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Earlier this week, Microsoft announced support for cross-platform play through its Xbox Live platform, opening up gaming between the Xbox One and PCs as well as potentially with the Sony PlayStation 4.

Sony has responded to the move today, acknowledging that they could be interested (maybe).

"PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002," says Sony. "We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross-platform play."

The statement doesn't specifically mention Microsoft or the Xbox, but if big developers want the ability, there is little reason to doubt that Sony will jump at the opportunity.

Yesterday, Sony took that stage at GDC to announce the consumer version of their highly-anticipated PlayStation VR headset.

The PSVR is scheduled to launch in October for $399, pricing it under rival devices like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, both of which require PCs with high-end specs. The PSVR will also require the PlayStation Camera to work, so that will set you back another $50 or so. If you are thinking of the PSVR, you likely have a PS4 in your home, but you will need the console, as well, if you don't have it.

Says Sony boss Andrew House: "Today more than 230 developers are building content for PlayStation VR, from smaller independent teams to larger studios at the industry's top publishers. We expect to have more than 50 games available from launch in October 2016 until the end of the year. Of course, the full promise of PlayStation VR will continue to grow over time as talented developers create new experiences and new genres that wouldn't be possible outside of VR. The future looks bright indeed.

Additionally, The Playroom VR, from our very own Japan Studio, will be available as a free download from PlayStation Store for all PS VR owners at launch. The Playroom VR will include six games that can be enjoyed with friends and family, demonstrating why we believe VR can also be an impactful experience when it's shared."

Last year, Google began offering a $50,000 bounty for anyone who could compromise a Chromebook in guest mode.

Following zero successful submissions, the company has doubled the reward to $100,000. "Great research deserves great awards, so we're putting up a standing six-figure sum, available all year round with no quotas and no maximum reward pool," Google noted.

Additionally, Google has also added a Download Protection Bypass bounty, offering a reward to anyone who can bypass Chrome's Safe Browsing download protection features.

You can check out all the rewards here: Google Online Security

Sony has paid $750 million to buy out Michael Jackson's stake in a jointly owned catalog of over 4 million songs.

The catalog, which includes tracks from Jackson, the Beatles, Taylor Swift and many others, will help Sony to pad their streaming business revenue, which the company expects will jump to $5.2 billion by 2017.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing, as the joint venture is called, will pay a lump sum of $733 million to the Jackson estate, as well as a small portion of future distributions.

Jackson purchased the ATV catalog in 1985 for $41.5 million.

According to multiple reports, top tech companies like Facebook, Google and Snapchat are all working on increasing the encryption of their devices as Apple fights the U.S. government over access to anyone's data.

Facebook is planning to expand its secure messaging service WhatsApp by adding encrypted voice calls, as well. The company is also working on increasing security for its own Messenger tool.

Sources claim Snapchat is also working on a secure messaging system, and Google is said to be looking to expand their development of an encrypted email project.

The new projects all began after the Department of Justice began a court battle with Apple over a terrorist's iPhone, which is locked down and could contain information related to their crimes. Apple is scheduled to appear in court later this month.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Live online network is now open to cross-platform play with the PlayStation 4 and Windows 10 PC gamers.

Said Microsoft exec Chris Charla: "We're enabling developers to support cross-network play . . . This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.

"Of course, it's up to game developers to support this feature . . . We're thrilled to confirm that Psyonix's Rocket League will be one of the first games to take advantage of this new capability by enabling cross-network play between Xbox One and PC players, with an open invitation for other networks to participate as well."

If the new service becomes mainstream, gamers are likely to be very excited by the prospects. There will no longer be any need to buy multiple consoles just to be able to play games with different friends or family who may be a Sony or Xbox fanboy.

Despite an item that was posted to their own FAQ website, Microsoft has confirmed that they still accept Bitcoin as a payment option for its gaming and mobile content.

Last week, a post titled "Microsoft Store doesn't accept Bitcoin" was published, suggesting that the company was indeed ending support for the digital currency.

Microsoft has since called the post a mistake: "We continue to support Bitcoin for adding money to your Microsoft Account which can be used for purchasing content in the Windows and Xbox stores. We apologize for inaccurate information that was inadvertently posted to a Microsoft site, which is currently being corrected."

It's unclear how such a post made it past editing, but for the time being, you can continue to pay with Bitcoin.

Western Digital has cleverly released a 314GB PiDrive this week, a hard drive built for the Raspberry Pi micro computer.

"Adoption of Raspberry Pi computing devices is expanding at a tremendous rate, reaching eight million units in about four years. However, the millions of Raspberry Pi users are finding limitations from data storage devices (SD card, USB hard drive or cloud storage) originally designed for other applications," said Dave Chew, chief engineer, WDLabs. "The WD PiDrive 314 GB HDD is designed to support Raspberry Pi growth by addressing barriers to hard drive adoption such as affordability, power loading and system set-up. In addition, we've maintained the key strengths of hard drive technology, including mass-storage value, high data integrity and reliability."

Raspberry foundation CEO Eben Upton was happy with the release, as well. "With the extended capabilities of Raspberry Pi 3, we can't wait to see what new projects our community comes up with. WD PiDrive 314GB gives our members a low-cost, purpose-built hard drive solution that helps them develop even more innovative and unique ways to use Raspberry Pi."

WD says the company has customized the hard drive's "magnetic recording and electrical system operating set-points to align with Raspberry Pi's USB data and power design to reduce the electrical power load of the hard drive on Raspberry Pi, while still maintaining sufficient performance to deliver maximum USB data transfer rate." Theoretically, this makes the drive ideal for the device.

Streaming giant Spotify has ended support for its Windows Phone apps, although you can continue to use the app indefinitely without any new updates.

The company launched their Windows Phone 7 app in 2011 and then the Windows Phone 8.x app in 2013. There has yet to be a native Windows 10 mobile app.

"We can confirm Windows Phone 8.x is no longer supported. You can still use our Spotify application on the associated devices, but it will no longer receive any further updates and download the application. We apologize for the inconvenience," noted the company.

Microsoft has struggled to keep the attention of developers, including big boys like Spotify, which has led to the downfall of the mobile operating system.

One of the cornerstones of Netflix Originals, whether its the shows including the award-winning House of Cards or Documentaries Virunga, is that they will be available at the same time all around the world. Much of the company's success especially outside the US has been for this fact.

Now it seems that the company has been caught having those awful region-specific licensing deals it downplays in its own strategy. One might call Netflix's situation a hypocrisy, since among others House of Cards' new season is not showing in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and Africa because it has been licensed to TV companies.

Netflix told TorrentFreak that this is because of old contracts that the company is trying to get rid of as soon as possible, and the fact that the company expanded to 130 new countries recently has brought these issues to light. Amongst other shows that suffer from late releases is the hugely popular Orange is the New Black.

Customers, however, are reasonable angry about the situation. People in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain, and most of Africa are paying the same subscription fee but not getting the content as people just across the border. Furthermore people are defending their right to use VPN services to access other countries' Netflix content which Netflix has recently taken a tougher stance against.

Adobe has revealed that its Flash player was subject to another vulnerability. This time patch is already out and the company suggests you install it immediately.

The security vulnerability can allow third parties to access private information on your computer and even control the computers, says Adobe. It affects all the major operating systems, including Windows, Macs and Linux.

Fortunately the fix for this has already been released in the latest update. Most browsers feature automatic updates so you should be already safe, but to make sure check that your Flash version is as follows: Linux 11.2.202.577, Windows and Macs 21.0.0.182, Google Chrome 21.0.0.182, Windows 10 Edge and Internet Explorer 21.0.0.182, and Windows 8.x Internet Explorer 21.0.0.182.

You can update your Adobe Flash at https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/.

Screening Room, a new startup backed by Sean Parker, wants to offer rentals of movies day and date when they hit theaters.

The company also promises completely secure anti-piracy technology for the releases, although there has yet to be a truly "uncrackable" protection for movies and streaming media.

Sources say Screening Room will charge $150 for the proprietary set-top box to play the movies, and then $50 for the 48-hour rental. Anyone who rents will also get two free tickets to the film at any theater of their choosing, helping to make the price more reasonable.

Parker and other reps for the company have been meeting with all the major studios and exhibitors for months, and there is a feeling that AMC could be ready to make a deal. The exhibitor could make as much as 20% of the revenue while the studios make an additional 20%. Of the majors, Universal, Fox and Sony are said to have shown sincere interest in the program.

For now, talks are in the early stages, but we may be on the verge of a true home theater experience.

Apple has today sent invites for its unusually important March event. Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone as well as a smaller version of iPad Pro.

Like last year Apple is looking to announce new products in three different events, first of which is in less than two weeks on March 21. New products are expected as well from the WWDC and September iPhone event.

The March Special Event will be more influential than previously as Apple's new products are expected to include both a new iPhone and an iPad.

The four inch iPhone has been rumored for quite a while and it seems that it will be released under the moniker iPhone SE. It's a revamp of the older iPhone 5 and 5s models but includes Apple Pay with Touch ID and NFC, and a newer and faster A9 chip.

Apple's new iPad will likely be a 9.7 inch version of the Pro model which comes with a smaller Smart Keyboard. In addition to the iPad and the iPhone, Apple is teasing new Apple Watch straps with the slogan "let us loop you in."

Blockbuster mobile gaming developer Supercell has announced their financial results for 2015, and the company made an astounding amount of profit.

On just three games - Clash of Clans, Boom Beach and Hay Day, the company had profits of $964 million, on revenue of $2.326 billion.

The company only has 180 employees but is now one of the most profitable companies in the video game industry.

Supercell just released a new game, Clash Royale, which is already the top game for Android and iOS suggesting there are some more profits to go around for 2016.

In total, Supercell has 100 million daily active users.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is working on a plan to subsidize broadband prices for low-income families, giving households $9.25 per month towards the cost of high-speed Internet.

The government agency says that 95 percent of households with income over $150,000 have high-speed broadband at home while only 48 percent of those making less than $25,000 can afford such services.

FCC head Tom Wheeler says the plan will go to a vote on March 31st, and it is expected to be approved.

"When we talk about digital equity, we need to remember that we're talking a key part of the answer to many of our nation's greatest challenges -- issues like income inequality, job creation, economic growth, U.S. competitiveness," said Wheeler.

The broadband subsidy will be part of the greater 'Lifeline' plan that has been around for decades and now gives $2 billion in subsidies annually to low-income families to afford landlines and mobile phones. As with most government programs, however, Lifeline has been plagued by fraud and abuse and had to be completely remodeled last year.