In the News

Microsoft said it will put a billion dollars’ worth of cloud computing power in the hands of non-profit groups and university researchers free of charge. A philanthropic arm of the US software colossus will make the donation during the coming three years to 70,000 non-profit groups and researchers, chief executive Satya Nadella said while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Cloud computing lets people use the Internet to tap into processing or data storage capacity at huge data centers.

Microsoft is bringing another formerly exclusive feature of Windows smartphones first of all to iOS then to Android. This time it’s the Word Flow virtual keyboard. Microsoft is keen to share some of its platform’s choice innovations — like Cortana, Office and now the Word Flow keyboard — with users of other mobile operating systems. Microsoft is currently letting members of its Windows Insider program test a beta version of Word Flow for iOS. This virtual keyboard uses exclusive technology that considerably speeds up text input on smartphones, as users don’t have to lift up their finger when typing words onscreen.

Orckestra announced that it has partnered with Microsoft Dynamics to help retailers, grocers, and branded manufacturers realize the promise of Unified Commerce in the Cloud, which brings together technology-enabled retail functions to serve consumers where, when and how they desire.

Microsoft is giving developers and students a free crack at its new server software for the R programming language. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Joseph Sirosh announced the new Microsoft R Server for Developers, which offers a free version of the software to members of the company’s developer program. The software will give developers a test bed to work with an enterprise-grade version of the popular data analysis language before rolling it out into production.

The Microsoft Selfie app that was introduced last month for iOS has now been updated with a new logo, new UI, and some new features as well. The Microsoft Selfie v2.0.0 besides a new UI and logo, introduces a ‘Share’ feature using which you can send the selfie images clicked to others, something that was missing earlier. This app gives us a glimpse of Microsoft’s machine learning technology.

Microsoft appears to have begun seeding the Windows 10 Mobile software update to Lumia smartphones. The Redmond-based company earlier this week made available the latest version of its mobile operating system to the Microsoft Lumia 640, and it is now seeding the update to the low-cost Lumia 535 in at least one region. The company has also released Upgrade Advisor Beta for all Windows Phone 8.1 users, to help them upgrade their phone. the app allows users to know whether their Windows Phone handset is eligible to upgrade. It also helps with cleaning up memory on the smartphone to make enough room for the new software version.

Microsoft has finished rolling out Skype’s much-anticipated real time voice translation service to all of its Windows users, according to a post on the Skype blog. Skype can understand Mandarin, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and translate one to another as you video call your Skype contacts. Skype also offers a text translation service that works in over 50 instant message languages.

In an interview, Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India, said, “Our mission is to empower every individual and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. Therefore, our culture is based around the world of empowerment, helping our employees to achieve more because we want to carter to every person on the planet, we have an inclusive environment.” Rohit Thakur, Head of HR, Microsoft India, said, “As people come into Microsoft are all unique, they come with unique backgrounds, they have unique experiences and they want to contribute in their own unique way and our culture allows for that. It allows for maximizing their individual potential.”

While PlayStation and Nintendo are far older, more entrenched gaming brands than Microsoft, having multiple decades of history, and iconic hardware and software under their belt, it appears that in the immediate here and now, Microsoft is far more at the forefront of gamers’ minds than either of them. A study conducted by marketing firm ScribbleLive over CES seems to confirm as much.

Microsoft has announced plans to further expand its aggressive Windows 10 distribution strategy. Its “Get Windows 10” alerts will begin to arrive on business PCs, the company reported. Get Windows 10 is part of Microsoft’s plan to push Windows users to adopt its new OS. The app checks users’ PCs for Windows 10 compatibility and sends a notification when the device is ready to upgrade.