Welcome to NewsDesk on SiliconANGLE TV for Thursday June 20, 2013 here’s your SiliconANGLE daily round-up.

• Xbox reverses unpopular game policies for online users

After a great deal of backlash from the Xbox community, Microsoft has reversed the wildly unpopular online check-in and used game policies for the Xbox One. The console will still require users to check-in with Microsoft, but now instead of requiring a check-in every twenty-four hours, the authentication will only be needed during a one-time setup with the new Xbox One. Once the console is cleared, you can play any disc-based game without ever connecting online again.

Adding to the policy reversal, limitations to using and sharing pre-owned games will be lifted. The previous policy allowed users to install games to the console’s hard drive, but the new changes mean that the disc will now be required to play. This means that the 10-person family sharing feature has also been killed-off, but on the bright side, regional restrictions have been removed, so gamers can buy their games from any retailer, regardless of location.

Some believe the changes stem from Sony’s recent E3 announcements, time will tell if the changes are enough to ease consumer concerns or if Microsoft will stick with the reformatted policies.

• Twitter acquires Foursquare-like startup Spindle

Twitter just acquired the Foursquare-like startup Spindle. In a press release announcing the buyout, a spokesperson for Spindle commented, “We’ve spent the past two and a half years building a product that helps you answer the question: ‘What’s happening nearby right now?

By joining forces with Twitter, we can do so much more to help you find interesting, timely, and useful information about what’s happening around you.” Despite the possibilities for the platform’s expansion, Twitter will reportedly be shutting down the service choosing instead to use the team of newly-acquired engineers to focus on local discovery. With Twitter’s latest experimentation using location information data, such as listing tweets from nearby users, it would seem that the team at Spindle is especially well suited for Twitter and their goals.

• Strata-sys buys Makerbot, consolidation begins in 3D market

Strata-sys, the company best-known for their industrial 3D printers, announced this morning the buyout of Makerbot, the leader in consumer-grade 3D printers. The four-hundred-and-three million dollar deal effectively brings together the leaders of both industrial and consumer 3D printing. The companies explained the deal as a way to help drive a faster adoption of 3D printing.  MakerBot will continue to operate as a separate company, acting as a subsidiary of Stratasys, who will, in turn, focus on their existing industry placement.

Stratasys has already demonstrated an aggressive attitude toward capturing the 3D printing market, and since their founding in 2009, Makerbot has cornered the consumer market, selling over twenty-two thousand printers. For Stratasys, Makerbot is the missing piece to the puzzle. As for Makerbot, they will no doubt benefit from both the industry experience Stratasys brings to the table, as well as having access to new technologies coming down the pipeline.

• Lytro adds Wi-Fi functionality, iOS app for new age camera

Lytro, the light field camera startup just released a firmware update that adds some interesting wi-fi connectivity features. The camera came equipped with a Wi-Fi chip, but up until now, it provided no functionality. The update provides the ability to connect to iPhones.  Lytro released a companion iOS app, which serves as an on-the-go interface for uploading, tweaking, and sharing photos from the camera without ever having to plug it in. The app can use Lytro images to create focus shifting animated GIFs. New photos appear in the app as they are shot, taking only a few seconds to transfer to your Apple device.

Lytro has stated that they will be producing an Android app as well, but they have yet to put a date on it.  For now, all iPhone users have to do is connect their smartphones to Lytro’s WiFi, and launch the app, and they’ll never have to worry about a shot being out of focus again.

• Zynga acquires Spooky Cool Labs, pushes social gambling online

In an effort to boost their social casino push, Zynga just acquired Spooky Cool Labs, a company with a strong history in gambling. The social gaming company is absorbing the forty person team, including Spooky Cool’s founder, Joe Kaminkow, who was ranked as one of the top ten most influential people in the history of slot machines. Zynga wants to use the acquisition to  bolster some old standbys, such as Zynga Poker. Recently, Spooky Cool Labs has been working on non casino products, like a Wizard of Oz themed game. Zynga confirmed that the deal provides access to that brand, specifically.

The main focus will be on creating as much online casino content as possible. Zynga has a real-money game that’s available in the U.K., but it has yet to bring any real-money efforts into Facebook or mobile platforms. Zynga is working on bringing these types of games to the U.S. It recently filed a “preliminary finding of suitability” with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. If its efforts are successful, Zynga could soon be known more for casino games than the casual games that made them a fortune to begin with.

• Logitech updates Harmony remote for iOS, Android

Logitech is launching a new addition to their Harmony remote controller line, but this time, it’s for iOS and Android devices. The Harmony Ultimate Hub can transform ordinary iOS and Android smartphones into personal universal remote controllers, capable of controlling up to eight separate devices. The system works by using Logitech’s app to communicate with a hub, which then transmits the appropriate infrared, radio frequency, or WiFi signals to interface with other devices. The new Harmony Ulitmate Hub will be available in the US and select European markets this August for about a hundred dollars.

• Apple signs $30 million iPad deal with LA school district

Yesterday, Apple signed a thirty million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District, which when complete, will make it  the largest district in the nation to provide each of its students with iPads. Second in size only to the New York City Department of Education, the LAUSD bought enough iPads to cover the initial phase of devices.  Each iPad will come with educational apps such as the Pearson Common Core System of Courses.

When discussing the deal, Apple’s Senior Vice President Philip Schiller commented, “Education is in Apple’s DNA and we’re thrilled to work with Los Angeles Unified public schools on this major initiative as they plan to roll out iPads to every student across forty-seven campuses this fall,” adding that the company has already placed nearly ten million iPads in schools around the world.

This deal comes as a big win for Apple, who made away with a solid six-hundred-and-seventy-eight dollars per device. It also locked them in as the sole vendor for the city. This news comes as a big disappointment for Microsoft however, who unsuccessfully lobbied the district to stay open to the possibility of using Microsoft products, even offering steep discounts for their Surface tablet to educational institutions.

• Adobe cloud platform pirated in 24 hours

Just one day after its release, Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite, a product specifically made to be resistant to piracy, was actually pirated. First time users are required to use an internet connection to authenticate the version, however, once the app has been installed and the license has been verifies, users can activate the apps in offline mode. The app then attempts to self-validate every month, and the whole suite is designed to constantly auto update to avoid exploits. In spite of all of these protections, it still took hackers no less than a day to get around the copy protection. It would seem that where piracy is concerned, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

And that’s your SiliconANGLE daily round-up for Thursday June 20, 2013.  For continuous coverage on tech innovation and daily breaking analysis join us mornings beginning at 8:30am CENTRAL here at NewsDesk on SiliconANGLE TV.