While Apple Inc may be gaining plaudits for the audio quality of its new HomePod speakers, some users with wooden furniture are finding themselves less than thrilled with their new purchase, due to a surprising issue that has cropped up.

Numerous reports have surfaced online from disgruntled Apple customers that the HomePod's silicone base is leaving pale rings when placed on wooden surfaces. Though tests by Bloomberg News failed to replicate the issue, nor does it seem to be replicable with other materials such as glass, several other websites have backed up the wood discolouration claims.

Although Apple did not originally respond to requests for comment on the issue, it later informed Wirecutter that the company believes the issue is temporary and removing the speaker from the surface should restore the wood colour "within several days". In the event the marks remain, Apple suggested customers “try cleaning the surface with the manufacturer’s suggested oiling method.”

This article first appeared on Technically Motivated

Developer Relic Entertainment has pulled resources from Dawn of War 3, in order to dedicate them to other projects.

The move effectively freezes the Warhammer 40,000-universe RTS/MOBA hybrid as it is now. In a statement to Eurogamer, Relic Entertainment said: “While Dawn of War 3 has a dedicated player base, it didn’t hit the targets we were expecting at launch, and it hasn’t performed the way we had hoped since. When a game underperforms, plans need to change. With Dawn of War 3, we simply don’t have the foundation we need to produce major content. We’re working in close partnership with Sega and Games Workshop to determine the best course of action, while shifting focus to other projects within our portfolio.”

While that statement stops far short of saying that Relic is abandoning Dawn of War 3, it’s clear that will not be any further races, or indeed content of any sort added to the game. Dawn of War 3 may have been the victim of falling between two stools, with existing Dawn of War fans put off by its MOBA elements, and those MOBA elements failing to appeal to new players.

But the move at least allows Relic Entertainment to dedicate further resources to the new Age of Empires game it is developing for Microsoft.

It is a real shame though, I personally really enjoyed Dawn of War 3 and you can check out my gameplay at release last year below

You can also find Dawn of War 3 on STEAM here – http://store.steampowered.com/app/285190/Warhammer_40000_Dawn_of_War_III/

Following rumours earlier today that Microsoft is said to have an interest in acquiring several gaming-related businesses, Polygon has asserted that a “Reliable source close to Microsoft” believes that the Xbox One platform-holder is actually genuinely considering one such acquisition.

Earlier today, Twitter was awash in rumours suggesting Microsoft, perhaps fuelled by the fact that the Xbox One has found itself lacking in console exclusives, was potentially considering making purchase offers to three companies: Valve, PUBG Corp (the people behind Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds), and Electronic Arts – commonly known as EA. Polygon’s sources believe that the EA rumour is indeed true – that Microsoft is definitely in serious thought about the move, with the other two suggestions also being “whispered”.

Although Xbox One owners can anticipate exclusive releases this year in the form of Sea of Thieves (currently in a closed beta phase), Crackdown 3 and State of Decay 2, this small amount of confirmed titles pales in comparison to major rival Sony’s Playstation 4 line-up, which alongside a remake of Shadow of the Colossus, currently also lists exclusive such as Days Gone, Death Stranding, Detroit: Become Human, God of War, Spider-man and The Last of Us Part II. An aquisition of EA would bring many important franchises to the XBox One – although many of the bigger franchises, such as FIFA, Battlefield and the upcoming Anthem, are currently cross-console and Microsoft is likely to cause uproar were they to change the status quo.

The lack of exclusive content for the XBox One, however, is very likely to be weighing on Microsoft’s mind. Sony’s Playstation 4 has so far dominated this generation of console sales, with over 73 million sold to date; Microsoft, meanwhile, is believed to have only shifted around half this number of XBox Ones although the company refuses to disclose actual sales figures.

Further fuelling the rumours is Phil Spencer’s apparent appetite for an acquisition. Spencer, who was promoted to Executive Vice-President of Gaming late last year, is on record as having stated the following in an interview with Bloomberg:

“Our ability to go create content has to be one of our strengths. We haven’t always invested at the same level. We’ve gone through ups and downs in the investment.”

So what do you think? Do you think a potential acquisition offer is on the cards? Let us know in the comments!

Alongside claims that the service now attracts 10m users per month, Microsoft has announced a number of familiar-sounding features it plans to introduce to Mixer – its streaming service and rival to Twitch.

In order to allow videogame streamers to monetise their channels, Microsoft has announced plans to add direct tipping, so that viewers can donate to their favourite streamers as they watch directly through Mixer, without the need of external services.

For streamers who are playing games that are available through the Microsoft Store (for Windows 10 or XBox One), viewers will soon also be able to quickly buy a digital download of the game, or any DLC being played, with Microsoft planning to introduce new “Direct purchase” options.

While Microsoft is no doubt playing catch-up with Twitch, the service is quickly gaining popularity – helped, no doubt, by Microsoft baking support for the platform into both Windows 10 and XBox One (where it can be found directly on the console’s Dashboard). Even though the upcoming new additions may strike as copycatting, making it easier for viewers to both start playing games they like and donate to their favourite streamers may prove to be an important move in growing that audience even further.

MMO Rift went free-to-play in 2011, opening its gates to more players but also ushering in loot boxes and a store packed with items you could buy with real money to make the game a lot easier. After a long think (and no doubt influenced by player pushback against microtransactions), developer Trion Worlds is going back to its roots by introducing a paid subscription model for a server free of loot boxes.

The Rift Prime server will launch in Spring. We don’t yet know how much it’ll cost to join, but we do know that the in-game store will be “significantly reduced, with more of the current store-based items obtained through gameplay or removed entirely”. Sounds good to me.

Not all of Rift’s content will be available on the Prime server from the start—instead, players will start afresh and Trion Worlds will drip-feed existing content as players progress, almost like a new MMO, albeit with everything introduced at a much faster pace. The developer promises this progression will come “to an end in spectacular fashion”, too.

A few facts from the blog:

Prime servers will progress through content at a more rapid pace than that of the original launch
“dynamically matching characters to their current zone’s level”
“dungeons dropping loot specific to your character’s true level”
profession caps available to a single character
participation awards that are unlocked across your account, even to characters on other servers

PvP will also be undergoing some changes in 2018 after the launch of the Prime server. This will include a new game mode and allowing servers to go “full PvP”.

For PvE, players can look forward to the revamp of a classic raid and the 7th anniversary will feature some new activities for players.

As more info comes out about the new sub services, we’ll be sure to keep you upto date!

For now, check out the latest trailer for the game and follow the link to check it out!