Nintendo signs 10-year deal with Microsoft for Call of Duty
Over the last weeks, we’ve brought you news about the Activision acquisition saga with Microsoft. Well, top on the news for this week is that Call of Duty is coming to Nintendo platforms, starting with the Switch, thanks to a 10-year deal with Microsoft.
This announcement came courtesy of Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, who announced it on Twitter.
Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King. Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – irrespective of how they choose to play. Microsoft has also committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on Steam simultaneously to Xbox after the close of the merger with Activision Blizzard King.
Other than Nintendo, Microsoft also offered a 10-year deal to Sony and Steam.
Either way, we still need to wait and see whether or not the deal pushes through. The UK and the EU are currently undergoing a deeper investigation into the acquisition. We may have to wait until next year to see if the multi-billion dollar deal will push through.
We’ll let you know how it goes!
Microsoft may launch ‘super app’ to cover everything you need
Microsoft is reportedly mulling a new “super app” for the iPhone that would take multiple apps and features and put them under one roof. People would then use the app for numerous different reasons, including search.
It’s been reported that search capability is a critical driving force behind the move, and Microsoft is keen to use the app to boost the company’s advertising business via the Bing search engine.
Microsoft has been considering the launch of the so-called super app to “combine shopping, messaging, web search, news feeds and other services in a one-stop smartphone app.”
However, the report does note that it isn’t yet clear if Microsoft will go ahead and launch such an app or if it will fall by the wayside. However, it’s said to be something that has already been discussed within Microsoft and is a project led by CEO Satya Nadella.
Salesforce and Sprout Social are ushering in a new era of social media customer care
We’re excited to announce that Salesforce has partnered with Sprout Social on its social media management solution for its customers.
This global partnership means Salesforce customers can make an enhanced transition to manage their full social media presence and social customer care operations through Sprout’s award-winning social suite.
Salesforce trusts that Sprout is the right platform to help enterprise companies deliver relationship-building services, reach their audience and capture data that drive strategic decision-making. Through this partnership, they will elevate their platform to continue to innovate products and provide an all-in-one social management and customer care experience.
Adobe Layoffs Sales Team
We’ve reported a number of layoff announcements over the last few weeks, and Adobe has seemingly joined in on the trend.
Adobe said in a statement this week that it has shifted some employees to positions that support critical initiatives and only wiped out a small number of other jobs.
According to a Bloomberg report, Adobe layoffs have largely affected employees working in the sales team. Unlike many layoffs at other tech giants, some of the employees who were sacked were reportedly given the opportunity to find other positions at the software company.
Adobe layoffs come at a time when the company is reportedly planning to expand its user base to more “casual consumers and small businesses” as well.
AWS, Google, Microsoft, Oracle winners in Pentagon JWCC Contract
Also this week, competition among the largest cloud vendors for a multibillion-dollar contract with the U.S. The Department of Defense has resulted in Google, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft each receiving hybrid contracts with ceilings of $9 billion.
The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contracts are described as having firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials, indefinite-delivery, and indefinite-quantity terms, according to a Department of Defense (DoD) statement on Wednesday.
AWS will perform its work in Seattle, while Microsoft, Oracle, and Google will perform their work in Reston, Va., according to the DoD. The vendors should finish their work by June 8, 2028.
Zoom rolls out new layouts for Rooms and addition enhancements
Zoom has this week announced the roll-out of new layouts for its Zoom Rooms. In addition to new layouts, Zoom has also announced new enhancements to its chat panel as well as enhanced thumbnail views allowing you to see eye-to-eye with other participants in your Zoom call.
Previously, users with multiple screens in a Zoom Room had to make a choice between Speaker View and Gallery View, restricting their ability to see meeting participants while viewing the active speaker or shared content. Now with the enhanced thumbnail view in Zoom Rooms, users will be able to access multiple screens simultaneously.
Exciting times!
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AppOmni announces partnership with Veeva
In other news, AppOmni, the leading provider of SaaS security, this week announced a partnership with Veeva Systems to expand SaaS coverage and provide enhanced security for Veeva Vault and Veeva CRM.
The new offering enables life sciences customers to access AppOmni’s comprehensive configuration management and threat detection functionality. With AppOmni’s Veeva integration, joint customers can operationalize best practices to protect sensitive data while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
The Veeva partnership is the latest in a series of major AppOmni product announcements over the past year. The company has rapidly expanded its breadth of coverage to span dozens of enterprise SaaS applications. The AppOmni Developer Platform is one of the recently joined platforms, and it enables customers to secure all additional SaaS apps, including both standard and custom-built SaaS solutions.
Goods launched to simplify B2B & B2C commerce complexities
Finally this week, Goods is ushering in a new era of improved efficiency and productivity in e-commerce, with its innovative self-serve logistics platform.
Created to simplify the complexities of B2B and B2C commerce, the SaaS company has released an integration-free end-to-end supply chain software, that allows businesses to manage all their logistics needs in one platform, in addition to delivering an exceptional online shopping experience to their customers.
From order management to inventory forecast, pick & pack, billing, inventory control, purchasing, allocation, and shipping, Goods is a comprehensive solution on course to redefine the entire supply chain market. The company’s management team boasts a wealth of global experience with Logistic systems, having worked as CIO, CTO, Logistic consultants, and system implementers for over 60 years.
We can’t wait to see how it plays out for Goods!