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Back in November 2016, the California-based tech giant filed a patent application for an electronic device with detachable curved display. The patent has now apparently been awarded to Intel. The sound of detachable display alone is enough to tell us that Intel is going after the convertibles market that Microsoft’s Surface and Surface Pro lines have brought to shine. Judging by the patent’s images, this 2-in-1 hybrid laptop would feature a curved detachable display and a similarly curvaceous keyboard that complements the form factor of the screen....

Kaby Lake U CPUs processors were the company’s seventh-generation CPUs, albeit with four cores instead of two. Whiskey Lake U processors are available as Core i5-8365U and Core i7-8665U. Both new chipsets were created for mobile workers who require scalability and built-in security measures. Intel says it has gained a significant performance boost compared to the former generation of chipsets. For example, the Whiskey Lake series can offer Wi-Fi 6 support with 40% faster connection speeds....

Thanks to VentureBeat’s Evan Blass, there’s now some credence behind those rumors. According to the reporter, the DeX Pad will turn Samsung phones into a touchpad or keyboard, and it’ll be backward compatible. Naturally, most users will prefer a mouse, but there is another major drawback. If Blass’ leaked renders are correct, it’s going to look pretty ugly. — Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 8, 2018 Compared the DeX Station, it looks quite dated, and Twitter users have been quick to compare it to the Sega Genesis....

Speaking to Android Authority, Microsoft says the Surface Duo will receive “OS and security updates for three years.” Firstly, Microsoft’s three-year update schedule is par for the course in the flagship space. It is in line with Samsung flagships (Galaxy S10, Note 10, S20) and Google’s Pixel smartphones. This means Surface Duo owners will receive Android updates and security fixes during that time. Secondly, it may ease some concerns consumers have over Microsoft’s commitment to the smartphone....

In a normal month, Microsoft will detail monthly updates at the end of the month. However, with the holidays in December, the company has pulled the trigger early. Microsoft 365 is getting some handy updates across several Office applications. On Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Microsoft has rolled out its Dark Mode for macOS Mojave users. PowerPoint seems to be the focus of the new update, following recent changes made to the app for non-Microsoft 365 users....

According to the announcement, Microsoft and Cisco will combine each other’s technology. Cisco’s software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) will integrate into Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN and Office 365. With this combination, the goal is to boost connectivity from branch offices to Microsoft cloud and Office 365. This is a continuation of a partnership originally started a year ago. At the time, Cisco connected SD-WAN into Office 365. According to the company, this integration increased Office 365 app performance by as much as 40 percent....

Microsoft says this is one of the five most powerful computers in the world. It is used to train OpenAI and Microsoft artificial intelligence models. The main goal of the system is to drive a new era of human-like AI solutions. Hosted in Azure, the supercomputer is capable of at least 38,745 teraflops per second and as high as 100,000 teraflops. This minimum and peak performance would place the system in the top five of the TOP500 supercomputer list....

Of course, Microsoft also has other products in its Surface line. The Surface Book and Pro 4 have proven immensely popular with designers for their portable, stylus-driven concept. However, Microsoft’s innovation comes at a cost. The change in hardware makes for unique challenges in the workplace, from increased portability to different writing angles. The Focus Studio and Ideation Hub The Redmond giant’s answer to such struggles is the creation of a workspace for the modern age....

The other involves a collaboration with the UK’s Cambridge University. Funded by Microsoft, the Cambridge University Machine Learning Initiative looks to empower upcoming data scientists with the relevant knowledge. “This is something that concerns us, because it’s those top academic professors and researchers who are responsible not just for doing research, but also for nurturing the next generation of talent in this field,” said Professor Chris Bishop, director of Microsoft’s Research Lab in Cambridge....

Across May 2, 2019 and May 3, 2019, Microsoft is hosting Mixed Reality Dev Days. These events will allow developers to view and use Microsoft’s latest Mixed Reality technologies. Developers will also be able to interact with other dev’s and other people from the virtual and augmented reality industry. Microsoft says during the Mixed Reality Dev Days, attendees can: “Code alongside our engineering teams. Learn and test the latest in our portfolio: HoloLens 2, new Azure mixed reality services, Azure Kinect Developer Kit, and more!...

Sure, Bing Maps is still a very distant second to Google Maps, but Microsoft’s support for the suite has been solid. Indeed, through a few years of consistent updates, Bing Maps is now a very solid maps package and is packed with features. At the same time, Microsoft has admittedly stopped collecting its own imagery. That said, Bing Maps may not be getting new image updates, but it is already well stocked....

This discovery comes from highly respected Microsoft reporter Brad Sams, as well as Thurrott technical contributor Rafael Rivera and YouTube’s Nazmus Labs. The basis of the assumption is the free release of State of Decay on PC, which has some interesting properties. Though State of Decay downloads from the store, its assets don’t come from the usual place. Some digging reveals that they’re actually pulled from assets1.xboxlive.com. Further, the installer uses the ....

“These cloud-based data analytics and visualization services will empower government employees to visualize data, glean valuable insights and intelligence from their vast data resources to take informed action to improve citizen services, reduce taxpayer costs and increase efficiency, all while adhering to the most stringent security requirements,” said Curt Kolcun, U.S. Public Sector vice president for Microsoft. HDInsight Capabilities in Azure Government Kolcun also provided further detail on how each can be utilized in Azure Government....

“Many of our government and utility customers already use Microsoft services, it’s a trusted and familiar brand, so when customers hear that we are on Azure, that gives them confidence in delivery and helps speed up adoption of emerging technologies like ours,” explained Vapar CTO and co-founder Michelle Aguilar. “Hosting on Azure gives us the ability to integrate securely into our customers Active Directory, which streamlines the customer experience”. Vapar’s AI can reportedly analyze sewer and stormwater pipes at 85% accuracy, far above the human review rate of 60%....

In an update to the tracker, Microsoft says Bing Maps can now track and chart COVID-19 vaccines. According to the company, the tool can find vaccine candidates around the world and users can track progress of trials. Of course, no vaccine for COVID-19 exists. However, there are several in-development vaccines that are being explored. For those who are tracking COVID-19 information, the Bing Maps expansion could be a valuable tool....

On October 18, Azure and Office 365 users in North America reported problems with their Multifactor Authentication and sign-ins. Users with MFA could not sign-in properly to those services for a three-hour period. Microsoft confirmed the problem and that .51 percent of users in the region were affected. In an explanation post, Microsoft says a hotfix for the problem was quickly created to completely bypass the external service. This restored MFA functionality long enough for the network to recover....

Skype notifications for Outlook.com and OneDrive on the web have been available since last year. However, Microsoft did not offer users a way to turn notifications on and off. This naturally meant that whenever Skype wanted to notify something, it would send a flood of pings. One to the open Skype app, and one each to Outlook.com and OneDrive, if those services were open in a browser tab. Considering Microsoft wants users to use services seamlessly, this was a messy experience....

The new Power BI template gives tools to find key trends and manage posts and comments on a Facebook Pages page. Moreover, users can look into sentiment data and perform other data analysis. Microsoft Research technology has been employed in the new feature, while Azure service provide easy analytics for campaign and brand managers. Importantly, the template brings the ability to track multiple Facebook Pages. Not only can these pages be viewed, but they can also be compared and data anaylzed across them....

“This update includes some new and exciting capabilities, improvements to existing features, and extended support for additional platforms,” the post points out. There are four new features announced in the Power BI Mobile March release. However, they are split evenly with two specifically for iOS users and two for Android devices. For iOS, Power BI customers are receiving improvements to the Q&A experience. Microsoft has recently introduced this feature in preview....

Alongside the preview build, Microsoft confirmed it will be launching RS4 RS_PRERELEASE branch previews to both Fast Ring and Skip Ahead at the same time. Looking at Windows 10 Build 17025, Microsoft has added Ease of Access Settings, new controls for Startup tasks, and improvements to the Yahei Font. Starting with Ease of Access, Microsoft has overhauled the Settings so control for seeing, hearing, and interaction are now grouped together....