: 9to5Mac]
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