Author: Microsoft Stories

In the backdrop of hosting India’s largest automation event called ‘Rockwell Automation on the move’, the company announced its partnership with Microsoft and Cisco for joint solutions development, and integrated solutions and service which will result in better asset optimisation and broader risk management for industrial companies.

About 160 students of IIIT and Indian School of Business took part in the first Azure Machine Learning (ML) 24-hour hackathon organised by Microsoft India and IIIT. The event provided students with hands-on experience on Azure tools available to build solutions for Big Data Initiatives. Sundar Srinivasan, Partner, Group Program Manager, Microsoft, said, “Microsoft has democratised the usage of Azure ML as anyone can work on it and build their models. It is integrated with cloud data.”

The digital space is fast growing and is paving way for small businesses to make their presence felt. Eyeing the online boom, GoDaddy and Microsoft have joined hands for what they call ‘Get Online Mission’. Meetul Patel, General Manager, SMS&P, Microsoft India, says, “India is a very diverse country with a diverse set of small businesses and we have a partner ecosystem which services their various needs. As we go to the cloud, we see a whole set of new partners emerging and GoDaddy is an example of that.

Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said the Finance Minister has presented a broad-based Budget focused on accelerating India’s inclusive growth. “The Budget retains the focus on financial inclusion, education, health and agriculture. It has increased focused on infrastructure development, housing and manufacturing in India,” Pramanik said. “Overall, Budget 2015 is wide in its scope and takes into account the interests of diverse sections of society.”

A Telsyte research report has found that two-thirds of organisations that have deployed and measured Internet of Things (IoT) solutions have achieved 28 per cent cost reductions in their day-to-day operations. Commenting on the findings, Microsoft Australia Internet of Things lead Lee Hickin said, “There are clear signs that organisations are beginning to realise the power of the Internet of Things.”

Microsoft has published a high-end video showing its vision of the future. The 6-minute video is dominated by screens of all shapes and sizes: flexible handheld screens, giant screens appearing in walls, screen covering windows, screens on bracelets. The video predicts the future of many technologies already coming out of Redmond: augmented reality (HoloLens), stylus-drive touchscreens (Surface), video conferencing (Skype), gestures (Xbox Kinect), and wearables (Microsoft Band).

Good news for Windows phone users: Microsoft is working on a new app that will give users real-time updates about where their friends happen to be. Called “People Sense”, the app will help users pull up directions to friends’ whereabouts and message or call them to let them know that they are on the way.

Microsoft, after offering free Office 365 subscription to eligible students in the US, has expanded the program outside the country. The Redmond giant said, “Millions of students around the world are eligible for free Office from their school and we’ve made it easy for all eligible students globally to sign up themselves to get Office 365 and install free Office.”