Recent News

At the XChange Solution Provider event, Patrick Schlight, Senior Director, Channel Development, talked about how Microsoft’s evolving emphasis on cloud-first, mobile-first solutions is creating opportunities for the channel that are far more lucrative than the traditional reseller business model of old. “Microsoft at our heart is a partner company. Our success is based upon your success,” Schlight told the audience.

Microsoft has announced a universal foldable keyboard accessory, which is compatible with Android, iOS and Windows devices. The software giant also revealed that the Windows 10 OS will be reaching all Windows 8.1 devices this year.

In addition to launching the Tab 2 A10, Tab 2 A8 Android tablets, Lenovo also launched the Ideapad Miix 300 tablet at MWC. Running on Windows 8.1, the Ideapad Miix 300 is expected to hit the stores in July and will be priced at around $149 (Rs 10,000).

Microsoft unveiled two new smartphones – Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL – as it aims to strengthen its position in the affordable smart phone segment in India. “The devices come with a one-year personal subscription to Office365, enabling the full Office experience on the Lumia as well as one tablet and one PC/Mac. The subscription also includes one terabyte of storage on OneDrive,” said Stephen Elop, Executive Vice President, Microsoft Devices Group.

Microsoft launched two new smart phones – Lumia 532 and Lumia 435 – in Rajasthan, targeting youths and first jobbers. “Rajasthan is the fastest growing market for smart phones and we expect a huge response from the state,” Ravi Kunwar, Director-North, Nokia India (a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobiles Oy), said at the launch.

In the backdrop of hosting India’s largest automation event called ‘Rockwell Automation on the move’, the company announced its partnership with Microsoft and Cisco for joint solutions development, and integrated solutions and service which will result in better asset optimisation and broader risk management for industrial companies.

About 160 students of IIIT and Indian School of Business took part in the first Azure Machine Learning (ML) 24-hour hackathon organised by Microsoft India and IIIT. The event provided students with hands-on experience on Azure tools available to build solutions for Big Data Initiatives. Sundar Srinivasan, Partner, Group Program Manager, Microsoft, said, “Microsoft has democratised the usage of Azure ML as anyone can work on it and build their models. It is integrated with cloud data.”

The digital space is fast growing and is paving way for small businesses to make their presence felt. Eyeing the online boom, GoDaddy and Microsoft have joined hands for what they call ‘Get Online Mission’. Meetul Patel, General Manager, SMS&P, Microsoft India, says, “India is a very diverse country with a diverse set of small businesses and we have a partner ecosystem which services their various needs. As we go to the cloud, we see a whole set of new partners emerging and GoDaddy is an example of that.

Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said the Finance Minister has presented a broad-based Budget focused on accelerating India’s inclusive growth. “The Budget retains the focus on financial inclusion, education, health and agriculture. It has increased focused on infrastructure development, housing and manufacturing in India,” Pramanik said. “Overall, Budget 2015 is wide in its scope and takes into account the interests of diverse sections of society.”