Earlier today we revealed that the latest Windows 10 Insider Fast Ring build had support for Offline files in OneDrive. There is now some bonus news to report, as it appears that the latest Windows 10 Insider Fast Ring build also lets you uninstall certain stock apps from your device.

Fantastic news: on #Windows10 Insider Fast you can now uninstall stock Windows apps – a top-requested improvement! pic.twitter.com/WGuLUlJ0Lt

— MSEdu Central (@MSEduCentral) October 5, 2016

The options to uninstall stock apps are accessible by navigating to the Settings menu, clicking on Apps & Features, and then pressing on an app to uninstall it. At the moment, however, only certain apps can be uninstalled, such as Phone, Maps, Mail, and Calander. Other apps which are core to the Windows 10 experience such as People, Store, Sticky Notes, Photos, and Alarm and Clock are greyed out and can not uninstalled.

Which stock apps would you like to see uninstalled from Windows 10? Let us know your thoughts on this latest discovery by dropping us a comment in the section below.

Back in August, Microsoft introduced the UWP Community Toolkit to help developers build new capabilities on top of the Windows SDK for Windows 10. It included an open source toolkit for developers building UWP apps in alignment with the Windows 10 SDK.

Microsoft has been taking feedback from developers since launching the UWP Community Toolkit and now is releasing an updated version, UWP Community Toolkit 1.1. The updated Toolkit is available now and includes the following updates:

1. .NET Foundation. We are excited to announce that the UWP Community Toolkit has joined the .NET Foundation, a vibrant community of open-sourced projects focused on the future of the .NET ecosystem.
2. Updates and new features. The focus of this release is to improve the quality of the toolkit by addressing feedback we received through GitHub and the Store Sample App. Full list available in the Release Notes, including:
   1. Services: added LinkedIn service (i.e. read user profile and share activity), Microsoft Graph service (i.e. send and read emails from UWP via Office 365 or explore Azure Active Directory graph) and updates to the Facebook and Bing services
   2. Controls: added Blade, GridSplitter and DropShadowPanel controls
   3. Animations: new FadeHeaderBehavior
3. Sample app. The UWP Community Toolkit Sample App has been updated to include the new features of this release. The Sample App is the best way to preview the features of the toolkit.
4. Documentation. As the project joins the .NET Foundation, we moved the documentation to a new location, directly connected to GitHub.

The UWP Toolkit can help develops build a Universal Windows app capable of running on any Windows 10 device, from phones, Xbox, PCs, and HoloLens. Developers can get started with the Toolkit here, and if you want to see more about the future roadmap for the Community Toolkit, you can head over here.

Microsoft got in some hot water with a number of Windows users last year when they were trying to give away their latest operating system for free. The problems arose because perfectly content Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users felt Microsoft was too pushy with their free offer. Namely the often vilified Get Windows 10 app.

Probably almost every Windows user is familiar with the Get Windows 10 app at this point. It sat in the notification tray to help Windows 7 and 8.1 users reserve their free upgrade. But problems arose as the app persistently reminded users to upgrade with a notoriously hard to spot button for opting out. There was so much customer ire over upgrading there are now even lawsuits springing up against Microsoft because of their tactics for promoting the free offer.

As the Microsoft’s free upgrade offer came to a close, the company confirmed the Get Windows 10 app would be making an exit. And as of just two weeks ago, we finally saw the Get Windows 10 app being removed from Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs.

So it was a surprise to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users when they saw KB 2952664 and KB 2976978, respectively, show up in Windows Update yesterday. Some fear these updates are heralding the return of the dreaded Get Windows 10 app. This is because these updates were prerequisites for the main update which ushered the Get Windows 10 app into Windows 7 and 8.1 notification trays.

As Microsoft says in the bulletins for KB 2952664 and KB 2976978:

This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program. These diagnostics help determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed. This update will help Microsoft and its partners ensure compatibility for customers who want to install the latest Windows operating system.

To be clear, the return of these updates is not the return of the Get Windows 10 app. But at this point there is no definitive word from Microsoft for why these specific updates that check upgrade compatibility are returning. Recently at Ignite, Microsoft announced Windows 10 is on 400 million active devices, and that the adoption of Windows 10 has been one of the fastest in company history.

However, while this number sounds impressive, other reports say that Windows 10 market share ever so slightly slipped in last month’s data. Microsoft previously announced that it would miss its self-stated goal of getting 1 billion Windows 10 powered devices in three years.

So could some new special offer to upgrade be in the mix to reignite Windows 10’s adoption? Maybe. Anything could be possible with the holiday season just around the corner. But is the Get Windows 10 app making a return? Most likely not. Microsoft issued very firm statements the free upgrade offer would end in July and the Get Windows 10 app with it. But until Microsoft clarifies why they reintroduced prerequisites for an app that was one of their largest PR problems over last year, imaginations will be left to run wild.

Four months after Microsoft relaunched Microsoft Ventures as a formalized venture fund, the company’s new VC arm has announced yesterday that it has already invested in 13 startups working in several B2B industries. Additionally, a new Microsoft Ventures website has also been launched to give more details about the companies that have been backed by the technology giant so far. Nagraj Kashyap, Microsoft Ventures Corporate Vice President explained:

Our new website highlights our portfolio, where you can learn more about the promising technologies we’re betting on to disrupt how business is done today. In the world of business SaaS, we’ve invested in Helpshift and Outreach . In cloud infrastructure, we’ve invested in Rescale. In productivity and communications, we’ve invested in three companies – Comfy, Layer and Kahoot in the world of education. In machine learning, we’ve invested in CrowdFlower and more recently, CognitiveScale. And in security, we’ve invested in Aqua Security and Team8.

If you made the count, that’s only 10 companies but Geekwire reports that the three remaining startups have yet to publicly announce their funding rounds. Speaking at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle yesterday, Microsoft’s executive vice president of business development Peggy Johnson shared that Microsoft Ventures is currently focused on startups working on machine learning and artificial intelligence. “That’s one of the pillars of our strategy, infusing AI. It’s the infusion of AI into everyday services that I’m really excited about,” she explained.

Additionally, the former Qualcomm exec told Geekwire that Microsoft’s new venture capital arm has helped the company build more connections with Silicon Valley companies working on the next big thing. “Before, we might have had the ad-hoc discussions, but now we’re actually in the deal flow. We get to see these technologies,” she added.

A few weeks ago, action-adventure game ReCore was the first Xbox Play Anywhere to be released on both the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. The game is brand new IP from Microsoft Studios and set players in the feet of Joule Adams, a young woman who must survive in the mysterious world of Far Eden with the help of her Corebot companions.

If you’ve been considering buying the game since its worldwide release during the third week of September, you will now be able to try the game for free to help you make your decision. According to a new blog post published on Xbox Wire today, a free 30 minutes game trial is now available to download on both the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. Even better, all your progress will be saved if you decide to buy the game, allowing you pick up exactly where you left off after the end of the trial.

To try the game for free, just go the store listing on the Windows Store or the Xbox Store on your console and you’ll see the free trial option. Lastly, an update for the game will roll out today on all platforms. A separate blog post on the official ReCore website explained what’s new:

In this update, you will experience decreased loading times, see audio and visual improvements, and notice improvements to issues you may have experienced with waypoints, achievement tracking, collision locations, checkpoints and respawn points.

And for anyone who has experienced a Window 10 issue where the full game of ReCore downloads again during an update, a separate Windows fix is available now. All Windows 10 players are encouraged to download the Windows update (Version 1607) immediately to avoid this issue.

At $39.99, Recore is not an AAA title but it’s definitely worth trying. If you haven’t done it yet, we invite you to check our review over here.

Vodafone Business Services, the enterprise arm of Vodafone India, has tied up with Microsoft as a Cloud Service Partner to offer Office 365 to businesses for enterprise-grade productivity and collaboration services.

As part of the tie-up, announced in a press release today, Vodafone Business Services (VBS) will enable Indian businesses of all sizes to access Office 365 with the service delivery and support entirely managed by Vodafone. For the businesses, the partnership would mean that Vodafone is their single point partner for both Connectivity and Cloud.

We are pleased to partner with Microsoft to bring the Office 365 suite to our enterprise customers. We are confident that the pay-per-use Software as a Service (SaaS) model will make our customers’ business future-ready by giving them predictable IT costs and taking care of the technology upgrades and scalability worries. Vodafone is acknowledged as an enterprise mobility leader. With our cloud platform and tie-up with Microsoft, we are now well positioned as a total communications partner to our enterprise customers.

– Nick Gliddon, Director, Vodafone Business Services

Awarded as the ‘Enterprise Mobile Service Provider of the Year’ recently for the sixth year in a row (2011-16), VBS provides total telecommunications solutions across both mobility and fixed line platforms, as well as IoT and Cloud, to large Indian and multinational companies, public sector enterprises, SMEs, and startups.

A new report out of Mexico from the Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU) has revealed that not only is Microsoft dominating over half of the video game industry in Latin America, but the most-owned console is their Xbox 360, not the newer Xbox One.

According to the report, Microsoft’s consoles currently have 57.9% market share in Latin American countries. 39.8% of total consoles are Xbox 360, 12% are Xbox One, and surprisingly 6% is still held by the original Xbox console which is beating Nintendo’s new WiiU console (at 3%) and Sony’s PlayStation 2 (4.5%).

Of the other consoles, Nintendo’s Wii ties with the Xbox One at 12% and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 are sitting at 10.5% and 9% respectively.

Microsoft has a history of performing better against its rivals in Latin America than in other regions. One example of this is with their Windows Phones which have famously struggled to compete with Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone devices in North America but managed to rank as the second-highest mobile platform in Latin America back in 2013. The situation with Windows Phone has obviously changed since then however.

Are you surprised by the Xbox brand’s success in Latin America? Let us know in the comments below.

According to a report by Reuters, Yahoo Inc built a secret custom software program to search all of its customers’ email messages for specific information, at the request of U.S. intelligence officials. The report cites three unnamed former employees and “a fourth person appraised of the events,” saying that the company scanned “hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts” at the request of the National Security Agency or the FBI.

It’s unclear what information Yahoo passed on to the intelligence agencies. Microsoft, Google and Twitter have all denied conducting similar searches. In a statement provided to media, a Microsoft spokesperson said:

“We have never engaged in the secret scanning of email traffic like what has been reported today about Yahoo.”

… but declined to comment on whether or not they had been approached with such a request. Google said that they had “never received such a request.” A Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch “We’ve never received a request like this, and were we to receive it we’d challenge it in a court.”

The decision to comply with the government’s request was contentious within Yahoo, ultimately causing former Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos to leave the company, later landing at Facebook.

Mayer and other executives ultimately decided to comply with the directive last year rather than fight it, in part because they thought they would lose, said the people familiar with the matter.

Yahoo in 2007 had fought a FISA demand that it conduct searches on specific email accounts without a court-approved warrant. Details of the case remain sealed, but a partially redacted published opinion showed Yahoo’s challenge was unsuccessful.

Some Yahoo employees were upset about the decision not to contest the more recent edict and thought the company could have prevailed, the sources said.

They were also upset that Mayer and Yahoo General Counsel Ron Bell did not involve the company’s security team in the process, instead asking Yahoo’s email engineers to write a program to siphon off messages containing the character string the spies sought and store them for remote retrieval, according to the sources.

That security team, bypassed in the decision to comply, found the program within weeks. They initially thought the company had been hacked (something they were probably already well familiar with). Stamos then resigned, according to Reuters, telling his subordinates that hackers could have accessed the stored emails due to a programming flaw.

As internet companies face increasing scrutiny over their abilities to protect user data from not only hackers but governments, and governments continue to push for more access in order to pursue their enemies, user security of online assets is going to become an ever bigger problem.

Do you trust Microsoft with your data in the cloud? Do you trust anyone?

Even more games are joining the growing list of former Xbox 360 games available for Xbox One Backward Compatible play. Major Nelson (a.k.a. Larry Hryb) tweeted today about the newest classics that you can play on Xbox One. So of course we took a closer look for you.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Puzzle Quest Galactrix & PQ 2
are coming to Xbox One Back Compat today https://t.co/qPMRNs2ZLo pic.twitter.com/RYD0A467cm

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) October 4, 2016

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Sonic and the All-Stars cast line up on the starting grid once again to battle for supremacy in the ultimate race. It’s not just racing, it’s racing transformed! Fully Transformable vehicles which change from car to plane to boat mid race, each with their own unique gameplay. Over 20 legendary All-Stars each with their own transformable vehicle. A multitude of modes including Grand Prix, Battle Arenas and the incredible World Tour. Unleash ingenious weaponry and your character’s All-Star move to beat the opposition. Race up to ten players online, or challenge your friends in four player split screen. 16 dynamic tracks which challenge you on land, water and air.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix

Explore the entire Galactrix universe in the exciting return of the Puzzle Quest franchise with its signature addictive RPG/Puzzle hybrid gameplay. This game requires the Xbox 360 hard drive for storage.

Puzzle Quest 2

Escape to a puzzle game fantasy world filled with amazing creatures, powerful weapons, and addictive role playing in this sequel to the award-winning Puzzle Quest.

Impressively, there are already over 250 games on the Backward Compatibility list. As always, Major Nelson has your back. Can’t recall if a game was made Backward Compatible? Make sure to check out his site for the full list, today’s titles included.

During Minecon last month, we learned about a few upcoming additions to Minecraft, with each version was getting an update. For consoles, Minecraft was getting a little something extra. The Chinese Mythology Mash-Up DLC pack released today side by side with a small free update of new features.

The Chinese Mythology Mash-Up is extra purchasable content that you can buy for $4.99. The pre-crafted world was inspired by the exotic reaches of China with “ancient cities to explore, gargantuan sculptures to gawp at and cherry blossom aplenty.” The expansion has a total of forty new skins and thirteen themed music tracks. Players are able to play the Battle Mini Game on the newly decorated map.

A slew of new blocks and more life for your Arctic biomes also coming to your games in the free console update. Starting either today or tomorrow, you’ll be patching in:

• Polar Bears
• Customizable Banners
• Beetroots
• New Soup recipes
• Igloos
• Bone Blocks
• End Bricks
• Grass Path
• Frosted Ice
• Magma
• Nether Wart
• Red Nether Brick

The update is available for Xbox and U.S. Wii U consoles today with the rest to follow closely behind tomorrow. Let us know in the comments if you’re excited about all of this new Minecraft content.

Dan Plastina from Microsoft has taken to the Azure Enterprise Mobility and Security Blog to announce that Microsoft has officially released Azure Information Protection. The release comes after it was announced back in June and after a first preview back in July.

The release means that Azure Information Protection is now Generally Available. According to Dan, the following should be expected in AIP:

• Classify, label, and protect data at the time of creation or modification. Use policies to classify and label data in intuitive ways based on the source, context, and content of the data. Classification can be fully automatic, user-driven, or based on a recommendation. Once data is classified and labeled, protection can be applied automatically on that basis.
• Persistent protection that travels with your data. Classification and protection information travels with the data. This ensures that data is protected at all times, regardless of where it is stored, with whom it is shared, or if the device is running iOS, Android, or Windows.
• Enable safe sharing with customers and partners. Share data safely with users within your organization as well as with external customers and partners. Document owners can define who can access data and what they can do with it; for example, recipients can view and edit files, but they cannot print or forward.
• Simple, intuitive controls help users make the right decisions and stay productive. Data classification and protection controls are integrated into Office and common applications. These provide simple one-click options to secure data that users are working on. In-product notifications provide recommendations to help users make the right decisions.
• Visibility and control over shared data. Document owners can track activities on shared data and revoke access when necessary. IT can use logging and reporting to monitor, analyze, and reason over shared data.
• Deployment and management flexibility. Protect data whether it is stored in the cloud or on-premises, and choose how your encryption keys are managed with Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) and Hold Your Own Key (HYOK) options.

As part of the release, Azure Information Protection client for Office also gets general availability, the HYOK feature enters preview, and new mobile apps for iOS and Android will replace existing RMS Sharing Apps. For the complete details, be sure to head over to this webpage. Once you’ve checked it out, let us know what you think by dropping us a line below.

Dell has announced that the newer version of their XPS 13 notebooks is now available for purchase in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. The newer versions include the next generation Intel ‘Kaby Lake’ CPUs for faster performance and better battery life (via Windows Central.)

Available in the US for $799.99, the UK for £999 and in Canada at $1,299.99, the notebook comes in Rose Gold, and silver. The updated versions also boast a New larger 60WHr battery for up to 22 hours on FHD and up to 13 hours on QHD+.  1535 Wireless-AC technology for strong and reliable WiFi connection is also included.

In case you missed it, you can check out our review of the Dell XPS 13 by clicking here.  We found the device pretty impressive and at the time we called it our new favorite Windows 10 laptop. We’re sure that the latest versions with Kaby Lake and larger battery will just make a great machine even better. As always, though, also be sure to let us know what you think of the Dell XPS13 by dropping us a comment in the section below.

As you may recall, over this weekend, a select group of Windows 10 users reported that Windows 10 Build 1493.222 left their computers in an infinite installing update loop. Now a few days after, Microsoft has finally broken their silence on the issue, and has said it is preparing a “clean-up script” for failed Windows 10 version 14393.222 installs (via Neowin.)

Official word on an incoming fix was first spread on this Microsoft Support Forms page, where a Microsoft forum moderator named Jason posted that patience is required during research and subsequent work while the fix is being made. He writes:

“Hello Insiders!

We’ve been working diligently on this issue and are finalizing a clean-up script that will fix the underlying issue preventing the install of  KB3194496 (Cumulative Update 14393.222) for affected users.  Your patience during our research and subsequent work is greatly appreciated.
Thank you as always and stay tuned!”

Several other Windows Insiders on the same forum, however, have posted workarounds for the issue, all of which are risky and involve altering the system registry and deleting certain folders. So, if you’re experiencing the infinite installing update issue, you might want to try the workarounds seen in the forum (at your own risk!) until the official fix has been released by Microsoft. As always, let us know what you think of this latest set of news, and your other thoughts by dropping us a comment below.

Update: Microsoft has since issued a clarification, reiterating that a solution is forthcoming, and that the issue affected a small number of Windows Insiders:

“We are aware of an issue with the recent Windows 10 cumulative update that impacted a small number of customers in the Windows Insider Program that were running a previous build of the OS. We expect to have a solution in place for these customers soon, and will be communicating with Insiders via the Feedback Hub.”

We’ll keep you posted on a fix.

If you or someone you know have a curious and creative mind, then Microsoft has now got a product for you. Microsoft Online Stores have started to sell littleBits, a kit which helps children design and prototype interactive creations.

Priced at 99.00 the kit includes everything needed to invent electronics in mere seconds. The bits included in the kit snap together with magnets, and make it easier to alter or change an invention on the fly. Additionally, the included 9V battery, motor, and a reusable case and MotorMade make it easier to use the kit to attach wheels, cardboard, and other materials to the included materials. For added fun, a project booklet is also included with step by step directions for projects such as an Art Bot and Three Wheeler. Other included items in the kit are:

• Buzzer
• Light Sensor
• Bargraph
• Button
• Dimmer
• Power
• Bright LED
• 2 Wires
• Screwdriver

Will you be picking up this kit? Are you glad to see Microsoft fueling the creative minds of the youth? Let us know what you think by dropping us a comment below!

The popular strategy game, Age of Empires: Castle Siege, is updating today on Windows 10 PCs and tablets, Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, and iOS devices. Named, Patch 1.21, this update contains some of the biggest changes the game has received since it launched, namely the addition of a brand new age, Age 10.

As a result of the new age, the majority of buildings and units now have new tiers to upgrade to, a new festival item has been added to the store, and some fixes to the leagues have also been made. Here’s the release notes:

A New Age has come to Castle Siege! The upgrades will bring a new golden look to your Empire. As well there is upgrades to:

• The Keep, upgrade cost 14 days- 3,500,000 wood
• Walls;  5 additional walls
• Guard House, upgrade cost 12 days- 1,500,000 stone
• Archer Tower; 1 additional Archer tower, upgrade cost 8 days – 700,000 stone
• Ballista Tower; 1 additional Ballista tower, upgrade cost 12 days – 1,600,000 stone
• Musket Tower; 1 additional Musket tower, upgrade cost 12 days – 1,600,000 stone
• Catapult Emplacement, upgrade cost 10 days – 3,200,000 wood
• Barracks, upgrade cost 10 days – 2,400,000 food
• Archery Range, upgrade cost 10 days – 2,400,000 food
• Stable, upgrade cost 10 days – 3,200,000 wood
• Siege Workshop, upgrade cost 10 days -3,200,000 wood
• Caltrops, upgrade cost 10 days – 2,400,000 food
• Fire Traps, upgrade cost 2 days – 500,000 wood
• Engineer Traps, upgrade cost 2 days – 200,000 food

The following units: Infantry, Spear Infantry, Raider, Ladder Invader, Archer, Cavalry, Battering Ram,  Siege Tower, Catapult, Trebuchet,  Grenadier

Training Scenario Gold: Successfully completing Training Scenarios will now award gold to players. This is a great way to improve your skills and get some additional funds. Everyone can get the new gold reward, even if you already completed the scenarios.

League Improvements:

• Leagues will now reward gold to everyone who participates in the league. 1st  through 3rd place will still earn a higher prize. The higher league you are in, the more gold you will earn so keep climbing the ranks.
• Adjusted the amount of crowns required for each league. Leagues will now be more competitive.

As requested from the community, we changed alliance settings so that Emperors and Lords can delete Wonder announcements. Emperors will now also be able to remove the “alliance settings changed” messaging.

Age of Empires: Castle Seige is a rather exceptional game as it connects to the Xbox Live network on all of its versions including iOS. This connectivity allows for cloud saves, crossplay, and the unlocking of Xbox Achievements regardless of which device the user is playing it on.

Are you a fan of Castle Siege? Let us know which age you’re up to in the comments below.

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Age of Empires®: Castle Siege

Developer:
Microsoft Studios

Price:
Free

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SnelStart is a software development business for small and medium sized organizations based in the Netherlands. After the integration of Azure in 2010, it has seen a significant increase in productivity including the addition of 12,000 elastic databases and more to come. As more software is developed, SnelStart is able to meet the demands of clients and provide their needs within three months compared to the former half a year, not to mention they can ship out updates and changes within twenty-four hours.

SnelStart already caters to 55,000 customers with a smaller staff of a hundred employees. Thirty five of them are IT staff. The small staff is mostly thanks to the removal of overhead with Azure’s SQL database. They can focus primarily on creating software instead of hosting and maintaining their own servers.

“Working with Azure means we can deliver software faster, quickly react to customer demands, and scale solutions when demands increase,” Software Architect at SnelStart Henry Been said.

Thanks to their close relationship with Microsoft Azure, they hope to continue working forward towards a progressive 1,000 elastic database pools per month to keep their growing customer base.

Want to dive deeper into SnelStart’s relationship with Azure SQL Database? Check out the Azure blog post.

In an age of knowledge and information, the right to have access to internet is almost a basic human acknowledgement. However, as a new video from Microsoft points out, over half our global population still doesn’t have it. In many areas across the world, the idea of having broadband or WiFi is still just a vision for the future, one that Microsoft intends to help with the use of TV white space.

As opposed to standard WiFi connections that have a range of 600 feet, TVWS is created with the use of television channels. Connections can even be made up to 10 kilometers across land, over water, and through solid structures.

Laikipia County, Kenya is in the greater Nanyuki area with a 400,000 population. Deep in the heart of the country, mobile internet is nearly unaffordable. TV white space can  change that by offering connection for only $3/month. This is also made possible with the use of databases in the Azure cloud.

Mawingu Solar Cyber cafe is one of the hubs that have kept the people in Laikipia County connected. It is a very small internet cafe that brings people together with the information that they need and deserve.

Since the implementation of TVWS as a reliable internet connection, 8,000 people have been connected. Another 200,000 is projected for the next three years according to IT Minister of Nanyuki John Vasco Akali.

The use of TV white space was also implemented in other areas of the world such as making hotspots in Filipino sari-sari stores. It’s been a few years since we first heard about Microsoft’s plans to tap into the forgotten stations. As knowledge reaches further across the globe, more countries are developing a presence on the internet. And that bodes well for both them and Microsoft in the future.

You can learn more about Mawingu and Microsoft’s other “cloud for global good” initiatives at news.microsoft.com/cloudforgood.

It’s more than clear to anyone who’s been paying attention that Microsoft’s cross-platform strategy is no passing fancy. The company is committed to supporting every relevant platform in its transition to a “cloud-first, mobile-first” productivity company across the board. Certainly, Microsoft has been consistently providing excellent first-party apps for iOS and Android, sometimes before producing Windows 10 versions, and the company has integrated Windows 10 very tightly with Android smartphones.

At Ignite 2016, Microsoft provided some confirmation that they will be pushing one Windows 10-specific feature to iOS and Android devices. Specifically, it looks like the company will definitely be expanding Windows 10’s Hello authentication technology to support iOS and Android “companion devices.”

Consider the following slides:

They clearly indicate that Windows 10 Hello will support more types of devices for authenticating, meaning that although the company may want its users to continue using Windows 10 machines, it’s not nearly so important that they use Windows 10 Mobile devices for 2nd-factor authentication. We’ll be keeping our eye on this development to see how many other technologies will make it to competitive platforms.

A little more than a month ago, Microsoft announced that its scalable data warehouse service
Azure SQL Data Warehouse was now available in 18 regions worldwide. Following this expanded availability, the company is now providing companies an easier way to try the service with Data Platform Studio, a new migration tool provided by long-time partner Redgate. Matt Usher Program Manager, SQL Engineering at Microsoft explained all the details in a new blog post on the Azure blog:

Redgate’s Data Platform Studio (DPS) provides a simple and reliable way to migrate on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure SQL Data Warehouse. DPS automates the data upload and applies the most appropriate compatibility fixes and optimizations. It reduces the timeframe for a first data migration from days to hours, giving companies an easy way to explore the potential of the SQL Data Warehouse.

In the following video, David Bick and Tom Hodgson from Redgate explain how to use Data Platform Studio to load existing data into Azure SQL Data Warehouse:

Data Platform Studio is currently free to use for one-off migrations, and you can get more information about it on the official website. If you were considering trying Microsoft’s scalable data warehouse solution, let us know in the comments if you think this new migration tool is going to make a difference in your decision.

In the Alvord Desert in Oregon, a Microsoft engineering team is looking to help the North American Eagle break the land speed record with help from the power of Windows Internet-of-Things (IoT) Core.

The North American Eagle (NAE) is a supersonic car, supposedly able to reach speeds upwards of 800 mph, is on a quest to break the all-time fastest land speed record. In an attempt to become the fastest woman to reach this milestone, Motorsports athlete Jessi Combs was clocked at 477.59 mph, just shy of the women’s land speed record of 512 mph set in 1976.

NAE owner Ed Shadle hopes to smash the current land speed record of 763.035 mph that was set by a British team in 1997. Microsoft can help the NAE team achieve their goal by providing insight into the Eagle’s performance, with live telemetry information from the cockpit, as well as other atmospheric and NAE system information.

The NAE team is getting some help from Microsoft to find out where the NAE needs to improve in order to achieve the fastest speed after each test run. Two Microsoft employees, software engineer Matt Long and cloud architect Mark Nichols, the brains behind the Pegasus II mission, configured a special sensor for the NAE, capable of collecting cockpit telemetry information as well as send the driver real-time message notifications.

Long gave his thoughts on how the Windows 10 IoT Core system performed for Combs’ attempt at the women’s land speed record:

“[It] performed flawlessly, getting us half-second snapshots of telemetry and broadcasting to a global audience. Jessi’s first run had an audience of about 4,500 viewers. She even received messages from well-wishers in Russia, which were recorded. And we sent over 500 million data points of telemetry.”

Download the Pegasus Mission NAE (North American Eagle) app for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile to get live updates on what the NAE has planned next.

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PegasusMission NAE

Developer:
pegasusmissions

Price:
Free

Back at E3, Microsft announced some exciting new features for Xbox Live members. The online gaming community for Xbox One owners would be receiving new social features called Clubs, Looking for Group, and Arena. Both Clubs and Looking for Group (LFG) became available to Xbox One Preview members earlier last month. These features enable Xbox One gamers to more easily find other like minded players based on specific games or types of gameplay, and also allow gamers to form their own social clubs.

Microsoft just announced today that the third new social feature, Arena on Xbox Live is rolling out today to Preview members. Arena on Xbox Live is a tournament system for Xbox One games which Microsoft describes saying it will “make eSports more accessible for gamers everywhere, regardless of skill-level.” At launch, Preview members will only be able to play one game in the new Arena on Xbox Live system, but it’s a fairly popular one. Killer Instinct will be the first game that Xbox Live members will be able to enter tournaments for.

Arena on Xbox Live will roll out today for Preview members on Xbox One and the beta Xbox app for Windows 10. The update includes more than just the Arena feature, here is the full list:

• Arena on Xbox Live: Beginning today, Arena launches to Preview on Xbox One with the pilot title and legendary fighting game, Killer Instinct. During Preview, you can look forward to competing in daily Killer Instinct tournaments across Xbox One and the Xbox app (beta) on Windows 10 PC. For the initial roll out, Arena will only be accessible to Preview members through practice tournaments on Xbox One in the U.S., with plans to add additional features and expand to the broader Preview audience later in To start competing, all you have to do is register on the Tournament tab in the Killer Instinct Game Hub. We’re really excited about the potential of Arena and eager to hear your thoughts as we evolve it and make eSports more accessible for gamers everywhere, regardless of skill-level.
• Achievement Rarity: You might have already seen some buzz about Achievement Rarity from @XboxQwik and @majornelson. If you missed it, Achievement Rarity, a top fan request on Xbox Feedback, launched to Preview a few weeks ago. Now, you’ll be able to discover just how unique an Achievement is among players of a given game and celebrate the Achievement itself with a special notification and diamond icon highlighting it. Unlock one today and let us know how you like the new animation.
• New Looking for Group (LFG) Features: Starting today, you will be able to create LFG posts for future gaming sessions – up to seven days in advance! Additionally, based on your feedback, you can now create LFG posts directly in a Club and control who sees them: just members of the Club or everyone on Xbox Live. When creating LFG posts, you can also note what language the party will be speaking and filter your LFG searches based on the language.
• Group Messaging on Xbox Live: Last week, we launched Group Messaging on Xbox One and the Xbox app (beta) on Windows 10 PC. Group Messaging helps you coordinate and keep in touch with your friends and fellow gamers by sending a single group message to everyone in the group. You can also add people to the group and dynamically change the conversation topic. Group Messaging will soon work across the Xbox app (beta) on iOS and Android devices.

If you are a Preview member you can start testing out Arena and these other latest feature updates starting today. Let us know what you think of the new features in the comment section below.

Enterprise file sharing solution provider Egnyte has announced today at Salesforce’s Dreamforce customer conference that it has chosen Microsoft’s Azure as its primary cloud partner (via TechCrunch). With this new alliance, the company’s cloud offerings will be featured in Microsoft’s Azure marketplace even though the company will continue to work with other existing partners such as Amazon Web Services.

Egnyte currently uses an hybrid open architecture which provides customers end-to-end solutions that can integrate with several Microsoft solutions such as Azure AD, Office 365, Sharepoint Online and more. Egnyte CEO Vineet Jain shared in a press release:

At Egnyte our strategy has always been around openness. We want to empower businesses to build their digital workplace with an ecosystem of best-in-class applications that fit the needs of each employee to get work done efficiently. Microsoft has been a leader in the enterprise for many years, providing the strongest suite of services for business on the market. By developing a complete end-to-end collaboration with Microsoft we are able to offer businesses of all sizes an opportunity to build their digital workplace with the best solutions on the market today.

The CEO also explained to Techcrunch that he remained focused on growing his company independently. “While it appears there is a tighter alignment that could lead to something else, you don’t have to read between the lines. From my perspective, it’s about the tight alignment in go-to market,” he added.

Microsoft Surface tablets have been found to be useful for many different fields. One field we don’t hear about too often is professional sports. For the NFL, Microsoft partnered up to bring Surface tablets to the sidelines for coaches and teams to provide stills, plays, and stats. An advantage that can have a significant outcome on the game. But for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, sometimes the Surface just doesn’t cut it.

In the past, the Surface was wrongfully blamed for a network error that caused the Patriots a loss. “The concept is good, when it works it’s good, when it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work,” Belichick explained at a press conference. Even thought it wasn’t the device’s fault, it appears the coach still holds some animosity towards the Surface. Yesterday, he tossed his device towards the corner of the table (via The Verge). From what could be seen, the protective covering that keeps it working through elements and rough use seems to have managed to let the Surface survive unscathed.

EVERYTHING IS FINE IN NEW ENGLAND pic.twitter.com/d4KbOm0tt0

— UPROXX Sports (@UPROXXSports) October 2, 2016

Some reporters are beginning to wonder if Microsoft lost brand credibility in the $400 million deal. Some commentators even call them iPads. Whether the Patriots coach was angry at the Surface’s performance this or just taking out his aggression at the poor plays made early by his team against the Buffalo Bills hasn’t been made clear. One thing is certain, we hope that the NFL invested in Microsoft’s Surface protection plan.

Lenovo has announced its latest line-ups of laptops in India for the upcoming holiday season. The new laptops range from lighter, faster and more powerful models, and all aim to combine the combine technical prowess and striking design to redefine the computing experience. As is usual, we’ve included all the details on these latest Lenovo laptops for you below.

IdeaPad 310: INR 28,390

Lenovo’s Ideapad 310 comes with the latest Intel 7th Gen Core processors. This means you will have plenty of processing power for casual surfing, streaming, and playing. Featuring Stereo speakers with Dolby technology and a 15.6” FHD screen, this device has clear, crisp visuals & quality sound.

• 5 hours battery life
•  37.9 cm x 26 cm x 2.29 cm
• 2.2kg in weight
• HD 720P Webcam with Array Mic
• 4G DDR4 RAM
• 1TB 9.5MM 5400RPM Harddrive
• 15.6 FHD 1920×1080 display.
• N16V-GMR1 DDR3L 2G Graphics
• Intel® Core™ i5-7200U Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)
• 1 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 Ports
• 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)

IdeaPad 510: INR 61,690

The Lenovo IdeaPad 510 is for those who are looking for incredible multimedia, video editing and big gaming performance. The devices is packed with up to NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 4G discrete graphics, and Full HD IPS (1920 x 1080) 15.6-inch screen for eye-popping visuals and clearer, crisper quality of sound.

• 5 hours battery life
• 2.2 Kg in weight
• 37.9 cm x 26 cm x 2.29 cm
• HD 720P Webcam with Array Mic
• 8GB (DDR4 2133) RAM
• 2TB 9.5MM 5400RPM Harddrive
• 15.6 1920×1080 FHD IPS Display
• N16S-GTR DDR3L 4G Graphics
• Intel Core  i7-7500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)
• 2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0
• 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)

IdeaPad 510 S INR 51,090

The Lenovo IdeaPad 510 S is super slim and lightweight, but features heavyweight performance for whenever you’re on the move. The device is designed to enhance your multimedia experience and has exceptional sound and visuals, with amazing speed and storage.

• Up tp 6 hrs battery life
• Starting at 3.7 lbs (1.7 kg) in weight
• 335.6 mm x 235 mm x 19.3 mm
• 0.3MP webcam w/ single mic
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 1TB HDD
• 14.0” Full HD 1920×1080 display
• Integrated/ 2GB AMD graphics
• Intel  Core i5 7th Gen i5 7200u processor
• 2 x USB 3.0; 1 x USB 2.0 w/ always-on charging
• 4in1 card reader (SD,SDHC,SDXC,MMC)
• Optional backlit keyboard

IdeaPad 710s: INR 73,390

Lenovo’s IdeaPad 710 S is a powerhouse designed for those with mobile lifestyles. The device sports a sleek, narrow bezel and is 50% thinner than those of most rival laptops.

• Up to 8 hrs battery life
• 1.1kg in weight
• 307 mm x 214 mm x 13.9 mm
• 720P 30fps webcam
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 512 GB SSD
• 13.3” QHD+ 3200 x 1800 display
• Integrated Intel or up to Intel  Iris graphics
• Intel  Core i7 7th  7500U processor
• 2 x USB3.0 (1 USB always-on charging),
• 4-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, SDHC, SDXC)
• Backlit keyboard

Lenovo MIIX 310 INR 17,490

Weighing in at mere 20.5 ounces (580g) and only 9.2mm thin , the MIIX 310 can be carried just about anywhere. The device packs a detachable keyboard, and can fit safely into any backpack, tote, or bag for added portability.

• Up to 10 Hours battery life
• 580 grams in weight
• 24.6cm x 1.73cm x 0.92cm
• 2 MP front camera 5 MP rear camera
• 2G DDR3L 1600 onboard RAM
• 32G EMMC SSD
• 10.1 inch 1280×800 LED Display
• INTEL Atom TM Processor (x5-Z8350, 2M Cache, up to 1.92 GHz)
• 1 x Micro USB 2.0 for data

Lenovo Yoga 510: INR 40,990

If you’re serious about entertainment, then this device is for you. This 2-in-1 device has a screen that folds down to through 360°, giving you the flexibility to edit music playlists in laptop mode, kick back with a movie in tent mode, or play your favorite apps in tablet mode.

• Up to 8.3 hours with video playback
• From 3.9 lbs (1.8 kg) in weight
• 336.4 mm x 232 mm x 20.9 mm
• 720P camera with dual array mic
• Up to 8GB RAM
• Up to 1TB HDD, 500GB SSHD, 500GB + 8GB SSHD / Hybrid HDD or up to 256GB SSD
• Up to 14 inch full HD 1920×1080 resolution display
• NVidia GFX 2 GB Graphics
• 7th Gen Core i5 i5 7200u processor
• 1 x Always-on USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, HDMI, Giga LAN 4-in-1 SD card reader (SD, MMC, SDHC, SDXC), Audio Combo Jack

What are your impressions of these devices? Which one are you looking forward to picking up this Holiday season? Please let us know what you think by dropping us a comment below.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith have kicked off their four-day visit to Europe to showcase customers’ digital transformation, announce cloud investments, and discuss cloud policy. The tour will include stops in Dublin, Paris, Berlin, and London, during which time the two leaders will meet with European customers, partners, developers, and government leaders.

At Dublin today, Satya Nadella and Brad Smith highlighted the importance of democratizing cloud computing and urged tech companies, the community, and governments to work together to achieve this.

During his keynote, Nadella announced the release of a new book titled ‘A Cloud for Global Good.’ The book details 78 public policy recommendations in 15 categories to help make cloud technologies more ‘trusted, responsible, and inclusive’.

Cloud computing has the potential to solve some of our world’s most challenging issues, but, as with all technological advancements, it raises important questions for society. We must work together to build a cloud for global good. Our hope is that the ideas shared in this book will help move technology forward while ensuring no one is left behind.

– Brad Smith, President & Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft

The book includes topics like “next-generation skills, enhancing security and privacy in the digital age, environmental sustainability, keeping communities safe, and securing a bright future for children.”

Find out more on ‘A Cloud for Global Good’ at microsoft.com/cloudforgood.

Sunset Overdrive developer, Insomniac Games, has tweeted out a couple times this week, stating that it would like to bring the game to Windows 10, however, it is up to Microsoft’s Xbox division to make the call on whether to bring the game to Windows 10.

we'd love it if it could happen but ball is in Xbox's court on it

— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) September 26, 2016

Now, a spokesperson for Microsoft has reached out to GameSpot to say that the company is “proud” of the game, calling Insomniac Games a “great partner” and that they “love working with them,” however, when asked if Sunset Overdrive would be made available for Windows 10 in the future, the response was the standard non-answer:

We have no further news at this time.

So, for fans of Sunset Overdrive or PC gamers wanting to get ahold of it, there’s no news on when, or if, the game will arrive on Windows 10 PCs at this time.