Author: Microsoft Stories

Microsoft announced the launch of its online store with Tata CLiQ, the e-commerce portal of the Tata Group. The store will sell a wide range of Microsoft products including tablets, personal computers, software and phones. Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Country General Manager, Consumer Channel Group, Microsoft India, said, “We are expanding our online presence through our official Microsoft Store so that our consumers find it easier to experience and buy our products. The Microsoft online store will sell products using Tata CLiQ’s “Phygital” model which smartly blends the physical and digital worlds to create an ecosystem between the brand and consumers.

Microsoft, Databricks, and Intel were among those lining up in support of Spark at this week’s Spark Summit. Oliver Chiu, a Senior Product Marketing Manager for big data and data warehousing at Microsoft, wrote, “With GA, we are revealing improvements we’ve made to the service to make Spark hardened for the enterprise and easy for your users. This includes improvements to the availability, scalability, and productivity of our managed Spark service.”

PepsiCo India has announced the launch of a bold new variant Mountain Dew Game Fuel in India. Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Country General Manager, Consumer Channel Group, Microsoft India, said, “Gaming, especially social gaming, is growing exponentially among Indian audiences. We are committed to delivering unmatched and memorable experiences to Indian gamers and our partnership with PepsiCo for Mountain Dew GameFuel is a step in that direction. We are confident that the platform will attract, and appeal to, the growing Indian gaming community.”

Cyanogen has started rolling out version 13.1 of its OS with Mod support to OnePlus One smartphones. It also comes with more integrated apps from Microsoft, including Skype integration in the Phone app, more control for Cortana, OneNote from Microsoft and Microsoft Hyperlapse for camera app.

Back in March, Microsoft had announced that Windows 10 has surpassed 300 million active devices since its launch in July 2015 and now the company claims it is the most successful operating system till date. However, Microsoft is now relying on platforms like cloud computing and Cortana intelligence suite for its next growth verticals. At the recently held Build Tour in Pune, Microsoft India General Manager for Developer Experience, Narendra Bhandari said, “Our goal is to provide best tools to developers and help them build great apps for cross-platform utilization.” Microsoft wants consumers and developers to see Windows, Office and Azure as intelligent platforms that work together.

Microsoft is previewing its major anniversary software update for Xbox One. The first patch for the upcoming update is releasing for people who’ve opted for Xbox Early Access. The list of new features is quite extensive, but Cortana for Xbox One is the headliner. Xbox One’s current Kinect voice controls are functional but Cortana will bring Siri-like natural language functionality, a big plus if users use voice controls regularly on the Xbox One.

Shinobi602 predicted that Microsoft is all set to have a “super solid lineup” at E3 this year. Between rumors of new Xbox hardware coming out this year and next year, and the raft of Xbox One exclusives slated for later in the year, including Gears of War 4, it’s not surprising that Microsoft should have a jam-packed E3 schedule. Dead Rising 4, State of Decay 2, Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, and Rare’s new IP Sea of Thieves, might be among the titles that will get importance during Microsoft’s press release.

Yappn Corp., a leader in real-time language technology and translation, has been recognized as a Canadian Cloud Leader by Microsoft Canada’s Cloud Society. Janet Kennedy, President, Microsoft Canada, said, “As a customer using Azure, we value your contribution towards elevating Canada to the cloud. By adopting Microsoft Azure, our Cloud Leaders are helping to fuel the growth of our digital economy and driving innovation in ways that extends their impact beyond just technology in Canada.”

TeamViewer, the global pioneer of remote control and online collaboration software, announced its interoperation with Microsoft Intune to enable remote assistance for Windows PC users. Andrew Conway, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Enterprise Mobility Suite, Microsoft, said, “Organizations today need secure solutions that give them the ability to provide flexible, remote IT support for their users. We’re excited to welcome TeamViewer into the Microsoft Intune ecosystem, enhancing our mutual customers’ capabilities for remote assistance on Intune managed Windows PCs.”