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Microsoft

Microsoft launches Xbox One X in India

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Earlier this month, Microsoft inadvertently confirmed the Xbox One X’s arrival in India and as expected, here it is. The most powerful gaming console is available now across all online and large offline retailers. This is a huge step up from Microsoft’s original strategy of selling the Xbox One online only.

Priced at Rs. 44,990, the console is expensive than Sony’s PS4 Pro but Microsoft’s offering gives native 4K gaming along with support for Xbox 360 backward compatible games. Additionally, the Xbox One X supports HDR for better visuals and Dolby Atmos for audio. It can also play 4K Blu-ray movies, making it superior to the PlayStation that can only stream in 4K.

Microsoft Kaizala to help companies communicate more efficiently

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Microsoft India launched Microsoft Kaizala, a mobile-only product designed for large group communications and work management today. The company also announced its enterprise version, Kaizala Pro that allows organisations to have full administrative control of their groups.

The app makes it simple for organisations to communicate, collaborate and complete tasks thereby bringing together desktop and mobile-only users who might be within or outside their organisation. Since nowadays they are spreading out across the country, connectivity has become a priority. This is especially evident in industries like construction, manufacturing, insurance and healthcare. Kaizala will help organisations easily coordinate tasks across the value chain and gain actionable insights by just using their mobile number as their primary unique ID.

Microsoft Kaizala is powered by Microsoft Azure which is Microsoft’s cloud platform. Currently it is being used by YES Bank, Apollo Telemedicine, Republic TV, United Phosphorous Limited and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, who are piloting it for their internal teams. The Government of Andhra Pradesh is one of the first government organisations to use it for real time governance.

The Pro version has additional features that include user and group management, system integration and automation using Microsoft Kaizala APIs, advanced reporting and analytics, ability to push custom actions, ability to create public groups and organisational profile and directory. The pro version has a charge of Rs.130 per month for each administrative user.

This is the Xbox One X, the most powerful 4K and HDR console ever made

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Microsoft has taken to E3 2017 to reveal its next console, previously rumoured as Project Scorpio, this will be called the Xbox One X.

Microsoft has not only revealed the next generation super powerful console but has also released its price and release date. The Microsoft Xbox One X will be available from 7 November this year and will cost £449.

Whoa, that’s the most expensive console ever – we hear you say. You’re quite right. But there’s a reason. Despite the Xbox One X being smaller than the current Xbox One S – which will stay on sale – this is far, far more powerful.

For one thing, the Xbox One X has a 4K UHD and HDR Blu-ray player built in, so it’s already got one up on Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro. Then you get down to the raw power.

Xbox One X specs and details

The Xbox One X comes sporting eight custom x86 cores clocked in at 2.3GHz. The graphics chip also offers heaps of power thanks to a 6 teraflops unit clocked at 1.172GHz and backed by 12GB/s of GDDR5 memory. Even the memory bandwidth is staggering at 326GB/s. As we mentioned this is also smaller than previous consoles thanks to a liquid-cooled vapour chamber.

All that means 4K and HDR playback at 60fps, Dolby Atmos sound and a wide colour gamut for seriously stunning gaming and movies.

Thankfully the Xbox One X will also be backwards compatible meaning your current controllers and games, some of which get upscaled, will work with it just fine – a good thing when you consider the price of this beast.

Here’s hoping the Xbox One X doesn’t sell out right away when it goes on sale later this year on 7 November despite that $499/£449 price.

There’s no word on the Indian pricing or availability.

New Surface Pro officially unveiled: specs, price and release date confirmed

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Microsoft has officially unveiled the new Surface Pro, the successor to its popular Surface Pro 4 laptop-tablet hybrid, as well as the Surface Laptop at the company’s event in Shanghai, China.

Here are the core details you need to know:

Price: $799 USD (starting at)

Release date: June 15, 2017

Pre-orders are now live.

And here is the new Microsoft Surface Pro’s launch video:

https://youtu.be/TwWs2jIy4js

New Surface Pro

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The new Surface Pro, images of which leaked late last week, is lighter than the Surface Pro 4 (weight sits at 1.7lbs), has a redesigned speaker system, comes packing an Intel Core i7 (7th Gen) processor, a 12.3” PixelSense touch display (267ppi and 3:2 aspect ratio), a 13.5-hour battery life (that’s 50 per cent more than the Surface Pro 4), a quieter internal fan (18dB with core i7 installed), next-generation hinge-system and a tilt-sensitive Surface Pen capable of 4096 levels of pressure. There are also new Alacantara keyboards and a Studio Mode, while support for LTE Advanced will be available in units shipping later in the year.

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The new Surface Pro will start at $799 (top spec is $2,699) and offers an array of colour-on-colour options for the new Surface Pro Signature Type Cover, new Surface Pen, and the Microsoft Surface Acr Mouse.

The new Surface Pro will launch on June 15, 2017, in 25 markets.

Here is a short video showing off the new tilt-sensitive Surface Pen in action:

https://twitter.com/OfficeNews/status/866990197329756160

And here is another short video showing off the new Surface Pro’s bendable Arc mouse:

Pre-orders for the new Surface Pro and Surface Pro Signature Type Cover are now live in select markets at Microsoft Store, Microsoft.com, BestBuy.com, and JD.com where available. The new Surface Pen will be available in the coming weeks.

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New Surface Laptop

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Here is the new Surface Laptop’s launch video:

Microsoft HoloLens

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Microsoft also announced that its HoloLens Development Edition and Commercial Suite is now available in China. We had mixed opinions on HoloLens when going hands on with the system last year, however, there was no doubting the quality of the technology on display or its potential applications, so this can only be a positive step forward.

Now you can stream your Xbox One library to Oculus Rift

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Microsoft has partnered with Oculus Rift to enable users to stream their Xbox One library to the VR device with the use of the new Xbox One Streaming to Oculus Rift app. Currently, games like Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Halo 5: Guardians, indies and Backward Compatible Xbox 360 games are playable with more titles coming in 2017.

The app connects to the users Xbox One via their home network and once connected, the console’s video output is streamed to the Rift headset and projected onto a screen of your choice. The three currently available VR environments are Citadel, Retreat and Dome.

An Xbox One Wireless Controller is also included with every Oculus Rift purchase. With the use of the Xbox Wireless Adapter and new PCs with native Xbox Wireless support, users can play games on the Rift using the controller wirelessly right out of the box.

The app is available for free in the Oculus Store starting 12 December.