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Continuing its overtures toward open source, Microsoft is unveiling technologies for packaging applications and remotely debugging JavaScript. One open source technology, ManifoldJS, helps developers package Web experiences into native apps for Android, iOS, and Windows stores. ManifoldJS runs on familiar technology, said Microsoft Senior Program Manager Jeff Burtoft.

Microsoft has created a new fun website – How-Old.net – that lets users upload pictures and predicts the age and gender of any face recognised in those pictures. Users can upload photos of up to 3 MB.

Microsoft has launched its most affordable Lumia smartphone – the Lumia 430 – in India at a price of Rs 5,299. The dual-SIM phone runs Windows 8.1 and can be upgraded to Windows 10. On board, the Lumia 430 has 8GB of storage, expandable to 128GB. Under its hood is a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor paired with 1GB of RAM. It features a 4-inch display, 2-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera.

Micromax has been teasing fans over social networks about an upcoming device. At its launch event, Micromax took the wraps off its latest product called Micromax LapTab – a tablet-laptop hybrid device running Windows 8.1 that is priced at Rs 14,999.

In an interview, Ajey Mehta, Managing director of Microsoft Mobiles, said, “When we get ready with Windows 10 and our devices, that will be the right time to launch it.” The company plans to get One billion new customers with the new OS and is aiming for unity across various devices such as, desktops, mobiles and tablets.

With the emergence of cloud computing, Microsoft has a real opportunity in India, the company’s India-born CEO Satya Nadella has said. “It was hard selling software. But now with cloud, we have real opportunity in India. That definitely is the transformative thing. And of course by design, it has anti-piracy built into it, which also is very helpful,” Nadella told an investors’ conference being held on the sidelines of the Build 2015 conference.

Microsoft, at its Build conference, unveiled new Azure services and features that let developers create apps infused with big data analytics technologies. In a keynote, Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise unit, said the software giant sees data management tools as the key to enabling developers to build great SaaS apps.

Wrapped under secretive ‘Project Spartan’ so far, Microsoft has unveiled future looking Edge as its new web browser, which would eventually replace the existing Internet Explorer. “Microsoft Edge is the browser built for Windows 10, and it will be available on the widest range of Windows 10 devices,” Joe Belfiore, Corporate vice president, operating systems group at Microsoft said at Build 2015, a conference of developers.

Microsoft India unveiled the ‘Build Your Business (BYB)’ curriculum for Indian youth at the second edition of YouthSpark Live event in Bengaluru. Commenting on the curriculum’s role in helping fuel the growth of entrepreneurship in India, Rajinish Menon, Director, Microsoft Ventures India, said, “We have a long-standing commitment to helping youth realize their full potential. Build Your Business curriculum is aimed at empowering entrepreneurs and startups with tools and practices to develop their business strategy, build and sustain their business, and effectively compete in the marketplace.”

While announcing Windows 10, Microsoft also revealed that it will allow carrier billing on all devices running Windows 10. Earlier, this feature was available only for Windows Phone smartphones. Microsoft says carrier billing will be available on 90 carriers globally. This will enable users who do not have a credit card to purchase applications and services on Windows 10.