Fully Charged: 12in MacBook refresh hinted, and now you can buy 360 games on Xbox One

Apple MacBook refresh soon?

Macs weren’t part of Apple’s big media event this week, as the company opted to focus on the iPhone SE and 9.7in iPad Pro above all, but a refresh could be coming: a reference to an early 2016 version of the 12in MacBook has been found in the System Image Utility on Mac, as well as Apple’s OS X Server application.

It’s not a huge surprise: the previous 12in MacBook debuted almost a year ago, and reviewers had some qualms with the mostly impressive first-gen model, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see some enhancements for the second go-round. There’s no clear indication of when to expect a refreshed MacBook, but 9to5Mac suggests we ought to see something at WWDC in early summer.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Buy Xbox 360 games on Xbox One

Microsoft added backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games to the Xbox One last autumn, but there was one big feature missing: the ability to actually buy Xbox 360 digital games from the newer console. Luckily, yesterday’s Xbox One system update introduced the functionality – and if you’re looking for last-gen games to play, we have a few recommendations to offer.

Other big perks include 16-player party chat, enhanced thumbstick precision on the pricey Xbox Elite controller, the ability to include Party Chat on Twitch broadcasts, and various other tweaks.

[Source: Major Nelson]

Turn your Roomba into R2-D2

We’ve all seen those great MacBook decals that modify the glowing Apple logo, but here’s a truly inspired mod: one that turns an iRobot Roomba vacuum into R2-D2 from Star Wars. It’s made by Bel & Bel, although right now it seems to be a prototype kit, not something that’s in full production. Hopefully they’ll release it widely so that others can add a little flair to their robot cleaning slaves.

[Source: Bel & Bel via Homecrux, Gizmodo]

Pebble lays off staff

The Pebble Time might have done extremely well on Kickstarter, with the company raising US$20 million for its next-gen smartwatch, but it wasn’t enough to save Pebble from a round of layoffs. CEO Eric Migicovsky tells TechInsider that the company has to lay off 25% of its staff.

And that’s with another US$26 million raised by investors over the last eight months. Migicovsky says they’d hoped to raise more, but have to make do with what they have with an eye towards longevity. Pebble plans to focus more of its energies on health and fitness with future devices and software.

[Source: TechInsider]