In the News

Microsoft putting in the effort to make Games with Gold more attractive to subscribers. This month’s Games with Gold for the Xbox One include Ubisoft’s The Crew, the open world racing MMO, and Goat Simulator. In addition, Xbox 360 players get XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Super Meat Boy, both of which will also be available to Xbox one players thanks to the console’s backwards compatibility.

Rocket League’s developer Psyonix has confirmed that players from Xbox One and PC fan base can finally play against each other. This new update will release worldwide starting 3pm PT/ 6pm ET/ 10pm UTC. Furthermore, players can include other players from other platforms in both public and private matches thanks to a toggle check box which can be found in the options.

Microsoft Xbox won Marketing Team of the Year 2016, while AKQA was named Agency of the Year at the PromaxBDA Game Marketing Awards 2016. The annual awards celebrate outstanding achievement in interactive entertainment marketing, the innovative campaigns that helped create the past year’s most popular game titles. Winners were chosen by the Game Marketing Association’s esteemed panel of judges and the jury comprised of leading members of the games industry.

Aviatrix Systems, a pioneer in cloud native networking, announced that the company has joined the Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Alliance. As more enterprises shift toward the hybrid cloud, this relationship signals the company’s commitment to helping them seamlessly extend into Microsoft Azure. Nicole Herskowitz, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft Azure, said, “We welcome Aviatrix in the Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Alliance family. Together, our solutions will provide customers the ability to leverage the power of Azure cloud networking.”

US-based Microsoft Corporation has reached an agreement to sell its entry-level feature phone assets to China-based investment holding company FIH Mobile Ltd. As part of the deal, FIH Mobile Ltd. will also acquire Microsoft Mobile Vietnam, the company’s Hanoi, Vietnam, manufacturing facility. Microsoft will transfer substantially all of its feature phone assets, including brands, software and services, care network and other assets, customer contracts, and critical supply agreements, subject to compliance with local law.

Microsoft has scaled back its Windows 10 release schedule to two feature upgrades annually instead of the three per year it once said was its plan. The Redmond based company has hinted since November that it would cut back on the number of Windows 10 upgrades. That’s when it began to refer to the schedule as “two to three times per year,” rather than the solid three-times-a-year pace it had talked up before Windows 10’s official release.

Microsoft unveiled the latest version of windows 10 with better customized features. The features designed, comprises of the windows 7 start menu with live tiles of windows 8. The latest version updates native tools in customizing the menus and layout. The upgrade aims at targeting users who are missing out windows 7 start menu and windows 8 interfaces. Combining all these features Windows 10 will be even more handy and attractive.

There’s an update available for Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM 2016 – a brand new tool to help companies tap the Internet of Things (IoT) for their customer-service efforts. The Spring 2016 Wave of Dynamics CRM adds Connected Field Service, a new tool companies can soon use to leverage the potential of predictive maintenance via IoT devices. Param Kahlon, General Manager, Program Management for Dynamics CRM, Microsoft, explained, “For many service-oriented businesses, this represents a truly revolutionary shift from more of a reactive break-fix posture to a model that is built on predictive service.”

Microsoft announced it has awarded Affordable Access Initiative grants to 12 entrepreneurial businesses to help scale their solutions and business models to increase affordable Internet access in communities around the world. Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President of business development at Microsoft, said, “With more than half of the world’s population lacking access to the Internet, connectivity is a global challenge that demands creative problem solving. By using technology that’s available now and partnering with local entrepreneurs who understand the needs of their communities, our hope is to create sustainable solutions that will not only have impact today but also in the years to come.”

The sixth edition of India’s biggest social media festival, Social Media Week (SMW), is set to be organized on June 9-10. Based on the theme titled ‘The Invisible Hand: Hidden Forces of Technology (and how we can Harness it for Good)’, the event welcomes the modifications in technology that has changed the way people connect, consume and communicate. The event will have advertising film director Prahlad Kakkar, Microsoft marketer Jyotsna and Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, entrepreneur and founder of hybrid startup accelerator Sparknext, as speakers among others.