The prominent display is a clear attempt to capitalize on the Covid-19 pandemic as more users work from home. Microsoft Teams has reached up to 75 million daily active users in this time period, while the Zoom video conferencing software has more or less become a household name. As a part of that effort, Google last week made Meet free to anyone with a Google account and allows up to 16 video feeds at once....
Essentially, SignEasy brings a, easy, way for users on Teams to sign documents and request signatures. It is a popular service with over 5 million users. Through the app, Microsoft Teams users can sign service agreements, legal documents, invoices, purchase orders, and just about anything else. Documents that need signing are received with a “sign-and-send” command. Alternatively, users can send this command for documents they want signed by someone else....
Still, for users of Microsoft Teams the new View Switcher menu may be a valuable tool to have. Microsoft has announced the new feature and says it will gather all view options in Teams Meeting together in one menu. Those options are Large Gallery, Together Mode, Gallery and more. Users can now access them in a dedicated menu found at the top left of a meeting window. In other words, they will be right in reach without users needing to shuffle through the navigation menu....
First among them is support for calling external numbers. Companies with Enterprise Voice can call externally. Microsoft has also tweaked the Assignments tab to make it available in classroom environments. Students and teachers can access the tab from class teams. Microsoft Teams also has some UI improvements. For example, a simple swipe on an iPhone in the chat menu will hide the selected chat from the list. Aside from that, there are also the obligatory bug fixes on v1....
Pen-tests are organized and authorized simulated attacks on software to find bugs. Microsoft, like others, has had its share of pen-tests turn up problems in its software. However, the company says a software issue on the testing end may be an issue with the testing environment and not the software. Of course, there are many times when these reports are legitimate and uncover real vulnerabilities. In fact, we report on many of these across Microsoft services, including numerous serious zero-days....
As discovered by ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft has opened several job postings pertaining to ‘Inner Source’. One in November 2018, and another just last week, signaling that it’s ramping up its efforts. To be clear, Microsoft is hiring people specifically to spearhead its Inner Source efforts. The latest job posting mentions a senior program manager position for a 1ES team that focuses on the following: “The broader 1ES team is building the next generation of tools and practices to make engineers across Microsoft more productive and help them focus on building great software....
With this release, Microsoft has bumped To-Do on iPads and iPhones to v1.53. Only one new feature is available, but it is a useful one. The app now lets users add a task straight into a Planned smart list. Planned smart lists are a way to organize tasks for up to five days. The To-Do app automatically generates content in the Planned list, choosing items it believes are most important....
However, that doesn’t mean students can’t run regular desktop apps at all. Apps simply have to be packaged and uploaded to the Windows Store. When students install apps they will run in an isolated container, ensuring that the rest of the system isn’t affected. Alternatively, teachers can choose to upgrade the laptop to Windows 10 Pro at any point to gain access to full Windows features. According to Myerson, Microsoft traveled the world speaking to teachers about the OS and found the importance of stability....
One contractor told Motherboard the fact they have permission and the ability to listen to users shows “how lax things are in terms of protecting user data”. While not wanting to be named, the contractor says personal communications are often heard. They cite “phone sex” as common when reviewing audio, as well as users entering personal information such as their address into Cortana. As we reported in the previous story, Microsoft’s terms and conditions state the company listens to audio content on Cortana and Skype....
Microsoft rolled out version 8.35.76.30 for the general Skype experience. This update is available to users on Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, Linux Snap, Web, Desktop, and Microsoft Store on Windows 10. There is a good reason why Skype is getting an update across platforms. Microsoft has redesigned the theme picker across Skype and added new color gradients to the experience. In terms of the theme picker, Microsoft has simplified the user interface by combining the picker with color choice....
The update was announced by Office 365 Marketing exec Ron Markezich. Among the new features revealed was additions for the Skype for Business Cloud PBX. Microsoft has also made changes to its call analytics experience for IT admins. Markezich says the new features and existing platform “advance our goal of putting communication at the heart of productivity with Skype.” Here are the specific changes announced today: Availability of Auto Attendant and Call Queues, two new calling features in Skype for Business Cloud PBX....
While MVA will start to be closed at the end of next month, Microsoft says the service will be phased out throughout 2019. Virtual Academy provides free online training by experts to help users build technical skills and advance their career opportunities. Microsoft says users can check their dashboard to see which courses are no longer available. The company adds completion certificates will only be issued for courses finished before January 31, 2019....
During a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) on YouTube, the Windows engineering team says Windows 11 will not get the ability to move the taskbar to the sides or top of the screen. In other words, it will remain locked in its classic position at the bottom. Not Necessary It is worth noting Windows 11 boasts a fresh taskbar/Start menu experience. According to Tali Roth, Head of Product for Microsoft, it would be too much work to add the ability to move the taskbar....
When web searching on Bing, the new feature will present a “Click here to open in a new tab” option. This basically allows users to avoid using a mouse click to open a site in a new tab. It is worth noting the option as detailed above is hidden behind an icon and displays when hovering on the icon. We can see how this will be extremely useful in situations of research....
Microsoft recently showcased the bot’s full Duplex capabilities, which allow it to make phonecalls to users. Breakthroughs in conversational AI also lets it speak in a natural fashion, rather than just simple commands. With this collaboration, the company will be more active in one of the world’s fastest growing AI markets, and hopes to help foster innovation. “As the global and Chinese AI market keeps evolving it’s very important to have a global perspective,” Microsoft Executive Vice President Harry Shum said at Microsoft AI Innovate on Monday....
Specifically, Nvidia’s RTX graphics card with path-traced ray tracing is now part of Minecraft on Windows 10. Nvidia says in a blog Tuesday that the availability is for all its GPUs that support the new technology. You may remember Nvidia first announced RTX ray tracing for Minecraft almost exactly a year ago. At the time, the company was just showcasing what the future would look like. Today, the future is here and Minecraft is getting an aesthetic bump....
Among the new features is an introduction of more commands to Minecraft PE and Windows 10. Mojang has added /title, /stopsound/, /difficulty, and several other commands to the game. UI tweaks are also part of version 1.0.5, such as a change to the way the magnifying glass appears over text. As for bug fixes, the update solves some gameplay problems. For example, the Ghast Fireball is now much more accurate and villagers no longer loot an inventory when the player dies....
Long the runaway dominant leader in search, lawmakers accuse Google uses several underhand tactics to remain on top. For example, regulators claim the company pays other service to be the default search tool. Mozilla is one of those companies but says Firefox shouldn’t become collateral damage in the case. In August, the company reportedly recommitted to Google in a deal that is worth up to $450 million. This timing of the renewal raised some eyebrows considering Mozilla had announced it was laying off 250 employees....
We already new Mozilla was working on an autoplay block as the company detailed the feature in a roadmap earlier this year. At the time the company promised a solution that “doesn’t break websites”. That latter statement is important. While autoplay ads can be annoying and sometimes dangerous, in many cases they are not. Some sites use them for advertising, which is fine. The worst these harmless enough videos do is shock you if the volume is mysteriously loud....
Whether it’s a Meltdown and Spectre-level problem is arguable, but it is certainly a concerning development. Hackers could exploit the vulnerability to gain access encrypted hard-disks when a PC in sleep mode. With access, the bad actors could steal data from the storage. The flaw lies within firmware located on “most modern computers” which leave encryption keys open to attackers. Cold boot attacks could be used to enter a hard disk and steal its data....
