Author: Microsoft Stories

Microsoft has quietly updated the Surface Book lineup to add a low-end variant that offers better graphics than the base model. Priced at $1,699 (roughly Rs. 110,100), the newly added variant is only $200 (roughly Rs. 13,000) more expensive than the Surface Book’s base model, but still comes with discrete Nvidia graphics chip. Unveiled earlier this month, the Surface Book is Microsoft’s first laptop.

Dell and Microsoft Corp. announced a new cloud solution and program that enable organizations of all sizes to use the Microsoft cloud platform to transform their business. A new, Microsoft Azure-consistent, integrated system for hybrid cloud and extended program offerings will help more customers benefit from Azure and Dell to drive greater agility and increased time to value, whether they choose on-premises or public cloud solutions.

Microsoft Corp. reached a 15-year high after profit exceeded analysts’ estimates, buoyed by demand for Internet-based programs that handle business tasks and host companies’ applications. Fiscal first-quarter profit excluding items such as severance and acquisition costs, amounted to 67 cents a share, and sales adjusted for deferrals were $21.7 billion, Microsoft said in a statement.

With Windows 10, Microsoft wants to unify the PC and mobile platforms into one ecosystem. Microsoft is rolling out a new preview version of Windows 10 Mobile software that enables Cortana to send texts from your PC. Cortana will notify Windows 10 mobile users of any missed calls and then can reply straight from their PC.

Microsoft’s Garage project has already released Keyboard for Excel, Send, and Next Lock Screen apps for Android users. Now, a new Android app named Parchi, which is also a release from the Microsoft Garage project, is available to download via Google Play. The app is available in limited markets including India and is currently not available to download in the US.The app is compatible with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean & above, and is just 3.6MB in size. Parchi is a quick note-taking app allows users to jot down small bites of information.

Microsoft has initiated a four-pronged process of graduating from the GSOC (global security operations centre) model to a Virtual SOC that will be proactive in terms of ensuring security of its employees and protection of assets. “We are going to run all our communication into Hyderabad. That’s all of non-life safety traffic, routine communication,” said, Michael Foynes, senior director (global operations) for Global Security.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 is in the spotlight as the company announces new initiatives to broaden enterprise adoption of its upgraded hybrid device and Windows 10 operating system. Redmond is announcing two additions to its Surface Enterprise Initiative, a program announced in September to help businesses navigate the process of buying and implementing Surfaces for employees. It also has plans to expand its current number of resellers. While the commercial response for Surface Pro 4 has been positive, “almost equally important for business is the infrastructure for managing thousands of devices,” said Brian Eskridge, Senior Manager of Microsoft’s Windows.

Akamai Technologies, Inc, the global leader in content delivery network (CDN) services, and Microsoft Corp. have announced a partnership in which access to the Akamai CDN will be fully integrated into Microsoft Azure. The forthcoming Azure CDN offering is designed to optimize performance of content and applications deployed and delivered on Azure. “Through this strategic partnership, Microsoft and Akamai are helping usher in the next generation of content delivery tailored for cloud platform customers of all sizes,” said Bill Staples, Corporate Vice President, App Platform, Microsoft Azure. “The Azure CDN combines the intelligent cloud services of the Azure platform with the delivery advantages of Akamai’s world-class and massively-distributed CDN. Further, Azure customers can leverage Akamai’s unique CDN, acceleration and security product portfolio that can be managed and purchased through a single enterprise agreement.”

One of the challenges that business intelligence software users face is generating the right sort of visualizations for the data they have. That’s why Microsoft announced support for custom visualizations across its Power BI service. Developers can now use tools provided by the company on Github to create .pbviz files that can then be imported directly into Power BI’s web interface for use in analyzing data. Microsoft will be reviewing all of the submissions in its gallery, Technical Fellow Amir Netz said in an interview. It won’t be going over them with a fine-toothed comb, just looking hard enough to make sure that they work and aren’t hiding malicious code.

Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset won’t ship to developers until early next year, but the company is already looking to PC makers for future versions. The first collaboration could come from Asus, which has been talking to Microsoft about building its own HoloLens headset. Microsoft’s Windows and devices head Terry Myerson said the decision is ultimately up to Asus, with CEO Jonney Shih saying the company was “still evaluating” the possibility.