Fully Charged: Blizzard will restore classic games, and Microsoft wants Cortana iPhone testers

Blizzard will restore classics

Nowadays, games like Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft drive Blizzard Entertainment’s success, but the company has a rich history of PC gaming – and a track record of taking care of its older games for much longer than you’d expect. And it plans to continue doing so.

Blizzard is looking to hire a senior software engineer to help bring the original StarCraft, Diablo II, and Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos up to date for modern audiences. All three are still playable via Battle.net, but they’re more than a decade old at this point, and it sounds like Blizzard wants to try and smooth out any rough edges to keep them feeling somewhat fresh.

"Evolving operating systems, hardware, and online services have made them more difficult to be experienced by their loyal followers or reaching a new generation," the description reads. "We’re restoring them to glory, and we need your engineering talents, your passion, and your ability to get tough jobs done."

[Source: Blizzard via Polygon]

Microsoft seeking Cortana iPhone testers

Cortana has already made its way from Windows to Android, and Microsoft’s digital assistant has its eyes set on iOS next. Want to help get it there in the best shape possible? Now you can sign up to receive an early beta version to test before the public release comes.

Microsoft is handling signups with a survey through its Windows Insider program, and says they need only a limited number of people to help with testing. It’s only open to iPhone users in the U.S. and China so far, and the company says it’ll start bringing people on "in the coming weeks."

[Source: Microsoft via The Verge]

Apple settling with sapphire supplier

Apple had a rather acrimonious split with sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies last year, which may have been the reason the iPhone 6 ultimately didn’t have a sapphire screen (as widely rumoured) – and it sent GT Advanced into backruptcy. Apple said that GT couldn’t meet its standards (as seen above), while GT claimed Apple kept moving the goalposts with its expectations. But now they’ve agreed on a plan to move on.

GT Advanced will auction off the sapphire manufacturing equipment it purchased under the Apple agreement, with all profits split between the two companies; any unsold equipment will become Apple’s property, although the company plans to trash it. Once those processes are complete, Apple has agreed to erase GT’s immense debt of US$439 million (£285 million).

It won’t get a sapphire screen on your next iPhone any faster, but at least these companies can solve their lingering dispute – and Apple can look for the next partner to take a chance on.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal]