In the News

Over 100 researchers, data analysts, computer programmers, developers and other stakeholders came together at two-day hackathon Hack4farming. The event was held at the headquarters of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics with support from Microsoft, aWhere (the US-based agriculture information firm) and T-Hub, Hyderabad. Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India R&D, said, “The two-day hackathon had mentors from Microsoft to guide participants in their quest to build solutions using intelligent cloud technology including Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and Power BI to support farmers. The hackathon has highlighted that technology, when harnessed correctly, has the potential to transform lives and have a major socio-economic impact.”

While there are plenty of people anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Xbox One console exclusive Gigantic, there were some hiccups getting the game to market. Now those hiccups might be solved as Motiga has handed over publishing duties to Perfect World Entertainment. The announcement of the new publisher comes just a few months after Motiga announced it was in serious financial trouble, even having to lay off staff.

SITA, the IT provider to the air transport industry, has worked with Microsoft to deliver a Windows 10 universal app. The SITA Airside App is a sophisticated mobile application that transforms ground operations at airports. Craig Dewar, Senior Director, Windows Commercial Product Marketing, Microsoft, said, “Microsoft has collaborated with SITA to develop this mobile solution because of SITAs unique expertise across airline, airport and ground-handling operations. SITAs understanding of the business processes enabled our joint design teams to deliver an app that takes advantage of the latest mobile and wearable technology and Windows 10 to provide an agile and efficient way of working at airports worldwide.”

Facebook Inc. and Microsoft are joining forces with environmental groups to promote the development of 60 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025. Large energy consumers that want to run on cleaner energy than what utility grids provide, have relied for years on buying power directly from renewable energy developers through power purchase agreements. Brian Janous, Director of sustainability, Microsoft, said, “We have a long way to go, and the only way we’re going to get there is collaboration. We need utilities to come in as aggregators and provide new opportunities.”

Analog Devices has announced its collaboration with Microsoft and Hexoskin regarding a unique, wearable Internet of Things solution for athlete and team performance management. Jerry Lee, Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft Azure IoT, said, “Helping our customers quickly and easily innovate with IoT is core to our Microsoft Azure IoT offerings. This wearable smart jersey demonstrates how Azure IoT enables advanced analysis and real-time actionable insights from individual athlete and team-level input.”

TrueCommerce, a HighJump company and a global provider of trading partner connectivity and integration solutions, has announced that it has launched its EDI for Microsoft Dynamics AX integration for the European market. The fully managed cloud based service allows AX users to automate accounts receivable and accounts payable transactions like purchase orders and invoices. Advices can be dispatched while providing a familiar user experience of working within the native Dynamics AX platform.

Telephone billing giant Amdoc has announced a new solution called Amdocs Cloud-Fusion in collaboration with Microsoft. The solution enables service providers to provide connectivity and more secure cloud applications for enterprise and small-and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Bob De Haven, General Manager, Worldwide Communications & Media, Microsoft, said, “Service providers will be able to capture new revenue streams from their business segment customer base by adding cloud services and providing access to Microsoft Azure’s value-added business services and Azure Marketplace’s solutions through secure service provider networks.”

ELECOM CO. LTD. and Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC announced that they will be partnering on a range of business solutions for customers including network attached storage (NAS) and tablets. Nick Psyhogeos, President, Microsoft Technology Licensing, said, “We’re pleased to announce a new patent collaboration with ELECOM that will ultimately deliver more innovative technologies to customers. This partnership is an example of how the mutually respectful and beneficial exchange of technology can empower businesses and consumers to achieve more.”

iBall recently launched the CompBook Excelance and the CompBook Exemplaire laptops in partnership with Microsoft. Priced at Rs 9,999, the CompBook Excelance is the cheapest Windows 10 laptop in India. It has an 11-inch IPS antiglare display with a tactile chiclet keyboard. The display has great viewing angles too. Although the laptop’s made out of plastic, it still feels sturdy. It is also light weight and highly portable. Both laptops come with 32GB of in-built space of which a good amount is taken by Windows 10.

Microsoft has moved on to the next phase of shutdown of its standalone Sunrise calendar app. The app was acquired by Microsoft last year and the team now has moved on to work on Outlook for iOS and android. The entire team is working with Outlook and will not support or update Sunrise. The app will be removed from stores in a few days and on August 31, it will be shut down.