In the News

According to Microsoft IDC research, Cloud spending is expected to exceed $500B by 2020. To capture this opportunity, partners need to make bold moves and re-imagine their businesses. Microsoft is simplifying its Microsoft Partner Network to enable its channel ecosystem to give better services to their customers. International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners India West Chapter, recently held a partner meet in Mumbai to provide information about the MPN program to Microsoft partners and inform them about business opportunities around Mobility, Cloud, Platforms, and Productivity.

CEO Satya Nadella paid a visit to Delhi to meet students, developers, and entrepreneurs in an event titled “Tech for Good, Ideas for India.” Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance, was present at the event, and Nadella also met Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, to discuss how Microsoft can play an increasing role in the government’s Digital India initiative. He also spoke about building solutions to “change the world we see to see a change in the world.”

Government of Punjab signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft India to use cloud computing infrastructure for better facilities in education, agriculture and healthcare for citizens. Commenting on the collaboration with the government, Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt. Ltd., said, “We are extremely proud to bring the power of Microsoft cloud technologies, machine learning and data analytics to the State of Punjab. We are happy to support the Government of Punjab in its effort to enhance citizen services and drive digital inclusion.”

Microsoft has announced a $50 price cut for the Xbox One heading into E3 2016. This applies to both bundles and standalone consoles. Certain bundles that have seen a price cut include the Xbox One bundle with The Division that retails for $349 rather than $399 and the Quantum Break bundle that retails for $299.

Microsoft and Xiaomi Inc. have expanded their global partnership to provide innovative user experiences on mobile devices. Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Microsoft, said, “People want their favorite apps and experiences to work seamlessly on the device of their choice, and that’s exactly what this partnership offers. Together with Xiaomi, we’re bringing the very best in mobile productivity to millions more customers in China and around the world.” The companies’ new collaboration also includes a cross-license and patent transfer agreement.

Microsoft is the latest company to grab a piece of the Silicon Valley startup world by launching its own venture capital investment arm. The tech giant unveiled its official VC arm in a blog post over Memorial Day weekend. Nagraj Kashyap, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Ventures, wrote, “In Microsoft’s history of engaging with and supporting startups, we’ve done a lot of investing, but not a lot of early stage. Because we would often invest alongside commercial deals, we were not a part of the early industry conversations on disruptive technology trends. With a formalized venture fund, Microsoft now has a seat at the table.”

Intrinio officially released the Intrinio Screener for Microsoft Excel, a stock screener for Excel Online and Excel Desktop. Rob Howard, Director, Office 365 Ecosystem, Microsoft, said, “ISE is a great example of how Microsoft can work with innovative companies to make financial analysis easy. Joint users can filter stocks to find the companies they want to look at, then move seamlessly to analyzing them with Intrinio’s Excel add-in.”

The article presents the review of Microsoft’s ‘Surface 3’ laptop. On a purely hardware level, the Surface 3 is the fullest realization of Microsoft’s original Surface dream: a portable tablet that can do double-duty as a laptop. It features a new Intel Atom x7 processor, which lets it run traditional Windows apps. It is incredibly well-designed, with an attention to detail absent in most laptops and tablets.

Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella is in Beijing this week, as China’s anti-trust investigation of the US software titan nears its third year. Nadella is expected to meet government officials to discuss the probe. This is the second visit paid by a high-profile US technology executive to China after Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook. He met China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang on May 17.

An 8-year-old gaming app developer met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on his visit to India recently and didn’t shy from presenting his gaming app ‘Let There Be Light’. The app lets players build factories, farms and earn coins as the city prospers. The kid wants to become the CEO of Microsoft in future.