7 Announcements of Microsoft Build 2018 with Far-Reaching Implications
Microsoft annual developer conference widely known as Microsoft Build has just been concluded. This year in the event the tech giant unveiled an array of new technologies and high tech developments.
The new announcements of this year’s conference are very crucial to the revival of the company as a mobility giant. Besides unveiling technologies that boost the core strength of the company further, Microsoft Build also came up with several value additions to revive the prospect of the company in mobile app space.
Let us have a look at the key announcements of Microsoft Build 2018.
1. Windows 10 “Your Phone” app
This year at the Microsoft Build event the company announced launching a new app called “Your Phone” for Windows 10. Thanks to this app the phone can be mirrored over a desktop PC and this will allow the user access texts, images and phone notifications on the desktop screen. The features of the Your Phone app slightly vary from its Android to iPhone version. Microsoft has announced that it will start testing the app for Windows Insiders in May 2018. This new feature will add unprecedented ease of use to your mobile users.
2. Microsoft Layout
Microsoft in the annual developer conference just announced a new visual tool called Microsoft Layout to help the designers unleashing real-life environment through VR headsets like Microsoft HoloLens. By using Microsoft Layout you can build virtual floor plan and easily allow movement of 3D models on it. This will help to create a preview of the room before actually designing it. After creating the design you can go to the actual room environment and through the HoloLens view the designed layout. This can really revolutionise the real estate marketing.
3. Meeting of Cortana and Alexa
As of now, we all know Cortana as the digital assistant app of the Microsoft and Alexa as the same belonging to Amazon. You always thought of using Cortana for Microsoft devices and Alexa for all Amazon devices. But, fortunately, both of these digital assistants now shook hands and will work simultaneously or together. This meeting of these two digital assistants has a lot of positive implications. While Cortana can be used to control Amazon Echo speaker, Alexa can also be used to control Microsoft HoloLens and other Microsoft platforms.
In the event, the company representatives of both Microsoft and Amazon unveiled elaborate demonstration about this integration. When using Amazon Echo you need to say “Alexa, open Cortana” and thereafter you can use Cortana to command the device. In the same way, while using Microsoft platform Cortana, you need to say “Cortana, open Alexa” and you can start using Alexa on the Microsoft platform.
This feature as of now has just been made available as a beta app feature for limited access. Microsoft also came up with a new website to allow users tracking progress in this regard.
4. Microsoft to run your meeting
Microsoft has always been serious about boosting the productivity with its offerings. In fact, whatever Microsoft does or plans, the office productivity remains always a priority for the company. In this Microsoft Build event, the company has come up with a new way to boost workplace productivity. Microsoft Office platform can now be actively used to run meeting and conferences.
It just happens by putting in front a Surface Hub smart screen and a smart speaker in the very centre of the conference table followed by positioning web-connected cameras keeping vigil all over the room. Now by putting together the data and media received through the cameras and the microphones the Microsoft AI will come up with a real-time recording of the entire conference or meeting.
The same setup will also allow reading the transcripts of what everyone says during the meeting just on one side of the screen. The AI-powered system will also pick up certain actionable phrases and sentences and put them in a separate ledger on the right-hand side. According to Microsoft, the same transcript can also be made available in different languages with real-time translation.
This will further be taken to the next level by Microsoft as the whole recording will be made accessible through Hololens. The user can easily incorporate the images received from the Surface Hub for examining them in VR. This will allow everyone to view the recorded material.
5. Project Emma to help physically challenged people
The objective of Microsoft’s Project Emma is to build wearable and intelligent products for the people who suffer from severe physical challenges like the symptom of shaking hands common in many persons with Parkinson’s disease. In the event, Microsoft unveiled a new smart wearable called Emma Watch which will help the people with Parkinson’s disease watch time and write more legibly. The watch by sending vibrations directly to the brain can actively reduce the symptom of shaking hands and tremors experienced by many sufferers.
6. Kinect will now remain alive in the cloud
If you have thought as an accessory of Microsoft Xbox Kinect is on the verge of death, you are wrong. Microsoft decided to keep Kinect alive and working. To keep it working the company gave it the power of cloud platform. Kinect from now onwards will become a fully fledged cloud service from the company. The new Kinect will be a lot different from what it was known for. Thanks to the new Kinect developers will be able to send data right from the depth sensors and cameras and Kinect after processing this data will send it back to the devices.
As declared by Microsoft, by this push to the Kinect many hardware manufacturers will start producing Kinect compliant cameras that can further be used in a variety of ways instead of what Kinect used to do as an obscure accessory for Xbox.
7. DJI partnership
Finally, in the Microsoft event, we have got the much-awaited announcement of drone producer DJI partnering Microsoft for building a new Windows 10 based SDK for the drone. This new partnership of drone maker and Microsoft will ensure better drone flight control and customisation for different industrial use cases. This development of new SDK will also help integrating other third-party hardware much easier than ever before. The partnership and the new SDK will have really far-reaching implications for drones and their uses across industry niches.
Dhruvil is a Writer & Marketeer for Nimblechapps, joined in December 2014, based out of Sydney, Australia. He has worked briefly as a Branding and Digital Marketing Manager before moving to Australia. At Nimblechapps, he worked on Social Media Marketing, Branding, Email Marketing and Blogging. Dhruvil studies Business at University of Western Sydney, and also handles Operations for the company in Australia.