jeudi 30 juin 2016
Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2 snags update in celebration of Captain America 75th Anniversary
Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2 was updated in the Windows Store in celebration of Captain America’s 75th anniversary, with a new Captain America exclusive to this game (earned by completing special tasks). The update also features AutoPlay, allowing you to turn your heroes loose and take a high-level tactical role as your team battles super villains, and tutorial improvements. The update also brings system improvements and updates including faster menu loading times and redesigned power cell stores for improved speed and usability.
Read the game description below.
ASSEMBLE, STRATEGIZE, FIGHT! Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2 is the massive sequel to the smash hit Marvel: Avengers Alliance, with a robust mobile gaming experience, greater customization, and amazing high quality visuals. Assemble a team with the Avengers, Daredevil, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and other Super Heroes to battle Ultron, Baron Strucker, and more epic Super Villains! A mysterious series of galactic collisions, known as Incursions, threaten the fate of Earth. You must use the powerful energy of Iso-8 to stop the destruction of every universe. Team up with friends and other players from around the globe to face deadly foes and prevail.
• Assemble the ultimate team to defeat notorious Super Villains
• Strategize and defeat evil forces in epic 3-on-3 combat
• Level-up and customize Super Heroes
• Collect and equip unique abilities for each Super Hero
• Take on dozens of replayable missions
• Win bonus rewards for completing Daily Operations
• Get powerful rewards in PVP tournaments
• Team up with friends’ Super Heroes to conquer missions
Before you download this experience, please consider that this app contains:
• Social media links to connect with others
• In-app purchases that cost real money
• The option to accept push notifications to let you know when we have exciting updates like new content
• Advertising for some third parties, including the option to watch ads for rewards • Advertising for The Walt Disney Family of Companies
Marvel: Avengers Alliance 2 snags update in celebration of Captain America 75th Anniversary
Bloodforge, Mars: War Logs, Gripshift and Go! Go! Break Steady now available on Xbox One Backward Compatibility
With the release of Xbox One Backward Compatibility, consumers can play some of their favorite Xbox 360 titles on their Xbox One, with more titles being added regularly to the list of available games. Microsoft today added Bloodforge, Mars: War Logs, Gripshift and Go! Go! Break Steady as Xbox One Backward Compatibility titles.
With a brutal combat system, stunning art style, and a deeply compelling story, Bloodforge empowers you to slaughter hordes of demonic soldiers, deformed worshippers, and the gods themselves, using ferocious Rage Kills, devastating Rune attacks, and furious Weapon Combos. Help seal Crom’s fate – and the fate of the rest of the world – in this dark, visceral story of revenge, betrayal, and destiny.
Local Multiplayer 2, Xbox LIVE Multiplayer 2, HD (High Definition). Upgrade to the full version of Go! Go! Break Steady and unlock all 30 rounds of the Break Steady Tournament. Play solo, cooperate with friends, or challenge the world with your rhythm and smarts!
Buy now to experience high-flying platform gaming combined with extreme stunt driving action in GripShift! Test your reflexes and bend your brain as you stunt your way through 120 insane, twisting Challenge Mode levels. Or deploy an arsenal of funky weapons and go head-to-head across 25 Race Mode tracks and 20 Deathmatch arenas. GripShift is a gravity-defying thrill ride you need to own today.
An intense cyberpunk RPG on the red planet! Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after the cataclysm that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid red planet, with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control. In the middle of this struggle, play as Roy, a renegade with multiple talents who finds himself dragged in an epic story where every choice counts. Develop your character and your combat style by choosing among many skills and perks: melee, ranged combat, stealth, or the devastating Technomants powers.
Craft armors and weapons, recruit companions to help you in your quest, and plunge in a thrilling adventure offering a huge variety of quests. In dynamic, real-time combat, face formidable opponents and the most fearsome creatures of Mars. The fate of all colonies of Mars now lies in your hands…
How to install and play Xbox 360 backward compatible games on your Xbox One
- Disc: For disc-based games that are a part of the Back Compat game catalog, simply insert the disc and the console will begin downloading the game to your hard drive. After the game has finished downloading, you will still need to keep the game disc in the drive to play.
- Digital: The digital titles that you own and are part of the Back Compat game catalog will automatically show up in the “Ready to Install” section on your Xbox One, and once they are installed they will show up in the Games section of your Xbox One.
Bloodforge, Mars: War Logs, Gripshift and Go! Go! Break Steady now available on Xbox One Backward Compatibility
mercredi 29 juin 2016
Microsoft Arrow Launcher updated to v2.0 with Office 365 support
1. [Documents page] Sign in to your Office 365 accounts to read and edit your documents! You can also find and upload your on-device documents to Office 365.
2. [New Wallpaper] We have refreshed the stock wallpapers for you.
3. [Memory & Performance] We have reduced Arrow’s network activity by 50% to help you save some cellular data usage.
Microsoft Arrow Launcher updated to v2.0 with Office 365 support
Microsoft details SystemContainer, a hardware based container technology built into Windows 10
Prior to Windows 8, desktop operating system security was built almost entirely from software. The problem with that approach was that if malware or an attacker gained enough privilege, could get in-between the hardware and the operating system, or they managed to tamper with the device’s firmware components, they could also find ways to hide from the platform and the rest of your security related defenses. To fix this problem, Microsoft needed device and platform trust to be rooted in immutable hardware rather than just software, which can be tampered with.
With Windows 8 certified devices, Microsoft took advantage of a hardware based root of trust with Universal Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot. Now, with Windows 10, they are taking this to the next level by making sure that this chain of trust can also be verified using the combination of hardware base security components, such as the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and cloud based services (Device Health Attestation (DHA)) that can be used to vet and remotely attest to the device’s true integrity.
To implement this level of security in billions of devices around the world, Microsoft is working with OEMs and chip vendors like Intel. They are releasing regular firmware updates for UEFI, locking down UEFI configs, enabling UEFI memory protection (NX), running key vulnerability mitigation tools , and hardening the platform OS and SystemContainer kernels (e.g.: WSMT) from potential SMM related exploits.
With Windows 8, Microsoft came up with the concept of modern apps (now UWP apps) which runs only inside AppContainer and, the user literally gives the app access to resources, like a document, on demand. In the case of Win32 apps, once you open the app, it can do anything that the user has the privileges to do (e.g.: open any file; change system configuration). Since AppContainers are only for UWP apps, Win32 apps remained a challenge. With Windows 10, Microsoft is bringing a new hardware based container technology that we call a SystemContainer. It is similar to an AppContainer, isolates what is running within it from the rest of the system and data. The main difference is that SystemContainer is designed to protect the most sensitive parts of the system – like those the manage user credentials or provide defenses to Windows – away from everything, including the operating system itself, which we have to assume will get compromised.
The SystemContainer uses hardware based isolation and Windows 10’s Virtualization Based Security (VBS) capability to isolate the processes running with it from everything else on the system. VBS uses the virtualization extensions on the system’s processor (e.g.: Intel’s VT-X) to isolate the addressable memory spaces between what is effectively two operating system running in parallel on top of Hyper-V. Operating system one is the one you have always known and use, and operating system two is the SystemContainer, which acts as secure execution environment that runs silently behinds the scenes. Because of the SystemContainer’s use of Hyper-V and the fact that it has no network, user experience, shared memory, or storage, the environment is well secured against attacks. In fact, even if the Windows operating system is fully compromised at the kernel level (which would give an attacker the highest level of privilege), the processes and data within the SystemContainer can still remain secure.
Services and data within the SystemContainer are dramatically less likely to be compromised, as the attack surface for these components has been significantly reduced. SystemContainer powers security features including Credential, Device Guard, Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM). Microsoft is now adding Windows Hello’s biometrics validation components and the user’s biometric data into SystemContainer with the Anniversary Update to keep it secure. Microsoft also mentioned that they will continue to move some of the most sensitive Windows system services into the SystemContainer.
Microsoft details SystemContainer, a hardware based container technology built into Windows 10
Critically acclaimed ‘INSIDE’ Game Is Now Available For Xbox One
After the critically-acclaimed LIMBO, Playdead studio is delivering another side-scrolling masterpiece with INSIDE exclusively on Xbox One. It is now the highest rated Xbox One exclusive game.
INSIDE follows a young boy into the depths of a dark project, but it isn’t your run-of-the mill puzzle platformer. With every anxiety-filled step forward, you’ll encounter an unexpected obstacle, from escaping rabid dogs to investigating a scientific experiment. INSIDE is an utterly unique experience – terrifying, clever, confusing and gratifying all at once.
You’ll want to keep the lights on for this one and if not, don’t blame us for the nightmares.
Order it here from Xbox Store.
Critically acclaimed ‘INSIDE’ Game Is Now Available For Xbox One
mardi 28 juin 2016
lundi 27 juin 2016
LEGO STAR WARS: The Force Awakens Is Now Available For Xbox
LEGO STAR WARS: The Force Awakens is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game based on the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is now available for Xbox One.
The Force is strong with this one… The No. 1 LEGO® videogame franchise triumphantly returns with a fun-filled, humorous journey through the new Star Wars adventure. Play as all of the characters from the movie, including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8, as well as Kylo Ren, General Hux and Captain Phasma.
In LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens™, relive the epic action from the blockbuster film in way that only LEGO can offer, featuring brand new story content from the Star Wars Universe that explores the time between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduces new gameplay mechanics, including the enhanced Multi-Builds system, where players can choose from multiple building options to advance the game, or engage in intense new Blaster Battles for the first time, utilizing surrounding environments to drive back the First Order.
LEGO STAR WARS: The Force Awakens Is Now Available For Xbox
Microsoft announces expansion of partnership with edX
Starting in the fall of 2016 through spring 2017, five new online courses will be available to help guide school principals and headmasters, superintendents and school leaders enhance classroom learning and outcomes.
Microsoft announces expansion of partnership with edX
Microsoft partners with ISTE to provide new school planning and professional learning resources
- ISTE and Microsoft Blueprint for School Transformation: To support leaders as they pioneer innovation and digital transformation, Microsoft and ISTE will align respective professional development pathways supporting leadership, policy and 21st century pedagogy. Mapping of the ISTE Essential Conditions and Microsoft Transformation Framework has already begun and will provide common language and direction for future shared work.
- Leadership courses designed in accordance with this blueprint: Microsoft has also partnered with edX, the nonprofit online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT, and top global university innovation and education experts to develop a series of new courses in the areas of change leadership, design thinking, gameful learning, deep learning, and ambitious teaching and learning. They will be developed with the support and guidance of ISTE and Microsoft and will contain renowned curriculum created by leading edX university partners. The first course will be available for enrollment on edx.org starting in September 2016 and is scheduled to begin in December 2016. Additional courses will begin by March 2017. Stay updated about this offering at http://ift.tt/28Xrm5I.
- Tools to help streamline the development of 21st century schools: Microsoft and ISTE plan to partner with schools around the world to further develop new Microsoft Showcase Schools, a global community of more than 600 schools engaged in digital transformation to improve learning and teaching. This community of schools plans to have additional support to further incorporate the ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age and use the organization’s resources such as the ISTE Lead & Transform Diagnostic Tool and Microsoft’s Self Reflection Tool. Find out more about the Microsoft Showcase School program.
Microsoft partners with ISTE to provide new school planning and professional learning resources
Redesigned Wells Fargo App Now Available For Windows 10 Devices
Wells Fargo today released their completely redesigned app for Windows 10 devices. It comes with an easy sign-on using your existing name and password, security features and streamlined navigation. With the app, you can review accounts, deposit checks remotely using your phone’s camera, manage your rewards program, find ATMs (nearly 13,000) or banking centers (about 6,200), make transfers and payments, track investments and more.
Take your bank with you so you can securely manage your money 24/7 from almost anywhere. Our award-winning Wells Fargo Mobile® App is free² for Wells Fargo customers and Wells Fargo Advisors clients and offers:
• Easy sign-on using your existing Wells Fargo Online username and password
• Exceptional security features, including our Online Security Guarantee
• An option to set your language preference to Spanish
Manage your money:
• View account balances, including your available balance and pending deposits
• Deposit checks quickly using your Windows 10 Phone’s camera
• Help avoid fees and get notified of suspicious activity with text or email alerts
• View your credit card transactions and manage your rewards program
• Find one of our approximately 12,800 ATMs or 6,200 retail banking stores nationwide
• Access money management tools, including My Spending Report
Make transfers and payments:
• Make transfers between your accounts at Wells Fargo as well as at other Financial Institutions
• Pay your bills quickly and easily with Bill Pay
• Send money to just about anyone with a U.S. bank account without sharing account numbers. All you need is a mobile number or email address.
Redesigned Wells Fargo App Now Available For Windows 10 Devices
Travel agent wins $10,000 from Microsoft after failed Windows 10 upgrade
Microsoft’s aggressive Windows 10 push has been nothing but controversial, with the update currently set to automatically install as a Recommended Update if your PC is set up like that.
Complaints regarding unexpected updates to Windows 10 has been a regular occurence, and now the owner of a California travel-agency has won $10,000 from Microsoft in a court case following just such a case, which may now open the flood gates for other claims.
Teri Goldstein was in the first wave of users updating to the operating system last year.
“I had never heard of Windows 10,” Goldstein said. “Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”
The update failed, and Teri reports that since then her computer, which she uses to run her business, has slowed to a crawl, would crash and would be unusable for days.
When Microsoft’s customer support could not fix the issue, Goldstein took Microsoft to court, seeking compensation for lost wages and the cost of a new computer.
She won the case and last month Microsoft dropped an appeal and Goldstein collected a $10,000 judgment from the company.
Microsoft however still denies wrongdoing, and a spokeswoman said Microsoft halted its appeal to avoid the expense of further litigation.
Microsoft says it offers users a choice to update, not a requirement. People have to acknowledge a dialogue box before the installation, and agree to a license agreement afterward, to receive Windows 10, the company says.
Those who don’t like the new software have 31 days afterward to roll back to their previous version, the company says, and free customer support is available to those who run into trouble.
Other Windows users disagree.
“They tell you it’s optional, that you have to opt in, but they just do it anyway,” said Jane Dunkin, a human-resources assistant in Astoria, Ore.
Griffin Tyndall, a lawyer in Birmingham, Ala., had dismissed prompts to get Windows 10 for months but still one day woke up to find both his home and business computers welcoming him to Windows 10.
He rolled back both computers to Windows 7 without incident.
“I can’t afford to have anything happen to my computers. I guess I’m fortunate that nothing did,” he said. “I appreciate the ability to have automatic (security) updates, but changing the whole operating system? No, I did not want that done.”
“It’s kind of bold for them to just automatically do that as part of their updates,” he added.
In some ways it seems unlikely that a rolled-back update would cause the issues that Teri complained about, but Microsoft has lost the trust of users with its aggressive update push, which may cause further issues down the line when users turn of automatic updates.
Wes Miller, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft who once worked for Microsoft building the Windows Update service, said some Windows users were pre-emptively turning off all updates in an effort to avoid Windows 10.
“My worry with this is that they are fundamentally manipulating the trust Windows consumers will have in Windows Update from this point going forward,” Miller said. “You can’t perform an action for a user without their explicit permission, it’s just not acceptable.”
Fortunately the Windows 10 free update push is set to expire in about 30 days but much of the damage may already have been done.
Do our readers think Microsoft has gone too far, or are Luddites simply standing in the way of progress? Let us know below.
Travel agent wins $10,000 from Microsoft after failed Windows 10 upgrade
dimanche 26 juin 2016
samedi 25 juin 2016
Microsoft’s level playing field will keep Project Scorpio from living up to its potential
Microsoft Project Scorpio console is set to be a monster, on par with today’s best PCs, with specs like eight CPU cores, 6 teraflops of graphics computing power, support for 4K video and VR.
Microsoft has said Scorpio will break the wall between PC and console gaming, but it seems the console will miss one big feature that has always driven the PC market – better specs should mean better performance.
Speaking to GameInformer Microsoft Studios general manager Shannon Loftis revealed that the frame rate of games will be identical between the Xbox One and the Project Scorpio console.
We asked specifically whether there will be different frame rates for the same game running on Xbox One and Scorpio he said: “No, there wouldn’t be a frame rate difference, because typically the frame rate is determined by the game developer and what’s right for the gameplay mechanic,” Loftis explains. “You don’t necessarily want to create two different mechanics for two different configurations.”
Loftis says that developers will continue to choose frame rate to fit their gameplay design.
“A good example is Killer Instinct, which is cross-play on PC and Xbox One. We have locked the frame rate to 60 frames per second,” Loftis says. “We could do better on super high end PCs, but that ruins the competitive nature of it.”
That’s not to say the console will not have an advantage over the Xbox One, with the main feature being support for the much higher 4K resolution.
“Games that are shipping now can do a couple of small things to give us a free upgrade when Scorpio comes out. If you implement dynamic scaling now, it will just look better on Scorpio. The other thing is to signal to all game developers that true 4K gaming is coming. Typically what happens is almost every game is created in natively 4K or better and then you downsample to fit the specs of the output device. There won’t be any downsampling for Xbox Scorpio.”
“We don’t really think of games as ‘Scorpio games’ per se,” she says. “We think of them as Xbox One games that may take advantage of the 4K rendering abilities of Scorpio. If you put a 4K game in a non-4K box it’s going to render at 1080p. It will still look beautiful. Same with HDR. That will all work correctly.”
The other main feature is of course support for VR. Loftis however downplayed its importance.
“It’s hard to see VR being a living room activity on a mass scale, because it’s not particularly social,” Loftis explains. “It’s incredible as an experience. Development partners, developers, and gamers told us they want to have at least the capability of VR. When the time and place is right for VR to go more social and more mass, Scorpio will be there and ready for it.”
The question does arise what the console brings to users who have not upgraded to a 4 K TV or monitor. This may very well be the question Loftis wants us to ask, as some raise concern about the Scorpio osborning the Xbox Slim. If the device will not offer any new compelling features for regular users to hold out for there is no reason to wait to purchase the next Xbox.
Loftis also warned the new box will not be cheap.
“We’re not talking about price right now, but it is a more premium piece of hardware,” Loftis says, suggesting that it will launch at more than the $400 to $500 price point for new consoles.
Microsoft was forced into revealing the Scorpio due to the need for game developers to make their games resolution-adaptive for 4 K resolution, but the company is working hard to manage expectations so as not to torpedo their current generation of consoles, which also of course risks dampening enthusiasm for the whole next generation.
Do our readers think Microsoft can navigate this minefield? Let us know below.
Microsoft’s level playing field will keep Project Scorpio from living up to its potential
vendredi 24 juin 2016
10 of the best deals in the Steam Summer Sale
Friday’s arrived, but that isn’t the only thing. Steam’s summer sale began yesterday, and there’s a gigantic pile of deals to go through in there. Because of that, this week’s weekend deals post will exclusively cover Steam. If you’d like to see Microsoft’s games on sale in the store, you can check out yesterday’s post. This one is going over the best games (and bundles) within the sale, but those are still pretty great, too.
It’s worth mentioning that this list isn’t in any particular order. Just because something isn’t on the list doesn’t mean it’s bad, either – this is just 10 of the best deals, not the 10 best deals.
10. DOOM (2016, $35.99, 40% off)
This year’s reboot of the ever-popular DOOM franchise was a bit of a surprise hit to some people. The game’s marketing wasn’t very good, and the public preview for the game was the mediocre multiplayer component. The game’s singleplayer seemed like it was hidden away, too, with very few demos shown off before release.
DOOM 2016 managed to rise to heights that people didn’t expect, and it’s considered by many to be the best AAA first person shooter in recent years. 40% off only a month after release is a pretty good deal, too.
9. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2012, $4.99, 75% off)
Amalur is an excellent action RPG. It might have some bugs that are easy to run into, (for example, there’s plenty of people – myself included – who ran into an issue where the game would think an earthquake was happening when it wasn’t) but it’s one of the most fun RPGs that I’ve ever played. The world is huge, the combat is enjoyable, and the art style looks great.
It’s worth mentioning that you can also get the game with all of its DLC for $10 here. The DLC’s normally $6.22 when bought on its own, so you can save a little over a dollar by purchasing it this way.
Purchase Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on Steam here.
8. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2014, $7.49, 75% off)
Metal Gear Rising isn’t like any other Metal Gear game. Developed by Platinum Games instead of Kojima Productions, MGR is a brutal hack ‘n slash. Set in 2018, (which makes it the last game in the Metal Gear timeline) players take control of Raiden from MGS2 and 4.
While some people will prefer the stealth based gameplay from previous entries in the series, Metal Gear Rising is a blast to play. It’s incredibly over the top (you take on Metal Gear Ray in the first mission with just a sword – and win) and incredibly fun.
Purchase Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance on Steam here.
7. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (2012, $12.49, 75% off)
Activision has a really bad habit of not lowering the prices of their games a few years after release. Despite being almost four years old, Fall of Cybertron is still normally $50. To make things worse, some people are reporting that the multiplayer isn’t working at the moment, too.
Despite this, though, the game’s singleplayer campaign is still great. It’s one of my favorite third person shooters of all time because it takes full advantage of the Transformers license. You can transform between robot and vehicle forms at any time, which makes combat way more diverse than it would be otherwise.
The game’s predecessor, War for Cybertron, is also on sale for $5.
Purchase Transformers: Fall of Cybertron on Steam here.
6. Gunpoint (2013, $2.49, 75% off)
With 97% positive reviews out of 8286 total, Gunpoint is one of the highest rated games on Steam. It’s 2D indie stealth game where the player is able to rewire the buildings they’re infiltrating, and there’s nearly infinite ways to clear each level.
If you’d like to rewire things to trick guards, you can do that. If you’d like to go with some more traditional stealth options, you can do that. There’s plenty of possibilities, and you’ll definitely get your money’s worth with this game.
Purchase Gunpoint on Steam here.
5. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (2015, $14.99, 40% off)
The original Devil May Cry 4 was a fairly well received game. It was the first game in the franchise for the seventh generation of consoles, and despite occasionally repetitive levels it was a lot of fun. Fast forward from 2008 to 2015 and things have changed a lot. Devil May Cry is nowhere the powerhouse franchise it used to be, so what’s a good way for Capcom to judge interest in a revival? A special edition of DMC4.
Devil May Cry 4’s special edition brought plenty of improvements to the game. Aside from simply having improved lighting, the game got three brand new playable characters. Lady and Vergil from Devil May Cry 3 both became playable for the first time, and so did Lady. There’s also brand new costumes to unlock, too. Simply put: it’s another reason to play some more DMC4, even if you completed the original game.
Purchase Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition on Steam here.
4. Valkyria Chronicles (2014, $4.99, 75% off)
Valkyria Chronicles is a fairly unique strategy game. You take control of each one of your troops in a third person view, and then carry out their actions from there. It’s a difficult game, but not really in a frustrating way. There’s a feeling of satisfaction that’s similar to XCOM Enemy Unknown, but there’s also a much lower level of stress involved.
The game’s presentation is also fantastic. The graphics have a style that’s really pleasing to look at, the music sounds great, and the story is one that really will pull you in. The only downside to this port is that the keyboard controls can be a little confusing to learn at first, but they aren’t too bad once you get the hang of it.
Purchase Valkyria Chronicles on Steam here.
3. Serious Sam Complete Pack (2001-2011, $9.99, 90% off)
The Serious Sam Complete Pack brings in some serious savings. You can get every game (and DLC) in the entire Serious Sam franchise for just $9.99, (not including the recently announced Serious Sam VR) and they’re definitely worth it. They’re insane, not-exactly-serious shooters that bring back some of the fun that FPS games have been missing for a while.
This pack’s normally $99.99, and it’s one of the biggest discounts on this entire list.
Purchase the Serious Sam Complete Pack on Steam here.
2. BioShock Triple Pack (2007-2013, $10.51, 85% off)
The BioShock Triple Pack is exactly what it says on the tin. It contains all three BioShock games (1, 2, and Infinite), and provides a pretty good deal for the trilogy.
While Infinite is a fairly divisive game, everyone seems to agree that 1 and 2 are games that almost anybody should try once. They’re big first person shooters with great art, unique settings, and fun gunplay. You should check them out if that sounds like your thing.
Purchase the BioShock Triple Pack on Steam here.
1. Valve Complete Pack (1998-2012, $31.80, 84% off)
This bundle participates in variable pricing. If you own anything in it – and you likely do – your price will be lowered depending on how much you own.
No, Valve doesn’t seem to be interested in creating new games anymore. No, we likely aren’t going to hear about Half Life 3 from Valve any time in our lifetime. Yes, they used to make really good games.
Valve’s got a decently sized catalog of games that stand out from the crowd. The shooting doesn’t feel like every other FPS ever made, the atmosphere just stands out, and they’re very memorable. The Valve Complete Pack is normally over $200. It’s likely the biggest deal on all of Steam, and it’s one I can highly recommend.
From great singleplayer games like Half Life and Portal to some always popular multiplayer ones like Counter Strike, you’re getting way more than your money’s worth with this. You’ll be able to get hundreds of hours out of some of these games, and the majority of them are able to run perfectly fine on low end PCs.
Purchase the Valve Complete Pack on Steam here.
That’s it for our list, but odds are you’ve got some deals you want to share. If you see anything on sale that you want to share, let us know in the comments below!
10 of the best deals in the Steam Summer Sale
Introducing the MSPoweruser Podcast!
Back in February, we launched MSPoweruser to deliver the latest news in the world of Microsoft and Windows 10. Over the past few months, MSPU has grown rapidly and our community of passionate Windows Phone fans has continued to grow. Today, we are excited the MSPoweruser Podcast, hosted by Vernon E. L. Smith, and Andrew Bennett.
With the new MSPU Podcast, our goal is to provide meaningful positive insight for Microsoft enthusiasts and power users. We’ll give you a closer look at all the latest Microsoft news, ranging from Windows 10 news, to the latest Xbox games in the podcast. You will also get a lot of tips from the podcast, which will help enthusiasts like you to to get the most out of your Microsoft devices and services.
You can watch the pilot episode below, where Andrew and Vernon talk a bit about themselves and their interests. Episode 1 of the MSPU Podcast is also live, where they talk about some of the latest news about Microsoft which you can listen to here.
You can subscribe to the MSPoweruser Podcast below:
The MSPoweruser Podcast will be available every Friday, and you will be able to stream it on your Windows 10 device using apps such as Groover Pro or Pocket Casts for Windows Phone — so make sure to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Google Play Music or SoundCloud if you haven’t already!
Introducing the MSPoweruser Podcast!
jeudi 23 juin 2016
mercredi 22 juin 2016
Windows 10 Build 14371 Includes New Activation Troubleshooter Tool To Fix Activation Issues
Microsoft today released Windows 10 Build 14371 to Windows Insiders. It includes Windows Activation improvements. Following the feedback from Windows Insiders who have run into activation issues on Genuine Windows devices after making changes to device hardware such as replacing a hard drive or motherboard, Microsoft is releasing a new tool call Activation Troubleshooter that will be released as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. This tool will help users in addressing common Windows Activation issues.
For example – if your device has a digital license (formerly called “digital entitlement”) for Windows 10 Pro from a previously installed activated Windows 10 build but you accidentally re-installed Windows 10 Home on such a device, the troubleshooter will automatically guide you through upgrading to Windows 10 Pro and activate Windows. You can launch the troubleshooter by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation and select Troubleshoot. Remember, Windows 10 Insider Preview builds are intended to be installed on Genuine Windows devices.
Microsoft is also introducing the ability to link your Microsoft account (MSA) to the activation digital license with this Insider Preview build. If you already used an Microsoft Account to log in to your activated Windows 10 Home or Pro device, your MSA will be automatically linked. You can use this MSA linked digital license to re-activate your Genuine Windows 10 device by running the Activation troubleshooter, if you run into Activation issues caused by hardware changes.
Windows 10 Build 14371 Includes New Activation Troubleshooter Tool To Fix Activation Issues
mardi 21 juin 2016
Bing predicts NBA draft picks
Bing is back to predicting sports, but this time rather than picking a winner in a game, Bing is predicting NBA draft picks. Bing Predicts has had good success with the pro-basketball draft, correctly picking nine of the first 11 picks within one spot in 2014, including getting the top three exactly right. In 2015 the players predicted for the lottery by the model (top 14 picks) were all correctly selected by the time the 14th pick was made.
“Our methodology for draft predictions involves building a base model that assesses the projected future success of all eligible amateur athletes by estimating a wins-above-replacement player value, and then applying a re-ranking based on web and social co-mentions of teams with players. The latter leverages the wisdom-of-the-crowd approach where—despite all attempts by team management to hide their interests—fans, journalists, and other public sources do a surprisingly good job of matching the best players with teams.”
Check out the lottery below.
The top two players are close, similar to what we found for the pro football draft. In the end, Bing predicts that Philadelphia will use their first pick for Ben Simmons while Los Angeles will follow by taking Brandon Ingram. Ingram’s stock rose with his performance in the college basketball tournament, as success and leadership there have proven to be meaningful for professional success. Dwyane Wade and Stephen Curry are two players whose stock rose due to tournament success, and they have followed that up with solid professional careers.
Boston is expected to take yet another Kentucky freshman in Jamal Murray at the No. 3 spot. The rest of the lottery is predicted to be:
4. Dragan Bender – Phoenix takes a risk on the Croatian big man
5. Buddy Hield – leading Oklahoma to a deep tournament run improved his value
6. Kris Dunn – the 2014-2015 Big East player of the year returned and further improved his game, becoming a two-time player of the year this year, pushing him into our projected No. 6 spot
7. Jaylen Brown – his season at Cal actually dropped him slightly but still a top 10 pick
8. Marquese Chriss – he has dramatically vaulted up the ranks since declaring for early departure
9. Jakob Poeltl – some experts say he’s the player most likely to have immediate impact in the pros
10. Deyonta Davis – web signals are mixed on him but there seems to be enough talent for a top-10 pick
11. Henry Ellenson – hard-working Marquette player headed to Florida—sounds familiar, Dwyane Wade?
12. Timothe Luwawu – an international player from France with long wingspan fits Utah’s needs
13. Skal Labissiere – no draft is complete without multiple Kentucky players taken during the lottery picks
14. Domantas Sabonis – like father, like son—talented big man takes the final lottery spotnba
Bing predicts NBA draft picks
Microsoft details new features included in the latest Maps app update for Windows 10 devices
Guided navigation updates: We have improved our overall guided drive experience. Specifically, the experience of turn-by-turn instructions is now optimized for glanceability, including phone landscape mode. It is also easier to use the Windows Maps app on phone with one hand now that we have positioned navigation at the bottom. Finally, we have also improved our guided transit experience, including notifications to get off the bus. You no longer have to worry about missing your stop even if you don’t have the Windows Maps app actively open.
Multiple searches: Planning a trip or a night out? You can now view multiple searches in a single map view at the same time. We’ve made it easy to plan your activities with a map that also surfaces the right type of information at the right time: labels for your search results directly on the map (instead of numbers and a list) and visual effects when hovering or selecting a point of interest on the map or when you switch from one search list to another. Your active search results are always highlighted on the map
Improved detailed cards: Our improved detailed cards make it easy to find actions associated with a place of interest. Get walking, driving or transit directions and share, print or find nearby places to complete your night out! Quickly act on places. Get directions, check the menu, make reservations and more
More offline maps support: We know offline capabilities are important to you, especially for on-the-go scenarios. In addition to the offline routing and search support we offer today, all your saved favorite places are now available offline. While planning, save the places you want to visit to your list of favorites and we will make sure, no matter where you are, that you can get to your destination regardless of connectivity. Worried you won’t remember to download the offline map before your trip? Cortana will make this easy for you by automatically reminding you to download the offline map before you take off on vacation.
HERE Favorites migration: HERE recently announced they will end support for the following Windows 10 applications on June 30: HERE Drive, HERE Drive+, HERE Maps, HERE Transit and HERE City Lens. HERE is already pointing customers to use the Windows Maps application as a good replacement and we are working to make the transition easy by helping HERE customers migrate up to 300 of their HERE favorites right into our Windows Maps app on the phone.
Microsoft details new features included in the latest Maps app update for Windows 10 devices
lundi 20 juin 2016
Microsoft’s new Groove Music update almost weaned me off Spotify…
When it comes to using smartphones over other devices, there are a few activities people priorities for use of a smartphone over others. While one may argue that the smartphone is a jack of all trades, and indeed it is, the smartphone is often used for on the go entertainment, with streaming music and video appealing to everyone from the young to the old, taking that into account, any smartphone ecosystem worth mentioning has access to a native streaming service, as well as Spotify. Apple has Apple Music, Google has Google Play Music and Microsoft has Groove Music for Windows 10 phones. For the past few years, Microsoft left Groove Music’s predecessor, Xbox Music as an awful mess on Windows Phone devices, as well as on iOS and Android devices, now with recent additions to the service’s client apps, Groove is seriously shaping up to be my first choice of music service.
First, let’s talk about why the Groove music service is “almost” my first choice, as opposed to my first choice. One of the most interesting parts about being a tech blogger is gaining perspective in technology by using multiple devices and services to compare tech ecosystems. I use a Surface as my primary PC and Microsoft Edge as my primary browser, yet I have Chrome installed for comparison. I use a mixture of UWP and desktop apps on my Surface, so the strengths and shortcomings of both are not lost on me. So also on mobile, I dual wield devices, I make use of a Motorola Moto X Play on Android Marshmallow and a Lumia 650 with Windows 10 Mobile to have a broad mobile experience. From the cream of the crop to the more indie platform, I regularly bounce between devices to get the widest experience.
Now. when using Windows phone, Groove Music is the app of choice. It integrates with my local, Onedrive and Music pass files on Windows and Windows 10 Mobile. It looks great, and it works fine and with the recent updates, there isn’t any reason to switch.
In contrast, on Android, Groove Music is about as full featured as Spotify on Windows phone. It hasn’t been updated since 2015, it has a pretty awful user interface, and is generally unsupported. While Microsoft attempted to take Groove Music cross-platform in 2013 along with the MSN apps, development of those apps eventually slowed down to a crawl and has seemingly stopped as Microsoft has refocused on their Windows 10 apps. Now, for a cross-platform user like me, there’s no easy solution for a music app on Windows, Android. and Windows phones. Sure Spotify is excellent, but it isn’t a Windows 10 app and despite whatever Spotify claims, it is certifiable abandonware. Deezer for Windows 10 appears to be going somewhere, but it’s unlikely it will touch the quality of Groove music on Windows or Deezer on iOS anytime soon, and Groove Music is virtual abandonware on Android or iOS. If Microsoft is really serious about Groove – and they appear to be – I really hope to see full-featured iOS and Android apps in the future to complement the Windows and Windows 10 Mobile apps.
That being said, Microsoft’s Groove Music app on PCs and Mobile has some advantages over Spotify that make me prefer it. To begin with, the app is a universal Windows app, this means that it integrates with Windows 10 and Microsoft’s Cortana app nicely. For instance, you can play music with the lock screen engaged, and the music will keep on playing rather than simply stop like Spotify does. It also integrates with Cortana in a similar manner as Siri and Apple Music will do in macOS sierra this fall. You can request Groove to play a genre, play an artist or play an album and it will comply. To risk falling into marketing lingo, Groove provides an “experience” on Windows while Spotify is its own experience in Windows. It vastly depends on what you prefer, but it feels more natural to use software that plays well with your operating system of choice.
In previous, and you might even say current (for non-Windows Insiders), iterations of Groove Music, music discovery was tedious. Sure you could use radio to discover new songs and artists you may like, but it wasn’t always a sure thing, and eventually you’d end up listening to the same sounds over and over again. During the Windows Phone 8.1 era, MixRadio was how I discovered much of my music by way of curated mixes, but it still wasn’t a perfect system, and it died before it could become so.
When Groove Music eventually picked up curated playlists support on the web, it was obvious Microsoft was going to bring it to the Windows 10 clients soon, the only question left was how soon. In the meantime, Spotify’s Discover playlists were proving valuable to even a Spotify skeptic like me, and with the launch of Spotifcast for Spotify for Windows 10, I began to relax into the experience. What pulled me away from my most recent Spotify subscription was the one-two punch of Taylor Swift and a Groove update. Just like the Windows app store, you may be able to find much of the songs you like, but having a larger music catalog means that you would find songs much easier on Groove. For one reason or another, I was unable to stream Taylor Swift’s 22 on Spotify, searching for Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer yielded similar results (that is to say, none).
Then Microsoft’s new Groove Music update happened, and I actually began to question my Spotify subscription again. From my perspective, Groove now provided all the benefits of Spotify (limited to curated playlists and enhanced discovery) with none of the pitfalls. Sure Spotify may appeal to those who want to be social with their music, but in my experience, no one really cares about the social features afforded by Spotify beyond using it for internet talking points.
Music in the modern age isn’t just an app, it’s a service. The best part about music services for digital natives is that you can switch from one to the other without consequence. Having all your friends on Spotify doesn’t diminish your experience on Deezer, not does it diminish your experience on Groove Music. If I may make the presumption that most of the users here us Windows as their primary software platform, I can now safely say that I have changed from hating Groove, to tolerating it, to actually recommending it. If you’re a Windows first user, give it a try, you won’t be disappointed. I’d like to say the same about x-platform users, but that ball’s in Microsoft’s court. Frankly, for Windows phone users, it feels good to have priority again.
Microsoft’s new Groove Music update almost weaned me off Spotify…
dimanche 19 juin 2016
samedi 18 juin 2016
Inside Microsoft UK’s fan engagement program
Microsoft, more now than ever, has been all about its fans. Ever since before the launch of Windows 10, the firm has started paying more attention to active users of Windows who read, follow news and comment on blogs just like this. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL were for the “fans”, the insider program is dedicated towards the “fans” and the firm has community champions active on Twitter and Reddit to engage with the “fans” and make them feel included in the decision-making process as regards to Windows.
Earlier in 2015, just before the launch of Windows,, Microsoft launched a Scoop Newsletter in the UK, in an earlier interview with MSN, the program manager for the fan program Ian Mouslter expressed the following sentiment “We know there are lots of people in the UK who like tech and gadgets and also like and use Microsoft products. We want to make it easy for them to stay up to date with all of the exciting technology and devices coming out of Microsoft, and have some fun while doing so. We’re focusing on Windows 10 of course given that it is central to so much Microsoft technology moving forward but we’re covering things like apps and devices too.”
In the months after the Windows 10 launch, Microsoft UK expanded that Scoop program from a simple email newsletter to the Microsoft Fan Scoop Program.
The Microsoft Scoop Program is a program which is “a way to get closer to the people who are most” passionate about Microsoft in the UK. This takes the form of a hidden Facebook group for dedicated Microsoft fans. Members of the group can post, sit down and have a chat with each other, discuss devices, apply for device loans and organize community events. In the past two months, users of the program have had the opportunity to have a discussion with Ryan Asdourian, head of Windows and Surface in the UK as well as a trip to Microsoft’s Reading HQ for E3. The fans have also had the chance to use devices like the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and Lumia 950 series among others.
MSPU sat down with Ian Mouslter, afore-mentioned Program Manager of the Microsoft Scoop Fan Program at Microsoft’s London offices to learn about the thinking behind this program, its reception, and its future.
MSPU: Is it a successor to the Lumia Voices Programme canceled earlier this year. It bears a few similarities especially with regards to the device loans program.
Ian Moulster : I’m not too familiar with the Lumia Voices program, from what I know, it is mostly loaning out devices to users. The Microsoft Fan Scoop Program does do device loans with devices like the Surface, and the HoloLens when it comes out. However, the Fan Scoop Program is much more than just device lands, it is broader In intent [as will be detailed below] There are many more parts of it, I won’t comment too much on Lumia voices because don’t know it that well. But from what I know of it, there are certain parts of it there are the same.
MSPU: Why is the Microsoft Fan Scoop Program a UK exclusive, the entire program is something that would be beneficial to Microsoft fans worldwide, both in the UK, India and everywhere. We’ve had comments from readers
I.M :Some of the reason is that we [Microsoft UK] just decided to do it, it was originally set as a trial to the end of June. When it was first launched, it was made very clear that it was being run as a test drive which we’d observe till the end of June. I’m pleased with where its gone here, so we’re going to continue. What happens next elsewhere I don’t know, we just thought it would be a worthwhile to try, so from a UK point of view we’re going to continue to grow it.
MSPU: How are you pleased with the increased engagement by fans?
I.M: I’ll tell you when I set up the group I spent some time thinking about topics that I could seed the group with say let’s talk about this topic or that one, see what you think. As it turns out, I’ve never had to use any of those because the fans are so enthusiastic they post stuff without me having to do anything at all.
While I do post stuff the occasional things, their posts to me are more useful. They all talk to each other and I think they gain a lot from talking to each other in a way they otherwise wouldn’t. So when I say I’m pleased, I’m pleased because it’s working out so well for the fans because they are obviously seeing use in it as it’s something that they didn’t have before, and now they do have
MSPU: Was it hard to get other manufacturers involved in the program – in reference to the device loans aspect of it? I’ve seen devices, not only from Microsoft but from other manufacturers being used in the loans program.
I:M: On the loans side, we have Lenovo, Asus, and HP etc. already involved directly in it. There are other devices that we loan out as well, and we spoke to them about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and they were quite happy to get involved with us to make sure the fans could get their hands on their kit. To me, it only ever works if everyone gains something from it. If only one part gains, it doesn’t work, and everyone wins if the device is being loaned out the fans. The fans get to use a device that they wouldn’t otherwise have got to use and spend some quality time with it rather than just looking at it in a store.
MSPU: Speaking of stores and all that, does Microsoft UK take input from the Scoop program to feedback into other aspects of its operation in the UK with regards to fans?
I.M: Some of the comments people make definitely get fed back to the team and some of the things people suggest or don’t like and other things that make sense in feeding back t the teams the things that make sense. The Windows Insider program is the global way to give feedback about Windows 10, so if people have got comments about Windows 10 I would suggest they use the feedback tool to do it , using us to do that wouldn’t make sense. It’s always good to hear what people like and don’t like, but when it’s a Windows 10 thing I think it makes more sense for them to use the built-in tools .
MSPU: So what sort of events do you have planned for the Scoop program in the future? If I recall correctly, there was a conference call earlier, and a trip to Microsoft HQ in Reading for the E3 announcements.
I.M: I have an ambition for there to be some events. When I say events, it’s really a way for us to meet up and see each other, the E3 one was suggested by some of the fans, they thought it would make sense for us if we came in and spent some time with you, which made sense because we could provide the event venue and so on. I’d love to do more of that throughout the UK because not everyone is in the southeast and would find it very hard to get there. The vision have here is for us to meet up,the chance to talk to each other, to talk to us. We’d probably take some devices along that people wouldn’t be able to use otherwise, but it’s not an event in the traditional sense, we aren’ t going to do powerpoint slide shows – it leans more towards get-togethers.
MSPU: How do you feel about the demographics of the program?
I.M: There’s a really good mix of people there which is what I like. I don’t exactly know how old they are, but some of them have volunteered it and there’s a good mix ranging from young students to people who have retired and a whole bunch of people who have retired. The mix of male of female? There are many more males than female, but that’s just the way it goes. It would be great to get that balance there a little bit if possible. I’m also pleased that its a good mix of people who are techy and people who are not, you can be a fan without being one who wants to take things part and know how things work. People who just like using our products while not necessarily wanting to get In there and write code. Once more, it’s a good mix of people who are techy and people who are nontechie.
I think having that mix is a good thing for a group.
MSPU : So are you going to expand the group in the future? As it stands now, the group is restricted to people who were signed into the scoop newsletter and it is currently hidden from those without a link.
I.M: I would like to, I’m pretty sure there are fans out there that we don’t know about yet and I would like to find a way to find them, and to get them involved. I would like to do more with the group as a whole, I would like to think about more things we can do, more useful things we can put it place.So both of those. I think just the fact that I’m talking to you, hints at our plans going forward.
To preemptively answer the question about how many users we may have in a group like this, there is no right answer. I think the number we have now is a good size, roughly 500 members [M – 534 exactly!] , of those, there’s a portion of people who talk and post a lot, and there’s a portion of people who just listen and read. I think the numbers we have right now means it’s a very active group and there’s a lot of chatter. A lot of talk, but not too much. The balance is about right.
The question is if you scale it up, would that be too much. So, I need to think about that and whether if Facebook is the right medium. Right now it makes sense, with a bigger group, it may need to be moved elsewhere. I don’t have any hard and fast thoughts about that on exactly how that would work out, so we’re just taking it one step at a time.
MSPU: Have you ever had to kick anyone out of the group?
I.M: Thankfully not. Its one of the reasons that when I first started the group, I had a charter that we set out. We tried to give the fans an insight into what we were trying to do and why. It’s also something that helps guide is around thinking what we can do for the fans and sets those principles out. In the long run, that;s been useful.
The code of conduct is useful as well because it just gives the fans some guidelines as to how we want to work with each other. We want it to be a fin place to be and we want it to be safe place to be. So putting those parameters in place has been quite useful
What really surprised me is how much the fans have taken to it and how much they’ve engaged and how much they seem to enjoy it.
MSPU: What products do you think excite the fans the most?
I.M: Different people, like different things, some of them are into gaming and some of them definitely aren’t. Some of them talk about phones a lot, some of them talk about desktops. It’s back to the questions about the mix and different interests. HoloLens is one that makes everyone light up, which makes sense. There’s nothing specific I can say.
MSPU: What’s your favorite Microsoft device?
I.M: I’m spoiled by working here I’ve been given a lovely Microsoft Surface Book which is fantastic and I love that, I use my Lumia 950 XL and I love my phone as well. It’s a good mix of things I bought and I’ve been given like the band 2 which I bought , I bought the Xbox. If I had to pick one thing, it’s going to be my Surface book, that’s my favorite product.
Inside Microsoft UK’s fan engagement program
vendredi 17 juin 2016
Microsoft opens new state of the art development center in Vancouver
You’ll find Microsoft Vancouver on the top two floors of 725 Granville. We’re spread across two floors and more than three acres, with natural light throughout.
Inspired by the teams themselves, the open environment is organized into neighbourhoods. Teams enjoy a connected space with break out areas and clustered seating.
At Microsoft Vancouver, work becomes play. Three hubs provide casual spots to eat and talk. Table tennis, foosball and a games room offer downtime distractions. And, don’t forget the view. It’s 360 degrees and it’s pretty great.
Microsoft opens new state of the art development center in Vancouver
Xbox Design Lab Wireless Controllers Not Coming To Europe Until 2017
At E3 press event earlier this week, Microsoft announced a new way for Xbox One users to create their own custom wireless controller starting with a single color and up to more than 8 million color variations to customize the controller body, D-pad, thumbsticks, ABXY buttons and more. Each controller will be handmade to order and shipped directly to fans. Right now, Xbox Design Lab is open for orders now in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico for $79.99.
Speaking to Ars Technica, Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox Design Lab and its customized Xbox controllers are not coming to Europe until 2017 at the earliest. Pricing will be confirmed at the time of launch and it will be around £60.
Xbox Design Lab Wireless Controllers Not Coming To Europe Until 2017
Full Transcript Of Satya Nadella’s Talk At LinkedIn’s All Hands Meeting
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that they are acquiring LinkedIn for $26 billion. You can read Satya Nadella’s email to Microsoft employees regarding this acquisition here and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s memo for his employees here. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella attended the All Hands Meeting on June 13 at LinkedIn office and he along with LinkedIn co-founders spoke about the deal and the future of LinkedIn inside Microsoft. Read the full transcript of the All Hands Meeting below.
Satya Nadella: Thank you so much, Reid and Jeff. You know, the first words that come to me is admiration. Admiration for what Reid has created, what Jeff has created and built, and all of you have built. Really, I thought Jeff talked about the different emotions that could be all going through. I’m hoping that one of those emotions is real pride. You all absolutely deserve to be very, very proud of having created LinkedIn, made LinkedIn into what it is, and that sense of purpose with which you’ve built this — that to me is what I admire the most in people, and what I admire the most in the institutions that people build. So this time around, give yourselves a round of applause that can go as long as you want.
So what I thought I will do is just give you a little bit of a feel for how I think we at Microsoft think, and what is our excitement of having this chance to work with you all. It starts with the mission. That’s the first thing. When Reid and I started talking and when I first met Jeff, the sense of purpose to me is everything. At Microsoft I talk about our mission is empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more — it has real deep meaning for all of us and for me. Because when you think about ultimately how does all of this digital technology make a difference, it has to be about empowering people and organizations. In fact, I think a lot about going beyond individual people, because quite frankly it is the institutions that move societies, that make economies, and if you don’t have digital technology, software, help people build institutions that outlast them, then you’ve not accomplished much, so that’s what I think about. I think about, how can we as Microsoft really empower people to build things that can even outlast them? And when you think about that as the mission, and what LinkedIn has done, what LinkedIn has built, what LinkedIn has always aspired to create, of connecting the world’s professionals to be more productive and successful — Jeff said this super well, these two missions are exactly isomorphic. They are the same. They are the realization of how technology can shape people and the institutions they build, and that is really, really exciting, because I think a lot of technologies will come and go but that sense of identity, sense of purpose, is what will give us that energy to keep reinventing ourselves. So talking about reinvention — Microsoft – this is our 41st year. We have had a tremendous history of success, here we are, north of $400 billion of market cap, 90+ billion dollars in revenue, and behind all that stuff though, each time, in each era, you have to start with high ambition for what you can do going forward. So I want to give you a little bit of a flavor of how we think about Microsoft going forward. The first thing I talk a lot about, and Qi who is here. We dream a lot about, what we call reinventing productivity and business process. The way I come to it is by saying in all this abundance, computing is becoming ubiquitous and we have multiple devices per person and what have you, but what is scarce is human attention and time. So how can we get people to capture that back? How can they be more productive, how can they get more out of every moment of their lives? That is what I think, it is not just building another version of any tool or app or service, it is, how can we truly empower people to be able to capture more out of every moment of their life? And when you think about that and you think about the combination of what we do in Office and Office 365 and LinkedIn, I told Jeff in one of the interviews we just did, you don’t go to LinkedIn to waste time, you go to LinkedIn to gain time. I thought that was a fantastic way to capture the realization of what both of us really seek. Today we have these two graphs, Microsoft graph which is the information fabric underneath all of the activity that happens inside the enterprise. People, the relationships with other people that’s captured in active directory, the calendars, the schedules, work artifacts, in fact you can extend that graph, you have needs in CRM, prospects — all of that inside this information graph, which we call Microsoft graph, that is something our team has been building. We also have another graph which is the world’s graph inside of Bing. Now just imagine we connect all of that with the professional graph that you have, and the dream you have, the vision you have for creating the true economic opportunity.
That ability to connect these two worlds is fairly unique. We’ve got to realize it in tasteful, natural ways for the LinkedIn members, for all the professionals who use Office, Office tools, and LinkedIn, whether it is to be a salesperson, a recruiter, someone who is trying to learn some new skill — there is plenty of great user experience work you have to do in order to make this stuff really tasteful, natural. But our ability to change the professional world, of connecting this professional cloud and the professional network is the most unbounded opportunity that there is, and Jeff captured this. Because if you look at the world today — I get to travel the world, meet many leaders across the world, what is the number one issue for everyone? Skills. How are they going to enable their population, their societies, to be ready for this digital economy? Everyone wants employment growth in a world with a lot of displacement, and the only solution to that is this continuous up-skilling of your people, and to me that is what we encompass by bringing dynamics, Office 365, and LinkedIn together. So we have got to have very high ambition.
You represent that already with what you have built with LinkedIn, but let’s take that to the one billion+ users today who use our tools and bring this economic opportunity in a digital world to every corner of the world, that is the ambition. The second thing we are up to, that is also very related to, I think, what we will do is a combination is building up this cloud infrastructure, which we refer to as the Intelligent Cloud. I have known Kevin for a while and I’m already thinking about, when will I get that first look at, hey where are my GPUs to do my machine learning? The way we measure is per capita per developer in terms of machine power, because to be able to bring that AI capability to your newsfeed relevance, we are building out not simply as in the structure stack but we want to bring the power of a set of cognitive services, whether it is computer vision, speech, natural language understanding, whether it is the knowledge graph, and making that available as a set of APIs, as well as the full data platform for you to do machine learning at scale. That rich infrastructure, coupled with the kinds of things you are doing at LinkedIn, it’s very exciting. I want you to be able to tell you what you need to do in the infrastructure, because platform companies are all about a feedback loop from people pushing the envelope when it comes to the outside, pushing what needs to happen in the infrastructure side, and I mean infrastructure all the way to silicon. At this point we spend over $5 billion of capital building out infrastructure, we build our own network, we build anything and everything needed in order to build essentially a global scale cloud infrastructure, but all that is only interesting if there are apps like LinkedIn or networks like LinkedIn pushing it, pushing it, so I’m so excited about that opportunity.
The last thing I want to talk about is what we are trying to do in personal computing, after all we are a Windows company, we started there. We started as a tools company, the first product that Bill and Paul built was a basic printer for the Altair, then we built apps for the Mac, that was the second, and here we are. [LAUGHTER] The other thing about it, you should know is, that just down the road is the PowerPoint team, one of the first acquisitions of Microsoft in 1987. Of course now PowerPoint is what you all love and know. But it is so interesting to think about what is going to happen in personal computing. We are not building an operating system for just a single device, when I think about even Windows 10, the way we conceptualized it is, we are building an operating system for the user across all the devices. It is a service, that is how I think of it. Windows update is probably the biggest service we have because it touches 1.5 billion machines every day, and our goal is to really change what is the definition of an operating system, and operating systems for personal computing are always about
inventing the next big change in input/output. And it is no question that we really missed the mobile one, therefore we understand it, we have a particular position in mobile today which is more about enterprise and where we can have more security, more management, more productivity, we will focus on that, but we are on to the next big thing. And if you look at what is happening even today, I don’t know when exactly the Xbox event is, but it must be happening in parallel, hopefully I don’t disclose anything before them or what have you — but the idea that we can bring AR and VR into this one continuum of what we talk about as mixed reality, is something we are very excited about. Think about this, the field-of-view becoming an infinite display where what you see is not just the analog world, but it is a world into which you can superimpose digital artifacts. That is a completely new medium, that is what HoloLens is, and Jeff said, hey where is my HoloLens? He will get one in a couple of days, and I’m really looking forward to all of you having —
[unintelligible yelling offstage] [LAUGHTER]
It is the most mind-blowing new medium I have ever seen, because it changes all your assumptions about what you will do with computing. You can have your 80-inch screen wherever and whenever you want, and what it means for — think about professions. What it means for architecture. It will never be — my wife is an architect and she looks at it and says, wow, that means I can design and see what I’m designing as a holographic output right there. Think about industrial design. Completely changes. Medical education. Some of the work that Cleveland Clinic is doing, where medical students that are trying to understand the human body can look at the human body, inspect it, along with their teacher. Education changes dramatically. So there isn’t a field or vertical industry — by the way, gaming too — we are excited about what Minecraft, on HoloLens could be. So to break new ground, underneath all this is amazing gesture recognition, amazing computer vision, because you have to essentially look at a scene, reconstruct the scene, understand every object and position it, and then to be able to place other objects in it, and do it in real time. That is the level of innovation that we are excited about. These are the three ambitions, we refer to them as reinventing business process and productivity, building up this intelligent cloud, and more personal computing. But besides all the technology, what I think a lot about, and I thought Jeff captured it so well when describing what you have done, which is, your competitive advantage is your culture. And that is what we think ours is as well. That sense of identity — to me the two bookends is that sense of identity and purpose and mission and culture. Those are the things that are constant, and then, technologies will constantly be renewed. And for culture — the way I think about this is not as a static model, there are values that are enduring, but the culture itself that I thought about is, what is a way for us to continuously question and improve and evolve? What is that learning, ultimate learning culture? And the meme and metaphor we picked is inspired by a professor who works at Stanford who has written a book called Mindset, which is more about child psychology, her name is Carol Duak, and her work basically says that the simple way to understand it is, if you take two people in school, one of them is a know-it-all and the other is a learn it all. Even if the know-it-all start with more innate capability, the learn-it-all will ultimately outperform them. That is true for the boys and girls in school, it is true for CEOs like me, it is true for all of us in the organizations we build. So that growth mindset is what we refer to as the cultural high ground we want.
And when I think about that it starts with individual mindsets — see that is what I love about it, it is not about abdicating responsibility for culture to somebody else, it is about being able to grab hold of it individually and thinking about it in our mindset. Sometimes people say I found find people who have a growth mindset. I say, that is not the job. The idea of a growth mindset is for me to recognize individually where have I had a fixed mindset today and to push and say, how can I improve? How can I learn from this person? And that is what is sort of to me, today, is humbling, because I think there is a ton I can learn from LinkedIn. I’m really looking forward to what Microsoft, what I individually, can learn from LinkedIn, and make Microsoft a better place. So thank you all very much, I couldn’t be more excited to join forces with you in really taking the mission you have to help realize the Microsoft mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet, thanks a lot. Thank you.
Full Transcript Of Satya Nadella’s Talk At LinkedIn’s All Hands Meeting
jeudi 16 juin 2016
The Cromwell room automation app shows off what Windows 10 can do
“Cloud first, mobile first.”
It’s a vision that Microsoft has developed over the past few years within all of its fields, whether it be its view on Windows Phone, Microsoft Azure, and even Windows itself. Windows 10 is designed with interconnectivity and interoperability in mind, and this is showed throughout the capabilities and syncing that the operating system provides.
Recently, Microsoft has sprung forward in this vision. The firm has recently began working with Caesars Entertainment Corporation, a major player within the field of hospitality and a well-recognized provider for casinos, to enhance the experience and lifestyle that the consumers and guests have (after all, they do want their guests to come back).
Microsoft has been building on the functionalities that its new, unified Universal App Platform can provide to developers on the platform, and the corporation has worked to make its apps available on all of its hardware, and with new devices such as the HoloLens and Xbox, one can feel at home on any device that they are using. With the partnership with Caesars, both companies are expounding on this vision, and allowing each of its guests to control the experience of their stay with a new, universal The Cromwell app.
The app aims to consolidate and unify the infrastructure within the newest Las Vegas Strip boutique hotel, integrating free and paid services that users can access directly from within the app. The Cromwell’s app is based on the Microsoft Cloud, and will be used on a standalone, handheld device. The app will also dynamically suit its needs for its users, notably the ability to provide proactive guest assistance and hotel systems with a quick glance.
Eileen Moore, the Regional President of many boutique hotels including The Cromwell, The LINQ Hotel & Casino, and Flamingo Las Vegas, is optimistic about the integration that this new consumer experience will provide. Moore states, “As the only standalone boutique hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, we offer superior personalized service to our guests and make them feel like exclusive VIPs, [and by] bringing together all aspects of their stay into a single system, we are aiming to redefine traditional hospitality into a seamless and connected 24-hour experience for our customers.”
This new app is currently being flighted and tested in two suites at The Cromwell, and will be brought to all 188 rooms within the hotel. The app will allow the guests to use the device to fine-tune their entire experience at the hotel. The ability to change the lighting, adjust the temperature, and change channels on the TV are all available within the app. Additionally, one can view notifications regarding current events and placed order from the in-app Notification Center, and request services – such as reserving a spot at The Giada Restaurant or making a request for housekeeping. The app also sports a “Discover” page, allowing customers to be informed of nearby entertainment and nightlife – and with the support from the Microsoft Cloud, recommendations can be individually displayed to suit each guest.
As well as being a great beacon and resource for consumers, employees can also take advantage of the Connected Room to keep the guest content, whether it be items on the menu, promotions, or shows, up-to-date for guests. Scot Campbell envisions this service will bring contrast to the competition, saying “We believe this level of customization will help differentiate The Cromwell by providing a unique ‘wow’ personal experience our guests have come to expect, building loyalty with guests each time they visit Las Vegas.”
This is just one effort that Microsoft is taking to connect consumers to their daily lifestyles using Windows 10, and creating a converged experience for users. Hopefully, we’ll see more and more businesses and services creating integration like this, and ultimately Windows 10 as a whole.
Do you like the idea of a unified, Windows 10 experience for your home? Feel free to tell us in the comments.
The Cromwell room automation app shows off what Windows 10 can do
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer promises to bring Xbox games to Steam again
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After a hiatus of not having Microsoft’s first-party games in the Steam market, Xbox Phil Spencer has stated that Microsoft does intend to bring it’s titles back the aforementioned marketplace. Spencer, during Giant Bomb’s E3 livestream said “I look at Steam today, it’s on an incredible growth trajectory. It’s a massive force in gaming; a […]Microsoft’s Phil Spencer promises to bring Xbox games to Steam again
LinkedIn’s founder envisions Microsoft merger to enable an even better LinkedIn
There is still very little clarity on how the Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn will help the software giant. It seems however that LinkedIn’s founder Reid Hoffman, who owns 11% of the company and is still actively involved in its running, including being chairman of LinkedIn’s board, has a clear vision of how Microsoft can help LinkedIn.
Besides is role at LinkedIn Reid is also a well-liked Silicon Valley entrepreneur, being a partner at the venture firm Greylock, and advises numerous startups and nonprofits including Airbnb and Mozilla. He’s written two best-selling business books, and is working on a third. Though he’s chairman of LinkedIn’s board, he hasn’t had a job at the company since he appointed Jeff Weiner CEO seven years ago. But that hasn’t stopped Hoffman, who still owns 11% of LinkedIn’s shares, from showing up to work there almost every day.
In an interview with BackChannel he explained that he plans to help transform LinkedIn, which will continue to operate as an independent company, from the jobseekers’ front door that it has long been into the perfect path to future economic prosperity for all workers, especially the beleaguered middle class.
Reid felt a better LinkedIn was essential to help the work force, increasingly under threat from automation, keep up with technological progress.
“Does your workforce keep up? Does the middle class stay intact or grow? LinkedIn allows professionals, including the middle class, to invest in themselves in order to find the right jobs. That essentially can help make them prosperous.”
“The key thing for me has always been how we realize the mission?—?enabling every professional in the world to change their own economic curve by the strength of their alliances and connections with other people. That’s always been our true north,” he said. “Combined with Microsoft, we can do so much more. We do a lot with companies and we enable companies and individuals to connect because it’s very valuable to both of them. But we start with the individual professional. Microsoft starts with the company?—?with helping the organization be productive. Putting those two things together amplifies both sides. It is somewhat of the classic peanut butter and chocolate combination, which is that it works really well together.”
He noted that Microsoft has an amazing stack of technology, and that for LinkedIn to really help Microsoft’s customers, the people doing work inside corporations, the level of integration has to be so deep that this just made more sense to merge than simply partner.
He envisioned a future where LinkedIn would offer every member a personal assistant for their career.
“Members could ask: what are the skills that are going to be really important to me in three to five years? What is the best way to develop those? Which courses both here and across the internet would be the right ones to do? Which would be the people in my network at one, two and three degrees that I should connect with? Which LinkedIn groups are the most valuable for doing that?”
Reid notes that by partnering with Microsoft, that kind of future goes from “oh well maybe someday we’ll do that” to “maybe we can start deploying technology on that very soon.”
He said in addition to LinkedIn being valuable in its own right, the combination with Microsoft could amplify a number of Microsoft’s strategies.
“It’s funny, one of the thing things that I remember my cofounders and I talking about literally the first month after we launched in ’03 was, ‘what is the thing we’d most like to have happen to accomplish our mission?’ It was integration in Outlook,” he said.
Read the full interview at Backchannel here.
LinkedIn’s founder envisions Microsoft merger to enable an even better LinkedIn
Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, Flashback and more now on Xbox One Backward Compatibility
Take on the role of Conrad B. Hart of the G.B.I. and uncover a vast and deadly alien conspiracy that threatens everything it means to be human. But before you can save the human race you must rediscover who you are, as you desperately search for the missing data files containing your memory to piece the puzzle together. 20 years after the original game’s launch, Conrad is enlisted back to active service for the triumphant return of one of the best adventure-action games ever created. It’s Flashback re-imagined by its creators.
Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, Flashback and more now on Xbox One Backward Compatibility
Wand Labs CEO Vishal Sharma shares his thoughts on Microsoft acquisition
Back in 2013, my team and I embarked on a journey to integrate services into the chat experience. The goal being to leverage mobile scale, natural language capabilities and third-party services to enable users to easily access and share any authorized service or device. The work we’ve been doing with predictive assistance and delegated authority is at the leading edge of a broader technology shift that is redefining the information industry.
It’s an exciting time to be working in the area of semantics and conversation – an area that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has highlighted as core to the future and calls Conversation as a Platform. As such, I’m truly pleased to announce that Wand has been acquired by Microsoft.
I’m proud of the work my team has done and what we’ve already accomplished in this emerging space – and I’m delighted to be joining a company that shares our passion and enthusiasm for this new era where conversation is the central focus. Making experiences for customers more seamless by harnessing human language is a powerful vision and one that motivates me and my team.
Our deep experience with semantics, messaging and authority are a natural fit for the work already underway at Microsoft, especially in the area of intelligent agents and cognitive services.
For those of you who have participated in our rolling trials, I want to say thank you. Even though we will be shutting down our service, expect to see familiar elements of our work in the future. I encourage all of you to stay tuned. This is an exciting moment for the industry and we’ve only just begun.
Read more about the acquisition from David Ku, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, Information Platform Group, here.
Vishal Sharma
CEO of Wand
Wand Labs CEO Vishal Sharma shares his thoughts on Microsoft acquisition
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