Recent News

Enhancing their product portfolio for better collaboration and productivity, Microsoft has announced the availability of advanced Dynamics CRM 2015, Dynamics CRM 2015 Online and has introduced additional features to Dynamics AX. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Online will help enhance sales, marketing, and service functionalities, revolutionizing the way sellers and marketers work together and deliver productivity improvements in natural user interface, catering to both on-premise and on-cloud customers.

The much-awaited Lumia 535 hit the stores last week. The first Microsoft-branded smartphone is a refreshing upgrade of the Lumia 530 (Dual SIM). Loaded with good specifications and a bright screen, the device draws attention at first. It would appear that Microsoft has arrived in the budget segment with a smart device, which is competitively priced at Rs 9,199 and has most of its features in the right place.

If you’ve waited to pick up critically acclaimed Xbox One exclusives such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Forza Horizon 2, you’ve been rewarded for your patience. Amazon India has discounted these two games, as well as others, such as Sunset Overdrive and Kinect Sports Rivals. These games, which originally cost Rs. 4,200 each, are now available at a 30 percent discount – Rs. 2,999 each.

Joseph Landes, General Manager (Developer and Platform Evangelism), Microsoft India, acknowledges the gaming category as a driver for any app store. He says, “We’ve got a lot of great games now, and it’s a category that Microsoft takes very seriously.” Landes believes there is still room for Indian developers to grow and improve: “The one thing I always point out, because I really want this to change, is that India is yet to come out with a world famous game.”

Certiport announced the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) India Championship, the technology skills competition on Microsoft Office. Pankaj Rai, Director and Chief Executive Officer, CyberLearning, said, “This will mark the fifth year India has participated in the MOS World Championship, and we look forward to crowning the Country Champions who will then go on to compete on the world stage.” Bob Whelan, President and Chief Executive Officer for Pearson VUE, said, “We have enjoyed watching the growth of India’s MOS Championship in recent years. Microsoft Office Specialist certification prepares students for future success in college and careers.”

Finally, it’s time for Microsoft’s Azure RemoteApp service to reach users. The service will be available from next week, December 11, to be precise. The service, codenamed Mohoro, will allow users deploy Windows apps in the cloud, which can then be accessed from several other devices. Customers who had earlier opted for preview subscriptions will be moved to a 30-day free trial automatically after the roll-out.

On the sidelines of an event to announce the graduation of the fifth batch of Microsoft’s accelerator programme in India, Zack Weisfeld, Head, Microsoft Ventures Europe and Global Accelerator Programme, spoke about how the Indian start-up ecosystem fares against other countries. “I think India has great technologists and many of those I have met here are world class,” he said. “But there are a few areas that they could do better in. From my experience, they need to be bolder about what they do.”

Microsoft Mobile is betting big on its unique applications to counter rivals and bolster its presence in a smartphone segment that is growing at a frenzied pace in the country. “We are offering five unique Microsoft services for free to our smartphone users – Skype video calling, Office 365, One Note, One Drive and X-Box Games. No other smartphone vendor can boast of these first party applications,” says, Kislay Kumar, Director (East), Nokia India Sales Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile Oy.

Microsoft’s new Azure websites offers more management and monitoring options for websites and web-apps. It has introduced a new analytics and self-service capabilities to help users optimize their websites and web-based apps. Other updates include Azure Websites Diagnostic as a Service (DaaS), which now features PHP reporting options in the extension. The new feature can scan live PHP processes and it can process a PHP report without capturing dumps.

Large Indian companies are now increasingly acknowledging the innovations by technology start-ups in the country and looking to engage with them with a view to derive competitive advantage. Ravi Narayan, director of Microsoft Ventures India, says that he frequently gets requests from organisations that wish to engage with start-ups in a way that could aid their businesses. Through the several rounds of its ‘customer access programs’ in 2014, Microsoft Ventures has seen over 40 successful deals.