The name GitHub may not mean much to you, but for developers it's a big deal. GitHub is the largest host of source code in the world; it hosts over 57 million project repositories and over 28 million users rely on it to keep that code safe and accessible. Now Microsoft owns it. Bloomberg initially reported a rumor that Microsoft was about to acquire GitHub, and now Microsoft has confirmed the acqusition for an eye-watering $7.5 billion in Microsoft stock. Back in 2015, the company was valued at roughly $2 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the acqusition, stating "Microsoft is a developer-first company, and by joining forces with GitHub we strengthen our commitment to developer freedom, openness and innovation... We recognize the community responsibility we take on with this agreement and will do our best work to empower every developer to build, innovate and solve the world's most pressing challenges." Talk of an acquisition concerned developers yesterday, who were … [Read more...] about Microsoft to Acquire GitHub for $7.5B
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Microsoft Ends Sales of Its Band Fitness Tracker
Microsoft plans to phase out its Microsft Band fitness tracker, the second cutting-edge tech product to face a day of reckoning after live-streaming app Meerkat also announced it would close its doors. Like Meerkat, which was an alternative to the more popular Twitter-owned Periscope live streaming platform, this wearable struggled to compete in the wearables market. It had been teeming with features not found in many other activity trackers, though it suffered from an uncomfortable design and an awkward touchscreen. Microsoft confirmed that it has stopped selling the latest Microsoft Band 2 on its website and has no immediate plans to introduce a successor. "We have sold through our existing Microsoft Band 2 inventory and have no plans to release another [device of a similar nature] this year," the company said in a statement to ZDNet. "We remain committed to supporting our Microsoft Band 2 customers through Microsoft Stores and our customer support channels and will continue to … [Read more...] about Microsoft Ends Sales of Its Band Fitness Tracker
Microsoft Rolls Out New Office 365 CRM App for Small Businesses
Microsoft is giving small-to-mid size businesses (SMBs) a new sales and marketing tool with the release of Outlook Customer Manager, a customer relationship management (CRM) application within the Microsoft Outlook email client. Available through the 'Customer Manager' tab in the toolbar, Outlook Customer Manager is an automated organisational tool designed to surface emails, events, documents, tasks, and other interactions to help business users more effectively manage customer relationships. Outlook Customer Manager essentially turns Outlook into a smart sales inbox. When you click on the tab in the Microsoft Outlook 2016 toolbar, it brings up a timeline view of automatically organised sales information including calls, deadlines, deals, emails, files, meetings, notes, and tasks related to specific customers. The app exists entirely within Microsoft Office 365. According to Microsoft, the information in the timeline is gathered from email, calendar, and call log data pulled from … [Read more...] about Microsoft Rolls Out New Office 365 CRM App for Small Businesses
Microsoft and Intel’s PC Revolution Is Called ‘Project Evo’
Microsoft used the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC)—being held in Shenzhen, China this week—to announce a new collaboration with Intel It is called 'Project Evo'. This idea is aimed at revolutionising four key areas of the Windows 10 experience—artificial intelligence (AI), security, mixed reality, and gaming—with the ultimate goal of making Windows PCs the central hub of your home entertainment in 2017. The first area Project Evo aims to improve is communication through Microsoft Cortana. Rather than catering to a person sitting at a PC, Microsoft and Intel will expand that to allow Cortana to function across an entire room. Think Amazon Echo, but Microsoft's take using a PC). Next up is security, which is always a concern for any device connected to the Internet. Microsoft wants users to see Windows 10 as a secure environment, so it's increasing protection against malware and hacking. Windows Hello already offers the ability to securely … [Read more...] about Microsoft and Intel’s PC Revolution Is Called ‘Project Evo’
Microsoft: Facial-Recognition Tech Needs to Be Regulated
Microsoft is calling on the US government to regulate facial-recognition systems amid growing concerns the technology will one day be abused. It's not every day a tech company calls for regulation, particularly Microsoft. But on Friday, company president Brad Smith said the potential dangers of facial-recognition technology are too serious for the tech industry and elected officials to ignore. "We live in a nation of laws, and the government needs to play an important role in regulating facial-recognition technology," he wrote in a lengthy blog post. Last month, Microsoft itself faced criticism for purportedly supplying facial-recognition systems to US border authorities. A number of company employees protested the work, and called on Microsoft to cancel the contract. On Friday, Smith said the contract with border authorities merely pertained to supporting office software such as email, calendar and messaging. But he acknowledged the potential dark side of facial recognition … [Read more...] about Microsoft: Facial-Recognition Tech Needs to Be Regulated