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Microsoft news, features, events, and press materials

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Microsoft and Eneco team up to drive sustainable business transformations: powering the cloud with clean energy

New work on offshore wind energy

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, and REDMOND, Wash. — May 23, 2019 — On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. announced a new wind energy agreement in the Netherlands. Microsoft will purchase 90 MW from the massive 731.5 MW offshore wind project, Borssele III/IV, from Dutch sustainable energy company and wind farm developer Eneco. Eneco will provide Microsoft’s datacenters with green power for 15 years starting in 2022.

This is Microsoft’s second purchase of wind energy in the Netherlands in a year, which brings its total wind energy purchases to 270 MW in the Netherlands — one of the largest corporate renewable energy portfolios in the country.

“Tech companies are facing the challenge to reduce their carbon footprints, mostly due to the vast energy consumption of their datacenters,” said Hans Peters, chief customer officer, Eneco. “A global frontrunner like Microsoft does not see this as a challenge, but as an opportunity to boost the energy transition. We are proud we can help them switch to a sustainable, smart and clean energy supply in the Netherlands. As a result, Microsoft is creating local opportunity, growth and impact while enabling Eneco to continue to invest in large-scale renewable energy projects like Borssele III/IV.”

“Our purchasing of renewable energy helps improve the sustainability of our operations and local grids,” said Brian Janous, general manager, Energy and Sustainability, Microsoft. “This agreement is our 14th renewable energy power purchase agreement and brings our total clean energy portfolio to more than 1.5 GW. The electricity generated will help support the continued long-term growth of Microsoft cloud services delivered from the Netherlands, which is one of 54 Azure regions announced and part of one of the largest and most innovative cloud infrastructures in the world.”

Digital transformation and smart energy solutions

The power purchase agreement is a next step in the ongoing partnership between Eneco and Microsoft. In 2018, Eneco selected Microsoft as its preferred partner for cloud services, signing a three-year deal with Microsoft Azure, which enables Eneco to achieve the company’s goals and ambitions in the area of digital transformation.

About Eneco and Borssele III/IV

Eneco is a Dutch-based company active in the area of sustainable energy and innovation. Together with our customers, partners and employees, we are working on the realization of our mission: everyone’s sustainable energy. We invest in wind farms, biomass power plants, heating and solar parks in order to increase the supply of renewable energy. Eneco is one of the shareholders of Borssele III/IV, an offshore wind project that is currently being developed in the Dutch part of the North Sea. Eneco has also secured a 15-year power purchase agreement for half of the power generated by Borssele III/IV. Previously, Eneco came to agreements with Dutch-based companies Stedin, DSM and Royal Schiphol Group to purchase power from Borssele III/IV.

About Microsoft

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.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

Arie Spruit, Eneco spokesperson, +316 218 79407, arie.spruit@eneco.com

 

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Microsoft releases new book: ‘The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing’

Today, Microsoft is releasing The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing. This new book provides an in-depth look at how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the manufacturing sector by optimizing digital operations and driving efficiencies, enabling new products and services, and allowing for safer work environments. The book also offers a timely look at how society can respond to some of the challenges AI creates, and the need to develop new laws and regulations to address workforce disruption and develop AI in an ethical and responsible manner.

Written by Greg Shaw – co-author of Hit Refresh with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and The Ability Hacks about technology for people with disabilities – this book is the second in a series that began with the release last year of The Future Computed: Artificial Intelligence and its role in society.

In an era when digital technology is changing almost every aspect about how people live, work, play, and learn, we believe it is important to think carefully about the complex questions that AI raises. Through our Future Computed series, we hope to encourage a broad set of conversations about how AI can empower people in a trusted and respectful environment that benefits everyone.

We decided to focus the second Future Computed book on manufacturing because the industry plays such a central role in the global economy, and because, as in previous industrial revolutions, it is once again at the forefront of adopting new transformational technologies.

This means manufacturing is one of the industries that is leading the way in exploring the full potential of AI. It also means manufacturers already find themselves responding to some of the challenges of AI — challenges like how to optimize processes to keep up with the new speed of business, how to ensure their existing and incoming workforce has the right skills to build and leverage AI, and how to create the right organizational culture to realize the benefits of data-driven decision making.

In the book, you’ll hear from a range of customers including ABB, Colfax, Jabil, Tetra Pak, Toyota Materials Handling and ZF about the progress they are making on their AI journey. You’ll meet Patrick Bass, CEO of thyssenkrupp North America, who led the effort to implement a real-time cloud-based predictive maintenance solution that is maximizing uptime for 12 million elevators that move 1 billion people every day. And hear from Manuel Torres, a self-taught engineer who has used AI to transform his paper company into a leading supplier of composite material for airplane manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus.

The Future Computed and Manufacturing book

The book also looks at how manufacturers will need to engage with governments and civil society to help craft new regulatory frameworks, guiding the use of this new technology as the industry transforms. These frameworks should address key societal challenges, including the need to retrain workers to take on new roles and be part of a talent supply chain capable of realizing the potential of AI in manufacturing. They should also address how to store the data generated from connected supply chains and digital factories safely, securely, and in ways that respect privacy and ensure that AI is used ethically. Drawing on insights from customers and policymakers from around the world The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing offers Microsoft’s perspective on how we might move forward on these important issues.

The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing does not pretend to have all the answers. But we hope it will play a role in furthering discussions about how to deliver this new technology responsibly and help manufacturers better understand the steps they need to take in their AI journey.

In writing the book, Greg conducted interviews with Microsoft manufacturing customers who are at the forefront of figuring out how AI can drive success for their companies. He also interviewed workforce experts, union leaders, and policymakers from around the world and identified some common themes across these conversations.

The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing points out the critical importance of cultural change as part of the digital transformation and the need for strong senior leadership in overseeing this shift. It also highlights the way in which the managers inside manufacturing operations who are closest to the workforce are often the most sensitive to AI’s impact on employees and are focused on improving worker safety and job satisfaction. And, while there is notable positivity from leaders in manufacturers around the impact of AI on jobs, there is also an understanding that a lot of work is needed to reinvent how we prepare people for the workforce.

The advent of AI makes this an exciting time to be in manufacturing. But it is also a time filled with great uncertainty. For anyone interested in learning more about why AI is so important to the future of manufacturing, I hope The Future Computed: AI and Manufacturing offers a useful guide. I also love the final remark that suggests leaders of today should lead with optimism.

I encourage you to download a copy here. You can also find out more about the people and companies profiled in the book and access additional information by visiting Microsoft’s AI and Manufacturing website. Additional resources can also be found in the Microsoft AI Business School.

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AI boot camp aims to draw more teen girls into computer science

As an engineering student at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1990s, Didem Un Ates was one of only five women in a graduating class of 180. Today, she’s on a mission is to drastically change those numbers.

Un Ates is part of a Microsoft team that launched “Alice envisions the future,” a boot camp for girls focused on artificial intelligence. The first event in Athens – packed with keynote speeches, panel discussions and hands-on workshops – helped spark the passion for AI in 160 girls from 16 countries.

After witnessing the success of the inaugural event, the team took the show on the road, first to London last October, and then to New York in March.

Registration is now open for two more “Girls in AI” hackathons for girls 14 to 18, which are scheduled for next month:

Registration is free and attendees do not need a laptop or any experience with coding – just a curiosity about AI and a creative mind. The first 80 students to register will be accepted.

About 50 girls between attended the “Girls in AI” hackathon in New York, tackling subjects ranging from human-centered design and AI ethics to machine learning.

Un Ates said the transformation over the course of the weekend can be astounding. Girls who may come into the program shy, timid and hesitant of delving into advanced technology such as AI can leave the program with an entirely different mindset.

“They may have heard of AI, but they don’t exactly know what it means or what a hackathon means. But by the end of Sunday, there are all these super-excited, confident individuals who cannot stop talking about how they are going to  build a business out of their project,” said Un Ates, senior director of customer care intelligence for the Microsoft Business Applications Group, Cloud & AI.

YouTube Video

Winning teams from the hackathons are eligible to enter Microsoft’s AI for Good Idea Challenge, an international contest for developers, students and data scientists who use AI to tackle some of society’s greatest obstacles. The deadline for entries is June 26.

Un Ates says she is devoted to evangelizing STEM education – and artificial intelligence specifically – because of the dire underrepresentation of women in the field.

“Only 12% of artificial intelligence and machine learning experts are female,” Un Ates noted. “And we have the opportunity to change that.”

According to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, in 1985 women accounted for roughly 37% of all computer science undergraduate students. Today, that number is 12%. According to a recent WIRED & Element AI study, only 12% of machine learning researchers are women.

Un Ates said it’s important that women are well-represented in computer science both because of the perspective they bring to the field and because of the job opportunities the field can offer.

And that is exactly what Microsoft’s “Girls in AI” hackathons are designed to accomplish. According to the team’s event website, the curriculum gives teenage girls “the chance to utilize AI and machine learning techniques to tackle global challenges in a holistic manner.” The two-day event will give attendees an understanding of design thinking, strategy and business model development, ethics, social responsibility and pitching skills.

The “Alice Envisions the Future” hackathon program is just one of the ways Microsoft working to get more girls and young women involved in computer science. Microsoft also offers DigiGirlz Days, one-day events designed to provide girls with a better understanding of what a career in technology is like, and DigiGirlz High Tech Camp, a program developed 19 years ago to help dispel stereotypes in the high-tech industry.

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Working together to bring broadband to rural Veterans

Our nation’s Veterans have contributed to our country in so many ways, in countless locations around the globe. When they return home, many Veterans who reside in rural areas are not able to access broadband internet which is critical to using telehealth services, gaining educational opportunities, and growing a small business or running a family farm.

There are 2.7 million Veterans enrolled in Veterans Affairs (VA) who are living in rural communities, 42% of them do not have internet access at home which could support their use of VA telehealth services, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’, Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Rural Health. These rural Veterans live in areas where access to fast, reliable internet service may be limited or inaccessible and are facing higher rates of unemployment, longer drives to reach the nearest clinics and medical centers, and lower levels of educational attainment compared to their urban counterparts. Connectivity has the potential to improve this reality — with broadband, they can access telehealth services offered by the VA, identify and compete for well-paying jobs, improve and grow their own businesses, and take advantage of online education classes.

Microsoft and VA have been strategic partners, working together to improve the lives of Veterans, for more than 20 years. Today, I’m excited to share that Microsoft will begin expanding that work by helping VA to help bring connectivity to many Veterans living in rural towns and communities. Microsoft and its partners will be working with VA to provide capital, technology expertise, and training resources to bring broadband access to people in these underserved communities. Our hope is that this effort will unlock new economic opportunities, while also enhancing quality of life.

Through the partnership, we’ll help VA identify communities with Veterans in need and work with our internet service provider (ISP) partners across the nation to bring broadband services to those regions. Following our Airband Initiative model, we’ll also provide the Veterans in these newly connected communities with digital skills training so they can take advantage of the tools and services connectivity enables, including critical telehealth services provided by VA.

In the past 22 months, through the Microsoft Airband Initiative, we have seen firsthand just how many communities lack connectivity at broadband speeds and how this can hinder growth and new opportunities. We’ve also seen that partnering with ISPs to serve those most in need is an effective strategy to make progress quickly on this important issue. Our work with VA builds on those lessons and approach, which has resulted in partnerships that will bring connectivity to 1 million unserved rural residents in 16 states to date, with a plan to reach 3 million by 2022.

This also builds on our commitment to the military and Veteran community. We’re passionate about our work with this community and take a holistic approach to helping Veterans gain the critical career skills required for today’s digital economy through career training and re-training, soft-skills support, and hiring. The company’s cornerstone Veteran program, Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA), provides the Veteran community with an 18-week (or two nine-week terms) training for high-demand careers, with graduates gaining an interview for a full-time career at Microsoft or one of the company’s more than 400 hiring partners. We’re also proud of our strong network of partners, all of whom champion our same vision to assist the community.

We owe it to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our nation. Veterans living in rural communities deserve to have the broadband internet access enjoyed by many who live in urban areas. Addressing the broadband gap across the country requires innovative solutions from both the public and private sectors, and we hope this partnership will help us make significant progress toward closing the connectivity gap for the Veteran community.

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Microsoft recognizes outstanding contributions by suppliers

REDMOND, Wash. — May 22, 2019 — On May 8, Microsoft Corp. announced the recipients of the 2019 Microsoft Supplier Program (MSP) Excellence Awards. The MSP Excellence Awards recognize excellence by Microsoft’s top suppliers in performance, relationship, value, reduced risk, diversity, sustainability and impact sourcing. The MSP mission is enabling a compliant, capable and competitive supply base to deliver increasing value to Microsoft and its suppliers. Winners of the 2019 MSP Excellence Awards were vetted by an award selection committee including representatives from procurement, business group stakeholders and external judges.

Winners were announced at the 2019 MSP Supplier Excellence Awards ceremony at Microsoft on May 8, 2019, in Redmond, Washington.

“Congratulations to all the MSP Excellence Award recipients and finalists for your outstanding work,” said Mike Simms, general manager and chief procurement officer at Microsoft. “These awards represent your deep commitment to delivering high-impact results contributing to the success of Microsoft. Microsoft’s Supplier of the Year winners, Compass Group, Wiwynn, Nextant and AnRui Digital, have collaborated with Microsoft to demonstrate efficiency gains, strategic partnerships, innovation and risk management. Amaxra and Sutherland Global have created amazing opportunities for diverse and disadvantaged people to succeed, and Tech Mahindra exhibited a huge commitment to an aggressive set of absolute emissions reduction goals. On behalf of Microsoft, I want to thank the award winners and all the finalists for their significant contributions and partnership.”

Following are the 2019 winners, finalists and an overview of their excellent service delivery.

MSP Supplier of the Year – Small category Winner: AnRui Digital

Finalists: Bastion Effect, BES Events

AnRui leveraged its in-depth knowledge of Microsoft’s products and solutions to design and deliver training to users, technical partners and developers, as well as facilitate hands-on lab sessions. AnRui developed innovative solutions, such as a new mobile app that enables Microsoft Partners to access Microsoft learning and certification materials, to help broaden reach and increase engagement and collaboration.

MSP Supplier of the Year – Medium category Winner: Nextant

Finalists: Lenati, Upwork

Nextant has been a strategic partner and trusted advisor on a range of topics by truly understanding Microsoft’s business, aligning with Microsoft priorities and taking feedback to improve. Nextant consistently delivered amazing performance and savings through automation and improved processes, while remaining flexible and adaptable to the business needs. Nextant also helped scope and build a power app that revolutionized the way Microsoft communicates to the field, and helped reduce operational risk by implementing business-critical quality assurance plans.

MSP Supplier of the Year – Large category Co-Winner: Compass Group

Finalists: Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services

Compass consistently demonstrated strategic partnership to identify solutions that delivered savings without compromising the customer experience. Compass focused on customer service by completing more than 10 capital projects over the seasonal holiday closure to minimize Microsoft employee impact. Compass redesigned its service response protocol using Microsoft technology to improve its response time from 24 hours to one hour. Compass also strongly delivered in alignment with Microsoft’s Accessibility and Sustainability values by developing a first-of-its-kind navigation bar, allowing those with visual impairments to use the cashless ordering/payment system and launching a zero-waste café pilot.

MSP Supplier of the Year – Large category Co-Winner: Wiwynn

Wiwynn is a component developer and system integrator of cloud servers for Microsoft, which has partnered with Microsoft on strategic initiatives and consistently delivered a high level of support. Wiwynn development support has been valuable in helping Microsoft achieve time-to-market on new technologies and is very supportive of Microsoft supply-chain initiatives. Wiwynn was instrumental in ensuring that Microsoft was not affected by 2018 industrywide component shortages through proactive implementation of a strategic buy process to ensure on-time delivery of Microsoft servers. Wiwynn has made significant investments to proactively mitigate risks by opening a new factory in Taiwan, increasing rack capacity in China and opening a satellite office in Redmond to support Microsoft teams.

MSP Supplier Diversity Award Winner: Amaxra

Finalists: Accenture, Wimmer

Amaxra has been awarded the 2019 MSP Supplier Diversity Award for being the supplier to make the most progress on diversity values. Amaxra is a certified diverse business and a business management and technology solutions firm. It was established in 2007 by Microsoft alumni Rosalyn Arntzen. It successfully supported a number of projects involving cultural and gender awareness, and community engagement. As a supplier, Amaxra’s ability to understand Microsoft’s most crucial business priorities, while reinforcing progress toward diversity goals, is of significant value to Microsoft. Diversity is the first of Amaxra’s top six values. In its own words, “Diversity leads the way. The workplace needs to be one where diverse individuals (walks of life, experiences, situations, skills sets, work styles and more) and diverse teams come together to drive best contributions.”

MSP Sustainability Award Winner: Tech Mahindra

Finalists: AT&T, Cisco and Infosys

Tech Mahindra was recognized for its leadership on climate change. Tech Mahindra committed to an aggressive set of absolute emissions-reduction goals, approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, that will result in emissions 50% below 2015-2016 levels by 2050. Tech Mahindra has undertaken a thoughtful and comprehensive program to reduce Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. To date, it has installed solar generation at its plants in the Indian cities of Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Noida and Chandigarh. Tech Mahindra has developed a “Connected Solar Plants” solution using Microsoft Azure, aligning with Microsoft’s mission to help empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.

Judges for the Sustainability Award were Betty Cremmins with CDP, Verena Radulovic with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Elizabeth Willmott with the Microsoft Environmental team and Michael Mondshine with WSP.

MSP Impact Sourcing Award Winner: Sutherland Global

Finalists: Compass Group, Hanson Consulting Group

Sutherland was recognized for its leadership on helping their employees achieve more by eliminating barriers to employment and empowering individuals through Impact Sourcing. Sutherland has the mission to impact one life or family for every person employed by the company. Over the past 10 years, Sutherland’s taken a systems approach to inclusion through education intervention and job opportunities for tens of thousands of individuals across the globe. The company collaborates and shares with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders to expand their impact. Sutherland’s model is the first of its kind to be used in a commercial setting.

Judges for this award included Sara Enright with Business for Social Responsibility – Global Impact Sourcing Coalition, Mamadou Biteye with the Rockefeller Foundation and Geoff Talbot with the Sourcing Industry Group.

About Microsoft

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.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Royal Caribbean’s head innovator Joey Hasty turns dreams into memories

It’s with that mindset in place that Hasty sets out to bridge the gap between dreams and reality.

“Not long ago, check-in was about a 30-minute process to get you on board a cruise line,” Hasty explains, touting a recent breakthrough. “It really felt like going through the TSA, not starting a vacation.”

To streamline things, Hasty and his team envisioned an “invisible experience,” fueled by customer-submitted cellphone selfies and pre-checks. But as they workshopped the idea, they discovered that removing all friction just resulted in confusion and guilt.

“It’s that feeling you get at a store with no registers; you’re supposed to just walk out, but you feel a little shady about it,” he explains. “That’s even more amplified when you board a cruise ship. You’re like, ‘Am I just supposed to walk on?’ As it turns out, guests need the feedback; something saying all is well.”

In search of a solution, Hasty turned to some old friends. “When I took it to Microsoft, some of the first conversations were: ‘We’ve never tried to do it this way.  Let’s think with our hands to see what’s possible,’” he recalls. “It was never ‘We can’t get there,’ it was always “Well, this is what would be required to get there, so this is what we’ve got to go do.’”

In the years since Hasty has begun working with the Commercial Software Engineering (CSE) team, the relationship has empowered him to imagine with no limitations – confident in the knowledge that CSE will bridge the gap between his team and Microsoft’s product engineers, accelerating their capabilities through tech and innovation.

Royal Caribbean’s new Innovation Lab in Miami.
Royal Caribbean’s new Innovation Lab in Miami takes the ship design process to new heights by bringing the best creative minds and the latest technology together under one roof.

“They provided resources to help us validate things Royal didn’t have access to, like cognitive services and cloud computing capability that allowed us to recognize faces in a millisecond,” Hasty explains, pointing out RC’s privacy policies that ensure customer transparency and that captured images are only used for the cruise experience.

“The first prototype was a camera and a laptop with Cognitive Services. Can we see these people, connect them to our data; can we check them in just using their face? From there, we realized that we want to talk about the guest experience, the height of the camera, the quality of the camera that we need, the flow of people, how fast can the camera pick up people, how many people can be in the frame at once.”

Utilizing an open source mindset, the CSE team worked alongside Royal Caribbean every step of the way to develop a solution that was both “invisible” and interactive enough to remove that sense of guilt.

“We noticed that when all these people went by, they didn’t quite know where to look, so we put a light ring on it. Then we realized people needed feedback, so we put a screen on it,” Hasty says of the project, which averages split seconds per passenger and is significantly faster than the manual review process.

“The LED ring gives you simple color codes – white says ‘We’re looking for your face,’ blue says, ‘We found your face,’ and green says, ‘You’re all clear.’ It happens almost instantaneously, everyone understands it instantly, and we’ve created a beautiful appliance that you can walk through with your whole family together at once.”

“Now boarding is literally, go up the escalator, walk by the facial recognition machine and onto the ship – welcome aboard,” Hasty adds with a smile. “We like to say car to bar in minutes.”

Echoes Schneider: “Joey and I are huge fans of the CSE group. Our focus right now is on how we leverage emerging technology to transform the guest experience, and Microsoft keeps us on the next edge of technology as it relates to disruption in our industry.”

To date, the relationship has manifested itself in a variety of ways. The aforementioned Edge Access tour app, for instance, is powered by Microsoft’s Capture Studio technology. Elements of Azure, AI and dashboards manage guest experiences daily, and RC attended last summer’s One Week hackathon on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, engaging with the CSE team on video analytics initiatives.

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New Xbox Game Bar available on machines running Windows 10 May 2019 Update

At Xbox, we put gamers at the center of our vision – enabling them to play the games they want, with the people they want, and on the devices they want. As part of our efforts and commitment to improve the gaming experience on Windows 10, we want to bring PC players highly requested features based on their feedback. The first step in that is understanding how gamers engage on Windows and making the features and experiences they want easier to access, including social, music, performance and more. Today, we are excited to release a host of new features for PC gamers to the new Xbox Game Bar on machines running the updated versions of Windows 10.

Xbox Game Bar is the customizable gaming overlay built into Windows 10. Xbox Game Bar works with nearly all PC games, giving you instant access to widgets for screen capture and sharing, controlling your music, finding new teammates with Looking for Group (LFG), and chatting with Xbox friends across Xbox console, mobile, and PC—all without leaving your game. You can access these new features by pressing the Windows key and the “G” key at the same time – “Win+G” – to bring up the Xbox Game Bar when playing nearly all PC games or choose your own custom keyboard shortcut.

Here’s a detailed rundown of all the features in Xbox Game Bar:

Spotify
Like many of you, we believe music is a very important part of the gaming experience. Now you can easily control music and podcasts on Spotify from the Spotify widget in the Xbox Game Bar, including favoriting, shuffling and selecting playlists recommended for you by Spotify. You’ll need the Spotify app for Windows installed to take advantage of this new feature, so be sure to get it from the Microsoft Store or Spotify.com.

You can get started in three simple steps:

  1. Press Win+G to bring up Xbox Game Bar
  2. Click on Spotify in the widgets menu
  3. Sign into your Spotify account

Want to tweak the volume of that song you just started listening to? Pull up the audio widget in Xbox Game Bar to change volume settings across apps quickly and easily without having to alt-tab out of your game.

Friends, Chat, Mixer, and Looking for Group (LFG)
The social features in Xbox Game Bar allow you to have conversations with friends who play on PC, Xbox One, and mobile, as well as watch their Mixer streams and send them your creations instantly. Players can use the Looking for Group (LFG) feature on Xbox Game Bar to find new teammates or a raid party with a common play style, all without using a third-party site. Gamers can chat with their friends, using voice or text, in Xbox Game Bar across Xbox One, mobile apps, and PC. Conversations are synced on all Xbox apps, so keep chatting after the game to share memes and coordinate your next session.

Press Win+G at any time to bring up Xbox Game Bar, send a quick message, and get back into the action without taking your eyes off the game.

Broadcast & Capture
Back in December, we promised to make it simple to capture your epic gaming moments. Currently, you can easily capture and view your gameplay screenshots, then share directly to Twitter without leaving your game.

With today’s update, you can take this a step further by turning your captured screenshots into memes. During your game, hit Win+G to call up Xbox Game Bar, open the Broadcast & capture widget in the widgets menu, and take a screenshot. Use the Captures widget to add overlay text to your screenshot and make a meme, which you can share with your friends via a message or with the world via Twitter.

Customizable UI
We recognize that customization is central to a rich gaming experience on PC. You can customize Xbox Game Bar to make the overlay your own. You can choose which widgets to show/hide, where you want them located, and pin specific widgets to be always visible. Build your own favorite Xbox Game Bar layout based on the way you prefer to play to enhance your gaming experience.

Here at Xbox, we are a passionate team of gamers who are inspired to continue improving the gaming experience on Windows 10. We’re in the early stages of our journey and the updated Xbox Game Bar experience is just the beginning. As always, your feedback is important to us and our partners as we continue to evolve Xbox Game Bar. So please share your ideas at the Xbox Idea Hub.

And last, but not the least, a huge thank you to all our Insiders for helping us improve the Windows 10 gaming experience!

P.S.: There are a small set of games that Xbox Game Bar may not work over (e.g. games built using the Vulkan API). For these games, you may need to run the game in windowed mode in order for Xbox Game Bar to display.

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Microsoft Quantum collaborates with Willis Towers Watson to transform risk-management solutions

Screen with stylusScreen with stylus

Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW)—a leading global advisory, broking, and solutions company—has long used complex mathematical models to deliver great results for clients and turn risk into growth. However, some problems are still so challenging that they remain intractable with even the most advanced contemporary computational solutions.

Because of that, Willis Towers Watson has joined the Microsoft Quantum Network to partner with Microsoft to explore the ways that quantum-inspired algorithms might assist the firm with its work in the areas of risk management, financial services, and investing.  Quantum-inspired algorithms harness the power of quantum physics to solve hard computational problems in new ways. Using these techniques, Microsoft is already able to gain orders of magnitude of performance acceleration in Azure.  Once quantum computers become available at scale, even greater acceleration is possible.

“Current modelling techniques to quantify risk require a huge amount of computing power, using thousands of computers over many hours,” says Willis Towers Watson CEO John Haley. “Quantum computing offers us the chance to look at our clients’ problems in a different way. By focusing on how we would model the problems on quantum computers when they become available at scale, we are able to work with Microsoft to redefine the problems and speed up our solutions on existing hardware.”

Engaging with our expertise in quantum computing is a natural extension of Willis Towers Watson’s long partnership with Microsoft. It already has improved business agility and productivity with the help of Microsoft’s Office 365 and developed a specialized insurance model on Azure.

“Willis Towers Watson’s ability to apply technology in novel ways to benefit their customers is always inspiring,” said Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice President of Business Development for Microsoft. “We’re thrilled to have our Microsoft Quantum team working side-by-side with their experts to develop next generation modelling tools.”

This sentiment was shared by Haley, who noted: “We are excited to work with Microsoft—they have an incredible amount of brainpower and are on the forefront of quantum computing.”

The addition of Willis Towers Watson to the Microsoft Quantum Network is the latest example of Microsoft working with world-class institutions to apply the techniques of quantum computing to real-world problems. For instance, we have partnered with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to show how the power of quantum computing could enhance Case Western’s approach to detecting cancerous tumors. By using a quantum-inspired algorithm that runs on today’s classical computers, Case Western researchers are working to improve the diagnostic capability of magnetic-resonance imaging devices, a key tool used for detecting and fighting cancer.

We’re also working with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) on developing new quantum-based solutions to address energy optimization and other challenges where classical computers have serious limitations.

Microsoft is pioneering the emerging quantum era through an approach that will deliver the industry’s most stable and scalable quantum computer. As the development of the quantum computer progresses, select partners such as Willis Towers Watson can access new quantum-inspired Azure services through membership in the Microsoft Quantum Network for the most complete, end-to-end quantum programming.

While there is still much work to be done, Willis Towers Watson and Microsoft are excited to see just how quantum-inspired solutions will help transform the way financial industries improve risk management.

To learn more about the Microsoft Quantum Network, visit the Microsoft Quantum website.

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How scientists are confronting environmental challenges with the help of AI

Counting trees

mountains trees and sky

Using AI and machine learning, SilviaTerra maps and monitors forests, yielding data about trees across the continental United States. The high-resolution, tree-level map of the United States is the first of its kind. It gives conservationists and landowners critical details to sustainably manage forests at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional surveys.

Growing more with less

man works in garden

Farmers face an uphill battle as arable land and water supplies dwindle, while the global population grows. FarmBeats, a program that uses Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies to help farmers sustainably improve yields and lower costs, evaluates sensor data and aerial imagery against weather forecasts and crop predictions to enable data-driven agricultural practices.   

Identifying snow leopards by their spots

a snow leopard with mountain in the background
Photo by SLCF Mongolia/Snow Leopard Trust

Snow leopards are rare, with an estimated population of just 4,000 to 6,000 in the wild, and remote camera trap photography is one of the only reliable ways to study their behaviors. Historically, researchers have sifted through thousands of photos manually to find snow leopard images and use that data to protect the species from poaching, mining, climate change and other threats. Now researchers at the Snow Leopard Trust are using a Microsoft AI automation tool to automatically classify images in minutes rather than hours, combining years of data into a comprehensive database. This allows them to focus on advancing conservation science instead of manually poring through images.   

Protecting key watersheds

satellite data map
Photo provided by Chesapeake Conservancy

Scientists are using Microsoft’s AI and cloud technologies to create highly detailed maps to help conserve the world’s water resources. Chesapeake Conservancy, supported by an AI for Earth grant, is working to integrate AI technology to produce high-resolution land cover and land use maps for precision conservations to improve water quality throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. With this data, the Conservancy is supporting progress in the restoration of the bay. 

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‘Gears of War’ 2019 Funko Pop! collection available May 23

The next wave of Gears of War Funko Pop! figures are about to hit store shelves this Thursday, May 23! As we announced earlier this month, the mainline collection includes Kait Diaz in her winter gear from last year’s Gears 5 trailer, Marcus Fenix in his classic gear, Queen Myrrah, the Locust Boomer and the GameStop exclusive Skorge.

But that’s not all! Also releasing on Thursday is a limited-edition Collector’s Box which includes four Gears Pop! pins, a Gears Pop! baseball hat, a Gears Pop! artbook and four limited release Pop! figures: a red Skorge with shaded details, a gold-dipped of Marcus Fenix, a patinaed Myrrah, and Anya Stroud. The Collector’s Box is available exclusively at GameStop (in-stores and online) with limited quantities at EB Games, Sportscard Australia, select retailers throughout Europe and at E3.

All of these Pop! figures include a digital code for the upcoming Gears Pop! mobile game, which releases later this year. The code can be redeemed to your Xbox Live account starting May 23 – once the game has launched, the specific content associated with the code will unlock as it is released in game.

For more information on the Gears franchise, stay tuned to Xbox Wire, and to keep up to date with the latest information about Gears Pop!, you can visit www.gearspop.com and follow @GearsPop on Twitter.