This is part of the "Tech 360" series offering a 360-degree view of the tech industry, from in-depth reporting to weekly posts on what you need to know. "Tech 360" is sponsored by Delta. Read more in the series »Here's what will be on people's minds during the next seven days in tech:
At the big E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles this week, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Sony and Nintendo will all announce news. The focus will be firmly on new game title portfolios. We'll be looking for news on Legend of Zelda, Destiny, Batman: Arkham Knight and others. No new consoles are expected, but observers believe this will be a big year for virtual reality tech. As the Daily Telegraph says. "Seven months after the release of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, E3 2014 is the difficult second show. Now is the time to justify the hubris, providing exciting new games without the safety net of improved hardware to impress the crowds." Wired is even more skeptical: "Time was, you could wander around the show floor labyrinth created by the dozens of games each publisher would bring and find fascinating things you'd never heard of. How many people first laid eyes on Katamari Damacy after taking a wrong turn in Namco's booth in 2004? That can't happen at today's E3, when publishers are in a battle over who can publish the fewest videogames. For the most part, we've already heard about these games, we may have already played these games and many of them certainly aren't markedly different from last year's version. E3 seems less like a place to discover new things and more of a ritual that must be observed, a sacrifice to the gaming gods to ensure a bountiful harvest this Black Friday."
Megan Smith of Google and Aaron Levie of Box will be speaking at Bloomberg's Next Big Thing conference.
Motley Fool expects the tech-heavy NASDAQ to beat the Dow Jones this week.
Radioshack will hope to avoid a disastrous earnings call by reporting a merely depressing earnings call. Analysts expect revenues to have declined 10% to $764.3 million. The chain recently closed 200 stores.
Happening this week:
June 9 - 10: Bloomberg's "Next Big Thing" Summit.
June 10-12: E3 in Los Angeles.
June 10: Radioshack reports earnings.