While new datacenters is an important investment for any cloud-heavy technology businesses, they also pose risks to the environment. As a major cloud player and big spender on datacenters, Microsoft has published a new post on its blog today, by President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith, to confirm its commitment to building greener houses for its data. The post follows news of Microsoft’s new datacenters in Dublin, Ireland.

To be fair, Microsoft has already put a lot of effort into making their datacenters environment-friendly. Approaches include implementing a carbon emission fee for each of its business units, purchasing renewable energy certificates, and investing in carbon-reducing community projects. The results have been impressive: 100 percent carbon neutrality, c14 billion kilowatt hours of green energy purchased, and approximately 44% of datacenter energy coming from renewable sources.

Microsoft is now the second largest user of green energy in the U.S.

“The largest tech companies today may each consume as much electrical power as a small American state. There may come a point in just a few decades when we each may consume as much power as a mid-sized nation. This creates an obvious responsibility that we need to take seriously.”

– Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft

Microsoft, of course, realizes that its achievements do not mean resting on its laurels: President Brad Smith fully admits the company’s potential energy footprint as it cloud business continues growing, and the responsibility that comes with being such a big energy consumer. Smith express his organization’s commitment to fulfilling this responsibility by being transparent about its consumption and continuing greenifying its operation, with activities like maintaining carbon neutrality, retiring renewable energy certificates, and investing in new energy technology, among others. Microsoft is aiming to have 50 percent of its energy coming from wind, solar, and hydropower by 2018, and increasing in the future.

It’s great to see technology leaders like Microsoft committing to social responsibility amid their expansion, and we can only hope that more companies will follow these examples for sustainable development in the future.

Xbox Live users who have been wanting to change their Gamertag to something more creative or suitable are in luck because today is the day when Microsoft is releasing over one million Xbox Live Gamertags from redundant accounts.

Announced a few days ago, this recycling of Gamertags is possible due to the termination of Xbox Live accounts that were created during the time of the original Xbox video game console yet were never upgraded or transitioned to its successor, the Xbox 360.

What does this mean? Well, mostly that those users who signed up for an Xbox Live account but found that their desired name had already been taken may have a chance to get it after all. That is if their choice of name is one of the one million or so being released back into the wild.

A full list of names hasn’t been revealed by Microsoft (just think how long it would be if it was) but the company has announced that these Gamertags consist of proper names, pop culture references (entertainment, sports, gaming), types of food, geography and travel, science and technology, math and numbers, animals, and “some of the greatest inventions of all time”.

It’s important to note that access to these new Gamertags will only be available to users who have been paid members of Xbox Live Gold for at least one year and that the names will be released in waves over a 24 hour period to allow gamers in other countries a chance to get the Gamertags they want.

Xbox Live users who had their Gamertag automatically assigned to them when they joined are entitled to one free change while those that have previously selected their names will need to pay a small fee to choose something different.

The easiest way to change an Xbox Live Gamertag, and see which options are available, is on this page here, however Xbox Live members can also use the Xbox app on Windows 10 and the Xbox One console itself. Xbox 360 users will need to use the website, the Xbox app, or an Xbox One console to access these newly released options.

Those who have been using an Xbox Live account to play games on Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 PCs and tablets or on Windows phones can change their name on the website or through the Xbox app. Remember, these new Gamertags are only available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers at the moment.

A Gamertag is basically a username or alias that’s used to identify users playing games on Xbox Live supported video games such as on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and select titles on Windows PC and Windows phones. Gamers can still display their real name on their profile page but a Gamertag is what is used most often when playing with other players and searching for friends to connect with.

Are you going to change your Gamertag or are you happy with the one you have? Let us know in the comments below.

The long wait for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is almost over! The free running parkour video game will be releasing across PC, Playstation 4, and XBox One three weeks from now.

For those that don’t know, the original Mirror’s Edge game released by Electronic Arts was a relatively short but groundbreaking adventure that left many fans desperate for more. It took years for EA to respond to the outcry of requests, giving them a teaser. That teaser was during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2013. But it took nearly two years for the title of Catalyst to be formally announced.  Nearly three years later after the original glimpse of gameplay, we are on the cusp of the new game’s release and eager to see it come to Origin on PC, Playstation 4, and XBox One.

The game’s story follows Faith, an adventurous and daring free-runner that resides in the City of Glass. While Glass is beautiful to look at with tall glistening skyscrapers and illuminated rooftops, the city holds darker secrets. Players run through the cityscape as Faith, uncovering those terrible mysteries and fighting for freedom against the hidden conspirators that want to stop the main protagonist. With a number of districts, factions, characters, and corporations to learn more about, Faith evolves from a curious young heroine to a rebel that the Conglomerate must crush by any means necessary.

XBox One owners can now pre-order and download the game through the store, however, it won’t be playable until 12:01 AM EST on July 7, 2016. With the pre-order purchase of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, players will receive the game as well as the Speed Runner Kit and the Combat Runner Kits. Both of these kits customize your appearance while you run through your friend’s worlds, compete against them, and make your mark at the top of the leaderboards.

Pre-order and download the game early by visiting the store. Learn more about the game by visiting the Mirrors Edge Catalyst official site.

Social augmented reality startup VNTANA has partnered with Microsoft to release the HOLLAGRAM, an interactive hologram system with social media integration and data collection capabilities that is leveraging Microsoft’s Azure cloud and the Kinect motion-tracking device. The innovative holographic technology uses standalone hardware and works by combining real-time-time holographic video capture with interactive gesture control, allowing users to experience augmented reality without the need for wearable devices. Here is more technical information from the press release:

Consumers stand in front of VNTANA’s HOLLAGRAM and immediately see their own hologram LIVE on the display. Using gesture control, they can interact directly with holographic objects, such as a celebrity, product or any other object rendered in the digital space simply by moving their hands in front of the display. Immediately after the experience, users receive a branded email with a GIF, video or photo of the experience that they can share on social media.

The startup was founded in 2012 and became a member of Microsoft Early Developer and Microsoft BizSpark programs a year later after the team hacked the Microsoft Kinect and sent Microsoft a video of what they could do with gesture control. VNTANA Co-Founder and CEO Ashley Crowder shared in the press release that “Microsoft has been a huge part of our success, both as a partner and now as a client. Their technology provided us the tools to build the next generation of our products”.

In the following video, you can watch VNTANA CEO and CRO return to their alma mater USC to showcase their innovative technology:

As Microsoft is also exploring different uses cases for holograms with its HoloLens headset, Microsoft Vice President for Developer Experience and Chief Evangelist Larry Orecklin shared the company’s enthusiasm for VNTANA’s technology:

Empowering startups like VNTANA is a main driver for Microsoft. We are always looking for startups and entrepreneurs whose vision is built around innovation of our technology. VNTANA is a story of a startup that had the vision, the innovation, the passion, and we are thrilled to have partnered with them and excited to see what the future looks like for holograms.

What do you think of VNTANA’s use of Kinect?

Just two days ago we delivered you some late night news on the new Windows Store rolling out to Windows Insiders on build 14342 on both Mobile and PC.  After a bug on PC’s prevented the Store from properly updating to the new version, today we can report that the update to the Windows Store is now available for all Windows Insiders on the latest builds.

Just as on Windows 10 mobile, the new Windows Store for PC features a new homepage design (seen above) which better shows off available apps and media. Additionally, the update to the store brings a new individual app listing page design (seen below). Lastly, the downloads and updates page also is seeing updates in the new Windows Store, and it now shows off recent activity with information on recently updated apps, and a new download indicator and the ability to hide apps.

However, while the update also overhauled the store, it also squashed another bug which prevented the check for update button on the Windows 10 Mobile version of the Store from working. Now, as part of this update, the button now works successfully for a manual check for updates.

In other Windows Store news, the Microsoft Health UWP app is also now available to download. As we have written previously, with the new Microsoft Health app for Windows 10 PCs, Band owners will be able to sync their Band to their PC or Tablet through a USB cable and be able to “manage tiles, personalize your band, update firmware, and more.” The live Tile for the new app will also display info like your step count and calorie burn in your Start menu.

Download
QR-Code

Microsoft Band

Developer:
Microsoft Corporation

Price:
Free

What is your take on the new store? Do you like the new design? Let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment below.

According to Polygon, Warner Bros. Interactive confirmed that Batman: Return to Arkham will be a remastered bundle of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, set to launch July 26, 2016 on Xbox One and PS4 for $49.99. According to Warner Bros. Interactive, both Batman games included in the Batman: Return to Arkham bundle were remastered using Unreal Engine 4.

Batman: Return to Arkham will allow players to access all of the additional DLC that was released for Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, and including all of the content contained in the “Game of the Year” editions as well. Batman: Return to Arkham will also have improved graphics, characters, and environments, as well as improvements to in-game lighting and effects, all powered by the Unreal Engine 4.

Batman: Arkham Asylum took place within the walls of Gotham’s craziest insane asylum, where many notorious villains, like the Joker, called home. The sequel, Batman: Arkham City, followed up on the mayhem that was created when the prisoners escaped, wreaking havoc on the streets of Gotham.

Batman: Return to Arkham will be available to play on Xbox One July 26.

From a patent for the “shy user interface” to another patent for a “phone pad,” the folks at the U.S. patent office have probably been very busy documenting and sorting through Microsoft patents. More recently, though, the folks over at Patent Yogi have dug up yet another Microsoft patent, this time, a patent for a multi-axis multi-pivot armadillo hinge.

Overall, the hinge seems very similar to the one already found in Microsoft’s Surface Book. Patent Yogi describes it as very flexible and mentions that it “can stabilize an entire device” by allowing the device to recline and fold upward and backwards. The patent for the new hinge, though, also details hinge cover portions which are over the multi-pivot hinges to protect the hinges from foreign objects, and the user from being pinched.

As per Patent Yogi, the patented hinge also includes a quick attach and detach assembly to allow the user to detach primary and secondary portions of an attached device (in order to use the two independent of each other.) Again, this is somewhat similar to the already existing hinge on Surface Book, which features a display that can be pulled apart from the hinge on the keyboard.

The patent, however, mentions other uses for the hinge, including attaching a first touchscreen to one portion, and a second touch screen to another portion.  In the patent documentation, which was filed back in November of 2014, Microsoft officially describes the hinge as follows.

The description relates to devices such as computing devices that have hinged portions One example can include a first portion and a second portion. This example can also include a multi-pivot hinge unit rotatably securing the first and second portions. This example can further include a set of rigid hinge cover portions that are configured to be able to rotate relative to none another while collectively covering the multi-pivot unit.

While a bit dated back to 2014, the patent is nonetheless very interesting. We would love to hear your thoughts on this patent, so be sure to drop us a comment below!

The official tado app has just updated to version 2.11.12. This new updated fixed several bugs and improved the app’s overall stability and user interface performance significantly, so hopefully it won’t crash or freeze any more for those who have been experiencing those problems.

The tado app is used for controlling tado-branded Smart Thermostat and the tado° Smart AC Control devices and while the iPhone is usually used in tado’s marketing it is good to see the company still supporting Windows phone users.

Here’s the official app description:

The tado° app connects to your tado° Smart Thermostat and your tado° Smart AC Control to control your heating system or air conditioning based on your location. tado° pre-heats or pre-cools before you get home and saves when you leave. The app always shows the current state at home, such as temperature or humidity. Check and adjust settings from anywhere.

Have you noticed any improvements with the app since the update? Let us know in the comments below.

Download
QR-Code

tado°

Developer:
tado.

Price:
Free

The Office 365 platform just got another injection of accessible productivity with the addition of Concur travel booking and expense tools. Thanks in part to Microsoft’s push for Office 365’s extensibility as more than just a collection of word processing and number crunching tools, customers can now navigate expense reports and plan travel within the productivity suite.

Specifically, users can now take their Excel crafted expense reports and submit them via the Outlook app if they happen to be on the go or working from a mobile workstation, according to tnooz.com. With the support of Concur’s software tools, expense reports in Office 365 become a one-click send and receive process with receipt notes and payment detail authentication.

Furthermore, Office 365’s Concur’s support will also enable a sort of intelligent booking process that scans a customer’s Outlook Calendar for meetings and schedules trips accordingly. Concur’s travel booking software takes into account a customer’s traveling tendencies and routines such as preferred hotel accommodations, flight, and metro transportation choices and offers tips and suggestions during the booking process that are in line with company traveling policies. Concur’s software also keeps a running list of users choices to reduce time and effort during subsequent booking session in the future.

Concur and Microsoft are not strangers to this level of integration. Back in 2006, Microsoft and a then SAP-renamed Project Mendocino, sought to do a very similar and tightly woven integration that seemingly fizzled. Anecdotally, Mendocino, which eventually became known as Duet, shot out of the cannon with very little focus, attempting to access data stored in SAP’s business applications through Excel and Outlook. Perhaps with ten years of market observations, Microsoft and Concur can execute a much more focused release that customers will be drawn to.

Beyond bolstering the amount of tools a single Office 365 subscription offers customers, the addition of Concur’s expertise in travel and expense brings the company’s 40 million users to the 70 million and growing user base of professionals using Microsoft’s productivity platform. Microsoft plans to have the Concur support baked into the Office 365 platform by autumn 2016.

Microsoft’s Office 365 team just announced the release of a new set of eDiscovery enhancements for the productivity suite that include search, hold, export and case management.

Great, so what is eDiscovery and how does it benefit you?

eDiscovery or Electronic Discovery refers to the process of discovery in litigation or government investigations. The discovery aspect of eDiscovery is the result of tirelessly searching and sorting through data that can be identified as potentially relevant by attorneys or paralegals and eventually put on hold. Without assistive tools such as Office 365’s machine learning or predictive coding, the process could invoke unforeseen additional man-hours and cost. The Electronic part of eDiscovery centers around the subsequent exchange of data found and held by the discovery process that pertains to an investigation and is then exchanged in electronic format. Once again, Office 365 is looking to help attorney’s package their discovery in the easiest and most standard compliant ways as possible with its enhanced exporting of review applications.

The Electronic part of eDiscovery centers around the subsequent exchange of data found and held by the discovery process that pertains to an investigation and is then exchanged in electronic format. Once again, Office 365 is looking to help attorney’s package their discovery in the easiest and most standard compliant ways as possible with its enhanced exporting of review applications.

Today, the Office 365 team is making the eDiscovery procedure a tad easier and more compliant for its customers with the addition of:

Enhanced case management and access controls

The eDiscovery page in the Security & Compliance Center now has an option for case management, allowing you to work on eDiscovery cases without leaving the Security & Compliance Center. Use the eDiscovery case management feature to control who has access to the case, place content sources on hold and associate Compliance Searches with the case.

Preserving vital information with Case Management Holds

Preserving information is integral to the eDiscovery process. With Office 365 eDiscovery Case Management Holds, you can select the mailboxes, OneDrive for Business sites, SharePoint sites, and Office 365 groups you want to preserve as part of your investigation. Applying a hold preserves all data in the selected content sources until you release the hold. Content is preserved in place, so people can continue working on their documents and email without any loss in productivity; but behind the scenes, the content is preserved and is available to be searched and exported.

More granular search capabilities with Permissions

Now, in an eDiscovery case, you can create granular searches which allow you to search either a small number of locations or your entire organization. In addition, the searches you create as part of an eDiscovery case are only accessible by people that are part of the case. You can search and export data from mailboxes (active or inactive), public folders, OneDrive for Business sites, SharePoint sites and Office 365 groups.

Above all, the Office 365 team is also tweaking the export functions of its eDiscovery tool. Customers can now export the bulk sum of their search results (upwards of 100 GB) of data in a single PST export. The single PST export should come as a welcomed replacement to the previous exporting practice of sending multiple PST exports to cover related data. Furthermore, PST exports retain the metadata when and if SharePoint documents are downloaded.

The Office 365 team is not done with enhancing the eDiscovery process. The team also have plans in the near future to roll out more improvements and enhancements such as keyword statistics, source statistics, and export de-duplication. Eager researchers can head over to the Security & Compliance Center in their tenant to test drive the newly improved eDiscovery tools.

The ID@Box Game Fest, which is all about independent Xbox game developers, is entering the third week, and this means now is your chance to try out the best future and prior program graduate games from the Xbox Game Preview and ID@Xbox programs. After checking out an official Xbox video about the occasion, we’ve given a few of the games a look and have included Microsoft’s descriptions and download links below.

Subnautica: $19.99

This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game. Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with resources, creatures, wonder and threats. Craft equipment and submarines to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more – all while trying to survive.

Elite Dangerous: $37.49

Explore, trade, fight and survive in Elite Dangerous’ massively multiplayer galaxy, and challenge the world in CQC: Close Quarter Combat. Become Elite in the interstellar PVP arenas of the ultimate 34th century gladiatorial contest.

The Long Dark: $19.99

The Long Dark is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness. Monitor your Condition, search for life-saving supplies, and master survival skills like fire-building, maintaining your gear, hunting, fishing, and landmark-based navigation. There are no zombies — only you, the cold, and everything Mother Nature can throw at you. The hit Steam Early Access sandbox becomes the first survival game available on Xbox One!

Ark: Survival Evolved: $34.99

Stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate… and escape!

The Solus Project: $14.99

Humanity is on the verge of extinction. You are the last hope, tasked with finding a safe haven for a colony. But now you are stranded on a deserted alien planet and every other member of your crew is dead. The fate of humanity rests in your hands: you must survive… The Solus Project is a first-person survival adventure game by the award-winning Teotl Studios and Grip Digital.

Layers of Fear: $19.99

Dare you help paint a true Masterpiece of Fear? Layers of Fear is a first-person psychedelic horror game with a heavy focus on story and exploration. Delve deep into the mind of an insane painter and discover the secret of his madness, as you walk through a vast and constantly changing Victorian-era mansion. Uncover the visions, fears and horrors that entwine the painter and finish the masterpiece he has strived so long to create.

Sheltered: $14.99

 Sheltered is a deep and emotional survival & post-apocalyptic disaster management game. After a global apocalypse, a frightened family find their way to a deserted shelter, where they try to survive. You take on the role of protecting four family members. Their wellbeing and survival is your responsibility. One mistake, one bad decision and a loved one is gone, forever. Sheltered is a world where death is permanent.