Tag Archives: Microsoft

The ‘New’ Bing: Transforming Search from Finding to Doing

Bing’s new user experience surfaces the best from the Web, friends and experts to help people do more.

REDMOND, Wash. – May 10, 2012 – Microsoft today unveiled a major update to its Bing search engine that fundamentally transforms the way users search the Web. The update, the most significant since Microsoft launched Bing three years ago, is designed to help users act quickly by taking advantage of the Web’s evolving fabric.

With the new version of Bing, rolling out over the coming weeks and broadly available in the U.S. in early June, people can easily get advice and recommendations from friends and experts with the new social sidebar. They can also view useful, action-oriented information via the new snapshot feature. And they can find what they’re looking for faster, with more relevant results and a refreshed user interface. All of this is presented in a new, three-column design that focuses on helping users take the leap from finding information to making quick, informed decisions. (more…)

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Microsoft Research Opens a Lab in New York City

New research lab will focus on computational and experimental social science, algorithmic economics, and machine learning, along with information retrieval.

NEW YORK CITY – In the two decades since the formation of Microsoft Research, the organization has grown from its beginnings on Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond, Wash., into a global research force with 12 labs across four continents — all devoted to advancing the state of the art in computing research and contributing cutting-edge advancements to Microsoft products.

Beginning May 3, that lab count increases to 13 with the creation of Microsoft Research New York City. (more…)

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Imagine Cup Turns 10: A Decade of Inspiring Students to Dream Big

Heading into the U.S. national finals, Microsoft’s signature technology competition has reached 1.25 million students worldwide over the past 10 years.

REDMOND, Wash. — April 20, 2012 — Across every industry — from healthcare to transportation and agriculture to infrastructure — the world has a never-ending need for inspired minds to find creative solutions that solve tough challenges. Yet it’s been estimated that 1 million science and engineering jobs will go unfilled in the U.S. alone over the next three to five years.

According to Mark Hindsbo, vice president of Microsoft’s U.S. Developer & Platform Evangelism Group, that’s why programs like the Imagine Cup are so important. Encouraging students to develop technology-based solutions for real-world issues, and inspiring them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, has been the mission of Microsoft’s signature technology competition for the past decade. Hindsbo has been involved with the competition since its beginnings. Every year, he says, the judges are amazed by the contestants’ projects and enthusiasm. (more…)

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Meet the Team Making Windows Phone Faster and More Powerful

*Members of the Windows Phone customer experience engineering team talk about their work on new developments in mobile phone technology – and what else excites them.*

REDMOND, Wash. – April 16, 2012 – New models of Windows Phone will be equipped with LTE (long-term evolution) capabilities, thanks to a small team of engineers at Microsoft. The Windows Phone Customer Experience Engineering (CXE) team recently finished a project that makes Windows Phones on the AT&T network, such as the new Nokia Lumina 900 and HTC Titan II phones announced last week, LTE-capable.

Not many U.S. cities in the AT&T network currently have LTE service, but Microsoft and its partners are staying ahead of customer demand. That’s what the Windows Phone CXE team is all about: creating leading-edge mobile technology before customers need it, and laying the foundation for new applications and functionality that even they can’t predict. (more…)

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Microsoft Announces Largest Cloud Customer Ever: All India Council for Technical Education to Reach 7 Million With Live@edu

*AICTE adopts cloud to improve technical education and prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow.*

NEW DELHI and REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) announced today that AICTE is deploying Microsoft Live@edu over the next three months to more than 10,000 technical colleges and institutes throughout India. The cloud deployment will expand students’ access to high-quality technical education and collaboration.

Live@edu is a hosted communication and collaboration service that offers email, Microsoft Office Web Apps, instant messaging and storage to AICTE’s more than 7 million students and nearly 500,000 faculty members, for a total reach of 7.5 million users — roughly double the size of the Los Angeles population — making AICTE Microsoft’s largest cloud customer ever. Live@edu is the first step in AICTE’s deployment of Microsoft cloud computing for education. AICTE also plans to deploy Microsoft Office 365 for education when it becomes available later this year, providing access to Microsoft Exchange Online email and calendar, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and Microsoft Office Professional as the technical infrastructure to support member colleges and institutes. (more…)

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Microsoft’s Certifications Reinvented for the Cloud

*New program reflects changes coming to IT jobs.*

REDMOND, Wash. — April 11, 2012— Microsoft today announced that it has reinvented its certification program to directly address technology’s evolution to the cloud.

Organizations are increasingly turning to the cloud to improve productivity, cut costs and fuel business growth. By 2015 IT innovation produced by the cloud could create US$1.1 trillion a year in new business revenues according to a recent IDC study (1). As a result, top of mind for companies today is making sure they have the right skills and people in place to help them fully realize the benefits the cloud has to offer. (more…)

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Release of New 4G Phones a Milestone for Windows Phone, Nokia Partnership

*AT&T today launched two new 4G LTE-capable Windows Phones – the sleek, award-winning Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II. The launch is an important milestone for partners Microsoft and Nokia, and an AT&T spokesman said the Lumia 900 will be a centerpiece of its spring advertising campaign.*

REDMOND, Wash. – April 9, 2012 – AT&T today launched two new devices, the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II, the first Windows Phones available on the mobile operator’s speedy 4G long-term evolution (LTE) network.

The launch is a milestone for Microsoft and partner Nokia, and also for AT&T, which is giving the award-winning Lumia 900 top billing as one of the centerpieces of its spring retail and marketing campaign. (more…)

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‘Kinect Star Wars:’ A Tour de Force by Fans, for Fans

*Meet the Force-sensitive fans who helped bring the Star Wars universe to life in “Kinect Star Wars,” the ultimate Jedi experience for Padawans of all ages.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Abby Lee walked into a Seattle toy store recently and purchased two LEGO Darth Vader alarm clocks, a Star Wars pop-up book, and a few LEGO speeder bikes. The bemused checkout clerk asked if she was going to a birthday party.

“No,” Lee replied. “I’m going to work.” (more…)

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