Business Line: Minority Report could soon be an everyday reality

Gesture-based data analytics, as depicted in science-fiction thriller movie Minority Report, could soon become an everyday reality. The future of computing as we know might transform completely into something in which users could browse through mountains of data by using simple gestures. Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice-President, Cloud & Enterprise Group, Microsoft, spoke to BusinessLine about how the company is building that future with the combination of cloud, analytics and its futuristic virtual reality gadget HoloLens.

Zee News: Microsoft’s Cortana launched via Windows Insider Preview, Windows phone 8.1 in India

icrosoft launched Cortana in India via Windows 10 Insider Preview builds 10532+ Windows phone 8.1 for users in India. Microsoft India director (Windows Business Group) Vineet Durani had had annonced in July that Cortana will be made available to Insiders (developers with Microsoft) first, and later to consumers. The users would be able to use ‘virtual assistant’ Cortana to find data, track information, set reminders, etc.

Gaming Bolt: Xbox 360 Backwards Compatible games list for Xbox One now available

Microsoft has revealed the first 104 Xbox 360 games that will be backwards compatible on the Xbox One once the feature goes live with the New Xbox One Experience. The full list includes Mass Effect, Mirror’s Edge, Halo: Spartan Assault, Gears of War 1 to 3 and Judgment, Beyond Good & Evil HD, Assassin’s Creed II, Sonic CD, Shadow Complex, Just Cause 2, Kameo and many more.

DQ Channels: Microsoft and Red Hat to deliver new standard for enterprise cloud experiences

Microsoft and Red Hat has announced a partnership that will help customers embrace hybrid cloud computing by providing greater choice and flexibility deploying Red Hat solutions on Microsoft Azure. As a key component of today’s announcement, Microsoft is offering Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the preferred choice for enterprise Linux workloads on Microsoft Azure. In addition, Microsoft and Red Hat are also working together to address common enterprise, ISV and developer needs for building, deploying and managing applications on Red Hat software across private and public clouds.

Technuter: Zoho Corporation partners with Microsoft

Zoho Corporation the parent company of Zoho.com, ManageEngine, and WebNMS, announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to contribute towards Microsoft’s O365 Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, and the mobility of Windows at Microsoft’s Future Unleashed event, held in Mumbai, India, last week. Zoho Corporation will work together with the Microsoft local cloud to enhance customer experience and redefine productivity.

Business Standard: Amway ties up with Microsoft

India’s largest direct seller Amway is working with technology major Microsoft to digitise its brick-and-mortar stores. Stores here imply outlets, where Amway distributors can place orders and collect their goods from the company.There are 154 such Amway stores located in 150 cities in the country, with the company now looking to introduce a digital wall in each of these physical stores that will allow distributors to directly place orders, make payments and pick-up their goods without human intervention.

Gaming Bolt: Xbox One’s Phil Spencer Applauds Halo 5: Guardians’ Success

Halo 5: Guardians has had a rather incredible and successful launch and some of the top execs at Microsoft have been spending the week making sure 343 Industries gets a loud round of applause. Halo 5: Guardians raised more than $400 million in revenue from and hardware sales in the short period since the game was released.

First Post: Microsoft acquires Mobile Data Labs, maker of productivity solutions for mobile workforce

Microsoft has acquired Mobile Data Labs, creator of the MileIQ app and maker of productivity solutions for mobile professionals. The Mobile Data Labs team will continue to build and offer mobile productivity solutions and look to take advantage of insights from Office 365 and the Office Graph.Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President, Outlook and Office 365 explains that Mobile Data Lab’s MileIQ app takes advantage of sensors in modern mobile devices to automatically and contextually capture, log and calculate business miles, allowing users to confidently claim tax deductions.

Business Line: Microsoft inks hybrid cloud pacts in India

Major IT infrastructure and hosting service providers such as Tata Communications, Net-magic, Sify and NxtGen have joined hands with Microsoft to offer hybrid cloud services to their customers. Existing users of IT infrastructure services from these providers will now be able to extend to Microsoft’s Azure cloud service. Gartner predicts that 50 percent of the enterprises will use hybrid cloud by 2017. “As the first hyper scale public cloud provider to offer services from data centres in India, we are excited to see the rapid growth in usage driven by the digital innovation of our customers and partners,” Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice-President, Cloud & Enterprise Group at Microsoft, said.