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With the official debut of Microsoft Ventures in late May, the momentum is already underway in our first few months. Our aim is to use this fund to place bets on innovators who align to our investment focus – cutting-edge technologies that better enable digital transformation. The reception we’ve received, from both the entrepreneurs who are aligned with our ambitions and the VCs who see us as a valuable partner, has blown past our expectations. We are now providing financing and strategic relationships with Microsoft to entrepreneurs in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Tel Aviv. We’ve seen great deal flow and have already completed 13 investments from Series A to Ser…

Did you know you can write directly on web pages in Microsoft Edge and easily save or share what you’ve marked up with friends and colleagues? Microsoft Edge is the only browser with the built-in functionality that lets you take notes, write, doodle and highlight directly on webpages. You can do this with your finger if you’re using a touch-enabled device, with a pen or with your mouse or trackpad. Here’s how to write on webpages in Microsoft Edge: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9400096b9bbb14cc2a160c462bd2d335.gif To start marking up a webpage, launch Microsoft Edge and click the pen icon. When you hover over it, you’ll see it says, “Mak…

Reflecting the significant investment Microsoft Corp. is making in cloud computing in Europe, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith on Monday shared new details about how this momentum is taking shape. Nadella stated that Microsoft has more than doubled its cloud capacity in Europe in the past year, noted that the company has invested over $3 billion (USD) across Europe to date, and shared that Microsoft intends to deliver the Microsoft Cloud from datacenters in France, starting in 2017. These new investments in cloud are helping customers — including the UK Ministry of Defence, the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Ireland’s Health Service Executive and ZF from Ger…

We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of This Week on Windows! Read this week’s Windows 10 tip on how to enable the dark theme in Microsoft Edge, check out BIO-key’s new Windows Hello fingerprint accessories and catch up on all of this week’s news from Ignite. Here’s what’s new in the Windows Store this week: Candy Crush Saga – Level 2000 – Free https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9fd7ee74a90d838304c9c733d4bd6b2e.jpg In the latest update to Candy Crush Saga, the carefree Candy Universe is in a panic over the pending arrival of level 2000. How will their world change? Get ready for a color-bomb kickoff, then work to collect 2 green, 20 blue …

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/07bb3ed04fb0bd7476a6ce2aa47d36d2.jpg Harry Shum, executive vice president, Microsoft AI and Research Group This week delivered plenty of powerful news from Microsoft, from game-changing announcements about artificial intelligence to new avenues for business transformation demonstrated at Microsoft Ignite 2016 in Atlanta. Here’s the highlights. Microsoft announced on Thursday that it’s forming a new group to expand its artificial intelligence efforts by bringing together the company’s world-class research organization with more than 5,000 computer scientists and engineers. Harry Shum, a computer vision luminary a…

This week at Microsoft Ignite, we showed how we are infusing artificial intelligence (AI) broadly across Microsoft to help our customers. Our approach to this fundamental shift is to democratize AI and to make it accessible and valuable to everyone. We’re focused on building an AI stack spanning infrastructure, services, apps and agents and reaching key customer audiences — consumers, enterprises, developers. We are creating tools to make it easier for busy professionals to remember their commitments, family members from other countries to talk to each other in spite of language barriers, and multitasking smartphone users to send texts more quickly. And at the sam…

Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are excited to be releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14936 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. New Extensions in Microsoft Edge We’re working with partners on adding new extensions and want our Insiders to try them out first! We have another new release which we need your help testing and giving feedback on before we publish to the general public: Turn Off the Lights is a lightweight and useful add-in designed for a more comfortable video experience. We also need some more help testing our other preview extensions: Tampermonkey is a popular userscript manager that lets users customize the content of pages across…

We’re excited to announce that BIO-key International, Inc. has launched three new compact USB fingerprint reader accessories, available at Microsoft Stores and microsoftstore.com. These devices enable you to login conveniently and securely to your Windows 10 PC with a simple swipe or touch. With Windows Hello* you can sign into your Windows devices in less than 2 seconds – that’s 3 times faster** than a password that you have to remember and type in; also, with Windows Hello and the Anniversary Update, you can now sign into compatible apps and Microsoft Edge websites***. BIO-key SideSwipe Mini Fingerprint Reader – $39.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMir…

A new Australian automotive adventure has begun with the worldwide release of Forza Horizon 3, now available to play on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs in all Xbox regions (except Japan, where it will be available on Sept. 29). Since the launch of the Ultimate Edition of the game last week, it’s been amazing to see the excitement and acclaim the game has created with early adopters. Forza Horizon 3 brings the Horizon Festival to Australia – the most beautiful and diverse setting yet in the series. With gorgeous graphics and brand new ways to play, like four-player Campaign co-op and Xbox Play Anywhere, Forza Horizon 3 is the ultimate open-world racing game. The game i…

Today’s Windows 10 tip is all about enabling the dark theme in Microsoft Edge. Earlier we shared how you can personalize your PC by enabling the dark theme, but did you know you can enable that theme in Microsoft Edge, too? You can switch Microsoft Edge from its default light theme to the dark theme – perfect for low-light conditions such as working at night. Here’s how to enable the dark theme in Microsoft Edge: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/fde2ec60cda2b80124f569c4c9bdc438.gif To enable the dark theme in Microsoft Edge only, simply open Microsoft Edge, then go to the top right corner and click on the three dots. Scroll down to setting…

Today I am pleased to join Scott Guthrie and Satya Nadella at Ignite, the largest IT conference in the industry with more than 20,000 attendees. It’s an exciting time to be in IT, with the modern workplace creating a major shift in the way people work. Information is abundant, experiences and data must easily move across multiple devices, and collaboration is critical as the workforce becomes more mobile and more global. At the same time, security has never been more challenging as attacks have become more advanced and targeted, with the average data breach costing $12 million and costing an estimated $3 trillion in lost productivity by 2020. To help businesses take …

We have all heard the mind-blowing statistics around growth in the number of mobile and digital devices, and the amount of data generated every day. These trends represent the digital shift our society is undergoing, and they are also having an acute impact on the business world. Every company in every industry around the world is now being challenged to transform from being an organization that uses digital technology, to being a digital organization. With mobile devices outnumbering the people who use them, it seems like everyone is a technologist to a certain extent. But inside companies, it is still IT professionals who are best positioned to turn technology into a…

MINECON is here and we’re excited to bring you more details about the next big update for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta, Minecraft: Pocket Edition, and Minecraft: Gear VR Edition, releasing on Oct. 18. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/872ba161bb3f3af776938f4be0c1965b.png As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the Boss Update is bringing boss battles to these versions of Minecraft for the first time. Also arriving in the Boss Update will be the first iteration of Add-Ons. With Add-Ons, you’ll be able to experiment with remixing components of entities or characters in the game. Worlds you create with Add-Ons can be shared with others directly or uplo…

We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of This Week on Windows! Check out our Windows 10 Tip blog post to learn more about how you can enable Windows Spotlight images on your lock screen. Head over here to read about the HoloLens experience “Destination: Mars,” here to find out how you can get Forza Horizon 3 early and here to learn about the new desktop apps in the Windows Store. Or, keep reading to see what’s new in the Windows Store this week! Check out all the ways you can watch your favorite shows on Windows this fall! Sling TV https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0e24e950443e634f77a82d8873b7b81b.png Download the Sling TV app and watch y…

We’re just days from the global launch of Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC on September 27 (September 29 in Japan). However, if you absolutely cannot wait to be the boss of the Horizon Festival, the Ultimate Edition is available today, giving you early access to the Australian adventure. In addition to early access to Forza Horizon 3, Ultimate Edition owners receive the Forza Horizon 3 Car Pass, VIP membership and cars, and the Motorsport All-Stars Car Pack, which gives you the chance to take 10 of the hottest modern race cars off the track and out onto the open road. As Microsoft’s first Xbox One S game to feature High Dynamic Range (HDR), Forza Hori…

As summer officially turned into fall, this week brought plenty of extraordinary news at Microsoft and beyond. Plans to build an “innovation corridor,” researchers’ technology-based battle against cancer and six students’ invention to help blind people are just a few of the remarkable and ongoing efforts that were announced in recent days. In an in-depth feature story on Monday, we learned about the scientists, engineers and programmers in Microsoft research labs around the world who are trying to solve the complex and deadly challenge of cancer. One team is using machine learning to help oncologists figure out the most effective, individualized cancer treatment for th…

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/09088af8846b21a4edfd21bdb65e4e03.jpg Since June 9, more than 35,000 students and educators around the world have utilized the early access program and provided feedback to help us fine-tune the experience across a diverse set of learning environments. Minecraft: Education Edition is built based on feedback from the educator community and the features and capabilities they have told us are important to enhancing the learning experience. While we debuted several of these features with early access in June, we’re excited to roll out even more key capabilities on November 1, including: Classroom Mode: A companion a…

Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are excited to be releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14931 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. An important reminder about build expiration We wanted to include a reminder about build expiration. Since September 15th, PCs running really old Insider Preview builds started to see build expiration notifications once a day. Then on October 1st, these PCs will start rebooting every 3 hours and then on October 15th – these PCs will stop booting all together. If your PC is running one of these old Insider Preview builds, please make sure you update to Build 14926 or newer via Settings > Update & security > Wi…

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/640a51b14fe16cd80c2eb927cbc9616e.gif A group of engineering students knew exactly what they wanted to build at a student technology competition, and they had just 15 hours to do it. As they worked furiously alongside other MIT students, the young women hit a series of snags. They had to wait in long lines to use the 3D printer and laser cutter they needed to shape various parts for their project. Some of the supplies their design called for had already been snatched up by others. Bonnie Wang, an engineering and materials science major, recalls it as “one of the most hectic 15 hours of my life, ever.” They cob…

This Saturday, Sept. 24, Xbox and Ford Performance will host the Forza Horizon 3 launch event at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles from 4-7 PM PDT (11 PM – 1 AM UTC). The event will feature a meet-and-greet with Ken Block, Xbox’s Larry Hryb (“Major Nelson”), hundreds of cars on display, free food and giveaways, live music from Peanut Butter Wolf and DJ Flow and the opportunity to go hands-on with Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One and Windows 10 before its Sep. 27 release. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/38845c7c46f00d38f3ee27e8573b4676.jpg The event is free to the public (online RSVP encouraged) and will be streamed worldwide on twitch.tv/f…

Today, I’m pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Azure from datacenters in Germany that offer a first-of-its-kind model developed in response to customer needs. The Microsoft Cloud Germany provides a new, differentiated option to the Microsoft Cloud services already available across Europe. Customer data in the two new German datacenters is managed under the control of a data trustee, T-Systems International, an independent German company and subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. It provides additional controls for customers’ data, as access is only provided with the permission of customers, or the data trustee. Microsoft’s commercial cloud services in these new …

Grab a new, participating NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 or 1070 graphics card, system or laptop to get a full-game download of Gears of War 4 for PC. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/fd6dafdb858e528ff22612b53174eae0.png Yesterday, we shared the new launch trailer for Gears of War 4. Today, GeForce announced their Gears of War 4 GeForce GTX Bundle, which includes a full-game download for PC. Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 20162015201420132012201120102009200820072…

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/38845c7c46f00d38f3ee27e8573b4676.jpg The day racing fans have been waiting for is nearly upon us: Forza Horizon 3 is almost here! If you’ve pre-ordered (or purchased) the Forza Horizon 3 Ultimate Edition, you’ll be able to start your engines on September 23. If you grabbed the Deluxe or Standard versions of Forza Horizon 3, you can hit the road starting on September 27. To get you pumped for some gorgeous high-speed action, the team at Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios has released the official launch trailer for Forza Horizon 3. This time, you’re in charge of the Horizon Festival. Customize everything, hire a…

At Microsoft’s research labs around the world, computer scientists, programmers, engineers and other experts are trying to crack some of the computer industry’s toughest problems, from system design and security to quantum computing and data visualization. A subset of those scientists, engineers and programmers have a different goal: They’re trying to use computer science to solve one of the most complex and deadly challenges humans face: cancer. “We’re in a revolution with respect to cancer treatment,” said David Heckerman, a distinguished scientist and senior director of the genomics group at Microsoft. Head over to Microsoft Stories to find out more. Athima…

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/81bbf5f5030986def6ab3cbffac2839e.jpg Today, we’re excited to announce that Gears of War 4 has been released to manufacturing ahead of its Oct. 11 worldwide release. This event, also known as “Going Gold,” is a major milestone in development, marking the release of the gold master disc to Xbox replication facilities around the world. Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 20162015201420132012201120102009200820072006200520042003200220012000…