Author: Microsoft Stories

A Microsoft study said that nearly three in 10 Indians experienced a sexual risk online, including unwanted sexting, in 2017 with males reporting higher levels of harassment than females. The Microsoft study, which examined the extent of negative behaviour and online interactions and their consequences, defined harassment as unwanted contact, unwanted sexting, online harassment, cyberbullying or misogyny.

Online payment service provider, PayU India announced the launch of a plugin, with which all their merchants can now send payment collection requests to their customers directly using SMS, email, or both from their existing Microsoft Excel application. The plugin allows merchants to use existing tools like the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet to help manage order processing and payments rather than develop new applications to manage user payments.

With the focus on ‘Technologies for Effective Governance’, Microsoft recently partnered with Express Computer to organize the Bhubaneswar edition of Express Digital Governance Series. Government heads, visionaries, policy makers, and IT leaders from the state came together to discuss and debate the great potential that state of Odisha offers and how technology can overhaul the existing infrastructure for the state. Speaking of the impact of emerging technologies on life and how the dynamics of governance has changed due to tech intervention, Munish Gupta, Director, Microsoft India said, “Governance has become more demanding as people want services on the go.”

In a first, researchers from Britain displayed how surgeons can use Microsoft’s Augmented Reality (AR) headset HoloLens while operating on patients undergoing reconstructive lower limb surgery. HoloLens is a self-contained computer headset that immerses the wearer in ‘mixed reality’, enabling them to interact with ‘holograms’ computer-generated objects made visible through the visor.

Microsoft released a new beta version of launcher for Android which has several new features. The latest version 4.6 will be available with a built-in Cortana. Now, when the launcher will be installed by the user, they will be able to access the assistant conveniently. The personal assistant can make calls, schedule meetings, change the wallpapers and also read. It can also be accessed by people in their own languages without having to go for English.

Microsoft’s SMS Organizer lives up to its name, simply sorting messages into a number of categories. The inbox is divided into personal, transactional, promotional, archived, and blocked, which you can access with a tap. What SMS Organizer accomplishes is bringing all the different useful features together in a single place, and doing so in a way that’s not cluttered or hard to use.

Microsoft has announced new updates for its Office suite of productivity apps on iOS. The new capabilities in the suite include a real-time co-authoring feature on Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. Additionally, Office and OneDrive apps on iOS now support drag and drop for files and documents. And OneDrive adds support for Files app available in iOS 11 and gets a UI overhaul, and the Outlook app offers advanced search capabilities.

Microsoft Corp beat Wall Street’s profit forecast, helped by growth in its cloud computing business, but took a $13.8 billion one-time charge due to the new U. S. tax law. Stock of the world’s largest software company, which have risen almost 50 percent over the past 12 months, initially fell in after-hours trading but later moved into positive territory.

In its bid to protect kids from cyber bullying and harassment, Microsoft listed options for families and parents to ensure children are protected when they are online with Windows 10. According to Microsoft’s “Digital Civility Index”, it has been observed that 64 percent Indian youth are at risk to online cyber bullying and harassment and 75 percent are aware of a friend or family member who has faced online harassment.