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‘Full duplex’ refers to AI’s ability to communicate in both directions simultaneously, such as a phone call. It enables more natural conversation, letting people talk to the chatbot like you would a friend on the phone. Xiaoice has had full verbal conversations with over 600,000 people in China, who were informed that she was a bot. Microsoft AI head Harry Shum says this kind of collaboration is essential, but so is the relationship with developers....

With the new Cortana update, the app has a few new features. First among them is that Cortana is now undocked from the taskbar. Essentially, this allows the app to behave like any other. Users can move and resize the application. Elsewhere in the update, Cortana is continuing to move away from consumer-fronted to the “personal productivity” tool Microsoft has promised. Among the new skills available are the ability to create meetings, query meetings, and join meetings through voice on Microsoft Teams....

Those who follow Microsoft’s mobile exploits, this is a rare update. The company rarely updates and app across all platforms at the same time. Mostly, apps are slightly different depending on platform, with some having more features than others. Microsoft has been criticized by Windows phone users for neglecting its own mobile platform. The company has instead favored sending new apps and updates to iOS and Android first. With that in mind, it is good news to see Microsoft show some love to Windows phone with this release....

Starting with the Personal Vault, Microsoft is giving users a “protected area in OneDrive” to store their files. The company says users can implement “strong authentication” to access the files. This feature comes at an ideal time for Microsoft. Earlier today, we reported on data that shows OneDrive has seen a 60% surge in the amount of malicious files hosted on the service. In its report, FireEye says OneDrive has observed this significant rise, the largest amongst its three rivals, Dropbox, Google Drive, and WeTransfer....

Quantum Development Kit gives developers tools to learn how to program a quantum computer. The tool was launched alongside Microsoft’s Q# programming language for simulating quantum computing. Microsoft’s service has a compiler for scalable quantum computing. Visual Studio integration and Azure cloud support allows over 40 logical qubits of power. The kit also contains debugging capabilities, as well as extensive libraries, samples, and documentation. With the latest update, Microsoft has brought the following features to Quantum Development Kit:...

Scott is the current Chief Technology Officer and will fold Shum’s role into his existing duties. Microsoft confirmed the shuffle through an internal announcement on November 13, as reported by ZDNet. Harry Shum will stay with Microsoft until February 1, 2020. However, Scott will start in his new position immediately. Until leaving the company, Shum will be an advisor to CEO Satya Nadella and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In the internal note, Nadella explained Shum’s contribution to Microsoft....

If you are unfamiliar with Microsoft Viva, it is a new employee experience platform comprised of several components. Microsoft 365 underpins the Viva experience, which aims to provide a suite of tools across learning, resources, insights, knowledge, and communications. Viva Connections is just one component of the platform, which also so far includes Viva Topics, Viva Learning, and Viva Insights. This week, Microsoft confirmed it is going to adding Glint to Viva, but features will not arrive until 2023: “We are excited to share that Microsoft is bringing the Glint solution into Microsoft Viva to make listening and acting on employee feedback an integral part of how businesses engage and develop their talent in the new era of hybrid work....

Dynamics 365 for Operations was first last July and was made generally available in November. The for Operations suite arrived alongside the roll out of Dynamics 365. An extension of the SaaS, Dynamics 365 for Operations offers a new header to allow clients to move smoothly between applications. It is an evolution of Microsoft’s former Dynamics AX service for Azure. As a business management solution, it adapts across Retail, Distribution, Manufacturing, Public Sector and Service industries....

Customer Manager is part of the Office 365 Business Premium plan and will become unavailable as part of the subscription on that date. Meanwhile, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley says officials are telling customers Invoicing will be retired on February 8, 2020. “To help customers who have been using Microsoft Invoicing, we’ve worked with Invoice2Go to offer the eligible customers a special one-year subscription”, a spokesperson told ZDNet. “Similarly, to help customers who have been using Outlook Customer Manager to track customers and deals, we’ve worked with Nimble CRM to offer eligible customers a free one-year subscription....

According to Windows Latest, Microsoft is internally testing how it delivers new feature and cumulative updates. Specifically, the company could move away from its current model. At the moment, Microsoft launches twice-annual feature updates and monthly cumulative (Patch Tuesdays) for Windows 10. Now it seems Microsoft is planning to roll out new features individually instead of as a big update package. In other words, the twice annual feature updates would end and be replaced by regular individual updates....

At its core, InPrivate Desktop will provide Windows 10 with a secure sandboxed environment. For organizations, this means they can execute third-party programs in a walled off safe area of the OS. This will be a major addition to the cybersecurity arsenal of companies. Running programs from third-parties is among the common ways businesses are duped into downloading malware. Attackers install malicious content on program files that otherwise seem legitimate....

Announced on March 1, Active Citizen is an immersive learning experience in Minecraft. Mojang Studios collaborates with Games for Changes and the Nobel Peace Center on the project. It is the latest in Microsoft’s efforts to use Minecraft as a force for good and for positive community. Since acquiring Mojang, Microsoft has seen Minecraft as more than just a game. As the most popular video game of all-time, it provides a platform to millions of users....

The season will continue the story of Jesse, but will include a new adventure. Voice actors returning include Patton Oswalt, Catherine Taber, Ashely Johnson, and Scott Porter. Telltale is still keeping quiet on the finer details, although the developer says YouTube stars Stampy Cat and StacyPlays will have cameos. The company also discussed the release in a post today: “As a simple treasure hunt goes wrong, trapping Jesse’s hand in a cursed prismarine gauntlet, we discover that maybe there are other downsides to fame, too – like having a dark and ancient power know your name....

The company has announced a roadmap of updates for Thunderbird throughout 2019. Speaking in a blog post, Mozilla’s Ryan Sipes said the company was striving to improve the aesthetic and functionality of the app. It is worth noting, while Thunderbird has fallen behind rivals, the differences in operation are clear. Whereas Microsoft and Google can throw resources and personnel at their clients, Mozilla is more limited. Indeed, Sipes says the team is growing, but confirmed how limited the organization is: “Our team grew considerably in 2018, to eight staff working full-time on Thunderbird....

According to BleepingComputer’s Lawrence Abrams, RedBoot encrypts user’s files, replaces the Master Boot Record, and then modifies the partition table. As the developer doesn’t provide a way to input a key, a bootable decryptor for each PC would be the only way to restore files. This happens despite its ransom screen, which asks victims to email the creator with their ID key for unlocking and payment instructions. “This computer and all of it’s files have been locked!...

German outlet 3DCenter shows that GPU chips from giants like Nvidia and AMD continue to be expensive. As has been the case over the last 18 months, the units are selling well over market price and scalpers are making massive profits. Nvidia especially has seen no change in the price of GPUs, with both selling between 85% and 89% about their MSRP levels. AMD is seeing some decline, but it is small....

We can expect that price to translate to other markets when the GeForce GTX 1630 arrives globally, more or less. It is worth noting the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1630 is an important product because it is the first 30-series GPU to have the GTX branding. Even so, it is not going to provide the sort of power you usually get from a GTX card. Of course, you shouldn’t really expect blazing performance from this card considering its pricing and specs....

Unfortunately, Mac users weren’t so lucky. It’s not clear if it was a decision by Microsoft or Apple’s unwillingness to cooperate, but now it hardly matters. An app called OneCast is now available on the platform, and it does exactly the same job. Supporting up to 1080p quality, low latency, and even remote streaming, it does everything you’d hope. All it requires is macOS 10.10 or higher, a router, and an Xbox One....

Rather than managing everything via the top bar, users get contextual controls when they highlight text. This makes it easier to adjust text quickly, with options for formatting options like highlight, bold, font color, underline, bullet points, checklists, and links. The addition was first spotted by Christopher Fernandes on Twitter and has since been confirmed by the OneNote team. It appears to be a staggered rollout, so some users may have to wait to test the functionality....

In a previous interview in 2016, Xbox head Phil Spencer described VR as feeling like “demos and experiments”. A lot has changed since then, but it seems the executive’s skepticism about VR has remained intact. In an interview with Stevivor, Spencer said he regrets that he “doesn’t love” his previous answer because it could come across as demeaning to those who work on VR. However, he maintains that Xbox customers don’t associate it with the tech....