In the News

Microsoft’s Groove apps for iOS and Android weren’t quite as good as the Windows version, but this update was designed to change that. The company has given its music apps for both platforms a facelift that makes them look more like their Windows counterpart. It also bundled a handful of new features with it. The apps now have an Explore view listing the most popular songs, and they now take on a higher resolution when scaled up on big phones. Microsoft also promises faster downloads for offline playbacks and various improvements.

Microsoft’s Xbox One S, which was announced at E3 this year, will finally be available to purchase from August 2. To begin with, the 2TB SKU, which retails for $399, will be the only configuration that will be offered, though Microsoft will also be offering variants with 1TB of on board storage and 500GB of on board storage for $349 and $299 respectively.

Pokemon Go, an augmented reality game was launched just over a week. Since its release in US, Australia and New Zealand, the game has set several new records on the Apple’s App store. Microsoft is looking into an option to make this game available on Window’s smartphones as well. Microsoft said, ‘We have received an overwhelming amount of feedback requesting that the Store provide this application. The Windows Store team is looking into options with regard to the best way to fulfill this request. We keep you advised on any updates.’

Microsoft announced an agreement to build a cloud-based platform for Boeing’s industry-leading portfolio of commercial aviation analytics tools. The two companies intend to work together to transition many of Boeing’s commercial aviation applications into the Microsoft Azure cloud. Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Business, Microsoft, said, “At Microsoft, we are focused on empowering organizations across industries to advance their digital transformation. Working with Boeing, we can help businesses across aviation to become more adaptive, innovative and intelligence-driven, including airlines, operators, suppliers, support, and service providers.”

Microsoft will soon launch a new camera app for iOS. It is not just a normal app but an intelligent camera app known as ‘Microsoft Pix’. The app clicks the best moment on its own and enhances the image. The app also automatically sets the ISO and exposure once it is opened and focuses on face by optimizing settings. The app is not available for the iOS users yet but the company has provided the interested users with source link and is expected to roll out soon.

Squad teased that Kerbal Space Program was reaching the Xbox One and it made good on its word just a few days later. The spacecraft construction and exploration game is now available through the Xbox Store. This port preserves the challenge of designing and flying ships across the Kerbals’ star system – the biggest change is simply adapting KSP to the realities of playing with a gamepad.

In this week’s Big Data Roundup, we take a look at Microsoft’s new professional degree program that will debut with a Data Science degree pilot, Facebook CEO’s plans to benefit from Microsoft Graph and Delve across its new Office 365 deployment and its own Facebook at Work. Also, Gartner says IT organizations know that analytics and data will be big for digital business, but skills to make that happen are still hard to find. Plus, we explore what geographic data experts behind Pokemon Go has to reveal about the creation of the its maps.

As Microsoft continues to nudge folks into trying its new Edge browser on Windows 10, its latest promise is a better looking and more efficient video streaming. Just like Apple’s Safari browser on OS X, it turns out that on Windows only Microsoft’s browsers stream HTML5 Netflix in 1080p, while Chrome, Firefox and Opera all max out at 720p and a much lower bitrate. It also claims the browser makes use of Windows 10’s enhancements to offload video and audio processing to the right hardware in ways that save significant battery life.

During a string of Azure, Office 365, Windows 10 and Surface announcements on the second day of 2016 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Microsoft displayed a sense of coherence in front of its sell-out channel crowd. Phil Goldie, Director of Partner Development, Microsoft, observed, “There’s real consistency in our approach and it’s clear that our big product groups are becoming interconnected. The promise of cloud is starting to impact what we’re delivering.”

Microsoft has finally started reducing the free storage it offers OneDrive users from 15GB to 5GB. In addition to this, the company has also taken away the bonus storage it gave away for camera roll backup. However, if users opted-in for these giveaways before January 31 this year, users will be allowed to enjoy these storages as before.