Blizzard Entertainment Brings Back Battle.net with a Twist

It's Tuesday August 15th and the folks over at Blizzard Entertainment, makers of obscure video games such as World of Warcraft and Overwatch, may have heard of those, are bringing back battle.net, its online platform and storefront. Well, sorta one of those cases where it seems the marketing department may have had a bit too much to drink at happy hour. Battle.net is back but it will be known as Blizzard battle.net, which, tough relieved roll off the tongue as well. First launched way back in 1996, battle.net was the portal through which gamers registered and sort of became the key platform for Blizzard to communicate with users and fans.

However, last fall The Verge says Blizzard started moving away from the network, preferring to use Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook for outreach that didn't sit very well with many fans. And now, the company is returning to battle.net as it were, but with some extra Blizzard in tow. Remember the Apple watch? Yes, it's still for sale and according to CNBC, Cupertino is holding super secret meetings with insurance giant Aetna to get to watch on the wrist of millions of their customers over 50,000 Aetna staffers are to get them as work perks so moving on to customers seems logical but what's the point of those customers? Are not iPhone users? Ahaha that could be the real story.

Recent rumors have suggested that Apple will soon debut a new generation of the Apple watch that will work as a standalone device that doesn't need an iPhone for internet and maybe even self-service connectivity if that Apple watch does come to fruition, it could mark a massive turning point in the Apple watch's market and a possible money saver for Aetna and other insurance companies. For example, Apple is said to be working on real-time blood sugar monitoring tech with the watch which would be a huge game-changer for diabetics sick of poking themselves with needles. It could also improve their health thereby lowering costs for Aetna and of course, the standalone Apple watch/phone could also be a big shift for the cell phone industry especially for people who want minimal tech but still want a cell phone.

We could know more next month so what's going to be the hottest new tech in cell phones VR AR maybe but more likely its depth sensing a technology that works with close AR and VR, and many other aspects of our beloved pocket computers. Apple's iPhone 8 will weirdly have depth-sensing facial recognition Tech. Now, Snapdragon chip maker Qualcomm has announced it is going all-in on a dedicated Android digital vision system that's really good at knowing how far away things are as seen in this video clip. The Qualcomm spectra system known as second generation can create a depth accurate representation of this person playing keyboards pretty cool this kind of technology when applied to security systems greatly cuts down on the ability to spoof in full 3D facial recognition tech but it can also be used to quickly map a room or space for use in VR or AR systems.

The dual camera system basically mimics how our eyes and brain work and can be integrated into a cell phone's camera system indeed, apple and a growing number of other phone makers are already outfitting phones with dual camera setups ostensibly for photography so it won't be too long until they're put to use an AR and VR application. It's a link for more on this emerging tech and get more technics updates at Digital Trends comm on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. Be sure to check out our latest episode of Close To Metal are computing podcast where we go in-depth with Vega GPUs. Thanks for watching, we'll see you tomorrow.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's Tuesday August 15th and the folks over at Blizzard Entertainment makers of obscure video games such as World of Warcraft and overwatch you may have heard of those is bringing back battle.net its online platform and storefront well sorta one of those cases where it seems the marketing department may have had a bit too much to drink at happy hour battle.net is back but it will be known as Blizzard battle.net which tough relieved roll off the tongue as well first launched way back in 1996 battle.net was the portal through which gamers registered and sort of became the key platform for Blizzard to communicate with users and fans but last fall the Verge says Blizzard started moving away from the network preferring to use twitch YouTube and Facebook for outreach that didn't sit very well with many fans and now the company is returning to the battlenet as it were but with some extra Blizzard in tow remember the Apple watch yes it's still for sale and according to CNBC Cupertino is holding super secret meetings with insurance giant Aetna to get to watch on the wrist of millions of their customers over 50,000 Aetna staffers are to get them as work perks so moving on to customers seems logical but what's the point of those customers are not iPhone users aha that could be the real story recent rumors have suggested that Apple will soon debut a new generation of the Apple watch that will work as a standalone device that doesn't need an iPhone for internet and maybe even self-service connectivity if that Apple watch does come to fruition it could mark a massive turning point in the Apple watch's market and a possible money saver for Aetna and other insurance companies how for example Apple is said to be working on real time blood sugar monitoring tech with the watch which would be a huge game-changer for diabetics sick of poking themselves with needles it could also improve their health thereby lowering costs for Aetna and of course the standalone Apple watch / phone could also be a big shift for the cell phone industry especially for people who want minimal tech but still want a cell phone we could know more next month so what's going to be the hottest new tech in cell phones VR AR maybe but more likely its depth sensing a technology that works with close AR and VR and many other aspects of our beloved pocket computers Apple's iPhone 8 will weirdly have depth-sensing facial recognition Tech and now Snapdragon chip maker Qualcomm has announced it is going all-in on a dedicated Android digital vision system that's really good at knowing how far away things are as seen in this video clip the Qualcomm spectra system known as second generation can create a depth accurate representation of this person playing keyboards pretty cool this kind of technology when applied to security systems greatly cuts down on the ability to spoof in full 3d facial recognition tech but it can also be used to quickly map a room or space for use in a VR or AR system the dual camera system basically mimics how our eyes and brain work and can be integrated into a cell phone's camera system indeed apple and a growing number of other phone makers are already outfitting phones with dual camera setups ostensibly for photography so it won't be too long until they're put to use an AR and VR application it's a link for more on this emerging tech and get more technics updates at digital trends comm on our Facebook page and YouTube channel be sure to check out our latest episode of close to the metal are computing podcast where we go in-depth with Vega GPUs thanks for watching we'll see you tomorrowit's Tuesday August 15th and the folks over at Blizzard Entertainment makers of obscure video games such as World of Warcraft and overwatch you may have heard of those is bringing back battle.net its online platform and storefront well sorta one of those cases where it seems the marketing department may have had a bit too much to drink at happy hour battle.net is back but it will be known as Blizzard battle.net which tough relieved roll off the tongue as well first launched way back in 1996 battle.net was the portal through which gamers registered and sort of became the key platform for Blizzard to communicate with users and fans but last fall the Verge says Blizzard started moving away from the network preferring to use twitch YouTube and Facebook for outreach that didn't sit very well with many fans and now the company is returning to the battlenet as it were but with some extra Blizzard in tow remember the Apple watch yes it's still for sale and according to CNBC Cupertino is holding super secret meetings with insurance giant Aetna to get to watch on the wrist of millions of their customers over 50,000 Aetna staffers are to get them as work perks so moving on to customers seems logical but what's the point of those customers are not iPhone users aha that could be the real story recent rumors have suggested that Apple will soon debut a new generation of the Apple watch that will work as a standalone device that doesn't need an iPhone for internet and maybe even self-service connectivity if that Apple watch does come to fruition it could mark a massive turning point in the Apple watch's market and a possible money saver for Aetna and other insurance companies how for example Apple is said to be working on real time blood sugar monitoring tech with the watch which would be a huge game-changer for diabetics sick of poking themselves with needles it could also improve their health thereby lowering costs for Aetna and of course the standalone Apple watch / phone could also be a big shift for the cell phone industry especially for people who want minimal tech but still want a cell phone we could know more next month so what's going to be the hottest new tech in cell phones VR AR maybe but more likely its depth sensing a technology that works with close AR and VR and many other aspects of our beloved pocket computers Apple's iPhone 8 will weirdly have depth-sensing facial recognition Tech and now Snapdragon chip maker Qualcomm has announced it is going all-in on a dedicated Android digital vision system that's really good at knowing how far away things are as seen in this video clip the Qualcomm spectra system known as second generation can create a depth accurate representation of this person playing keyboards pretty cool this kind of technology when applied to security systems greatly cuts down on the ability to spoof in full 3d facial recognition tech but it can also be used to quickly map a room or space for use in a VR or AR system the dual camera system basically mimics how our eyes and brain work and can be integrated into a cell phone's camera system indeed apple and a growing number of other phone makers are already outfitting phones with dual camera setups ostensibly for photography so it won't be too long until they're put to use an AR and VR application it's a link for more on this emerging tech and get more technics updates at digital trends comm on our Facebook page and YouTube channel be sure to check out our latest episode of close to the metal are computing podcast where we go in-depth with Vega GPUs thanks for watching we'll see you tomorrow\n"