Microsoft may have cancelled or delayed the release of its Surface Hub 2X digital whiteboard according to a new report from Brad Sams on Petri.com. The news follows the release of the Surface Hub 2S last year, which succeeded to the original Surface Hub released in 2015.

Microsoft unveiled the Surface Hub 2 back in May 2018, but we later learned that Microsoft was working on two different devices, the Surface Hub 2S shipping in 2019 and the Surface Hub 2X expected for 2020. The company also revealed that Surface Hub 2S would use a cartridge system that would allow companies to upgrade it to Surface Hub 2X in 2020.

According to Sams, “people familiar with the company’s plans have indicated that Microsoft has cancelled or significantly delayed the Surface Hub 2X and that it will not be shipping as previously announced.” Sams also noted that Microsoft removed the Surface Hub 2 video from YouTube and other information related to Surface 2X from its website.

“One potential reason cited by those familiar with the company’s plans for the cancellation is that the development of WCOS, Windows Core OS, is not going as smoothly as expected which is causing delays for some implementations,” Sams said today. Back in December, Zac Bowden from Windows Central reported that Surface Hub 2X may actually ship with Windows 10X, the new OS that Microsoft is developing for Surface Neo and other dual-screen PCs. However, Sams didn’t confirm this today.

Microsoft never went into details about what operating system Surface Hub 2X would be running. The Surface Hub 2S, which shipped last year, still runs the Windows 10 Teams OS that shipped on the original Surface Hub. In the original Surface Hub 2 video, Microsoft showed the Surface Hub 2X OS (presumably powered by Windows Core OS) which brought support for new features including display rotation and the ability to combine four different Surface Hub 2X displays together. Last year, The Verge’s Tom Warren also reported that Microsoft was exploring bringing support for Win32 apps on the Surface Hub 2X.

imagine if your tablet display just rotated like the Surface Hub 2. This is Windows Core OS in action pic.twitter.com/d4ZDwIg0Gf

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 24, 2018

Microsoft provided the following statement to Brad Sams, which doesn’t clarify if Surface Hub 2X is still being actively developed:

We have an ongoing dialogue with our customers on Hub and are working to align the roadmap to best meet their needs. The top two priorities for Hub in 2020 are deploying the 85” device and rolling out an OS update that includes many top features customers have been requesting since Surface Hub 2S launched, including improving IT integration, deployment and management capabilities at no cost for all version 1 Hubs and Hub 2S devices. We’ll have more to share in the coming months.”

If Sams’ sources are correct and complications with Windows Core OS forced Microsoft to change its plans for Windows 10X, that wouldn’t be completely surprising. HoloLens 2, the first Microsoft device powered by Windows Core OS only started shipping back in November, nine months after Microsoft revealed it at Mobile World Congress. Windows 10X, which is also based on Windows Core OS, is still far from being ready and we didn’t see any Windows 10X PCs at CES earlier this month, except for a prototype from Lenovo.

Windows Core OS definitely seems to be a huge undertaking, and even though the Surface Hub 2X demos we saw in 2018 looked very promising, it may have been too early for Microsoft to talk about Surface 2X and show these new features.

In what will surely feed the ongoing “UWP is dead” narrative, Microsoft has quietly announced its plan to shut down its Ad Monetization platform for UWP apps on June 1, 2020. The announcement was made yesterday on the Windows Dev Center (via MSPoweruser), and a Microsoft moderator explained that this decision was made primarily because it is no longer viable for us to continue operating the product at the current levels.”

Microsoft’s Ad Monetization platform managed to get various ad network partners on board including AppNexus or Oath (now Verizon Media), but the company notes that “(c)ertain underperforming Ad networks will be shut down between now and June 1, 2020.” Microsoft now recommends UWP developers to move on to other ad platforms, but the process may well be too much of a hassle for most developers. The Microsoft Ad Monetization platform also had the advantage of offering dedicated APIs for running ad campaigns on the Microsoft Store.

While Microsoft taking away app monetization options for app developers is certainly bad news, it doesn’t mean that UWP developers can no longer make money on the Microsoft Store. Indeed, ads are just one way to monetize free apps, but there are other solutions like subscriptions or in-app purchases. On Twitter, the developer of the third-party Spotify client Spotimo claimed that ads represent just 10% of app revenue for developers, the rest being in-app purchases.

After checking with community members, monetization is usually around 90% IAP and 10% ads

— Arlo Godfrey アルロ ゴッドフリー (@Arlodottxt) January 31, 2020

Still, the upcoming shutdown of the Microsoft Ad Monetization platform for UWP isn’t the only bad news that developers will have to deal with. Earlier this month, we learned the Microsoft had quietly removed its pledge to share 95% of app revenue on the Microsoft Store. A recent report from ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley also revealed that Microsoft was planning to shut down its Microsoft Store for business. Foley’s sources also said that Microsoft officials have been debating internally about a new “concerted strategy” for the company’s digital storefront, and that the future of the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 was “uncertain.”

Even though the writing seems to be on the wall, UWP apps still allow developers to create apps that can run on Windows 10 PCs, Xbox One consoles, Surface Hub devices, or HoloLens headsets. UWP apps should also play a big role on dual-screen devices running Windows 10X, though it’s hard to imagine many developers starting to build UWP apps for this new platform. We’ll see what happens, but for now, it’s still too early to say that UWP apps are dead.

The Microsoft To Do app updated on Windows 10 devices with a variety of changes and fixes today. This latest update brings the productivity app to Version 2.10.2001.28002 and fixes a bug that was affecting printing, improves accessibility, and added new announcements for certain functions.

Here’s the full release notes:

In this update we worked on a few small fixes such as fixing an issue with printing when your list was off screen and making sure you can add tasks to your new list as soon as you create it.

We also made lots of accessibility fixes:

• We added announcements for actions such as list deletion, list group creation and list emoji change.
• We fixed some dark mode contrast issues.
• We improved the announcements of search results.

Microsoft To Do is a free task management app that’s also available on iOS and Android devices in addition to the web.

Do you use To Do? Let us know what you think of this update in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Facebook for more Microsoft app news.

Download
QR-Code

Microsoft To Do: Lists, Tasks & Reminders

Developer:
Microsoft Corporation

Price:
Free

Earlier today, Microsoft announced the Xbox Bounty program which, like most similar bounty systems, will reward those who discover security vulnerabilities on the platform with cash prizes ranging from $500 up to $20,000.

“The Xbox bounty program invites gamers, security researchers, and technologists around the world to help identify security vulnerabilities in the Xbox network and services, and share them with the Microsoft Xbox team through Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD),” Microsoft’s Chloé Brown said in an official blog post. “Eligible submissions with a clear and concise proof of concept (POC) are eligible for awards up to US$20,000.”

An official website has been set up which, while basic in appearance, does show who can submit vulnerabilities, how much each sort of discovery can earn, and how to get in contact with Microsoft to participate.

Bounty programs such as this one are fairly common in the tech-oriented companies as they allow organizations to significantly expand their testing and increase their odds of discovering major vulnerabilities before they’re made public. They also provide an incentive for those that do discover major flaws to privately report them to a company instead of taking to social media and online forums to let the entire world know of their discovery and take advantage of it.

Are you thinking of participating in this program? Let us know in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming news.

Samsung’s Windows 10 Galaxy Book S, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx processor, is set to launch on February 13, 2020. For those that pre-order the Galaxy Book S before then, Samsung will give out $100 gift cards for purchase towards Samsung PCs, tablets, and accessories. As noted in a post by The Verge, the Windows 10 ARM-based Galaxy Book S was “unveiled at Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 event last summer, but missed its original September [2019] launch window.”

The Samsung Galaxy Book S starts at $999.99 for the base model and is similar to the Surface Pro X, another Windows 10 on ARM-based PC. The Samsung Galaxy Book S has a supposed 23-hour battery life, and Samsung claims that the battery is based on the device’s onboard LTE being switched on the whole time. It is unlikely that the Galaxy Book S will be able to provide as much battery life as compared to what the Surface Pro X offers.

The Samsung Galaxy Book S will also be available for purchase through the Microsoft Store starting on February 13, but pre-orders of the device are being handled through Samsung directly.

Preorder the Samsung Galaxy Book S, starting at $999.99.

Microsoft just posted its FY20 Q2 earnings and the company, by most accounts, exceeded expectations on a myriad of fronts.

We mentioned earlier today, that the street expectations had the company posting an ESP of $1.32, but Microsoft managed to rouse a $1.51 for the quarter as well beating expected revenue gains of $35.6 billion, hauling in $36.9 billion for its Q1.

According to Microsoft’s press release for its earnings, the company “returned $7.9 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020, an increase of 28% compared to the first quarter of the fiscal year 2019.”

Office Commercial Products

Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $11.8 billion and increased 17% (up 19% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 16% (up 18% in constant currency) driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 27% (up 30% in constant currency)
• Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 19% (up 20% in constant currency) with continued growth in Office 365 Consumer subscribers to 37.2 million
• LinkedIn revenue increased 24% (up 26% in constant currency)
• Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 12% (up 15% in constant currency) driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 42% (up 45% in constant currency)

Intelligent Cloud

Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $11.9 billion and increased 27% (up 28% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Server products and cloud services revenue increased 30% (up 32% in constant currency) driven by Azure revenue growth of 62% (up 64% in constant currency)
• Enterprise Services revenue increased 6% (up 7% in constant currency)

More Personal Computing

Revenue in More Personal Computing was $13.2 billion and increased 2% (up 3% in constant currency), with the following business highlights:

• Windows OEM revenue increased 18% (up 18% in constant currency)
• Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 25% (up 27% in constant currency)
• Surface revenue increased 6% (up 8% in constant currency)
• Search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 6% (up 7% in constant currency)
• Xbox content and services revenue decreased 11% (down 9% in constant currency)

Breaking down the numbers we see that of the $36.9 billion revenue total, Microsoft’s Windows division was able to contribute a bit more significantly this quarter than in prior, thanks to a strong PC market and its self-imposed end-of-life cycle for Windows 7.

The numbers coming out of the Surface division were also very strong and are cresting at a $2 billion business, marking an almost first for the flagship hardware line.

As expected, Microsoft’s Xbox gaming business slumped for the quarter with no new exclusives or accessories to drive console purchases.

The market for additional Game Pass subscriptions is meeting saturation levels. However, Microsoft credits the game Fortnite with its lackluster performance in the three month period.

The famed battle royale shooter performed exceptionally well the prior year and artificially raised Microsoft’s content and services numbers due to the amount of loot purchased through its marketplace for the game.

On the whole, Microsoft had one of its best quarters to date and the company is poised to make similar gains in the coming ones.

It’ll be interesting to see how Microsoft’s 2020 investments in xCloud, the untested market of dual-screen hardware in the Neo and Duo, as well as its cloud initiatives such as partnerships with Salesforce and the Department of Defense, effect its YoY.

Ever since the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR for short, Microsoft has not only worked to improve data transparency for itself, but is also helping its business customers to better comply with data privacy laws. Among those was the company’s Compliance Score tool, which allows Microsoft 365 customers to see and overview of their overall compliance to privacy laws and helps them to determine which actions to take to help them comply.

Microsoft has just announced new assessment options to help keep users up to date on the various privacy laws, including the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as well as Brazil’s upcoming Lei Geral de Proteção de Datos (LGPD) in August. The company has also added other assessment options including those from the International Organization for Standardization to help businesses maintain a Privacy Information Management System (PIMS), as well as those from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to help users follow standards to safeguard their confidential data with SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2.

Microsoft has also extended the public preview of its Compliance Score to all business users on Microsoft 365 and Office 365, and those just getting started can check out its technical documentation to help them get started.

What do you think of these new assessment options in the Compliance Score tool? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Just barely over two weeks ago, Microsoft discontinued support for the Windows 7 operating system. For those still using devices running the ten-year-old operating system (time flies, doesn’t it?), this means Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, critical patches to vulnerabilities, or fixes for potential bugs.

For some businesses, this isn’t as much of a problem. That’s because the company is offering Extended Security Updates for enterprises that can’t feasibly upgrade their large-scale computer networks to a newer operating system without critical risks. Consumers and some smaller-sized businesses, on the other hand, will need to fend for themselves.

Luckily, many anti-malware companies have committed to providing continued support for customers still running Windows 7 (via ZDNet). Companies such as BitDefender, NortonLifeLock, and many other have committed to providing updates for the next two years at the very least, according to German antivirus testing lab AV-TEST. Even McAfee will continue providing support until at least December 2021.

The continued support from anti-malware companies is important given Windows 7’s continued strong marketshare, which still greatly surpasses that of the still-supported Windows 8.1 operating system according to StatCounter.

Of course, even with continued anti-malware support from big-name companies, that still doesn’t make the older machines nearly as secure if they were running a newer version of desktop OS, such as Windows 10. Those vulnerabilities will remain there going forward, and new exploits are discovered all the time. That’s why Microsoft still advices users to switch to a newer OS with more modern features and continued security patches.

Still, for those who find that upgrading is much easier said than done, using anti-malware applications is still far better than leaving a machine completely exposed.

Seems Google is tooling around with its communications paradigm and looking to consolidate various online properties with a unifying messaging app or service.

The Information is reporting that Google is already in production with an internal beta app that’s serving as a sort of mesh service that enables its enterprise users the ability to surface functions and data from some of its stand-alone services such as Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Hangouts.

The details of the app are sparse for the moment, but it seems there is already a dedicated mobile app in use, however, a web-based component has yet to surface.

From the sounds of it, Google is looking to wedge itself in between Microsoft and Slack in an ongoing enterprise messaging showdown with its new makeshift offering. The Information reports a similar assessment that concludes, “the move could help it compete more effectively with application suites from Microsoft and others, according to two people who have used the application and three people briefed about it.”

While there is little known about Google’s new messaging application, the company has telegraphed some of its intentions towards a move such as this, dating as far back as January of 2019.

Last year, Google sent out messages to its G Suite customers letting them know that “Classic Hangouts” would go the way of the Dodo by 2020 and replaced with an updated Hangouts Chat and Hangout Meet applications.

In late 2019, it was rumored that Google might have been considering a purchase of Salesforce to boosts its position among Cloud service providers in a coordinated effort to more thoroughly compete in the enterprise space. However, Google’s new messaging efforts could put a wrinkle in the theorized acquisition talks as Salesforce recently partnered with Microsoft on the use of Slack in certain parts of its marketing cloud already.

Even if Google manages to not bungle this app as it has with its other previous messaging services the company is still light on integrated workplace tools as well as support for 3rd party data integration and a more robust productivity suite when compared to competitors Microsoft or Slack.