Business Standard: Microsoft quarterly profit tops forecasts

Microsoft shares made a profit of USD 5 billion on USD 23.8 billion in revenue in the final three months of last year, propelling the company’s shares about seven percent when the earnings figures hit, before giving up some of the ground. Shares were up more than three percent to USD 53.64 in after-market trade, with analysts rejecting the notion that Microsoft was somehow past its sell-by date. Revenue from Microsoft Azure more than doubled while its overall “intelligent cloud” unit grew five percent to $6.3 billion.

Bloomberg: Messageops unveils “root,” the office 365 sharepoint online intranet that will shake the ground of the traditional intranet

MessageOps, a Microsoft Cloud business unit of Champion Solutions Group, announced the launch of ROOT. It’s a new SharePoint Intranet platform for Office 365 that is intelligently built, intuitively designed, and immediately useful. The feature-rich intranet portal is attractively priced to give all Office 365 customers an opportunity to create a more collaborative working environment. No longer will managing or installing a company Intranet be difficult.

EFY Times: Microsoft’s Azure Stack: A Cloud for your Data Center

Microsoft Azure Stack, a cloud platform running within customer’s own data centers, will be available for testing as a technical preview. It is a key focus for Microsoft in its hybrid cloud system plan. The Azure Stack has the same code that is used in Azure for running a stack locally as well as another in the cloud. Microsoft feels that customers will like its new approach as it helps them in familiarizing themselves with development and management in either scenario.

ChannelWorld India: Enterprises eye a fast switch to Windows 10

Enterprise interest in Windows 10, getting onto it and off Windows 7, is at an unprecedented level, research firm Gartner said. Although in virtually all cases the interest has not yet translated into actual deployments, it signals a faster move to the new OS than for past editions, including Windows 7. Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans revealed that the level of interest expressed by customers and the type of enquiries made are snowballing the shift to Windows 10 than any previous operating system.

Technuter: Microsoft launches Nokia 230 Dual SIM @ Rs. 3949 in India

The all new Nokia 230 Dual SIM is now available in India for Rs. 3949. “The Nokia 230 Dual SIM has been designed to deliver on the latent need in the market. The device offers a premium feature phone experience to users, both in terms of the build and design of the device, as well as the usage.” said Ravi Kunwar, Director- North, Microsoft Mobile Devices. The device comes with a 2.8 inch screen, 1200 mAH battery, 32GB memory card support and more.

NDTV Gadgets: Microsoft Office Gets New Cloud Storage Options for iOS and Web

Microsoft has introduced real-time co-authoring with Office Online for documents stored in partner cloud services. The announcement expands the availability of the feature to an increased number of third-party cloud storage providers in the CSPP program. “This announcement is just the next step in our journey to make Office files more accessible no matter where they’re stored. We’re excited that Dropbox customers now have the capabilities to co-edit files in Office Online.” said Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Office.

Deccan Chronicle: Microsoft India extends maternity leave to 6 months

In a move to further boost a healthy and productive work environment, Microsoft India has doubled the maternity leave for its employees. The new policy, designed to enhance emotional upliftment of the workforce, allows employees to take paid maternity leave for six months. The policy, to be effective from February 1, 2016, will also offer employees flexible work arrangements up to two years.

Bloomberg: TripAdvisor launches Windows 10 app

TripAdvisor™, the world’s largest travel site*, today announced the launch of a new Windows 10 app across desktop, tablet and mobile. The TripAdvisor app for Windows 10 will be available in 47 markets and will be pre-loaded on millions of Windows 10 compatible devices in 2016. The new app features TripAdvisor’s comprehensive booking tools, including the TripAdvisor instant booking platform, which allows travelers to easily compare hotel options, check prices and availability and book their accommodation on TripAdvisor. Restaurants and attractions are also featured, many of which are bookable on the site.