Author: Microsoft Stories

Microsoft developer Saqib Sheikh who lost his eyesight at the age of seven has developed an app to help the visually challenged. Microsoft released a video at Build 2016 to explain how, Seeing AI, the intelligent software system works. After joining Microsoft as a software engineer, he always wanted to develop apps which would help others. The app developed by him can help the blind to read out text from posters or menus by clicking a photo of them. The app also guides them on how to take the photo.

ZONE Telecom Pte Ltd (ZONE), a leading info-communications service provider, has partnered Cloud Service Provider giants, AliCloud and Microsoft. The partnership will expand ZONE’s suite of cloud solutions to cater to Small and Medium Enterprises in Singapore, as well larger international markets. Cloud service offerings allow SMEs to deploy and reap benefits of enterprise-grade IT capabilities at affordable costs.

A new app for Microsoft Band, introduced during the “Hack for Her Hackathon” event, allows the smart band to alert emergency services by dialing 911 on detecting any sign of domestic violence. According to reports, the Band Aid app monitors skin temperature and heart rate to detect a rise in stress level, and determine whether there is a chance of domestic violence. When a level of pre-defined stress is detected, a subsequent notification pops up on the band, giving the wearer an option to call 911 with the help of the connected smartphone.

Microsoft is adding a feature to its Edge browser that will automatically pause unnecessary Flash content. Peripheral content ads, random animations, etc. will be paused until a user actively clicks on it. Microsoft says the update will “significantly reduce power consumption.” The company claims the feature is smart enough to distinguish between peripheral content and “central” content, like video or games.

HP unveiled its latest computing innovations which transform the mobile computing experience. HP Elite x3 is the first built-for-business mobile device running on Windows 10. The device uses Continuum in Windows 10, to enable multi-screen transitions between a phone scenario and a desktop PC scenario. Users can dock the Elite x3 with its ecosystem of accessories to render desktop and laptop productivity experiences while also retaining productivity on-the-go.

Microsoft’s first big update to Windows 10 was the biggest news to come out at its Build event last week. Now it’s finally ready to be tested by the public. Microsoft has released the first preview for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to its Insider beta-testing program. Though this preview doesn’t include all of them, there are several new features worth mentioning. Most notable one for the developers out there is the ability to run native Bash from Ubuntu right on Windows. This means Windows finally has a real Unix terminal. There’s also improved cross-platform support for Cortana, such as a ‘find my phone’ feature, low battery notifications, and map sharing across devices.

SnapLogic, the industry’s first unified data and application integration platform as a service (iPaaS), announced that its hybrid execution framework, the Snaplex is available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace as Azureplex. Using the SnapLogic Elastic Integration Platform, customers of the Azure cloud computing platform and Cortana Analytics Suite can get to business insights faster with self-service data integration. Lance Olson, Partner Director, Program Management for Cortana Analytics, Microsoft, said, “The Cortana Analytics Suite provides a powerful platform for analytics and machine learning in the cloud. SnapLogic delivers a way for customers of both companies to connect all their data sources to the cloud so they get faster time to value and a more comprehensive way to transform data into intelligent action.”

nGenx, a cloud services pioneer in the delivery of hosted workspaces, including applications, data, and desktops, announced inclusion of the world’s most popular office productivity suite, Microsoft Office 2016, in its nGenx Cloud Application Catalog. With the new addition, nFinity nWorkspace, customers have cloud access to this and other business critical applications on a wide range of computing devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

According to analysis, Windows 10 will have grabbed between 19% and 21% of the personal computer operating system market by its one-year anniversary. This will put Microsoft a third of the way toward its goal of 1 billion devices. Data published last week by analytics vendor Net Applications pegged Windows 10’s user share – an estimate of the percentage of the world’s computers that run individual operating systems at 14.2% for March, an increase of 1.3 percentage over the month prior.