Author: Microsoft Stories

Microsoft announced the real-time speech translator feature for Skype back in May, and said the new feature should arrive on its IM service before the end of the 2014. In keeping with that timeline, the company recently released a preview version of Skype translator for Windows 8.1 devices. If you happen to own a Windows 8.1 powered PC or tablet, Skype Translator Preview is clearly something you should be interested in checking out.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform has received three new big data services, as a part of the move to make Azure a champion in big data services and the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. The services include Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Event Hubs and Azure Data Factory. The first two have been launched to help customers in processing data from devices and sensors in IoT and the third one is all about information production to arrange and manage diverse data in hybrid cloud environments.

Microsoft Corp is teaming up with online storage service Dropbox Inc. The two companies still compete for business users, with Dropbox seeking to expand into corporate environments and Microsoft pushing more people to adopt its OneDrive storage service. Now, Office users will be able to access Dropbox from mobile applications and edit files in Dropbox, according to Kirk Koenigsbauer, a Microsoft Office vice-president.

Recently announcing its decision to set up local data centers, Microsoft India is growing its cloud revenues in triple digits in the country, in line with the growth being registered by the company globally. The move is expected to cement the company’s stronghold in this space further, said Karan Bajwa, Microsoft India’s Managing Director, who added that the volume of transactions is higher in the small and medium businesses segment since they don’t have legacy systems to migrate to the cloud.

After the successful launch of its 8 inch Windows-based Tablet PC, iBall has announced its successor—the 10.1 inch WQ149, a seamless combination of Tablet with power of PC—in association with Intel and Microsoft. With the performance of a tablet and versatility of a laptop, iBall Slide WQ149 adapts easily to every lifestyle. Neeraj Gill, Group Director OEM, Microsoft India said, “Our deep engagement with local OEMs is one of the engines of growth for Windows and we are proud of our partnership with iBall. Consumer usage patterns around technology are constantly evolving and people today are looking for tablets that allow both work productivity and entertainment.”

In 2005, Varun Srinivasan bagged the Microsoft Imagine Cup, a contest which aims to help resolve some of the world’s toughest challenges. He even worked with Microsoft for three years. In June 2013, he moved to Silicon Valley and started SoundFocus, along with his erstwhile friend at Microsoft, Alex Selig. SoundFocus was started with the goal of building revolutionary audio processing technologies that empower people to hear better.

Microsoft wants to play a big role in taking high-speed broadband connections to the ‘last mile’ – the remote and inaccessible parts of India. The US software giant, headed by Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella, has proposed to the telecom department the deployment of its TV White-Space technology for a pilot project in Bangalore. The technology functions like Wi-Fi, but on a bigger scale – it provides wireless connectivity across a 10 km radius at speeds up to 16 Mbps, eight times faster than what is generally available in most parts of India.

In an attempt to bridge the industry-academia gap and improve the productivity of students in state-run polytechnics, Karnataka’s Department of Technical Education has decided to tie up with Microsoft India. HU Talwar, Director, Department of Technical Education, said Microsoft has shown a keen interest in lending their expertise to tone up technical skills of students. He said Microsoft would provide soft skills for final year diploma students of government polytechnics across the state.

Microsoft added three new Big Data services to its Azure cloud platform to make it ready to tackle the Internet of Things (IoT). “Every day, IoT is fueling vast amounts of data from millions of endpoints streaming at high velocity in the cloud,” said Joseph Sirosh, corporate vice president of Machine Learning at Microsoft. “In this new and fast-moving world of cloud and devices, businesses can no longer wait months or weeks for insights generated from data.”

Online classified company Quikr joined hands with Microsoft to launch the Quikr app on the Windows Phone Store. “Mobile internet has enabled the growth of e-commerce at a phenomenal rate in India. Quikr has been at the forefront of this growth and the new Windows Phone app will further simplify the process of online trading for customers on the go, offering them a great experience,” said Navdeep Manaktala, Head, Applications & Developer Ecosystem, Microsoft India.