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With the Galaxy Book Pro series, partners Samsung and Microsoft embrace open collaboration, building a new approach to mobile computing in which smartphones and PCs work together across operating systems. Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360, ultra-thin and light Windows 10 laptops that can turn any location into a mobile office, theater or conference room. Studio mode in these laptops creates ideal video call environments that help you look your best, regardless of lighting or background, akin to Intelligent Noise Cancelling, which eliminates ambient noise from your microphone, you’ll always be heard with superior clarity. Combined with a compact USB Type-C universal charger, Galaxy Book’s minimal footprint moves with you however and wherever you need it. Samsung’s renewed Galaxy Book focus combines the power of the Windows PC with the DNA of Galaxy smartphones for all-in-one versatility. [caption id=attachment_175608" align="aligncenter" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/GB_Blue_Top-Open-Wide-1024x805.jpg Galaxy Book[/caption] The Galaxy Unpacked event in 2019 showed off the first commitments Samsung and Microsoft made to a seamless phone-to-PC experience. This produced Link to Windows (Microsoft Your Phone), which helped users stay in their work or creative flow by easily connecting their devices and up to five mobile apps, taking calls, seeing photos and messages, and checking notifications right on their PCs*. Users could also quickly pair their Galaxy Buds to their Windows PC. Samsung and Microsoft connected apps to provide full synchronization across platforms such as: Samsung Notes/OneNote, Samsung Calendar/Outlook calendar and Reminder/Microsoft To Do. Now in 2021, that partnership expands with more blended features across Galaxy and Windows 10. [caption id=attachment_175609" align="aligncenter" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/GBP13-Silver-Dynamic-1024x805.jpg Galaxy Book Pro[/caption] The Galaxy Book Pro series also doubles as a smart home hub with seamless SmartThings integration. Samsung’s SmartThings users will now be able to easily monitor and control their Galaxy devices through a SmartThings dashboard directly within Windows. Samsung and Microsoft are also collaborating on a mobile friendly UI and productivity features that complement the new Galaxy Book. With Galaxy Book Smart Switch, you can quickly transfer favorite photos, movies, files, apps and even settings from a Windows PC to the Galaxy Book Pro series. Find out more about the Galaxy Book Pro series at Samsung. Lead image: Galaxy Book Pro 360 * Users must link their mobile phone to their Windows PC through Link to Windows on their phone and Your Phone app on their PC, follow the set-up prompts, including being signed into same Microsoft account. Requires an Android 7.0+ phone and the latest Windows 10 update on the PC. Some mobile apps may restrict content to be shared on other screens or may require a touch screen to be able to interact with them. Apps feature requires Android phone and PC to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Your Phone multiple apps experience requires supported Samsung Galaxy devices running Android 11 and Windows 10 May 2020 Update or later. Supported devices for Apps feature. Calls requires a minimum PC software version of Windows 10 May 2019 update or higher. Requires Windows 10 PC supporting Bluetooth radio. Requires Android devices version 7.0 and greater with at least 1 GB of RAM and the latest update for Windows. Continue reading...

https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/Ambition_Image-1-scaled.jpg Photo by Jordan Nicholson is courtesy of Disability:IN and licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0. More than 1 billion people around the world live with a disability, and at some point, most of us likely will face some type of temporary, situational or permanent disability. The practical impacts are huge. Employment and education rates are lower and poverty rates are higher for people with disabilities. And unfortunately, societal inclusion for this critical community has been flat for 30 years. Yet if there is one thing we have learned from 25 years of work on accessibility at Microsoft, it’s this: People with disabilities represent one of the world’s largest untapped talent pools, but we all need to act with bolder ambition to empower disabled talent to achieve more. Fortunately, there is cause for optimism in closing what the World Bank rightly calls a disability divide. Digital technology can play a critical role in bridging barriers to communication, interaction and information. That’s why today we’re announcing the next phase of our accessibility journey, a new technology-led five-year commitment to create and open doors to bigger opportunities for people with disabilities. This new initiative will bring together every corner of Microsoft’s business with a focus on three priorities: Spurring the development of more accessible technology across our industry and the economy; using this technology to create opportunities for more people with disabilities to enter the workforce; and building a workplace that is more inclusive for people with disabilities. All of this work is interrelated. We can’t create the next generation of accessible technology unless we attract more people with disabilities to play a bigger role in helping to develop it. And we need to create an inclusive workplace that nurtures this talent. This stronger foundation will allow us to implement an “accessibility by design” philosophy not only for Microsoft’s products, but for our tools and services that support software developers and suppliers everywhere. This ambition builds on our broad and lengthy work to empower people with disabilities. From Sticky Keys, a simple way to create shortcuts in Windows created in the early 1990s, to Seeing AI and the Xbox Adaptive Controller, digital accessibility is now a part of Microsoft’s engineering DNA. Over the past five years, under the leadership of Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie, we have accelerated our culture of accessibility – creating innovative technology solutions, changing hiring practices with our Autism Hiring Program, growing the employee community and partnering with others to help create new opportunities for the many talented people with disabilities. Technology We believe that accessible technology is a fundamental building block that can unlock opportunities in every part of society. Our work starts by ensuring that Microsoft’s own products are accessible by design, so that as we advance our features and functionality, we can help everyone across the spectrum of disability be more productive. We will then expand our reach with new tools and data resources to support software development across our industry and by other organizations that create software services for their customers or employees. Finally, we will support this with a broad technology initiative with new support for basic research and new data science capabilities to advance innovation on an ongoing basis. Accessibility by design Today, we are announcing a variety of new “accessible by design” features and advances in Microsoft 365, enabling more than 200 million people to build, edit and share documents. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies, we aim to make more content accessible and as simple and automatic as spell check is today. For example: A new background accessibility checker will provide a prompt to fix accessibility issues in content across the core Office apps and Outlook will nudge users to correct accessibility issues. AI in Microsoft Word will detect and convert to heading styles crucial for blind and low-vision readers. A new Excel navigation pane designed for screen readers will help people easily discover and navigate objects in a spreadsheet. We’re expanding Immersive Reader, used by 35 million people every month, to help with the comprehension of PowerPoint slides and notes. In Teams, high-contrast mode can be used to access shared content using PowerPoint Live which will reduce eye strain and accommodate light sensitivity with Dark Mode in Word. New LinkedIn features that include auto-captioning for LinkedIn Live broadcasts, captions for enterprise content and dark mode later this year. We will also empower software developers by embedding accessibility tools, prompts and AI-driven automation so that accessibility is included at the start of the development cycle. One way we’re doing this is with Accessibility Insights, our developer tool for UI accessibility testing and remediation, to help improve accessibility of websites and apps. Today, it catches up to 40 percent of accessibility bugs, and through more automated testing and the expanded use of AI, in the future it will catch even more. We soon will include Insights in more of our products to assist in developing technology that’s more accessible. GitHub, our software collaboration platform that is the world’s largest home for developers, is introducing new themes designed to make its features more accessible to people with visual impairments. The first is a dark dimmed theme bringing less contrast to the user interface for users with light sensitivity. In the coming months, GitHub will release additional themes, including high-contrast themes for users with low vision and themes for users who experience color blindness. Additional features will be added in the months to come. Research and data Microsoft Research has one of the few dedicated accessibility research teams in the industry geared toward user-focused research advancing human-computer interaction. This made innovations like Eye Control in Windows 10 possible, enabling eye control communication for people with ALS. Since 2014, more than 6,500 Microsoft employees have participated in the Ability Hack, creating 1,000 projects like MirrorHR, which identifies potential triggers of seizures in children with epilepsy and advances clinical trial research. We also work with the best accessibility researchers around the world. We have a new partnership with the University of Washington on CREATE, an interdisciplinary center working to build research technology and innovation models that will ultimately drive more accessible technology and inclusive communities. In the United Kingdom, we’re partnering with the nonprofit SeeAbility to research the importance of accessible technologies needed for assisted living environments and provide first-line care workers with the digital skills to use them. Data fuels improvements in digital technologies. Today there is a gap in datasets that include people with disabilities, known as the data desert. To be more inclusive and avoid biases that skew decision-making in artificial intelligence and machine learning systems, we aim to increase the representation of people with disabilities in datasets. Our AI for Accessibility Program invests in projects around the world seeking to address this lack of disability data. But this lack of data cannot be solved by Microsoft alone, so we are partnering across the disability and accessibility community to advance this work. Look for more in the coming year. Increasing access and affordability For many people, assistive technology is out of reach due to cost or lack of connectivity. We are addressing this in two ways. First, we are creating a new Low-Cost Assistive Technology Fund, as part of the AI for Accessibility program, to spark innovation aimed at driving down the cost of assistive digital technology and increasing access to it. This will launch this fall. Second, in the U.S., we are working with internet providers, city governments and community organizations to offer affordable broadband, hardware, software and digital skills resources to people with disabilities, with a current focus in Los Angeles and New York. And third, Microsoft Stores is today announcing ASL video call capability to enable deaf customers to explore Microsoft products with a member of our deaf support staff. Workforce We recognize that accessible technology by itself will be insufficient to create the opportunities that people with disabilities deserve. We also know firsthand that the development of accessible technology requires more talented individuals with disabilities. We’re therefore building a second strong pillar that will intensify our focus on building a workforce that better represents people with disabilities. As we’ve learned, it’s both the right thing to do and it’s good for our business. Studies show that companies that hire, support and promote talent with disabilities financially outperform their peers. Increasing skills and education Building this workforce will require a concerted effort to provide people with disabilities with the same access as everyone else to education and job opportunities. We believe technology can play an important role in unlocking this access through skills development, education and by better connecting people with disabilities to job opportunities. The digital era is creating a new generation of technology that will require everyone to learn new skills, including people with disabilities. That is why our new initiative is founded in part on work to train more people about accessibility needs and accessible design. We are building on our work with Teach Access, an industry collaboration to address the critical need to enhance students’ understanding of digital accessibility, to support a cultural shift across the tech sector that will help create new technologies with the needs of people with disabilities in mind. We recognize that the role of any single company will always be limited. But we’re excited about what we believe we can do. We’ve gathered new insights through Microsoft’s global skills initiative into the practical obstacles that people confront and new ways to overcome them. We are committed to putting these learnings to work through our skilling resources from across Microsoft, including from LinkedIn, Microsoft Learn and GitHub. We will increase accessibility certifications and Microsoft accessibility curriculum, while expanding the accessibility of our skills curriculum and offering new curriculum across Microsoft Learn and LinkedIn Learning. We will also use digital technology to improve the accessibility of classrooms through a new Accessibility University Initiative. Based on a pilot at the University of Illinois, we’re expanding our work to additional colleges and universities to increase graduation rates of students with disabilities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, reaching universities such as the University of Texas Austin, Georgia Tech and Florida A&M. We are working together to create best-in-class Universal Design Learning (UDL) environments in STEM education. This work will also grow much-needed academic research on the impact of accessible technology on students and provide insight into how to grow workforce-ready disability talent. Finally, today we’re announcing two new advances to help students better master social and emotional skills. Reflect in Microsoft Teams for education will support social and emotional learning (SEL) to help students to learn emotional vocabulary and enhance empathy with peers. And, Microsoft Reading Progress, a new app coming soon, will allow students to practice reading and receive feedback, and will enable teachers to digitally test for reading fluency over time. Connecting skilled workers with jobs Once people with disabilities have the right skills and education to enter the workforce, the next critical step is to connect them with job opportunities. Today LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and I are announcing that we’re doing just that through LinkedIn’s new accessibility resources and features to support the growth of a more inclusive, skills-based labor market through accessible learning paths designed to connect learners with jobs. This program includes a new LinkedIn Learning course focusing on accessibility in the modern workplace. For higher-education students, our new app in Microsoft Teams, powered by LinkedIn, will also help grow accessibility skills. Later this year, we will be holding LinkedIn Coaches events geared toward job seekers with disabilities to help identify new employment opportunities. Our plan is to learn from the LinkedIn Coaches experience and use this learning to develop future strategies. Building on the work of Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk, LinkedIn is also partnering with Be My Eyes to make LinkedIn staff available for visual assistance through video. We also will expand our longstanding work with industry partners, nonprofits, the public sector and the disability community to address barriers to hiring people with disabilities. We have a clear and measurable goal, aimed at reducing the unemployment rate for people with disabilities. First, we will grow our work with other companies to make it easier for people with disabilities to seek employment. The Autism Employer Hiring Coalition, a program that includes companies such as Dell, EY and JPMorgan Chase, with support from Inclusively, is expanding to better enable companies to consider autistic job seekers. We are also expanding our work with workforce development organizations, empowering them with digital tools and trainings focused on digital accessibility, including a pilot with the U.K. Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to train 26,000 work coaches on modern accessibility tools to assist job seekers with disabilities. Partnerships like these are core to our strategy and we will have more partnerships and our plans to scale this work in the future. Workplace Workforce development needs to be coupled with broader and more effective work to foster a welcoming and inclusive culture for people with disabilities. This needs to include more effective work to attract employees with disabilities, accessible digital and physical work environments, building an accessible supply chain, and helping partners with their accessibility journeys. Even after 25 years of work, we find that we have a lot more to learn and much more innovation ahead to nurture a sustainable culture of accessibility. In October, we published our first Disability Representation report, disclosing that 6.1% of U.S. employees have self-identified as having a disability. We will now expand the survey to 45 additional countries, reaching 90% of our employees. As our workforce grows, we have expanded the global centralized accommodation processes to ensure that every employee has what they need to be successful. Inclusive hiring We will broaden our inclusive hiring programs, including our Supported Employment Program from one to 12 countries, and we will expand our Autism Hiring program to include neurodiversity, such as ADD/ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia, as well as learning disabilities. We are also expanding this program geographically to include Asia and Europe over the next 12 to 18 months. Accessible and inclusive tools and spaces We recognize that we need to extend inclusion beyond our four walls. We’re doing this by helping our 20,000 Microsoft suppliers create a culture of accessibility that we hope will have a ripple effect throughout our industry and across the business community. Since 2015 we have expressly included accessibility in our procurement processes, and it’s now a requirement for working with us. This may be a challenge for some of our suppliers, so we are committed to helping them through our Supplier Toolkit. It includes accessibility fundamentals trainings; resources that introduce accessibility concepts for anyone who manages, designs, creates or edits digital assets; and technical training resources on implementing accessibility in product design, development, and testing. Microsoft has committed to paying our equitable wages to our employees and requires suppliers to pay their employees at least the minimum wage. We also work with Disablity:IN, a leading nonprofit, to share and learn supply chain best practices with other companies. Employees All our work in accessibility is informed by feedback from our employees. Microsoft’s Disability Employee Resource Group now includes more than 22 disability communities, with regional and divisional chapters. We have also created a new Employee Experience Accessibility team that focuses on improving accessibility of our internal tools, training and content, physical environment and partnerships with our suppliers. This will advance our efforts to build an inclusive workplace culture that empowers employees with disabilities to achieve their career aspirations and scale our culture of accessibility. Empowering customers and partners on their accessibility journey We believe that Microsoft’s most important contribution to accessibility will come not from our own work, but from helping our customers and partners use technology to meet their accessibility commitments. Last year we published the Microsoft Accessibility Evolution Model, an operational “how to” to help our customers develop their own accessibility road maps and business plans. The model provides function-by-function guidance and resources that help an organization develop accessible behaviors, practices and processes. We continually incorporate new learnings and are deepening our engagement with our top enterprise customers, nonprofits and Microsoft partners, helping them to use digital technology to become more accessible. *** Our accessibility team reminds us to do “nothing about us, without us.” It’s a motto that we take to heart every single day as we work to create a more inclusive future. We’ll highlight all this work at our 11th annual Ability Summit on May 5 and 6, 2021. Microsoft senior leaders, including CEO Satya Nadella, industry leaders, people with disabilities, allies and accessibility professionals come together to imagine, build and empower the future of disability inclusion and accessibility. To learn more about our commitment, visit https://news.microsoft.com/accessibility-commitment The post Doubling down on accessibility: Microsoft’s next steps to expand accessibility in technology, the workforce and workplace appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Regardless of industry, digital transformation and adoption of digital tools at scale are among the most strategic decisions any organization can make and can have lasting impact on business outcomes. At the same time, digital technology must be the servant of business outcomes, allowing organizations to realize efficiencies across their business, harness data to deliver differentiated customer experiences, make collaboration seamless wherever employees are located and thwart emerging security threats. This is the foundation of co-innovation with our customers and partners, and how we work together to ensure their digital strategy is aligned to business outcomes and delivers measurable value. YouTube Video Click here to load media During Microsoft’s What’s Next for Industry event in February, customers — including BlackRock, Team Rubicon, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Novartis, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Johnson Controls — discuss their experiences partnering with Microsoft and how it has built a foundation for future resiliency. This past quarter we introduced Microsoft Viva, an employee experience platform that helps people thrive at work through a single, integrated experience powered by Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams. At the launch, and Unilever shared how they are shaping the employee experience to drive well-being, engagement and learning while driving business success during the shift to remote and hybrid work. At our What’s Next for Industry event, we launched industry-specific cloud solutions with security, privacy and compliance built in: , and Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit. We also announced the first update to the and public preview timing for the . As a digital partner of choice, we are committed to helping our customers find greater resiliency and agility during a time of shifting industry contexts and challenges. YouTube Video Click here to load media During Microsoft Ignite in March (and through green screen magic), customers Apollo Hospitals, Ørsted, BMW, FedEx and Coca-Cola discuss aligning their digital transformation strategy with business outcomes to deliver measurable value. At Microsoft Ignite, CEO Satya Nadella detailed the attributes of next-generation cloud innovation and their impact on organizations and society. We also announced Microsoft Mesh, a mixed reality platform that enables shared and interactive experiences anywhere, as well as initial collaborations with Niantic and OceanX. Via virtual visits during the event, I also met with several customers — — to discuss their digital journey and our partnership. This past quarter, we saw customers drive business transformation through broad adoption of technology. For example, we shared how we are working with Cruise and General Motors to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles and with Volkswagen Group to develop a cloud-based platform to deliver automated driving experiences at global scale. Likewise, in biomedicine, we are accelerating innovations through the Terra platform and, in partnership with Accenture, we announced a collaboration with Kaiser Permanente to improve its cloud capabilities and support its members and clinicians. We are also building a more sustainable future with customers, including NatWest Group, Repsol, Total, Schlumberger and Chevron, and our acquisition of The Marsden Group will further enhance Microsoft’s ability to deliver digital initiatives faster. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/20P20331_Google_Assistant_Flo_Voice_Font_Copy_Graphics_Banner-1024x576.png Progressive gives voice to Flo’s chatbot, and it’s as no-nonsense and reassuring as she is. In financial services, we are helping connect organizations to their customers, employees and data to drive transformation at scale. Netherlands-based ABN AMRO is digitizing operations across our cloud to increase innovation, operational efficiency and enhance employee experiences while Progressive is helping its customers get answers to insurance questions with a personal and interactive brand experience developed on the Microsoft Bot Framework. MSCI is harnessing intelligent insights to develop enhanced investment solutions using next-generation technologies, advanced analytics and big data. In Italy, cloud-native bank illimity is protecting customer data and simplifying compliance by increasing trust in its data and extracting greater value using Azure Purview. Microsoft and Switzerland-based UBS are also co-building cloud solutions that meet strict industry compliance and security standards. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/APEC_Woman-with-purple-glove.png The Association to Prevent Blindness (APEC) in Mexico creates AI algorithms to prevent blindness in newborns. In healthcare, Mount Sinai in New York is using HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist to help surgeons in Uganda share real-time views from the operating room and collaborate on patient recommendations. In Mexico, APEC created an AI-based algorithm to quickly and effectively detect premature blindness in newborns. Apollo Hospitals is making healthcare more accessible in India through its omni-channel healthcare platform, while in the Caribbean, MCS is using the cloud to increase operational efficiency and deliver healthcare information to patients faster. Working with the Ecuadorian public health system, Roche implemented an automated digital solution to process three times as many COVID-19 tests. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/Musashi-HERO-1024x493.jpg Auto parts manufacturer Musashi Seimitsu in Japan installs a production line in Mexico remotely during the COVID-19 travel ban. In manufacturing, COFCO International is using a unified data platform with Azure Synapse Analytics to analyze its global food chain and forecast future demand. Denmark-based Grundfos is increasing governance across its cloud-based and on-premises data sources, while Musashi Seimitsu launched a new production line in Mexico without a single engineer leaving Japan. Global manufacturer Kohler and kitchen appliance designer Hamilton Beach turned to Microsoft 365 to securely improve global collaboration and agility, and in Ireland, Johnson Controls kept a key product innovation competition between employees going during the pandemic. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/SNCB-Banner-Image-1024x423.jpg The Belgian national passenger railway is increasing efficiency and collaboration. Across industries, companies are accelerating their adoption of digital capabilities, especially during the pandemic. For example, branded merchandise retailer Lids turned to Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Commerce for greater visibility into its sales and supply chain, while Breville used Dynamics 365 and Power Platform to improve efficiency and gain better insights into its retail supply chain. We partnered with Australia’s Flight Centre as its preferred cloud and productivity platform to support its international digital transformation, and Sabre is building a new marketplace for personalized travel and digital workplace for employees using cloud-based business tools and Surface devices. To prepare for deregulation, the National Railway Company of Belgium is modernizing its workplace and helping frontline employees access real-time information and resources on mobile devices using Teams. Customers including the Slim Foundation, Special Olympics, Government of Nunavut, N.Y. Dept of Environmental Protection also found transformative solutions to meet the demands of a changing world. Digital transformation is about business transformation, powered by technology. With that in mind, we build partnership-driven, not transaction-driven, relationships with customers to achieve specific outcomes rather than focus on technology for technology’s sake. This approach reflects a commitment to delivering trusted counsel to our customers as we co-develop and co-create innovations tailored to their business needs. I am incredibly grateful to our customers for choosing Microsoft as their technology and business partner, and I look forward to our continued collaboration. The post How Microsoft cloud technology and co-innovation approach are driving business value for customers across industry appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

I often share this quote by the French author and aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Your task is not to foresee the future, but to enable it.” Throughout my career at Microsoft I’ve been proud to play a part in enabling a safer, healthier, more sustainable and fairer future for our planet by supporting social entrepreneurship. It has helped me align my personal purpose with the purpose of Microsoft. We only do well when the world does well. Microsoft’s Global Social Entrepreneurship Program was created in early 2020, after we asked ourselves how we could further empower purpose-driven social enterprises that measure success not just by the profit they generate, but by the good they do. We know that technology plus purpose is powerful and lifts us all up. Over a year later, I am pleased to share that we now have more than 100 social impact organizations participating from every market, working toward every single one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. Today, I’d like to tell you about three in particular. Vector Center https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/Picture2.png Vector Center is helping companies, institutions and governments navigate profound water and systemic risks by providing real-time, contextualized intelligence about water, climate and intersecting global threats to help inform responses. As J. Carl Ganter, Vector Center CEO and recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award put it, “To avoid serious, imminent disruptions for business, people, and the environment, the world needs nothing less than a coordinated, data-informed global water movement.” And we need it now. Climate change continues to be the biggest single threat to all our futures. But Ganter is also an optimist. So am I. He believes we are entering an exciting era of accelerated innovation and problem-solving, where advancements in technology like machine learning are making it possible to work smarter, spot trends faster and predict responses better. The organization draws on its decades of experience and its revolutionary Perception Reality Enginehttps://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/12.0.0-1/72x72/2122.png running on Microsoft’s Azure platform to uniquely combine state-of-the-art satellite data, social sentiment analysis and on-the-ground investigative research. It’s also been wonderful to see how its network of purpose-driven innovators, all at the forefront of sustainability, analytics and global trends, has developed a creative, collaborative relationship with Microsoft as we work together to meet our common sustainability goals. Circuit Clinical https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/Picture3.png I’d now like to introduce you to Dr. Irfan Khan. While he was the director of the electrophysiology lab at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, New York, Dr. Khan made an important realization: Researchers need a diverse slate of clinical trial participants that fully represent the human population, and people from all backgrounds need access to the latest treatments. As a result, he made the decision in 2016 to leave medical practice and focus on solving the problem. He founded Circuit Clinical, which works to bring together a network of health systems serving diverse populations to provide clinical research as a care option for patients. I’ll let Dr. Khan tell you more about it: “Circuit Clinical’s core belief is that patients prefer to learn about clinical research from healthcare providers they already know and trust. That’s why our team is integrated within our network to deliver clinical research where it matters most to patients – their own doctors’ offices. Since its founding, Circuit Clinical has brought together a network representing 180 doctors, more than 30 medical practices and a nationally accredited cancer center with direct access to more than 2 million patients who may qualify for clinical trials.” To complement this strategy, the team also built TrialJourney, the first-ever ratings and reviews platform for clinical trial participants. Circuit Clinical is not only working toward a healthier future, but a more inclusive one as well. “Improving diversity in clinical trials is a very powerful opportunity to create real change,” Dr. Khan says. “We believe improving access and inclusion in clinical trials is both the right thing to do AND creates a differentiated business advantage.” The Circuit Clinical team is also 70% women, and Dr. Khan meets personally with every hire to explain how they are all committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a core value. UPEPO https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/Picture4.png 1.8 billion people will soon be living with absolute water scarcity. In urban environments and fast-growing towns and cities in Africa, water rationing and shortages caused by aging infrastructure and commercial losses limit household consumption and service even as demand grows. At UPEPO, founder Kevin Kihara and his team are helping to solve this problem of water loss by integrating Azure-based Internet of Things solutions that help achieve water efficiency, conservation and management outcomes. Most importantly, these solutions are customized for emerging markets and Africa where this issue is critical, and where high capital expenditure is a barrier to technology. Like most social entrepreneurs, Kevin’s ambition to make an impact is both immense and inspiring, going well beyond the issue of water loss in his home country of Kenya. “Our long-term plan is to go across Africa and the Middle East focusing on cities, eventually hoping to have our devices installed on over 300,000 devices,” he says. “Our objective is save every last drop. And through water conservation, we can address the issues of climate change, which is putting a great strain on our water resources.” Conclusion: I hope you are inspired by these amazing stories as I am. The post Creating a world of good: A celebration of Microsoft’s Global Social Entrepreneurship Program appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

As people spend more time on their Windows PCs, working, learning, connecting and creating, we’re making it easier to access personalized content that is available at a glance and updated throughout the day. News and interests on the Windows taskbar will begin rolling out to customers over the next several weeks. We are taking a phased and measured approach and broad availability will occur in the coming months. It should be easy to catch up on the things we care about. Yet, we’re often stuck juggling devices, jumping between websites and looking across sources before finally getting what we’re looking for: relevant and high-quality content. News and interests on the Windows taskbar simplifies this process with a convenient and personalized experience centered around you. News and interests on the taskbar is the fastest way to stay up to date on your Windows 10 PC Stay in your flow and make the most of your time with at a glance updates How much time do you spend trying to stay current with the latest information? For me and many others, the answer is a lot. What starts as a quick escape can often turn into a prolonged process. I might start the day by checking the weather before taking a quick look at some local news or breaking headlines. Of course, I need to then check yesterday’s Seattle Mariners score or their upcoming schedule. Many of these things change throughout the day, so eventually I check again… and again. Sound familiar? https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/News-and-interests-GIF-1-Article.gif Effortlessly staying up to date begins with weather updates on your Windows taskbar – something that many of you have asked for! You’ll now see an icon and text representing current weather conditions in your area. To see more details at a glance, simply hover over the weather icon to see additional details on the weather. You will also see concise, “snackable” information on news, sports, stocks and traffic. Without opening apps or switching devices, you can quickly get a pulse on what’s happening around you. Click on a story to open a streamlined reading experience so you can save time and stay focused. If you see something you’re interested in, but don’t have time to read through it, you can save it for later or share it. Personalize your experience and tailor the content to your interests https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/News-and-interests-GIF-3-Manage-interests.gif You can further personalize the content that is displayed by managing your interests. Using the interest manager, you can directly indicate the topics you’re interested in, or choose the content sources from our content ecosystem that you’d like to follow. Once you are done, you will see changes reflected within news and interests. Built with invaluable input from Windows Insiders News and interests on the Windows taskbar will begin rolling out to customers over the next several weeks. We are taking a phased and measured approach and broad availability will occur in the coming months. On behalf of the Microsoft team, I’d like to extend a heart-felt thank you to our Windows Insiders who have provided feedback to help improve the experience. The team is listening, and will be looking forward to hearing additional feedback. To share your thoughts with the team, when you have a chance to try it out, drop us a line in the Feedback Hub. For IT pros looking to learn more about news and interests group configuration, check out the IT Pro blog. For more information about the experience, refer to the Support page. Continue reading...

“Each year on April 22, Earth Day is observed around the world by people, governments and organizations that acknowledge how important protecting the planet is and commit to creating a more sustainable future,” writes Nick Parker, corporate vice president for Global Partner Solutions, on the Official Microsoft Blog. “In early 2020, Microsoft put a stake in the ground to accelerate our own sustainability journey by announcing our commitment to become carbon negative by 2030 and to reduce our historical emissions by 2050. Since then, we’ve also committed to become water positive, zero waste, build a Planetary Computer, and to protect more land than we use.” In the post, Parker touches on the Microsoft 2020 Environmental Sustainability Report, partner innovations, smart places, more responsible supply chain practices and device partners. “Our hardware partners deliver innovative devices and demonstrate their commitment to the sustainability of our planet through the examination and optimization of their own operations and by sourcing renewable or ocean-bound plastics into their PCs,” writes Parker, who includes a section on partners such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Head over to the Official Microsoft Blog to read more from Parker. Continue reading...

Each year on April 22, Earth Day is observed around the world by people, governments and organizations that acknowledge how important protecting the planet is and commit to creating a more sustainable future. In early 2020, Microsoft put a stake in the ground to accelerate our own sustainability journey by announcing our commitment to become carbon negative by 2030 and to reduce our historical emissions by 2050. Since then, we’ve also committed to become water positive, zero waste, build a Planetary Computer, and to protect more land than we use. We know these ambitions are bold, they must be paired with action and achieving them is a journey. . Our Microsoft 2020 Environmental Sustainability Report details progress on our commitments, reveals some of the big lessons we’ve learned and provides details about our specific areas of focus in 2021. In addition, the report includes information about the work some of our partners are doing to sustainably transform their businesses, while utilizing technology including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power BI, Power Platform, data and AI to help other organizations achieve their sustainability goals as well. Partner innovations drive more sustainable practices. As a partner to the U.N. Microsoft has pledged to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), a set of 17 initiatives adopted by member states in 2015, focused on impacting the world for good by 2030. Making an impact starts with bringing solutions to market. As tech innovators and leaders, our partners are leveraging the Microsoft cloud, data science and AI, and working to drive environmental sustainability through exciting programs and solutions. Our #BuildFor2030 campaign highlights Microsoft partners whose technology solutions align with these Sustainability Development Goals and are powering a more inclusive economy. In honor of Earth Day, we want to showcase some of these partners. Optimizing smart places for a more resilient future Buildings are some of the biggest contributors to the global climate crisis. [1] Many of the Microsoft-powered partner solutions featured in our #BuildFor2030 campaign are empowering customers to understand, minimize and manage the environmental impact of their own buildings and spaces: Honeywell is building AI-automated solutions that are helping customers save energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint by optimizing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) operations. BuildingMinds is helping real estate managers execute data-driven strategies to improve resource efficiency, drive decarbonization and future-proof buildings against climate risk. bGrid is using the Internet of Things (IoT) and open API to connect and automate systems—integrating everything from lighting and climate systems to third-party applications to optimize the energy efficiency of buildings. Learn more about carbon, water and waste partner solutions in our new Sustainability for Smart Buildings e-guide. Driving operational efficiencies and more responsible supply chain practices Partners are also helping manufacturers and food producers gain operational efficiencies and influence more responsible supply chain practices: ABB solutions optimize the performance and efficiency of factory equipment from drives and motors to pumps and bearings. Enhanced visibility into the condition of equipment helps managers fix problems faster, optimize energy usage and extend the lifespan of equipment, which reduces waste. Agrivi’s farm management software enables growers to aggregate data from many sources to establish sustainable practices while maintaining quality and ensuring traceability of products through their supply chain. AVEVA offers businesses the insights they need to drive sustainability by optimizing energy use, connecting teams to drive collaborative innovation and increasing efficiency. Learn more about featured solutions in our #BuildFor2030 campaign. Solutions from systems integrator and advisory partners drive business transformation. Our systems integrator and advisory partners are also working with companies around the world, applying their deep industry expertise and delivering Microsoft-powered sustainability solutions to drive efficiencies, enable business transformation and protect the planet: Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft are combining their expertise in cloud, data, AI, IoT, digital twins and digital transformation to help utility and energy companies in the United Kingdom to transform the energy system and lower the cost of decarbonizing electricity, to achieve its net-zero target for carbon emissions by 2050. Through the Better Working World Data Challenge, EY is encouraging students and early-career data scientists to leverage Microsoft Azure, data analytics and AI to develop improved wildfire management solutions. Infosys REF-OR-M Eco Watch – Sustainability Solution is helping customers across industries achieve their sustainability goals by enabling efficient data collection and monitoring, auditing and rule-based approvals, stakeholder management, analytics, tracking and management to ensure better adherence to sustainability standards and to have a path to achieve their enterprise sustainability objectives. KPMG worked with the Microsoft Devices group to assess the level of circularity of Surface products and to identify a sizable opportunity to increase cycled resources into product design and increase recycled content into production. PWC’s governance ESG Pulse solution is used by teams and clients to better understand the quality and transparency of their ESG data. This tech-enabled service helps companies assess maturity, reduce potential risks, recalibrate efforts, measure progress and tell their ESG story to stakeholders. Device partners help drive sustainability from start to finish Our hardware partners deliver innovative devices and demonstrate their commitment to the sustainability of our planet through the examination and optimization of their own operations and by sourcing renewable or ocean-bound plastics into their PCs. Acer and ASUS have expanded their sustainability practices with changes to products, packaging and manufacturing processes. Dell, HP and Lenovo have multiple devices that are sustainably built with recycled materials. Dell’s Latitude 5000 series and Precision 3560 are the first PCs to use bioplastic tree waste in their design. Dell estimates these Latitude 5000 series design changes will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions equivalent to those created by driving 24.2 million miles and save enough energy to power 5,564 average-size homes for a year. HP offers a sustainable PC portfolio with more than 50 products for home and business containing ocean-bound plastics. This includes the first consumer notebooks containing ocean-bound plastics, the Pavilion laptop, which HP estimates will keep about 92,000 plastic bottles out of the ocean and landfills. The HP Dragonfly G2 and HP EliteBook 840 G8 Aero commercial PCs are also built with ocean-bound and post-consumer recycled plastics. Lenovo has participated in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) for PC program for more than 10 years and continues to register at the gold and silver levels, meaning that their devices are created, delivered and disposed of in the most eco-friendly manner possible. The vast majority of ThinkPad laptops are EPEAT Gold rated, including the ThinkPad X1 portfolio. In addition to EPEAT certification, Lenovo has multiple devices that use closed-loop, post-consumer recycled content including the Lenovo Legion T5 gaming PC. At Microsoft, every device we produce is conceived, built, operated and retired with sustainability in mind. In fact, our plan is to achieve 100% recyclable packaging, for Surface devices by 2030. Learn more in our Devices Sustainability Report. Giving new life to older devices through the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program Reusing and recycling has always been important to Microsoft. Increased demand in the last year for PCs to meet work and learn-from-home needs has made bringing old devices back to life critical. Millions of PCs and other electronics are being repurposed through the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) program, in which partners decommission and refurbish PCs and servers and install the latest Windows software. Each year, 2 million devices are refurbished In North America, offsetting the equivalent amount of CO2 needed to make 2,000 round trips to the moon. To help support digital inclusion, MAR partners provide the refurbished PCs to non-profit organizations, businesses, schools and homes. Recently, a group of companies and non-profits in Hong Kong took part in the MAR program and provided computers that were once used in offices to students in need, enabling them to gain access to a device so they could learn from home more effectively. Working together to accelerate progress towards a more sustainable world As Dr. Lucas Joppa, Chief Sustainability Officer at Microsoft says, “It’s what we all do together that will make a difference.” No matter where an organization is in the sustainability journey, our partners’ devices and solutions, powered by the Microsoft cloud, can help organizations minimize environmental impact, drive value and accelerate business transformation. Together with our partners, Microsoft is dedicated to harnessing the power of technology to help everyone, everywhere, build a more sustainable future. For Earth Day this year, let’s recommit to protecting our planet. This important work represents some of the greatest challenges and biggest opportunities of our lifetime, and the benefits will be tremendous! Learn more about how to advance sustainability initiatives at Microsoft.com/sustainability, and explore Microsoft partner solutions featured in our #BuildFor2030 campaign in Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace. The post Building a more sustainable world together appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Our nation has a long journey ahead before it establishes the justice and equity that Black Americans deserve. The murder of George Floyd is a tragedy and a crime, and no jury can bring him back to life or reverse the pain and trauma experienced by his family and still felt across the country and around the world. Today’s verdict is a step forward in acknowledging painful truths and for the continued cause of defeating racism and fighting discrimination. Our company remains committed to the continued path ahead. The post Microsoft statement on Derek Chauvin verdict appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

With the free release of Season Two, Sea of Thieves Windows 10 players (as well as those with Xbox Game Pass and across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Steam) will find new events, ways to play and 100 possible levels of rewards. As in the previous Season, fans work their way up through the levels by living the pirate life, and steadily increasing Renown. Gain extra Renown by completing Trials: themed sets of Deeds. In this update, the Forts of Fortune have arrived, marked by an ominous new Skull Cloud looming in the skies over the Sea of Thieves. These encounters provide an even more rigorous challenge than other Skeleton Forts, with extra explosive potential and ever fiercer foes as the waves of resistance keep coming. Find out more over at Xbox Wire. Continue reading...

We have lots of news this month to make the most of your time and help keep your family safer online. Today, we’re excited to unveil Microsoft Edge Kids Mode, a safer space for your child to discover the web. You can also learn more about Kids Mode by visiting our website. Along with this news, we also wanted to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Give with Bing along with several new features across our web experiences team that are now generally available that help you make the most of your time online. If you’re running a Windows PC, you already have Microsoft Edge installed, so launch it and check it out. For those of you who haven’t tried Edge yet, download it and let us know what you think! Here’s what else is new this month: Help keep your online credentials secure with Password Monitor https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/W10_20H1_Laptop_Edge_Password_Monitor_Animation_16x9_en_US.gif Password Monitor acts like your online protector, notifying you if passwords you’ve saved in the browser have been compromised and are spotted on the Dark Web. This feature first started rolling out in January and today we’re excited to announce that Password Monitor is now generally available in Microsoft Edge for all users! When any of your passwords saved to the browser matches with those seen in the list of leaked credentials, Microsoft Edge will notify you and prompt you to update your password. Password Monitor scans for matches on your behalf and is on by default. This feature along with password generator provides peace of mind especially as cyber-attacks and data breaches increase in scale and frequency. To get started, just save your passwords in Microsoft Edge and we’ll do the rest. Thank you for 1 year of Give with Bing donations! https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/Give-with-Bing-dashboard-1024x658.jpg Today we’re excited to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Give with Bing. To date, Microsoft Rewards has seen over $6 million in member-driven giving to over 35,000 nonprofits and we’re excited to see what difference we can continue to make together! Give with Bing launched on March 30th, 2020, in the U.S. and is today available in eight countries worldwide. While our team at Microsoft is thrilled about the early success of this giving program, it’s truly driven by you – our members and users. We are humbled by the amount of support you have enabled by using Give with Bing. Our goal was to empower our users to make a difference themselves, and you did, with just a small change to something you do every day adding up to something meaningful. Thank you! For those who have not yet signed up for Give with Bing but are interested in learning more, Give with Bing is an extension of Microsoft Rewards. Microsoft Rewards lets you earn points simply by searching on Microsoft Bing, and Give with Bing lets you automatically designate those points for donation to causes you care about. Simply sign in or join here, set the nonprofit you’d like your points to automatically be donated to, and search on Microsoft Bing so you can make a difference without opening your wallet! If you're an existing user you can visit the same link to see your total giving impact to date, as well as to change your default nonprofit if you find a different cause nearer to your heart. Thank you again for your support, and we look forward to continuing to bring you the search engine that gives back! Make the most of your time online Find what you need with an improved history search in Microsoft Edge https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/W10_20H2_Laptop_Edge_History_Search_16x9_en_US.gif Sometimes when browsing online, especially while shopping and saving money with our coupons and price comparison features, it’s easy to forget the site where you saw that cool mid-century modern bookcase or colorful office rug. Instead of racking your brain trying to remember the name of the website or item, you can search your history, with your own terms. Microsoft Edge will now support easier search terms like “news articles from last week,” “jacket from yesterday,” or “cookie recipes” and show the most relevant results at the top. Open History from the Settings menu and start searching to see your top results. Streamline your multimedia searches with query categories and video collections https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/DIY-Craft-Part2.gif It's almost never enough to view just one video. Sometimes we need to save a group of videos for later on a given topic. - e.g., fitness instructions. In other instances we are simply trying to watch a series of videos, yet need to spend extra time and effort jumping from one video to another. Video collections addresses these needs by allowing you to add videos into a playlist and sequentially play these together. Simply search for the videos you're interested in and drag and drop them to create your playlist. We hope you enjoy all these new features and enhancements, and look forward to sharing more in the coming months. As always, please send your feedback, thoughts and ideas to us so we can continue to create a better web experience, together. Continue reading...

There’s so much to be grateful for about the internet – immediate access to the world’s information at your fingertips, discovering inspiring content like DIY videos, and staying connected with family and friends through social media (I love a good cat meme ). But with all the greatness the web has to offer, there is also a lot of online content that I wouldn’t want my kids to see and websites that aren’t age appropriate. With many of our kids spending so much more time online, and many parents and families sharing devices, we’ve been working on a solution and are excited to announce the general availability of Microsoft Edge Kids Mode! Kids Mode gives parents peace of mind by providing a protected online environment as their kids browse the web on a shared device. A new browser experience for kids that parents choose, and kids will love As a parent, my No. 1 job is doing all I can to help keep my kids safe – physically, mentally and emotionally. While I can protect them physically by knowing who they spend time with in the real world, when they are online, I worry about which websites they visit and the content they have access to. This is especially true over the last year when we’re all spending more time than ever online. I also know that not all parents have the luxury of giving each of their children their own device. Many families are sharing a primary PC or even just handing off their phone to their kids when out and about. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/W10_Laptop_Edge_KM_8-5_SunniesAndFunnies_16x9_en-US-1024x576.jpg Our research tells us that about 50% of U.S. parents are impacted by what we call the “hand-off scenario.” This is that all too familiar situation of letting your child access the web from a shared device when you’re working, making dinner, picking up scattered toys, or doing any of the million things parents do daily. For U.S. parents with children aged 12 and younger, 58% are concerned with the issues their children face when using digital products and services, and while the majority are aware of parental control solutions, only about half are actually using one today. We started digging into this and found that while there are a lot of great solutions in the market today, they often entail a laborious set-up, can require a subscription, and generally don’t offer anything for the other users of their service: kids. Ultimately, this is what inspired us to roll up our sleeves and create a new mode built natively into Microsoft Edge. Kids Mode was created not only to give parents peace of mind instantly and easily, but also to create a world that is very much designed for kids – more on that below. How to launch Kids Mode in Microsoft Edge https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/KM-blocked-site-1024x576.jpg Unique to the older age range (9-12) is an age-appropriate news feed on the New Tab Page with specially curated articles from MSN for Kids. These article topics range from animals, to science, to fun facts – bringing fun and entertainment to their fingertips. When it's time to exit Kids Mode, your authentication will be required just to be sure your child isn’t accidentally trying to navigate somewhere you don’t want them to.Your kids can personalize their browsing experience with several fun new browser themes that unlock wonder and discovery. We also collaborated with Disney to create custom Microsoft Edge themes from several animated movies like Disney’s “Frozen,” “The Little Mermaid,” and Disney and Pixar’s “Finding Nemo,” “Cars,” “Toy Story” and “Coco.” You’ll see additional Disney and Pixar Microsoft Edge browser themes added to our theme picker in the coming months. Designing Kids Mode With a driving purpose of protecting kids online, we embarked on the journey of creating Kids Mode. Our first goal was to create an experience that inspired parents’ confidence, while being simple and intuitive to use and manage. We considered many aspects of the experience: How do parents easily add and remove allowed sites? What does it look like when a child tries to navigate to a site that is not allowed? Once we had initial designs that we felt good about, we showed them to groups of parents and received valuable insights that we took back to the drawing board to make the experience even better. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/KM-Theme-Picker.jpg We believe this is a game-changer for parents who are juggling all the demands of life today. I can’t wait to hear your feedback on this exciting new capability of Microsoft Edge and how we can improve it in the future! Also this month, we’re announcing several new features that you can read more about in our April What’s New in Web Experiences blog. For those who already have Microsoft Edge installed, launch it and check it out. If you’re on a Mac or mobile device download it and let us know what you think! Visit our website to learn more about Kids Mode and all the great new features available this month in Microsoft Edge! Continue reading...

To celebrate the arrival of five Aston Martin cars making their first appearance in Forza Street, players can add them through special limited events. The Aston Martin Series ends on May 10. Each week, from Monday to Friday, you can progress in three separate Events each with their own difficulty and rewards. During the weekend, a smaller special event will be available, featuring different progression paths. Find out more from the Forza Support Team. Continue reading...

Age of Empires III has debuted a new civilization, which will probably be instantly recognizable to you: The United States. But its features differ from other civilizations in Age of Empires, with a wide array of tools from which to choose and create individual strategies, ensuring no match plays out the same. Units, technologies and Home City cards offer a variety of playstyles, and with Federal Cards, you can adapt and evolve their deck based on the flow of the match. You advance in this civilization by admitting a new federal state to the union vs. picking politicians or council members to transition from Age to Age. Each state has unique, historically salient benefits that play an important role in the course of the game. For a limited time, you can unlock this new civilization for free by completing 50 in-game challenges. Find out more about this civilization over at Age of Empires. Continue reading...

Dell Technologies has redesigned its Inspiron series to connect you with what matters most to you, with an emphasis on minimalist aesthetics and being environmentally conscious. They’re made to handle everything from connecting with friends and family for virtual happy hour and keeping up with current events in online forums to editing blog entries and bingeing favorite shows. They come stacked with a top-notch visual experience and Dell Mobile Connect, a feature that seamlessly connects Android or iOS devices to the PC, so you never miss a text or call*. [caption id=attachment_175548" align="aligncenter" width="965]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/Inspiron_14_2in1_800.jpg Inspiron 14 2-in-1[/caption] All Inspirons will have the latest 11th Gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 5000 Series mobile processors and offer a variety of graphics options. With an optional fingerprint reader with Windows Hello, you can you securely turn on, boot-up and log-in quickly – or resume what you’re doing in a snap with Modern Standby. You’ll find nearly borderless displays, expansive keyboards, larger keycaps and spacious touchpads. And if you’re streaming online, you’ll appreciate the HD webcam in the new lineup with the Temporal Noise Reduction (TNR) hardware solution, which reduces pixilation and eliminates visual noise even in low-lit environments. Find out more about this lineup at Dell Technologies Blog. Lead photo: Inspiron 14 2-in-1 * Dell Mobile Connect is available on all new Bluetooth-enabled Inspiron, Vostro, G-Series, Alienware and Consumer XPS devices with Windows 10. Dell Mobile Connects smartphone Companion App must be downloaded from the App Store for your smartphone and requires Android 6 (or above) or iOS 11 (or above). For iOS, file transfer capabilities are limited to photos and videos. Continue reading...

When Sabrina Ionescu was in middle school, she wanted to join an after-school basketball program. But there weren’t enough girls to form a team and she wasn’t allowed to play with the boys. That didn’t stop her from crafting a solution – recruiting peers to form a new team. “I got a bunch of girls who were willing to play. It was a very pivotal moment and definitely motivated me to inspire young girls to break boundaries,” says the No. 1 WNBA draft pick of 2020, who joined the New York Liberty. Moved by her hustle (made famous by a Slurpee story she shared on Instagram), Xbox recently teamed up with Ionescu to surprise her former youth basketball club, The Cal Stars, with custom Nike Blazers, Xbox Series S consoles and custom Xbox Wireless Controllers. (Cal Stars is one of 32 Nike Girls’ Elite Youth Basketball Programs in the nation.) Ionescu and Kelly Sopak, Ionescu’s former club and high school basketball coach, chose players who had shown longevity and tenure in the club – which spans fourth to twelfth grades – for the gifts. Head over to Microsoft Stories to read more. Continue reading...

A new event, Age of Empires: Fan Preview, happens at 9 a.m. PDT April 10. It’s a half-hour broadcast hosted on AgeofEmpires.com, Twitch, Facebook Live, the Xbox YouTube channel and Bilibili for fans in China. For one week following the broadcast, there’s also a limited-time digital experience on AgeofEmpires.com to continue celebrating with the community. Get all the details over at Xbox Wire, which ran a story about this a few weeks ago. Continue reading...

For the past six months that they’ve been developing their first-ever video game, the Big Super Happy Fun Fun team knew pretty much from the get-go that their hometown of New Orleans needed to play a major part in it. This vibrant city – synonymous with multicultural food, music and architecture – shows up in the team’s hand-drawn rhythm game, Colin’s Crunchy Beets, through signature dishes, original music from a local band and in landmarks as the main character battles his way to victory. The game is still under development, but its progress in becoming a reality at all is a testament to Xbox Game Studios Game Camp New Orleans – Powered by Unity, an experience that ran from Sept. 28 to March 25 that engaged 170 people over the age of 18 throughout Louisiana and organized them into 17 teams (the program paired about a third of the people together from different disciplines). Some teams pre-existed or were created prior to applying. For Jon Broder, a New Orleans-based playwright and producer who’s played video games, but never knew how to build them, it’s been a revelation to work as the narrative designer for Colin’s Crunchy Beets. “Thousands of people in the South do not ever get the opportunity to do this kind of thing,” says Broder, who lives in the French Quarter, where the ubiquitous presence of buskers influenced the feel of the game. “By placing it here, it opened a floodgate of opportunities for people. I also want to say that the visibility of equity and diversity in the presenters and the people involved in the program in the meetings is really great to see in the South.” Read more about the program at Microsoft Stories. Continue reading...

Season 6: Raven, the latest season for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, has arrived with a lot of new content. This time around PC gamers can celebrate the heroic exploits of Fireteam Raven with unique themed armor sets, vehicle skins and weapon skins. You’ll also find more customization options with new in-game back accessories, animated nameplates and animated visors. Get all the details at Halo Waypoint. Continue reading...

Alienware has announced two new Windows 10 gaming laptops: the redesigned Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 and Dell G15 Ryzen Edition. Both come with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs. Gamers can select up to QHD 240Hz or FHD 360Hz panels to deliver smooth gameplay on the m15, which supports the Alienware HD (1280x720 resolution) camera with dual array microphones and Windows Hello IR support. There’s also an optional ultra-low profile mechanical keyboard co-developed with Cherry MX that creates a distinctive typing experience and supports per-key RGB lighting. The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 is available in the U.S. with select configurations on April 20 starting at $1793.98. [caption id=attachment_175515" align="aligncenter" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/Dell-G15-Ryzen-Edition-front-and-back-1024x953.jpg Dell G15 Ryzen Edition[/caption] The new G15 borrows an Alienware-inspired thermal design to maximize airflow for optimal cooling and heat dissipation. Game-ready features include “Game Shift,” a functional key unique to G Series which instantly cranks up cooling performance for intense gaming sessions. In addition to the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition available in the U.S. on May 4, starting at $899.99, a new Dell G15 with 10th Gen Intel Core processors will also become available in the U.S. on April 13, starting at $899.99. Four new Dell Gaming displays also debuted, with options tailored to framerate-demanding multiplayer combat, expansive open-world RPGs and high-octane racing games. Go to Alienware Arena to find out more. Lead photo: Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 Continue reading...

Microsoft announced on Monday that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint now supports Windows 10 on Arm devices. This expanded support is part of the company’s efforts to extend these capabilities across endpoints. Arm devices are designed to take full advantage of the protections available in Windows 10 such as encryption, data protection, and next gen antivirus and antimalware capabilities. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compliments these features with a cloud-powered enterprise platform that helps security teams prevent, detect, investigate and respond to advanced threats, while delivering secure and productive end user experiences. Head over to the Microsoft Security Blog to find out more and sign up for a free Microsoft Defender for Endpoint trial. Continue reading...

https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/HERO-Walking-in_microsoft-vaccine-009-scaled.jpg King County Vaccination Partnership-Redmond is located at the Microsoft Conference Center. Eligible members of the community can now register to be notified when appointments are available. (Photography by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures) Microsoft has partnered with Seattle area hospital systems, EvergreenHealth and Overlake Medical Center & Clinics and Public Health – Seattle & King County to host a public community vaccination site at our campus headquarters in Redmond, Washington, called the King County Vaccination Partnership-Redmond. Anyone in the community who meets the Washington State Department of Health’s eligibility guidelines, including uninsured Washingtonians, can register to be notified when a vaccination appointment is available (pending vaccine supplies). Vaccines are being administered for free by health care professionals from EvergreenHealth and Overlake. Microsoft is supporting this important effort by covering all the costs of this vaccination site, offering technology support, staffing resources and our Puget Sound campus. Starbucks has provided their expertise in human-centered design, workflow optimization and operational efficiency to help the site run productively and equitably for all communities. This location is not a special site for Microsoft employees, but rather for all eligible people in the community, according to the vaccine allocation and prioritization guidelines set by the Washington State Department of Health. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2021/04/Reduced_OFF-LEDE-microsoft-vaccine-025.jpg As the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted minority and underserved communities, the site also aligns with Public Health – Seattle & King County’s equity principles. Microsoft unequivocally supports equitable distribution and is committed to using our resources to support our community’s most vulnerable and underserved populations. We are grateful to Public Health – Seattle & King County for continuing to provide counsel on the best ways to reach and serve these communities as we take the next step to serve more of the eligible public. ABOUT THE VACCINE SITE: When: The King County Vaccination Partnership-Redmond is open for scheduling to eligible members of the public, pending appropriate vaccine supply. The community vaccination site will be available by appointment only, Monday through Friday, and will not support walk-up guests. Where: King County Vaccination Partnership-Redmond is located at the Microsoft Conference Center (Building 33) at 16070 NE 36th Way in Redmond, off the 40th Street exit on State Highway 520. Book an appointment: Eligible members of the community can now register to be notified when appointments are available by going to COVID-19 Vaccine | Kirkland, WA | EvergreenHealth or by calling 425.899.3933. Learn more: Guests will not be responsible for the cost of the vaccine, nor will proof of insurance be required. King County Vaccination Partnership-Redmond is fully Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- accessible. Guests will need to travel a short distance from underground parking to an elevator into the entrance. There is also a drop-off at the entrance and wheelchairs are available upon request. When calling to schedule an appointment, individuals can request language support if needed. In-person Spanish, Mandarin and American Sign Language (ASL) medical interpretation is available on-site and printed materials and signage are available in multiple languages. Medical phone and online interpretation are also available at the vaccination site in more than 200 languages. The post Community partnership hosts public vaccine site to help with safe, equitable distribution appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Today the world recognizes and celebrates the rights of individuals with autism. World Autism Awareness Day, established in 2008 by the United Nations, is an international observance to make us mindful of this complex, lifelong developmental disability, which typically appears in early childhood. We also join organizations like the Autism Society of America and Autism Speaks to celebrate our differences throughout April’s Autism Acceptance Month, a formal shift from Autism Awareness Month, announced in early March. With autism identified as our country’s fastest-growing developmental disorder, affecting one in 54 children according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there’s increasing urgency for intervention and therapy to improve the lives of the over 5 million people diagnosed and living with this condition. Neurodiversity Hiring Program It’s gratifying that Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more translates into our corporate diversity and inclusion value which helps us engage many different perspectives to drive innovation. As Neil Barnett, Microsoft’s director of Inclusive Hiring and Accessibility, said on World Autism Day 2020: “The value proposition for diversity and inclusion within Microsoft is increasingly clear – a diverse and inclusive workforce will yield better products and solutions for our customers, and better experiences for our employees.” In April 2015, Microsoft introduced a pilot program to hire people with autism and open doors for long-term career opportunities. That pilot evolved into the Microsoft Neurodiversity Hiring Program, reflecting how we are expanding inclusive hiring practices and increasing the diversity of our workforce. “Neurodiverse” may encompass different conditions, such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities. At the program’s website, you’ll learn about four Microsoft employees who are using their unique talents, strengths and qualifications to help further the company’s success. Solving the ‘front door’ experience The Neurodiversity Hiring Program is focused on recruiting and building a scalable foundation, working toward the goal of increasing the percentage of Microsoft employees with disabilities. This program helps solve the “front door” experience for candidates on the spectrum by offering a different interview, hiring and onboarding process, built on four dimensions: Plan and recruit: Working with organizations across the company, our global talent acquisition team identifies open roles and finds candidates with the required skills and experience. Prescreen: The team conducts a phone or email chat to assess each applicant’s technical skills, producing a consistent approach and recommendation on continuing to the next interview or not. Skills evaluation: This four-day virtual program is hosted on Microsoft Teams and conducted by an eight-member cohort of senior software engineers who evaluate a candidate’s skills and readiness for the job. Hire and onboard: Once a hiring decision is made, this final step engages the hiring manager, mentors, a job coach and HR manager in neurodiversity workforce training. The new hire then receives onboarding support from this group over the next 90 days. The program also offers built-in accommodations – for example, extra time for interviews, longer breaks between interviews and more – providing each candidate options supporting their individual needs. Ongoing efforts Since 2015, Microsoft has recruited and hired more than 100 employees with neurodiverse disabilities who are supporting 95 organizations – Azure, Customer Support, HoloLens, Windows, Xbox and others. These teammates bring added value to their respective departments and our overall Microsoft workforce and culture. You can learn about our ongoing efforts by reviewing the inspiring stories and resources below. I hope you’ll join me today, throughout April and beyond, to create awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with autism and other neurodiverse disorders. Our support is especially critical as we continue battling COVID-19 and strive to ensure those with autism have what U.N. Secretary General António Guterres calls, “the right to self-determination, independence and autonomy as well as the right to education and employment on an equal basis with others.” Please learn more at: Microsoft Neurodiversity Hiring Program In the global hunt for tech-savvy workers, companies are turning to a once-ignored source of talent: those diagnosed with autism, The Globe and Mail, Feb. 25, 2021 As Workers Become Harder to Find, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs Hope Neurodiverse Talent Can Be the Missing Piece, Fortune, Dec. 7, 2019 Companies open doors to talent with autism, CBS News, Sept. 2, 2018 How UW, Microsoft are pitching in to help job-hunters with autism, Seattle Times, May 24, 2018 An engineer’s dream job blooms into reality, Microsoft / Life, April 24, 2018 , YouTube, Aug. 23, 2017 Join us: Working together to help people with autism enter the workforce, Microsoft on the Issues, April 3, 2017 Microsoft Wants Autistic Coders. Can it Find Them and Keep Them? Fast Company, Sept. 6, 2016 Kyle Schwaneke: Unique Microsoft hiring program opens more doors to people with autism, Microsoft Story Labs, Feb. 9, 2016. The post Celebrating World Autism Awareness Day – and Autism Acceptance Month appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

The Microsoft Store Spring Sale, which runs through April 15, kicked off a few days ago with major savings on Xbox accessories and gaming PCs (such as select Surface Pro 7 (i7/16/256) + Type Cover, starting at $599.99). Now, the savings continue with the addition of PC games, discounts on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, movies, apps and more. Save up to 75% on PC games such as Ark: Survival Evolved, Age of Empires III and Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition. You’ll find in-game deals on favorites like March of Empires and Asphalt 9. Also, get your first month of Xbox Game Pass for PC for $1. Find out more over at Xbox Wire. Continue reading...

Earlier today, the United States Army announced that it will work with Microsoft on the production phase of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program as it moves from rapid prototyping to production and rapid fielding. The IVAS headset, based on HoloLens and augmented by Microsoft Azure cloud services, delivers a platform that will keep Soldiers safer and make them more effective. The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios. Microsoft has worked closely with the U.S. Army over the past two years, and together we pioneered Soldier Centered Design to enable rapid prototyping for a product to provide Soldiers with the tools and capabilities necessary to achieve their mission. We appreciate the partnership with the U.S. Army, and are thankful for their continued trust in transitioning IVAS from rapid prototyping to rapid fielding. We look forward to building on this successful partnership with the men and women of the U.S. Army Close Combat Force. The post Army moves Microsoft HoloLens-based headset from prototyping to production phase appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

How can we work together to protect individuals, organizations and governments from increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats while expanding opportunity and access to technology in a sustainable way? I look forward to discussing these topics and more during Episode 3 of Envision, our digital series for business leaders, presented by Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft. The episode will air live in the Americas on Tuesday, April 20, and re-air in Asia Pacific and then Europe, the Middle East and Africa on Wednesday, April 21. Along with the main Envision program, attendees will have an opportunity to hear regional perspectives on skilling and sustainability from local business leaders in your area of the world. At the event, I’ll be joined by Trevor Noah, comedian and host of “The Daily Show,” for a conversation about technology’s role in society and how technology can address poverty, access to education and other social challenges. Other speakers will include Kelly Bissell, senior managing director of security at Accenture, and Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of security, compliance & identity marketing at Microsoft, who will lead a discussion on cybersecurity and the benefits of a “zero trust” model to protect sensitive data. You’ll also hear from Alexandra Badenoch, group executive for transformation, communications & people at Telstra, and Ryan Roslansky, chief executive officer of LinkedIn, on how a “skills-first” approach can help people and organizations alike, as well as Jared Spataro, corporate vice president of Microsoft 365, on the employee experience platform Microsoft Viva. I hope you will join us. Visit the Envision website to register as well as watch highlights from past episodes. The post Episode 3 of Envision: Leaders must collaborate to tackle today’s global challenges appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...