Microsoft’s latest update to the mobile side of the Xbox Game Pass could make streaming games to a phone way better than before. The new update has finally added bottom screen touch controls on the Surface Duo. According to Mashable, the mobile version of Game Pass will be getting what Microsoft has called “custom spanned touch controls” specifically on the Surface Duo phone, the company released last year. In simpler terms, Game Pass games with touch controls can display a custom, developer-made controller layout on the bottom screen and the game itself on the top screen of this dual-display phone. This means users will not only be able to play something like ‘Gears 5’ without a controller but also without their thumbs blocking any part of the screen. This is a neat idea that only really makes sense on the Surface Duo, considering the device’s unique form factor. As per Mashable, Microsoft has also been beta testing it for a few months. This feature probably won’t be seen on many other phones, unless dual-screen phones suddenly explode in popularity. But for those who have splurged on the USD 1,000 Surface Duo and paid the USD 15 monthly fee for Game Pass Ultimate, this is probably the best way to stream Xbox games to a mobile device with touch controls so far.
Google makes transferring Gmail photos to Google Photos easier
American technology conglomerate Google will be adding a new “Save to Photos” button to Gmail which users can press to automatically save an emailed image to Google Photos. According to The Verge, this new feature will be rolling out to personal Gmail users, Google Workspace, G Suite Basic, and G Suite Business customers over the next couple of weeks and will be available alongside the existing “Add to Drive” button. Unfortunately for the time being it only works on JPEGs and not on PNGs. It is a good time to be getting a more convenient way to add images to Google Photos because the service’s storage options are getting a big overhaul on June 1. The Verge reports, at that time, the service’s unlimited storage for “high quality” photos will disappear and will be replaced with a 15GB cap. Importantly, any images uploaded before the change comes into force won’t count towards the new limit. In other words, users should start smashing that “Save to Photos” button and make the most of the free uploads while they’re still available.
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