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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 3 OcTOber 2019
Ready student one? Universities launch degrees in esports

LONDON (AP) — On their pete for lucrative prize
first week in class, a group pools.
of students is playing a Esports leagues have fran-
first-person shooter video chises in North America, Eu-
game in a sleek new digital rope and Asia. The biggest
studio. It's their introduction names, such as Fortnite su-
to the degree in esports perstar Tyler "Ninja" Blevins,
they've all enrolled in. can earn millions in prize
The group clicking away money and livestreaming
on their mice are at the deals. Esports are even set
University of Staffordshire, to be a medal event at the
one of several U.K. and Southeast Asian Games in
U.S. schools launching pro- the Philippines in Novem-
grams aimed at capitaliz- ber.
ing on the booming indus- Dozens of U.S. colleges
try's need for skilled profes- have offered varsity level
sionals. esports competitions for
Ryan Chapman, 18, said his years. But some schools
parents were "skeptical at are taking it a step further
first" about studying esports, by adding courses as the
or competitive multiplayer industry's boom drives de-
videogaming. mand for professionals who
"But now they understand know how to, for example,
how big the industry is organize esports tourna-
growing, the pace it's grow- In this photo taken on Sept. 17, 2019, Ryan Chapman and other students starting Staffordshire ments.
ing at. They're now really all University’s esports degree course play “Counter-Strike” in the school’s new London digital studio. New niche degrees partly
for it because it's a great Associated Press highlight the changing
industry to start to get into," economy, but they also
said Chapman, who was This autumn, it's expand- Singapore and China offer fans tune in on livestream- reflect the "need to com-
among the students in the ing the program to London courses. ing platforms such as Twitch municate to parents and
lab playing Counter-Strike, while other schools are also The global esports market is and Microsoft's Mixer. students that there will be
one of the most popular es- debuting esports degree expected to surge to $1.1 Esports tournaments have a job waiting for someone
ports games. courses, including Britain's billion this year, up $230 mil- become a cultural phe- once they earn a degree,"
The University of Stafford- Chichester University, Vir- lion from 2018 on growth in nomenon and now rival which may include hefty
shire last year launched ginia's Shenandoah Univer- sponsorships, merchandise traditional sports events in tuition fees and student
its bachelor's and master's sity, Becker College in Mas- and ticket sales, according size and scale. Big compe- loans to pay for them, said
esports programs, in which sachusetts and The Ohio to Newzoo . The research titions are held in arenas Joni Finney, director of the
students mainly learn mar- State University. In Asia, firm expects the global es- where thousands of fans University of Pennsylvania's
keting and management where esports has seen ports audience to grow in watch big-name profes- Institute for Research on
skills tailored to the industry. strong growth, schools in 2019 to about 454 million as sional video gamers com- Higher Education.q

Microsoft returns with smartphone after high-profile flops

By ANICK JESDANUN and Lenovo will also make The devices will initially be
NEW YORK (AP) — After dual-screen and foldable available only for devel-
high-profile flops, Microsoft devices using a variant of opers who create and test
is getting back into smart- Windows called 10X. apps. Microsoft plans to
phones with a dual-screen Both Surface devices fea- start selling them during the
Android device that won’t ture two screens con- 2020 holiday season. The
be out for another year. nected with a hinge and company offered no de-
Microsoft unveiled the Sur- can fold like laptops. They tails on price.
face Duo as part of a new can display separate apps Available sooner are $249
lineup of Surface comput- side by side or a single Surface Earbuds, as Micro-
ers. It marks a reversal for a app stretched across both soft joins Apple, Amazon,
company that abandoned screens. They are techno- Google and others in mak-
smartphones following logically less ambitious than ing wireless listening devic-
lackluster demand for its foldable phones from Sam- es.
own operating system and sung and others, whose At a product event
an ill-fated purchase of Microsoft's Chief Product Officer Panos Panay holds a Surface screens actually bend as Wednesday in New York,
smartphone maker Nokia. Duo at an event, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 in New York. the devices close. Some of Microsoft also unveiled two
“I believe the third time's Associated Press those folding phones have new Surface Pro tablets.
a charm for Microsoft and experienced technical dif- The Surface Pro X will have
smartphones,” said Patrick has been slowing down. ing the Duo just another ficulties. a 13-inch screen, rather
Moorhead, an analyst with Microsoft says the Duo Surface device. The Duo is about the size of than the 12-inch ones on
moor Insights & Strategy. makes phone calls, though Microsoft also announced a large smartphone when the new Pro 7 and older
He said Microsoft has had it stopped short of calling it a dual-screen Surface Neo folded, with two 5.6-inch models. But the X will be
a good track record with a phone. Though it runs An- tablet, which also won’t displays, while the folded about the same size over-
Surface devices, while the droid, the back of the pro- be out until late next year. Neo is similar in size to a all, thanks to a smaller be-
Duo’s novel design offers totype has a Surface logo In a blog post, Microsoft small tablet such as the zel.
something new at a time that resembles Windows. said other manufactur- iPad Mini or an Amazon The company also unveiled
when phone innovation The company prefers call- ers including Asus, Dell, HP Fire. a refreshed laptop.q