REDMOND, Wash. — June 12, 2019 — Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share. The dividend is payable Sept. 12, 2019, to shareholders of record on Aug. 15, 2019. The ex-dividend date will be Aug. 14, 2019.
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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Investor Relations, Microsoft, (425) 706-4400
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Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com
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KelechukwuIruoma and Ruth Olorounbi comprise a team investigating the toxic effects of oil spillage in Ogoniland, Nigeria, which has led to poisoned farmlands and compromised reproductive health. An estimated 13 million barrels of oil have been spilled since 1958: This makes an annual average 240,000 barrels of crude in the Niger delta, destroying the local livelihood and the very population’s survival. An award-winning investigative freelance journalist, Iruoma covers environment, education, agriculture and health in Nigeria. He is a reporting fellow of ICFJ and International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and has been trained by the organizations as Premium Times Center for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and Global Rights Nigeria.
His reporting partner Olurounbi is the business editor at Per Second News, a U.S.-based organization. The Wole Soyinka Female Leadership and ICIR fellow has covered development and human right issues, business, and agriculture for more than 10 years. When she’s not writing, the award-winning journalist mentors young girls in her local community.
The second project is one man’s cultural retrospective on a country’s re-emergence to a superpower and tourist destination.Philip Cunningham’s story will take him across the globe, about 7,000 miles from his New York base to Beijing. A seasoned broadcast reporter, producer and documentary filmmaker who started as a Chinese history researcher and tour guide in China, he has worked with outlets like PBS, ABC, NBC, BBC, NHK and CCTV and has witnessed key events like the 1989 Tiananmen uprising, the 1999 anti-U.S. demonstrations, and the 2008 Olympics. His goal is to create an immersive travel odyssey of Beijing across time and space that’s at once personal and political, cultural and historical. In addition to plumbing his photo and video archive, a past Nieman Fellow and Fulbright scholar, Cunningham plans to revisit key locations — some of which have changed beyond recognition. Since his first visit in 1983, not only has China changed radically, but so has journalism and the toolkits for a documentarian. A student’s retelling of one of his own stories inspired Cunningham to explore how the latest technologies might enrich the age-old art of storytelling.
Two very different stories, both told and amplified through immersive storytelling.
Supporting these three journalists has been part of our larger effort to help newsrooms and journalists deliver impactful stories and empower them through technology to find, create, and share information in unprecedented ways. We operate on the industry and individual level: be it hosting workshops at NICAR in southern California and the upcoming GEN Summit in Athens, working directly with newsrooms like the AP or Recode or assisting individuals like our ICFJ grant recipients, our goal is help journalism in what is our shared values: the pursuit of truth so that people and communities can make the best decisions in their daily lives to guide their future sustainability.
We look forward to sharing stories on what the ICFJ grantees are learning and how they are affecting change in these communities. Please visit ICFJ to see and support all the tremendous projects it is undertaking–and while you’re at it, wish the center a happy 35th anniversary.
Redmond, Washington, has been home to Microsoft’s 500-acre main campus since 1986.Thispast January,demolition began on a multi-year campus remodel.
This project will result in 17 new buildings; 6.7 million square feet of renovated workspace; and $150 million in transportation infrastructure improvements, public spaces, sports fields and green spaces.The new campus will be a modern workspace that fosters a sense of community.
Click through the images below to look at how the campus has changed over the years.
Breaking ground, then: In 1985, Microsoft moved its headquarters from Bellevue, Washington, to nearby Redmond. The original campus included six buildings constructed on its wooded, 30-acre setting.
Breaking ground, now: Demolition begins in January 2019, as Microsoft modernizes its headquarters. Thirteen buildings will be decommissioned using sustainable practices.
Changing office space, then: an employee at work in 1989.
Changing office space, now: Treehouses are part of a larger redesign that gives people the chance to work outside.
Life on campus, then: a soccer match in 1996.
Life on campus, now: In addition to a soccer field for recreation, the Commons, which was completed in 2009, is a place where employees can shop and eat.
Dining options, then: meal prep in 1999.
Dining options, now: Microsoft now has more than a dozen places to eat on campus.
An evolving design, then: Microsoft’s original 1980s-era, X-shaped buildings.
An evolving design, now: a view of Microsoft’s future campus.
The Hack is back! Hack the Classroom will be streaming live on the Microsoft Education Facebook channel from ISTE in Philadelphia–Tuesday, June 25th from 6:15 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. EST! After the Facebook event, we’ll be switching over to Twitter around 7:10 p.m. EST for a live Q&A with our presenters and studio audience.
RSVP & join us Tuesday, June 25th from 6:15–7:10 p.m. EST on Facebook here. Please note: the livestream will kick-off from our Microsoft Education page, but we will add a direct link to the livestream on the event page as soon as we are streaming live on Tuesday, June 25th.
Join us on the @MicrosoftEDU Twitter channel and ask our speakers your questions immediately after the Facebook livestream.
What’s it all about?
Hack the Classroom is a live, digital event devoted to changemakers in education and the passionate innovators driving student-centered learning. Join us and learn from educators who are integrating technology in order to better connect with and support students as they become active and engaged learners. These determined educators will generously share their techniques and philosophies for creating better student outcomes so that you can apply them in your own classroom the very next week! These events are interactive, so join, ask questions, share and connect with educators from all over the world. You can check out past events and see last year’s Hack the Classroom live from ISTE here.
Who’s in the live event this time?
This Hack the Classroom will focus on student-centered learning and how supporting students’ social and emotional well-being can improve all aspects of learning. During the live event, we’ll debut our next Changemaker story about Microsoft Innovative Educator, Samantha Skubal from Chicago, Illinois.
We will also be sharing stories from superstar students and teachers from the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, who’ll share how they’ve embraced our free Hacking STEM lessons in their classrooms.
Tune in to see:
Jessica Tozzi, I Promise School(Ohio, US), share how her school is empowering students through a focus on social-emotional learning.
Samantha Skubal, Sterling Morton District (Illinois, US), show how she is providing real-world, future-ready experiences through their Technology Internship Program.
Luis Oliveira, Middletown H.S. (Rhode Island, US), demonstrate how he is supporting autonomous learning for English Language Learners through Immersive Reader and Flipgrid.
Jen Padernal, De La Salle University Night College(Philippines), provide her top tips for engaging students through a virtual classroom in Microsoft Teams.
Toney Jackson, Nellie K. Parker Elementary School(New Jersey, US), close us out again with another original poem that will leave you inspired.
Receive an HTC participant badge and 500 points on our Educator Community. Once you’ve earned 1,000 points, you become a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator!
Today’s special E3 edition of Inside Xbox was chock-full of world premiere trailers, developer interviews, exclusive gameplay and general celebration of all things gaming and E3.
We delved deep into the hectic, strategic and violent new game mode for Gears 5, Escape, with Rod Fergusson and showcased the fast and fluid 4v4 competitive gameplay of Ninja Theory’s brand new IP, Bleeding Edge. We welcomed Phil Spencer to the stage to discuss Team Xbox’s vision for gaming, plumbed the depths of Halo Infinite’s moving new trailer with Chris Lee, got details on the incredible partnership with Smilegate to bring Crossfire X to Xbox One, and gave a hearty welcome to Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, the newest member of the Xbox Game Studios Family.
Also highlighted on stage were Sea of Thieves, including their brand new Halo-themed livery – available now until June 15 at 4:00 pm PT – Watch Dogs: Legion, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, State of Decay 2’s new story-focused expansion Heartland (Trumbull Valley lives!), and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, along with world premiere trailers for The Surge 2, Code Vein, Age of Wonders: Planetfall, Zombie Army 4, Journey to the Savage Planet, and Phoenix Point.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Inside Xbox if it didn’t break some news along the way.
Inside Xbox revealed the final wave of backward compatibility announcements for Xbox One, as the engineering team that brought one of the most beloved Xbox One features to life moves on to ensure your Xbox One library is backward compatible on Project Scarlett.
The team announced eight new original Xbox game entries into the backward compatibility catalogue: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, Armed and Dangerous, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.
The newly announced Xbox 360 backward compatibility titles are Asura’s Wrath, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, Enchanted Arms, Far Cry Classic, Far Cry Instinct Predator, Infinite Discovery, Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Movie of the Game, Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands, Skate, Star Ocean, Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo, The Syndicate, Unreal Tournament 3, and Too Human, which is available right now for free in the Microsoft Store.
Finally, eight Rare classics have received the Xbox One X Enhanced treatment: Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark and Perfect Dark Zero.
The team also announced some exciting new updates coming to Gamertags! First, you’ll now be able to use character scripts to represent over 200 languages, with even more support coming in the future. This means you can use characters native to your own language in your Gamertag.
You’ll also be able to now select any name you like for your Gamertag. If someone else has selected the same Gamertag, you’ll be assigned a 3-4 digit ID suffix separate you from those that have chosen the same Gamertag.
Finally, if you like your current Gamertag, nothing changes. Yours will always be the original version of that Gamertag and will not include a numerical suffix. For all the details on the coming updates to Gamertags, check out the blog post here.
X019
Phil Spencer announced the return of our global celebration of all things Xbox, with X019 slated for November 2019 in London. The event will be filled with news, first looks and plenty of surprises, all kicking off with the biggest Inside Xbox episode of the year. Thousands of fans will join in person, and we’ll have more details on how to participate in X019 at gamescom in August.
Inside Xbox may be done, but the there’s plenty more left in store during E3 week. Keep your eyes peeled on Mixer.com/Mixer for wall-to-wall E3 coverage throughout the week, and don’t forget to check out the full episode of Inside Xbox.
2019 release wave 2 plan, AI Builder, updated AI capabilities, and a new look for Power BI, PowerApps Portals, and enhancements for Microsoft Flow all coming this year.
Today, I had the opportunity to join more than 4,500 members of our community at the Microsoft Business Applications Summit (MBAS) in Atlanta. MBAS is a special event for us because it’s our chance to connect in person with the makers, thinkers, and developers that make up our community.
This is also a moment when we get to showcase some of the amazing work our customers are doing. We’re thrilled to have so many customers join us in Atlanta this year, including G&J Pepsi and Grant Thornton, who joined me onstage during the opening keynote.
We’re also sharing some important news this week.
First—a first look at the 2019 release wave 2 plans! For those who want to see what’s coming, you can dive into the Dynamics 365 2019 release wave 2 plan and Power Platform 2019 release wave 2 plan. We look forward to telling you more about the 2019 release wave 2 in the coming months before these features go live starting October 1st.
Second—we’re announcing important Power Platform advancements.
Earlier this year I outlined our vision for the Power Platform. Along with Satya and the rest of the leadership team, I am bullish and enthusiastic for all things Power Platform. But what I appreciate most is the work of our community and what they DO with the Power Platform.
Today, we are giving our community more tools so they can take full advantage of what the Power Platform has to offer. On behalf of the entire team, I am incredibly proud to announce the following:
AI Builder and PowerApps Portals—two brand new capabilities
Accelerating intelligent automation in Microsoft Flow with built-in AI
Updated AI capabilities and an exciting new look for Power BI
This is a great time to be innovating with Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform, and I love being on this journey with you all. Please find more information below about today’s news along with details for how customers and partners like G&J Pepsi are already taking advantage of this work.
Introducing AI Builder
Today, we’re excited to announce AI Builder, the no-code AI capability on the Power Platform supporting PowerApps and Flow.
AI Builder enables everyone to leverage AI and machine learning to make their apps and automations more intelligent. It takes common AI scenarios and provides point-and-click solutions for app makers to solve everyday tasks like forms processing, object detection, and text and binary classification.
PowerApps already enables employees to easily create applications for your business. AI Builder now provides a way for app makers—professional and citizen developers alike—to add AI capabilities to those apps.
The potential uses for AI Builder span industries and scenarios for banking, hospitality, manufacturing, and more. For example, an organization may want to improve customer service so they can use AI to analyze customer feedback responses, map them into categories, and generate an AI model to classify and respond to customer feedback as it’s received.
The new AI Builder enables users to easily add AI capabilities to PowerApps and Microsoft Flow.
G&J Pepsi, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, has more than 1,600 employees focused on manufacturing, distributing, and marketing the full line of Pepsi-Cola products. The G&J Pepsi IT team used AI Builder and PowerApps to create the next generation of their Store Audit App, enabling better mobility and efficiency for field personnel whose job is to assess product needs on the shelves in stores.
“With AI Builder, we were able to easily build an AI model to help automatically identify and track our products using the object detection model. For our field worker, it’s now as simple as taking a photo and letting AI builder do the rest.” – Eric McKinney, Enterprise Business Systems Manager at G&J Pepsi.
Delivering intelligence in Microsoft Flow
The no-code AI Builder capability is also coming to Microsoft Flow. Flow provides a powerful visual experience for a range of users to build everything from personal automation to business-critical enterprise-wide processes. With AI Builder, we are now making it easier for users and organizations to optimize these processes with intelligence without having advanced knowledge of how AI works.
For example, Flow makers can now extract meaningful data from images and text that can drive logic in their processes. Today, many processes involve paper forms such as a rental or job application. Historically, the first step in processing these forms would be to have someone look at the paper and manually type in each of the fields on their PC.
Now with AI Builder and Microsoft Flow, flows can automatically pick up scanned documents from an incoming email or a file server and recognize all the content. Based on the values in the form, different steps can run—from sending out simple notifications to performing a credit check.
Microsoft Flow enables users to automatically process and route analog forms.
Beyond parsing content in documents, AI Builder can also learn based on historical performance. For example, it can predict the risk of an application and, depending on how high that risk is, add additional approval actions to a business process. All of this is possible for Flow makers without having any expertise or experience with AI by leveraging guided, point-and-click experiences.
Leveraging blockchain in PowerApps and Microsoft Flow
Blockchain can bring trust and transparency to business processes that span multiple business partners. Using blockchain is easier than ever with the ability to write low-code applications using the Power Platform and Azure Blockchain Service.
Applications built on blockchain using PowerApps and Microsoft Flow can easily create attestable workflows that bring together data from every point in the business process across the value chain. For mobile clients, PowerApps enables developers to effortlessly capture all of the information from the phone’s sensors (barcodes, photos, GPS coordinates, etc.) and send it to a smart contract on a blockchain. Using connectors for popular enterprise blockchains in Microsoft Flow, you can easily integrate blockchain with popular SaaS, legacy enterprise systems, web and messaging services, and different types of data technologies.
Some industry examples that leverage the power of blockchain and the Power Platform include:
Multi-party supply chain: Building applications and workflows that provide irrefutable proof of delivery of shipments to manage shrinkage risk between point-of-manufacturing and point-of-sales.
Food safety: Users can get real time insights when goods that can be impacted by temperature and humidity are in transit. Blockchain can provide real time insight with trustworthy data that can help avoid costly public health issues, streamline return processes, and dispute resolution.
Attest genuine media: Many industries have a need to ensure that documents have not been tampered with. Build applications that can attest and/or validate that media is genuine with PowerApps and Flow.
Announcing PowerApps Portals
PowerApps can now reach users external to an organization with PowerApps Portals, coming soon to public preview.
PowerApps customers can now create websites that can be accessed by external users with a wide variety of identities including personal accounts, LinkedIn, and other Azure Active Directory organizations, and enable anonymous access to content. Portals works exclusively over data in the Common Data Service and customers benefit from its robust security and advanced capabilities for modelling business processes, which now includes low-code AI with the release of AI Builder.
PowerApps Portals also comes with a reimagined maker experience, embracing the core PowerApps principle of low-code productivity for everyone. With these new capabilities, app makers can create a website from scratch using pre-built templates, and then customize the layout and content using components like forms, views, and dashboards.
Portals capability was previously only available as an add-on to Dynamics 365 and is used extensively by customers including the University of Canterbury, Internet Initiative Japan, and Wineshipping to serve millions of users for scenarios like partner management, customer support, community feedback, employee benefits, and more. With this release, we’re enabling the creation of a custom portal directly from PowerApps.com using the Common Data Service, which will open new categories of use cases.
With PowerApps Portals, users can now create websites that can be accessed by external users.
New AI capabilities in Power BI
Power BI is a popular tool that millions of users trust for exploring data. More than 25 million models are hosted in the Power BI service, more than 12 million queries are processed each hour, and more than 20 petabytes of data are ingested into the Power BI service each month.
Today, we’re excited to announce new Power BI AI capabilities, and more.
Power BI has been a pioneer in applying AI to business intelligence and making AI accessible to everyone. We recently previewed several new AI capabilities that enable users to detect objects in images, analyze free-form text, build new machine learning models, and automatically understand what drives outcomes, all with point-and-click simplicity.
We have important updates to Power BI AI capabilities:
Text and image analytics in Power BI powered by Azure Cognitive Services, and the ability to invoke Azure ML models are both now generally available.
We’re announcing two new AI visuals: Distribution Changes analyzes what makes a distribution look different, and the Decomposition Tree enables users to drill into any dimension to understand what is driving a key metric.
We are expanding Power BI’s vision and text analytics capabilities and adding entity detection and text and handwriting recognition, enabling one-click transformations for insights on unstructured data.
For enterprises that need custom lifecycle management or further tuning, models created in Power BI can be exported to Azure ML.
And finally, we are extending Power BI’s natural language capabilities. The new updates include the ability to train Q&A so it understands and adapts to company-specific language like synonyms, phrasings, or specific domains, and the ability for report authors to see every natural-language question asked so they can make adjustments to how Power BI responds.
Kinepolis is a cinema group operating 53 complexes throughout Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Poland, as well as 44 cinemas in Canada. The company uses Power BI AI capabilities to understand how they can improve their visitor experience by analyzing the sentiment of customer reviews and tweets.
“Kinepolis serves visitors in and from many countries, who vocalize their opinion through various channels. With text analytics in Power BI, we are able to structure and analyze all this feedback. It allows us to score the sentiment of our visitor reviews without investing in the data science behind it.” – Carlo Wambeke, technical lead BI at Kinepolis.
Welcoming a new look for Power BI
In addition to the updates above, we’re also releasing a new look for Power BI, so it’s more closely aligned to the experiences in Office 365 already familiar to users around the world. The new user interface makes it easier than ever to create reports, explore data, get answers, and make decisions without having to learn specialized skills.
We’re also making users more productive through new features like report commenting which allows people to collaborate on their data, and Siri shortcuts for our iOS mobile app, simplifying how users find data.
The new Power BI UI makes it easier than ever for users to explore data in a style that is familiar from Office 365.
New capabilities for a unified enterprise business intelligence platform
Organizations can now move to one modern, compliant platform as the single destination for business analytics with key enterprise-facing updates on enterprise-grade semantic models and reporting at worldwide scale. Paginated reports, available for over a decade in SQL Server and a staple of corporate reporting solutions, are generally available in Power BI this month, enabling pixel-perfect formatting and advanced export options. Additionally, organizations can encourage reuse and create a single source of truth with certified datasets, now available in preview. With future capabilities for data lineage, administrators can understand usage and plan changes.
For more information on today’s news, please refer to the following blogs:
A report commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by EY says the UAE has seen the second highest AI investment over the past decade, more than USD $2.15 billion
One in five companies in the country consider AI as their top digital priority
94% of C-suite leadership consider ‘AI strategy’ as an important topic and 35% of non-managerial staff are actively having AI discussions
June 10, 2019 – Dubai, UAE: New research shows the state of AI within businesses across the UAE is expected to improve dramatically over the next three years, particularly as a growing number of executives look to AI to drive their digital agendas.
Already, 18% of businesses in the country consider AI their most important digital priority. This is according to the AI Maturity Report in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) Click here – a new study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by EY.
Much of the UAE’s progress in elevating the AI agenda is a direct result of leaders across the country recognising that the technology is quickly becoming a key differentiator across all sectors and actively pursuing their AI agendas accordingly.
In fact, 94% of companies in the UAE report involvement in AI at executive management level – the highest percentage of any surveyed country in MEA.
“When we examine companies with high AI maturity, it’s clear that the technology is driven directly by the CEOs themselves. This high level of involvement typically results in greater investment in AI, broader adopti on and a greater number of successful implementations,” says Sayed Hashish, regional general manager at Microsoft Gulf.
Leadership capability in the UAE is also rated high when compared with other countries in MEA. While 64% of respondents believe they have moderate, little or no AI leadership competency, 24% of executives in the UAE rated themselves as highly competent, with another 46 percent indicating they are either competent or very competent.
Most companies still consider themselves to be in the planned phase of AI maturity, meaning AI has not yet been put to active use. On the opposite end of the spectrum, just 8% of businesses perceive themselves as advanced in their application of AI.
A top regional investor
It’s not surprising that the UAE is the second highest regional investor in AI over the past ten years, investing $2.15 billion in total. The bulk of this investment went towards social media and Internet of Things (IoT) transactions. This was followed by notable spend across a further eight technologies, including smart mobile, gamification, and machine learning.
In fact, respondents ranked machine learning as the most useful AI technology, with primary emphasis placed on decision support solutions. This was followed by smart robotics and text analysis, where customer interactions were the key focus.
A healthy attitude towards new technology
The UAE’s open culture around AI is another highly positive indicator of the health of the technology within the country. 94% of UAE companies have ‘AI Strategy’ as an important topic at C-suite level and a significant 35% of companies say AI discussions are filtering down from top management right the way through to non-managerial levels.
As a result, employees in the UAE are less afraid of losing their jobs to AI than employees in other countries. In fact, they embrace opportunities to participate in skills training and pilot programmes.
Building a solid foundation for AI
Though UAE executives are providing clear direction for the development of AI within the country, converting this vision to actionable output remains a challenge. This is largely because many UAE companies are still building the foundations needed to develop AI maturity, including suitable infrastructure and good quality data.
“The biggest problem to date with AI is that it isn’t always right – AI has given us the ability to make data-driven predictions, decisions and actions faster than ever before, but it is only as effective as the data and algorithms it relies on,” says Steve Plimsoll, MENA Data & Intelligence advisory leader, EY. “So, while it’s great to see local companies investing in adoption of AI, the focus must be on building trust – that the underlying data and algorithms are reliable, the models ethical and the predictions are measurable and as accurate as they can be. Without trust, AI will be never fully move from fiction into reality.”
“Executives across the UAE are already investing significantly in the training and education of their employees. At the same time, businesses are engaging with external parties to promote skills transfer and making a concerted effort to identify relevant use cases for AI,” continues Microsoft’s Hashish. “In the past, organisations have undervalued the importance of their data assets, meaning their competencies around structured data governance and data stewardship are still developing. And it will take time for businesses to start producing large volumes of high quality, well-managed data.
“The country has made significant progress in elevating its AI agenda over the past three years, and all indicators point to the near future bringing significant improvement in the application of the technology as well.”
Customers a key focus
UAE companies are, in general, heavily focused on customer engagement when it comes to AI. The use of chatbots in the marketing space has become common, largely because they enhance the customer experience, ultimately demonstrating obvious value to management.
As with most other businesses across the region, UAE respondents expect AI to deliver greater operational efficiencies, drive down costs and, most importantly, enable them to be more competitive. Specifically, companies within the Emirates view prediction (76%) and automation (76%) as the most relevant applications of AI for their businesses.
Despite such challenges, 65% of UAE companies rate themselves as highly to very competent when it comes to drawing on external alliances to strengthen their AI capabilities. Ultimately, this enables executives to kick-start AI programmes, leveraging external competencies while growing their internal capacity.
To download the full report on the UAE’s AI outlook, click here
Xbox E3 Briefing spotlights 14 games from Xbox Game Studios, unveils what’s next for Xbox Game Pass, and offers a first look at Project Scarlett
LOS ANGELES — JUNE 9, 2019 — Xbox showcased a blockbuster lineup of 60 anticipated games for both console and PC in its Xbox E3 Briefing and shared a glimpse of the future with Project Scarlett, which launches alongside “Halo Infinite” in 2020. Headlined by the biggest game of 2019, “Gears 5,” along with 34 games premiering in Xbox Game Pass, the Xbox E3 Briefing delivered 11 world premieres and a record 14 games from Xbox Game Studios, which will soon include legendary game development studio Double Fine Productions.
“It’s great to celebrate with our incredible fans and show how we are delivering against our vision to empower gamers to play the games they want, with the friends they want, wherever they want,” said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox. “With thousands of Xbox games in development, we curated our show around our players, with new titles premiering in Xbox Game Pass across console and PC, and game streaming that enables them to play their favorite games, with their friends, wherever they go.”
THE BEST WAY TO DISCOVER GREAT GAMES ON CONSOLE AND PC
PC gamers around the world can now join the Xbox Game Pass for PC beta through the new Xbox app, which is available today on Windows 10. Xbox Game Pass for PC is designed specifically for PC gamers with a curated library of over 100 high-quality PC games from over 75 developers and publishers including fan-favorite PC titles like “Football Manager 2019,” “Imperator: Rome” and “Metro Exodus.”
Xbox also announced the launch of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a new plan combining the curated games library for console and PC with Xbox Live Gold.
In addition, Xbox announced a variety of new blockbuster games that are available with Xbox Game Pass for Console starting today, including “Metro Exodus,” “Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition,” “Borderlands: The Handsome Collection” and “Batman: Arkham Knight.”
The Xbox E3 Briefing also showcased new Xbox Game Studios titles that will premiere in Xbox Game Pass, including “Gears 5,” “Battletoads,” “Bleeding Edge,” “The Outer Worlds,” “Ori and the Will of the Wisps,” and 25 games from the ID@Xbox program.
WELCOMING DOUBLE FINE PRODUCTIONS TO XBOX GAME STUDIOS
Xbox announced today the intent to acquire legendary game development studio Double Fine Productions, which will bring the total number of development studios under Xbox Game Studios to 15. Led by industry veteran Tim Schafer, the addition of this boundlessly creative studio will reinforce the Xbox team’s commitment to developing original content with memorable characters and unexpected stories. Double Fine showcased the long-awaited “Psychonauts 2” today on the Xbox E3 stage:
“PSYCHONAUTS 2” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC, MAC, LINUX, PLAYSTATION 4). Razputin Aquato, trained acrobat and powerful young psychic, has realized his lifelong dream of joining the international psychic espionage organization known as the Psychonauts! But these psychic super spies are in trouble. Their leader hasn’t been the same since he was kidnapped, and what’s worse, there’s a mole hiding in their headquarters. Raz must use his powers to stop the mole before they execute their secret plan—to bring the murderous psychic villain, Maligula, back from the dead! “Psychonauts 2” launches worldwide in 2020.
THE FUTURE OF CONSOLE GAMING
During its briefing, Xbox demonstrated its commitment to console gaming as a critical choice for players who want a device designed, built and optimized for gaming.
Project Scarlett will set a new bar for console power, speed, and performance, arriving Holiday 2020 alongside “Halo Infinite.” With a custom-designed AMD processor, high bandwidth GDDR6 memory, and a next-generation solid state drive (SSD), Project Scarlett will give developers the power they need to bring their creative visions to life. Thousands of games across four console generations will look and play best on Project Scarlett.
BRINGING XBOX TO THE CLOUD
In addition to delivering players the games they want, with the people they want, across console and PC, Xbox is also empowering people to play wherever they want by bringing Xbox to the cloud.
First, Xbox announced the ability to stream games from your Xbox One console, starting in preview this October. With console streaming, gamers will have access to their Xbox One game library and Xbox Game Pass titles on the go, streamed directly from an Xbox One console to a mobile device.
The Xbox E3 Briefing also marked a new milestone for “Project xCloud,” with E3 2019 attendees being among the first in the world to play Xbox One games like “Halo 5: Guardians” and “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice” streaming on smartphones and tablets. With Project xCloud, Xbox is investing to ensure players have the choice and freedom to play the games they want, with the friends they want, how and where they want.
THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED CONTROLLER
In addition, Xbox unveiled the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. Inspired by fan feedback, the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is the world’s most advanced controller, designed with the most passionate gamers in mind.
The Elite Series 2 is the second iteration of the fan-favorite Xbox Elite Wireless Controller and is re-engineered for ultimate performance, customization, and durability, and includes 30 new and improved features such as adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wraparound rubberized grip, shorter hair-trigger locks, and up to 40 hours of rechargeable battery life.
The Elite Series 2 will launch in 24 markets on Nov. 4 for $179.99 USD/£159.99 GPB/€179.99 EUR and is available for preorder now.
THE SINGLE LARGEST SHOWCASE OF GAMES ON STAGE THIS YEAR
Xbox includes every player in its vision for gaming, which starts with unmissable content made for players wherever they are. With thousands of Xbox games in development, Xbox offered glimpses at 60 different games from all over the globe, including blockbusters like “Cyberpunk 2077,” “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,” and “Elden Ring.” Xbox fans were also invited to venture into the action-fueled world of “CrossfireX,” coming first to console on Xbox One in 2020 with special content for Xbox Game Pass members, and into the blocky depths of “Minecraft Dungeons,” coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.
The Xbox E3 Briefing also marked a celebration of 37 PC games, including “Microsoft Flight Simulator” and “Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition,” both of which will premiere in Xbox Game Pass for PC. Fans also took their first steps into the next worlds being created by Xbox Game Studios, such as “Gears 5” and “Wasteland 3,” and discovered the unexpected with 25 new and wild ID@Xbox titles.
All forthcoming titles from Xbox Game Studios will premiere in Xbox Game Pass.
Games shown during the Xbox E3 Briefing include:
“AGE OF EMPIRES: DEFINITIVE EDITION” (WINDOWS 10 PC). “Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition” celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most popular strategy games ever with stunning 4K Ultra HD graphics, a new and fully remastered soundtrack, and brand-new content, “The Last Khans,” with three new campaigns and four new civilizations. Head online to challenge other players with 35 different civilizations in your quest for world domination throughout the ages. Choose your path to greatness with this definitive remaster to one of the most beloved strategy games of all time. “Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition” will be released this fall on Windows 10 PC, available on the Microsoft Store, Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC.
“BATTLETOADS” (XBOX ONE). “Battletoads” is back! Rare and Dlala Studios are bringing the beloved brawler to Xbox with a unique animation style, wild side-scrolling action and team-focused gameplay that’s perfect for couch co-op. Players take control of Rash, Zitz and Pimple as they smash, stomp and slam their way through hordes of enemies and unleash choreographed chaos to defeat their greatest enemy yet. Fans can look forward to an all-new adventure packed with wild locations, unforgettable characters and surprising gameplay challenges, all with a huge emphasis on co-operative play.
“BLAIR WITCH” (BLOOBER TEAM, XBOX GAME PASS). From the creative minds behind the critically acclaimed Layers of Fear, experience firsthand the toll that fear can take on the mind in an original story based on the legend of Blair Witch. The upcoming title is a first-person psychological horror game that studies your reactions to danger and stress. Your darkest fears will awaken on Aug. 30, 2019.
“BLEEDING EDGE” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC). As an all-new game from Ninja Theory, “Bleeding Edge” offers a one-of-a-kind experience that fuses third-person action combat with competitive online team gaming. The 4×4 team-fighter game provides a fast-paced yet strategic combat system that rewards technique, timing and teamwork in vibrant cyberpunk arenas. In “Bleeding Edge,” each fighter can be modded to suit individual playstyles and exploit team synergies. The game is in development for Xbox One, Windows 10 PC and Xbox Game Pass as an Xbox Play Anywhere title.
“BORDERLANDS 2: COMMANDER LILITH & THE FIGHT FOR SANCTUARY” (2K). Return to the award-winning shooter-looter “Borderlands 2” for an all-new campaign DLC that sets the stage for the upcoming “Borderlands 3.” Battle new bosses, explore new areas, collect new loot, and join up with Lilith and the Crimson Raiders to take on a deranged villain hell-bent on ruling the planet. Instantly boost your level to jump right in or pursue a level cap increase to 80! Free to download until July 8 for all owners of “Borderlands: The Handsome Collection,” which is now available with Xbox Game Pass.
“BORDERLANDS 3” (2K). The original shooter-looter returns, packing bazillions of guns and an all-new mayhem-fueled adventure! Blast through new worlds and enemies as one of four brand new Vault Hunters — the ultimate treasure-seeking badasses of the Borderlands, each with deep skill trees, abilities and customization. Play solo or join with friends to take on insane enemies, collect loads of loot, and save your home from the most ruthless cult leaders in the galaxy.
“CROSSFIREX” (FIRST TO CONSOLE ON XBOX ONE, XBOX GAME PASS). Crossfire, a free-to-play first-person shooter and one of the most-played PC games in the world with 650M players LTD, announced that it will come to console for the first time on Xbox One in 2020 as “CrossfireX,” with all-new content for console players. Developed by the team at Smilegate Entertainment in Seoul, South Korea, Xbox players can look forward to a platform of rich experiences, including a single player campaign developed in partnership with Remedy Entertainment, battle royale, competitive multiplayer and unique content for Xbox Game Pass members.
“CYBERPUNK 2077” (CD PROJEKT RED). An open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. You play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. You can customize your character’s cyberware, skillset and playstyle, and explore a vast city where the choices you make shape the story and the world around you.
“DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT” (BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.). Relive the story of Goku in “DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT!” Beyond the epic battles, experience life in the DRAGON BALL Z world as you fight, fish, eat and train with Goku. Explore the new areas and adventures as you advance through the story and form powerful bonds with other heroes from the DRAGON BALL Z
“DYING LIGHT 2” (TECHLAND). The last great human settlement exists within an unforgiving, zombie-infested world, plunged into the dark ages. During the day bandits, factions and starving survivors roam the streets scavenging for scraps — or someone to take them from. At night the infected roam free, evacuating their hideouts to prey on the living. Exceptional agility and brutal combat skills make you a powerful ally and a valuable commodity. You can achieve things no one else can. Enter places no one else dares. With your unique abilities you have the power to be an agent of change within this decaying metropolis.
“ELDEN RING” (BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT INC.). Developed by FromSoftware Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., “ELDEN RING” is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki — creator of the influential “DARK SOULS” video game series; and George R.R. Martin — author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to-date.
“FORZA HORIZON 4” LEGO® SPEED CHAMPIONS EXPANSION (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC). “Forza Horizon 4” LEGO Speed Champions, the newest expansion for the award-winning “Forza Horizon 4,” invites you to experience the ultimate LEGO Speed Champions fantasy brought to life at the Horizon Festival. Explore a LEGO-themed world, discover LEGO Brick Challenges such as building a Master Builder’s house as your Brick Collection grows, and collect and race amazing new LEGO Speed Champions cars, including the McLaren Senna, Ferrari F40 Competizione and the 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally. “Forza Horizon 4” LEGO Speed Champions will launch worldwide on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC on June 13, 2019, as an Xbox Play Anywhere expansion and be available at a 10% discount for Xbox Game Pass members.
“GEARS 5” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC, STEAM). “Gears 5” features five thrilling modes, including Escape, an aggressive, high-stakes, three-player co-op mode featuring a suicide squad that must work together to take out enemy hives from within. “Gears 5” will be released on Sept. 10, 2019, and will be available in early access for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Plan members and “Gears 5 Ultimate Edition” owners on Sept. 6. Preorder or play with Xbox Game Pass by Sept. 16, 2019, to get The Terminator Dark Fate Character Pack, which adds the Terminator T-800 Endoskeleton and Sarah Connor from the upcoming film “Terminator Dark Fate” as playable multiplayer characters.
“GEARS POP!” (iOS, ANDROID). “Gears POP!” brings together iconic Gears characters in a cute Funko Pop! style. The game is being developed in partnership with Funko (Nasdaq “FNKO”) and inspired by the Gears of War vinyl collectible figures. It’s the perfect slice of mobile mayhem. Fans can look for more information about “Gears POP!” on @gearspop and can preorder on iOS and Android ahead of launch later this summer.
“HALO INFINITE” (PROJECT SCARLETT, XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC). The Master Chief returns in 2020 when “Halo Infinite” releases globally with Project Scarlett. This next chapter in 343 Industries’ legendary Halo franchise invites players to join the venerable Master Chief on an all-new adventure as he uncovers the mysteries surrounding the appearance of “The Pilot” and the desolate remains of a Halo ring. “Halo Infinite” is powered by the studio’s next-generation Slipspace Engine.
“LEGO® STAR WARS™: THE SKYWALKER SAGA” (WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT). Play through all nine Star Wars™ saga films in a brand-new LEGO video game unlike any other. Players will experience fun-filled adventures, whimsical humor, and the freedom to fully immerse themselves in the LEGO Star Wars universe like never before. With hundreds of characters and vehicles from across the galaxy, players can dive into their favorite Star Wars moments in an all new way, complete with the hilarious LEGO brand of fun that’s sure to delight players of all ages.
“MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC). The next generation of our longest-running franchise, “Microsoft Flight Simulator,” is coming to Windows 10 with Xbox Game Pass in 2020, and coming to Xbox One at a later date. “Microsoft Flight Simulator” is specifically designed to celebrate flight simulation fans through a focus on the authenticity of flying and visually stunning environments. By revamping our tech, working in close collaboration with the community and pursuing the best partnerships across the industry, we intend to deliver the best-in-class flight simulation experience.
“MINECRAFT DUNGEONS” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC, NINTENDO SWITCH, PLAYSTATION 4). An all-new action-adventure game set in the Minecraft universe coming to Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4! Created in the classic dungeon crawler style, “Minecraft Dungeons” takes players on an epic quest full of new characters and environments to discover with single player or in co-op multiplayer for up to four players — including couch co-op on Xbox One. “Minecraft Dungeons” will also be available with Xbox Game Pass the same day of its global release in spring 2020.
“ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC, STEAM). “Ori and the Will of the Wisps” is the highly anticipated sequel to “Ori and the Blind Forest,” the acclaimed action platformer with more than 50 awards and nominations, and will be released Feb. 11, 2020. Brought to you by Xbox Game Studios and Moon Studios, the game will be available to buy on Xbox One, Windows 10 PC and Steam, and premiere in Xbox Game Pass for PC and Console. At E3 we showed off new, never-before-seen gameplay and provided a deeper look at the game’s intense all-new combat system with Ori fighting the different towering bosses in the game’s vast and exotic world.
“PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2” (SEGA). Japan’s greatest F2P online RPG comes to North America for the first time for Xbox One! “Phantasy Star Online 2” strives for bringing a “never-ending quest.” Randomized fields, Interrupt Events, and Multiparty Areas where up to 12 players can play together never make your quest stale and keep it always fresh and surprising. While keeping the easy character control system of the series, more stylish and customizable combat actions are enabled for ideal heroes of players that are given life for the quest through the revolutionized character creation system that brings ultimate designability.
“RPG TIME: THE LEGEND OF WRIGHT” (DESKWORKS). School’s out! Meet us in an empty classroom for a grand adventure with a young aspiring game developer and his very own RPG. You’re sure to be dazzled by his hand-drawn creations as you journey into the surprising and magical world of imagination! Forget about homework! Come play “RPG Time: The Legend of Wright” with us!
“SEA OF THIEVES” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC). “Sea of Thieves” continues to grow and evolve with the on-demand competition of The Arena and story-driven quests of Tall Tales, all included as a part of the free Anniversary Update, the game’s biggest content update to date. As we teased at E3, players on Xbox One, Windows 10 PC and Xbox Game Pass can expect more ways to play and new shared world storytelling coming to the game in the future.
“SPIRITFARER” (THUNDER LOTUS, XBOX GAME PASS). Creators of hand-drawn indie experiences Thunder Lotus return with their unique third production: “Spiritfarer,” a cozy management game about dying. You play Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased. Build a boat to explore the world, care for your spirit friends, and finally release them into the afterlife. Farm, mine, fish, harvest, cook and craft your way across mystical seas, as you learn how to say goodbye to your cherished friends.
“STAR WARS JEDI: FALLEN ORDER” (ELECTRONIC ARTS). Order 66 has been executed. As a young Padawan on the run, you’ve long kept your abilities hidden to stay alive. Now, you must embrace them. In a brand-new gameplay trailer debuted at the Xbox E3 briefing, see how you will use the Force to explore your environment, master lightsaber combat, and remain one step ahead of the Empire.
“STATE OF DECAY 2: HEARTLAND” (XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS 10 PC). “State of Decay 2: Heartland” features a return to Trumbull Valley in a new story-based adventure. Once the iconic site of the original “State of Decay” game, the towns of Spencer’s Mill and Marshall are now overrun with an advanced form of blood plague: a more aggressive and far deadlier version than exists anywhere else. Though it may be familiar territory to those who homesteaded here years ago, Trumbull Valley is packed with new dangers — and unspeakable horrors. Heartland launches for all “State of Decay 2” players on June 9, 2019, for $9.99 on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, and is included with Xbox Game Pass.
“TALES OF ARISE” (BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT INC.). The Tales of series returns with “Tales of Arise,” a story driven RPG following the journey of two people, born on opposing sister planets, each looking to change their fate and create a new future. Featuring a new cast of characters, intense action based combat and classic Tales of gameplay mechanics, experience a tale of duality, justice and the fight for freedom.
“THE OUTER WORLDS” (OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT AND PRIVATE DIVISION, XBOX GAME PASS). Lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the furthest edge of the galaxy, you awake decades later than you expected only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the Halcyon colony. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter a host of factions all vying for power, who you decide to become will determine the fate of everyone in Halcyon. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.
“TWELVE MINUTES” (ANNAPURNA INTERACTIVE). A romantic evening takes a wrong turn when a police detective breaks into your home, accuses your wife of murder, and knocks you unconscious. In a heartbeat, you are immediately returned to the start of the evening, before it all happens again and again. A real-time, interactive thriller, where you will need to use the knowledge of what’s about to happen, to change the outcome and break the twelve-minutes loop.
“WASTELAND 3” (DEEP SILVER, XBOX GAME PASS). “Wasteland 3” is a post-apocalyptic RPG from inXile entertainment, set in the perpetual nuclear winter of the Colorado Nation. Players will face challenging tactical combat, explore an interactive world, and engage in a deep story full of brutal ethical decisions. Create and customize a squad in single player or co-op, and whether you go in guns blazing or try to smooth over a situation through peaceful negotiation, your choices will mean life or death for those trying to survive in this harsh and unforgiving world.
“WAY TO THE WOODS” (ONE PIXEL DOG). A Deer and Fawn must embark on a journey through an abandoned world of the unknown to get home. A third person adventure game solo developed by Anthony Tan, featuring music from Aivi&Surasshu, composers for the show Steven Universe. Unravel the mystery of Cat Town, evade a hounding pack of wolves, and find your light to explore a world filled with the relics of the old gods: humanity.
WATCH E3 LIVE STREAMING ON MIXER
Mixer, Microsoft’s live streaming service, is the home for additional news, highlights, exclusive reveals and a behind-the-scenes look at some of your favorite games throughout the week of E3. Mixer continues to see strong growth with monthly viewership surpassing 30 million earlier this year, with the majority of recent growth coming from viewers on mobile and PC. Be sure to watch Inside Xbox: Live @ E3 on Monday, June 10, at 3 p.m. PDT and tune in to live streaming on Mixer on Tuesday, June 11, Wednesday, June 12, and Thursday, June 13.
PREORDER NOW AT YOUR MICROSOFT STORE OR LOCAL RETAILER
At retail locations across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia, and through microsoft.com, fans can begin preordering their favorite games and select accessories and hardware from this year’s Xbox E3 Briefing right now. To find a Microsoft Store near you, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/find-a-store.
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Oceans are the heart of our planet, and Skype in the Classrooms celebrates them throughout the month of June in honor of World Ocean Day (June 8th). We are inviting educators around the world to explore all the available ocean-related activitiesand register for one or more to raise students’ awareness about marine conservation.
This June, your class can take virtual field trips to a sea turtle rehab center to learn about turtle conservation, pick the brain of a World Wildlife Fund expert about corals, take a deep dive into the issues facing our oceans with Pulitzer Center journalists and many more. There’s no doubt our guest speakers will inspire your students to love and protect our oceans. On top of that, there is a great variety of collaborative projects so you can connect with other classrooms to work together on finding solutions and taking action to protect our oceans.
Finally, why not add some fun by connecting with another class for a marine-themed Mystery Animal Skype? If you haven’t yet, explore our Oceans OneNote—it has all the resources you need to help you get started with Mystery Animal Skype.
To celebrate the importance of oceans, Skype has just released a collection of ocean-themed emoticons. Open your Skype and start sharing them before, during and after your calls to spread the fun and get your students excited.
And we have more ocean emoticons coming next week!
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating oceans by getting involved with one or more of our activities that will make learning relevant and fun for your students.
As always, keep sharing your favorite moments with us and our global community on Twitter (@SkypeClassroom) with #Skype2Learn #MicrosoftEDU to celebrate your students’ global learning experiences.
Don’t miss out exploring the rest of our FREE ocean-related resources
Download ourOcean Month activity plan—full of ideas and suggestions on how to organize your Skype sessions—to guide your classroom’s celebration all month long.
