Author: Microsoft Stories

In this week’s Big Data Roundup, we take a look at Microsoft’s new professional degree program that will debut with a Data Science degree pilot, Facebook CEO’s plans to benefit from Microsoft Graph and Delve across its new Office 365 deployment and its own Facebook at Work. Also, Gartner says IT organizations know that analytics and data will be big for digital business, but skills to make that happen are still hard to find. Plus, we explore what geographic data experts behind Pokemon Go has to reveal about the creation of the its maps.

As Microsoft continues to nudge folks into trying its new Edge browser on Windows 10, its latest promise is a better looking and more efficient video streaming. Just like Apple’s Safari browser on OS X, it turns out that on Windows only Microsoft’s browsers stream HTML5 Netflix in 1080p, while Chrome, Firefox and Opera all max out at 720p and a much lower bitrate. It also claims the browser makes use of Windows 10’s enhancements to offload video and audio processing to the right hardware in ways that save significant battery life.

During a string of Azure, Office 365, Windows 10 and Surface announcements on the second day of 2016 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Microsoft displayed a sense of coherence in front of its sell-out channel crowd. Phil Goldie, Director of Partner Development, Microsoft, observed, “There’s real consistency in our approach and it’s clear that our big product groups are becoming interconnected. The promise of cloud is starting to impact what we’re delivering.”

Microsoft has finally started reducing the free storage it offers OneDrive users from 15GB to 5GB. In addition to this, the company has also taken away the bonus storage it gave away for camera roll backup. However, if users opted-in for these giveaways before January 31 this year, users will be allowed to enjoy these storages as before.

Microsoft has announced that it is bringing Skype, the popular video calling and messaging app to Linux, Chrome and Chromebook devices. The Linux version of the app is currently in the Alpha state while the company actively works on the development. A stable version of the app will be launched once the bugs and issues are worked out in the App. The company further announced that Chrome and Chromebook device users can go to web.skype.com and start using the web version of the app.

Remedy Entertainment’s Quantum Break turned out to be one of the bigger successes for Microsoft’s Xbox One console. That being said, despite the division’s closure, Microsoft Studios general manager Shannon Loftis is interested in exploring another such “mixed media” Xbox title down the road. Speaking to The Guardian, Loftis said, “Actually it’s getting easier. As performance capture becomes more sophisticated, the work to bridge the gap between the linear entertainment and the interactive element is becoming less and less. I would love to work on another mixed-media game.”

Microsoft has made Project Malmo, a platform that uses the world of Minecraft as a testing ground for advanced artificial intelligence research, available for novice to experienced programmers on GitHub via an open-source license. Katja Hofmann, a researcher in Microsoft’s UK research lab, who leads the development of Project Malmo, said the system will help researchers develop new techniques and approaches to reinforcement learning. Hofmann said, “We’re trying to put out the tools that will allow people to make progress on those really, really hard research questions.”

Microsoft is working to help businesses drive digital transformation at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference, held this week in Toronto. The event kicked off July 11 with a morning keynote during which CEO Satya Nadella put the spotlight on a new partnership with General Electric. The two companies plan to make GE’s Predix, a platform and operating system for the industrial internet, available on Microsoft Azure. On the second day of keynotes, Microsoft announced significant updates and new partnerships related to Windows 10 and Surface to its enterprise audience. The July 12 news will expand the offerings available to enterprise users.

Microsoft’s HoloLens has been available to developers for some time, but what’s less well known is that its augmented reality headset also comes in an ‘enterprise edition.’ CEO Satya Nadella talked up the HoloLens at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner conference in Toronto, along with an app that Japan Airlines is using to train its engineers. He said, “We now have HoloLens available both as a developer edition as well as an enterprise edition.”

Microsoft will offer the high-end version of its Windows 10 software to small businesses via a cloud-based subscription for the first time, expanding the number of products available to a wider range of customers. The company will also rent Surface tablets for a monthly fee. Starting this fall, the Windows 10 Enterprise Edition, which offers more security features, will be available to any size company for $7 a month per user through partners in Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider program. Matt Barlow, General Manager, Windows Marketing, Microsoft, said, “It’s basically the price of a cup of coffee and a doughnut.”