Posts

Customers can integrate zones into a virtual network as applications are moved towards Azure in the cloud. Microsoft says users can customize domain names under the new DNS Private Zones. Name resolution can be achieved on a virtual network through private zones. The company points out private zones are location expandable, working across regions and subscriptions. Another new benefit brought by Azure DNS Private Zones is the ability to use a split-horizon view....

Julia White, corporate vice president for Azure, discussed Microsoft’s push to acquire more government cloud business. She points to 40 solutions that have been rolled out over the last six months. An Azure Government roadmap has also been published to show how Microsoft is committed to ongoing transparency. “Moving forward, we are simplifying our approach to regulatory compliance for federal agencies, so that our government customers can gain access to innovation more rapidly....

The new Surface Pen comes with plenty of bells and whistles, but the main one is an increase in pressure sensitivity. It’s gone from just 1,024 levels to 4,096, a huge boost that’s bound to help artists. There will also be a reduction in latency, Microsoft saying it’s now “virtually imperceptible”. The result is a seamless, responsive feeling that rivals Apple’s pencil. However, those advancements come just as much from the new hardware as the Pen itself....

That validates the company’s decision to release its task automation and configuration framework on open source. Although, PowerShell is still a Windows-first solution and Microsoft says a “full replacement” of Windows PowerShell 5.1 will arrive soon. This suggests a bump to Windows PowerShell 6.0. The company has taken a similar leap with PowerShell 7 on Linux and Mac. Just a month ago, the company rolled out version 6.2 to users....

In the announcement, Microsoft will knock 67% off select Xbox One games. These include some Triple A releases from last year, such as Watch Dogs 2, Forza Horizon 3, Titanfall 2, and more. Xbox Live Gold subscribers will get a further saving of 10%. If users are interested in signing up for Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft will reduce the first month of membership to just $1. While the company is only discussing several titles getting price cuts, there will be many more....

The location data will be used to improve various products, including Bing Maps, Cortana, Windows, and more. “This deep partnership with TomTom is very different from anything Microsoft has done in maps before,” explained Tara Prakriya, Partner Group Program Manager of Azure Maps and Connected Vehicles. “TomTom hosting their services in the Azure cloud brings with it their graph of map data. Manufacturing maps in Azure reduces the latency to customer applications, ensuring we offer the freshest data through Azure Maps....

Specifically, the court will hear the Google vs Oracle case in March. Oracle had previously gained an advantage when the US Court of Appeals reversed a previous decision that deemed Google’s use of Java API package in Android as “fair use”. With the decision reversed Google appealed to the court and a new date (March) was set move through the case again. On January 6, Google issued its opening brief and has gained support from several rivals....

With folder protection, OneDrive will automatically sync images, folders, and documents. This is important because the service backs up a Windows 10 PC without needing to do anything. Some people use more than one PC, perhaps a personal and work machine. Now with OneDrive users can sync content automatically across machines. Using this feature, folders can also be synced across PCs. Microsoft first detailed folder protection back in June. Back thin, the company called the feature “Known Folder Move”....

Not least because it furthers Microsoft push towards brining its mixed reality solutions to mobile platforms. The company is now sending Windows Mixed Reality solutions to Android and iOS. It is worth remembering these apps and services have been limited to HoloLens and VR headsets until now. Android will score a version of Remote Assist in preview this spring, while iOS will get an exclusive tool for previewing products. On HoloLens, Remote Assist is a troubleshooting app that lets users share what they are seeing through the headset camera....

Speaking on Windows Blogs, product chief Panos Panay confirmed a preview is coming. “We will … expand support for running x64 apps, with x64 emulation starting to roll out to the Windows Insider Program in November,” Panay says. “We are working closely with Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung[,] and Surface to bring these Windows 10 on ARM innovations and products to our shared customers.” So, we can now expect Windows 10 on ARM to finally support x64 applications starting this November....

In its security advisory, Microsoft acknowledged the issue and provided several temporary workarounds. “An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Microsoft Exchange Server. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could attempt to impersonate any other user of the Exchange server,” said the company. “To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would need to execute a man-in-the-middle attack to forward an authentication request to a Microsoft Exchange Server, thereby allowing impersonation of another Exchange user....

As we already know, Microsoft is hosting a media event on October 2 in New York City. This will be for the company to present its new Surface hardware. The likely candidates for launch are a new Surface Pro 5 and possibly updated versions of other Surface products like the Surface Book 2. While the Pro 5 would be an entirely new device, the others would be new versions of existing products....

According to Microsoft, web content filtering is coming to Microsoft Defender ATP as a standard feature. This means organizations won’t need to have any additional licenses or costs on top of the regular service. Web content filtering is driven by Microsoft Defender ATP and is available in the Microsoft Edge browser. Furthermore, the tool will also work on Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome browsers. It is worth noting the feature has been in preview but is now reaching general availability....

If you are unfamiliar, in terms of Xbox-related news Gamescom is a massive event. Indeed, next to E3 it is the most important game event for Microsoft. Larry Hryb (Major Nelson), director of programming for Xbox Live published a blog announcing Forza Horizon 4 will launch at Gamescom. In further game announcements, Microsoft will unveil the “Forsaken Shores” DLC for Sea of Thieves. This content adds more areas for the map and a deployable rowboat....

This tool is available on Windows and Mac and, yes, it is already available on Google Chrome. That was one of the reasons Microsoft Edge moved to Chromium. Both Edge and Chrome can now share features and Microsoft and Google can collaborate on building functionality into both browsers. As Microsoft tries to entice Windows users to the new Microsoft Edge with ads, features like this are important. Certainly, the ability to even use PWAs was not available on the legacy Edge....

Of course, the one caveat is that you have and Xbox One console. A beta testing ground, the program serves as a replacement for the Xbox Preview Program and lets users test Xbox One features before their full release. As well as opening the doors fully, Microsoft has also simplified how the program is structured. Since launch, the Xbox Insider Program has been somewhat confusing in its structure of preview branches....

Not only is Microsoft partnering with OpenAI, the company is becoming an active investor in the company. Indeed, Redmond is ploughing $1 billion into the company. In return, OpenAI will move all its services to Azure. Furthermore, the AI developer will also make Microsoft its preferred partner for commercializing new AI solutions. Microsoft will work with OpenAI to develop new AI supercomputing tech with the aim of solving major global issues: “The companies will focus on building a computational platform in Azure of unprecedented scale, which will train and run increasingly advanced AI models, include hardware technologies that build on Microsoft’s supercomputing technology, and adhere to the two companies’ shared principles on ethics and trust....

“We are continuing to hire in a BIG way for our #YourPhone team focused on building cross device experiences,” wrote director of program management Vishnu Nath on Twitter. “Come join us as we are looking for (20+) Software engineers including managers and PM!” Nath works on Your Phone, Microsoft Launcher and Microsoft Edge, all of which are becoming more intertwined in the Android and Windows 10 ecosystem. Earlier in the year, Your Phone received support for notification syncing to the desktop, and some devices can mirror their screen entirely in preview functionality....

Lightform is largely a derivative of Illumiroom, however, it is not wholly developed by Microsoft. Illumiroom was announced at CES 2013, leveraging Kinect as a camera and projector system to blur virtual content with the real-world environment. It was an early pointer towards Microsoft’s augmented reality efforts. Among the abilities of Illumiroom were the ability to extend field of view, introduce new content interactions, and change how the real-world environment looked....

This year, CEO Satya Nadella will be joined by the executive vice president of worldwide commercial business, Judson Althoff. Following him will be CVP of Office marketing Kirk Koenigsbauer and many more. These high-ranking executives should offer a unique perspective on business and technology, as well as the inner workings of the company. However, it’s also a lot more than that. “Our flagship partner event provides attendees with the opportunity to really connect with Microsoft employees, with industry experts, and with other partners,” said Gavriella Schuster, CVP of worldwide channels and programs....