Heena Sharma Blog

  Tech giant Microsoft has launched its second folding smartphone -- the Surface Duo 2 along with the next-generation Surface devices. Available in glacier or a new obsidian, Surface Duo 2 starts at $1499.99 and is available for pre-order in select markets. "Surface Duo 2 brings new and improved design to the Surface Duo line. Still emphasizing the ability to multitask, Surface Duo 2 features larger screens, increased durability, a dynamic triple-lens camera, lightning-fast 5G, and a spine that displays notifications when the device is closed," the company said in a statement. The OLED display, each, measures 5.8-inches in size, screen resolution of 1344 x 1892 pixels, is connected by a hinge and is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass. Both screens have a smooth 90Hz refresh rate and measure 8.3 inches diagonally when unfolded The new device features a triple-lens camera setup at the back with a 16MP ultra-wide lens, a 12MP wide angle lens and a 12MP telephot...

Microsoft , which unveiled Windows 11 last week, might roll out the OS on October 20, the media reported. A screenshot showed a Microsoft Teams message from Stevie Bathiche of the Surface Team to Microsoft's head of Windows and Devices, Panos Panay, saying "can't wait for October!". And the official promo materials from Microsoft on the Windows 11 website feature the date October 20 in the taskbar, GSMArena reported. Earlier, the company said that the new OS will be a free upgrade for Windows 10 users and will start rolling out "this holiday". According to the company, Windows 11 is made for gamers as it unlocks the full potential of the system's hardware, putting some of the latest gaming technology to work. With a high-performance NVMe SSD and the proper drivers, Windows 11 can soon load new games faster than ever thanks to a breakthrough technology called DirectStorage, which we also pioneered as part of the Xbox Velocity Architecture featu...

  After weeks of leaks and hype, tech giant Microsoft has officially announced the next version of its desktop operating system (OS) -- Windows 11 . The new OS will be a free upgrade for Windows 10 users and will start rolling out "this holiday". "We have simplified the design and user experience to empower your productivity and inspire your creativity. It's modern, fresh, clean and beautiful," Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer, Windows + Devices, said in a statement. "From the new Start button and taskbar to each sound, font and icon, everything was done intentionally to put you in control and bring a sense of calm and ease," Panay added. New in Windows 11, the company is introducing Snap Layouts, Snap Groups and Desktops to provide an even more powerful way to multitask and stay on top. These are new features designed to help users organise their windows and optimise their screen real estate. Read More

  Microsoft has confirmed that it will not release a lightweight and simplified Windows 10X operating system . Billed as a competition to the Chrome OS, the 10X operating system was expected to come along with new dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo before the pandemic hit the world. "Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 like we originally intended, we are leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company," said John Cable, head of Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post on Tuesday. Microsoft said that its teams continue to invest in areas where the 10X technology will help meet its customer needs as well as evaluate technology experiences both in software and hardware that will be useful to its customers in the future. "This shift in thinking is an incredible example of the company's value of a g...

  In yet another bid to offer top-of-the-line specifications packed in a stylish machine, market leader Lenovo has brought a new laptop -- Yoga Slim 7i Carbon -- to India that will appeal to both entrepreneurs and millennials. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon , a Windows 10 Home laptop, comes in two CPU options -- 11th-Gen Core i5 and 11th-Gen Core i7. This is paired with either 8GB/16GB LPDDR4X RAM clocked at 4266MHz, up to 1TB PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD, integrated Xe GPU to handle the graphics. It is now available at a starting price of Rs 1,19,990. According to the market research firm IDC, Lenovo led the global traditional PC market (including desktops, notebooks and workstations) in the first quarter of 2020 with a 24.3 per cent share, as the worldwide shipments grew 55.2 per cent (on-year). The new Yoga Slim 7i Carbon laptop, which weighs 0.97 kgs, is powered by the latest 11th-Gen Intel Tiger Lake CPUs. It is also Intel EVO certified, which brings the perfect combination of p...

  Microsoft is bringing text predictions to its Word tool on Windows next month that would work like the 'Smart Compose' option in Google Docs . According to a report in Neowin, a recent entry to the Microsoft 365 roadmap revealed that text predictions will roll out to Microsoft Word users in March. The feature will help "users write more efficiently by predicting text quickly, timely and accurately." Microsoft has also begun rolling out identical text predictions in Outlook for Windows this month, allowing users to compose emails faster. "These Gmail-like text predictions also rolled out to Outlook on the web last year, alongside a feature to let people schedule when emails would be sent," reports The Verge. The new text prediction feature in Word will use machine learning (ML) to predict what words an author will need to speed up document creation. Read More

  Microsoft has announced that it is planning to launch 'Office 2021 ' later this year for both Windows and Mac machines. The company says Office 2021 will be available to purchase for single users as well as business users later this year, but the company has not revealed an exact release date or pricing information yet. "We are planning to release Office 2021 for personal and small business use later this year. Office 2021 will also be supported for five years with the traditional 'one-time purchase' model. We do not plan to change the price for these products at the time of the release. We will announce more details about new features included in Office 2021 closer to general availability," the tech giant said in a statement. Office 2021 will be accompanied by Office LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel), which is a new version of Microsoft Office that's being introduced for commercial customers. Read More

  Some of the world’s largest technology companies are complaining to US antitrust regulators about Nvidia Corp’s acquisition of Arm because the deal will harm competition in an area of the industry that is vital to their businesses. Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. are among companies worried about the $40 billion deal and are urging antitrust officials to intervene, said people familiar with the process who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorised to speak publicly. At least one of the companies wants the deal killed. Nvidia shares fell as much as 3.1 per cent in New York trading on Friday. The acquisition would give Nvidia control over a critical supplier that licenses essential chip technology to the likes of Apple, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Amazon.com and China’s Huawei. UK-based Arm is known as the Switzerland of the industry because it licenses chip designs and related software code to all comers, rather than competing against...

  American multinational technology company Microsoft has started testing an update to Word that will color entire documents in a dark canvas. Currently, Word has a dark mode that modifies the ribbon and toolbars, but the canvas stays bright white. According to The Verge, a future update to Word will include the ability to switch the canvas into the dark mode, too. A program manager on Microsoft's Word team Ali Forelli said, "This has been a long-requested feature from many of Office Insiders and we're excited to make it happen." He further added, "With Dark mode, you'll notice that the previously white page colour is now a dark grey/black." While the canvas will change it will also adjust the colours in a document. Reds, blues, yellows, and other bright colours will be "shifted slightly to mute the overall effect of the colour palette" and match the dark background. Read More

  Microsoft has announced that it has added the 'Together Mode' option that debuted in Teams to Skype . According to a report from zdnet.com, in the latest Skype version (Skype 8.67), Together Mode is one of a handful of new features available to various versions of Skype. 'Together Mode' is a viewing option that makes it appear as if all meeting participants are located in the same physically shared space instead of via a traditional grid view. As per the reports, Microsoft officials have said they believe 'Together Mode' will help alleviate virtual-meeting fatigue and make meetings feel more real. Other new features in Skype 8.67 include the addition of Large Grid Mode, enabling users to see everyone's video stream simultaneously; an option to add someone to an ongoing Skype call using their phone number, as well as via Skype; more predefined backgrounds and categories and more. Read More

  Microsoft Flight Simulator is all set to come for players on Xbox Series X as well as S at some point in summer 2021 and will be available on Game Pass from day one. Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most ambitious games in recent history, utilising the power of the cloud to map out the real world in real-time, allowing players to fly across environments in more detail.   "Microsoft Flight Simulator will be opening the skies to millions of new pilots on Xbox Series X|S in Summer 2021, and will be available via Xbox Game Pass on launch day," the company said in a statement. Microsoft will be working with several third-party partners to bring additional peripherals to Xbox Series X/S. Microsoft Flight Simulator is already here for PC, and released across the globe on August 18, 2020, marking the long-awaited return for Microsoft's flight sim series. Read More  

  Microsoft has announced that Apple TV is coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S gaming consoles on November 10. The Apple TV app will give gamers access to thousands of shows and movies from one convenient location, allowing them to enjoy Apple TV+, Apple TV channels, brand-new and popular movies, and personalised entertainment recommendations. One can subscribe to Apple TV+ on the Apple TV app directly from Xbox for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial starting November 10. Apple TV is also arriving on Sony PlayStation5 on November 12. Microsoft said in a statement on Monday that Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, NBC Peacock, Vudu, FandangoNow, Twitch, Sky Go, NOW TV, Sky Ticket and more will be available on both next-gen Xbox consoles next month. Read More

  Microsoft CEO is delighted by early reviews and excitement for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, which will be the most affordable and the most powerful consoles available next month. "Our Xbox Game Pass service has more than 15 million subscribers," Nadella said during the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. "Quality differentiated content is the flywheel behind the service's growth, and the addition of EA Play next month, along with our pending acquisition of ZeniMax Media, will add more of the world's most iconic franchises to the more than 100 high-quality games already available and materially increases our ability to increase content," he elaborated. Microsoft beefed up Game Pass this year by adding plenty more titles for players to enjoy. The company announced that EA Play would be added to Game Pass Ultimate in the coming months, bringing popular franchises like FIFA and Battlefield to the platform at no extra cost. Read M...

  Microsoft Teams platform has reached 115 million daily active users and the company is seeing increased usage intensity as people communicate, collaborate and co-author contents across work, life, and learning, CEO Satya Nadella has said. According to him, Microsoft 365 users generated more than 30 billion collaboration minutes in a single day this quarter. "The key to productivity is to move beyond transactional meetings and stay in the flow of work and maintain business process context. That's where Microsoft 365 and Teams stand out," Nadella said during the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. In education, nearly 270,000 institutions are using Teams to power remote learning and improve learning outcomes. The video collaboration platform has added over 100 new capabilities in the last six months, including breakout rooms, meeting recaps, shift scheduling, and large scale digital events up to 20,000 participants, to help people transcend both tim...

  Windows 10X , a modular and lightweight version of Windows 10 designed for dual-screen and foldable devices, is expected to arrive as early as December but without support for Win32 apps. Win32 is the 32-bit application programming interface (API) for versions of Windows from 95 onwards.   Microsoft had promised that Windows 10X will be able to run Win32 applications using virtualization. However, reports have emerged that there will no support for Win32 apps and the users will be forced to use Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and Progressive Web Application (PWA) applications. Microsoft earlier confirmed that it is aiming to refocus Windows 10X on single-screen devices like laptops first and will look for a right moment to integrate Windows 10X with dual-screen devices. Read More

  SoftBank-owned UK chip maker Arm has partnered with Microsoft to create Azure-based tools to enable developers transfer data from Arm-based Internet of Things (IoT) devices to Azure Cloud. The partnership will enable developers to easily target a broad range of Arm-based devices like intelligent computer-vision-enabled cameras, connected vehicles, AI gateways and intelligent appliances. With over 30 billion active IoT devices in the world with 400 per cent growth over the past three years, the industry is moving incredibly fast. "Arm's leading silicon architecture combined with their broad ecosystem and commitment to optimising developer experiences will enable this partnership to accelerate AI innovation for IoT devices, delivering better solutions and a better future for end-users," said Moe Tanabian, Vice President, General Manager-Azure Edge Devices. Read More

  Microsoft is about to release a new update to the Xbox App on iOS which will let the users stream and play Xbox One games on the iPhone. According to Mashable, this obviously isn't the same as cloud gaming and is something that's only probably useful to owners of Xbox One consoles. The new feature which includes remote play will let the user stream Xbox games directly from his/her own console over WiFi or mobile internet. To make use of this, users will have to log in to their Xbox accounts and make sure the console's got access to power. While making use of remote play, the console won't start with a sound or show that it's powered on with the light at the front. The new iOS update isn't available for all users yet though as Microsoft is only testing it with TestFlight members. But since the Android-counterpart of the application has been rolled out already, the application should soon be publicly available on iOS too. Read More

A leaked Microsoft document has revealed that the company's second next-gen Xbox will be fully revealed in August. Microsoft had originally planned to unveil the console, codenamed "Lockhart", in June, but now the tech giant has moved these plans to August, reports Eurogamer. Project Lockhart, or Xbox Series S, is expected to be a cheaper and less powerful version of the Xbox Series X, unlike Sony's PS5 Digital Edition, which will be a standard PS5 but without an optical drive. While Microsoft has not acknowledged Lockhart, the codename can also be found in the company's Xbox One operating system, alongside references to Anaconda and Dante. The Xbox Lockhart will come with 7.5 GB of usable RAM and 4 teraflops of GPU performance. It will reportedly support 1080p or 1440p gaming. Read More

Microsoft has announced to resume optional non-security releases for Windows 10 and Windows Server next month. In March, the company paused these optional non-security update releases (also referred to as 'C' and 'D' releases) for all supported versions of Windows client and Windows Server, to give organisations time to focus on business continuity in the face of the global pandemic. "Based on feedback and the ongoing stabilization of business continuity, we will resume optional releases in July of 2020 for Windows 10 and Windows Server, version 1809 and later," Microsoft said in a statement late Wednesday. Read More

Microsoft is rolling out its new Chromium-based Edge browser via an update to all Windows 10 users that would automatically be installed on Windows 10 version 1803 and higher. The update would cover vast majority of Windows 10 versions that are currently supported. Installing Chromium Edge via the Windows Update will replace the old Edge browser. Since it is been gradually rolled out, it will reach people in the due course of time. The Chromium-based Edge browser provides best-in-class compatibility with extensions and websites. Read More