Category: Microsoft news

Microsoft news, features, events, and press materials

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The Jacksonville teacher with a time machine

Proof point: years ago, Ms. Northern had an idea to combat the dropping graduation rate at Raines.

“I had the idea to start with the end in mind,” Ms. Northern says, her careful cadence of words drawing her audience in. “So we held a baccalaureate at the beginning of the school year. We ordered the caps and gowns for everyone. I don’t care if they were an F student or a C student—they all had a cap and gown. Then we marched.

“Guess where I was during the ceremony?” Ms. Northern asks India.

“Where?” India says.

“Behind the video camera,” answers Ms. Northern, grinning.

“Of course you were, Ms. Northern,” India says. “Of course you were.”

That year, the graduation rate saw the uptick that the administration and Ms. Northern were hoping for.

*****

India was the kind of student that teachers want to duplicate, according to Ms. Northern. “If you gave her a project, she would see that project through from beginning to end. Then, she’d talk the other students into believing that they could accomplish it as well.”

And now, she’s pleased that India has come back, proud that she’d consider what Raines and the people who’ve been a part of her life have done to help her.

“She’s not only looked back, but she’s embraced her history,” Ms. Northern says. “And for that, I am so proud.”

Since junior high school, India dreamed about going to a four-year college. She had her mother’s unwavering support, and they would do whatever it took to get her there, but India would have to figure out the steps. No one in her family had done it before.

“That’s one of the struggles I think can be intrinsic to some kids coming from single-parent homes like I did,” India explains. “Maybe they’re dependent on food stamps or government assistance. Maybe they have to work while in college, whereas somebody else can just focus on going to school. They just have different challenges than some people would. They need help to figure out that path.”

That’s where Ms. Northern stepped in.

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Feb. 28 webcast offers lessons on securing education data

Explore how to use Microsoft Threat Protection to transform digital security for education organizations while enabling IT teams to combat modern phishing attacks.

It’s every educational institution’s goal to successfully get students to graduation and prepare them for the future—and it’s a lot of work. The last thing busy school administrators and faculty want to worry about is the digital security of their classroom technology.

Adopting technology that is easy to use and functions seamlessly allows IT administrators to focus on addressing the needs of their organization and securing the digital infrastructure in and outside of the classroom. With limited school budgets and already hardworking school staff, it’s important to develop a technology strategy that is easy to implement and enhances their work in the classroom while providing administrators peace of mind. And in today’s digital-first world, a big part of that peace of mind includes reliable digital security.

Essential security challenges facing today’s education organizations

More organizations each year are realizing the value of having strong digital security measures in place. The cost of cybercrime to the global economy is projected to be $8 trillion by 2022.

Education organizations face their own unique set of challenges when it comes to data security. For example, the high visibility and public nature of most education organizations means that valuable information is more readily available to potential bad agents. The date for a school’s new location opening, plans for a new university-wide technology initiative, important dates for student FAFSA processing, are all at risk. In addition, a potential bad actor can often view organizational leadership and staff online to identify key employees to target directly. For education organizations, data breaches could compromise bank account information and result in thousands of dollars in stolen stipends or paychecks, or could lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost technology.

One of the most common kinds of security breaches comes in the form of phishing attacks. These malicious cyberattacks present low risk for bad actors combined with the possibility of very high reward. As cyberattacks become more advanced, technology to successfully combat them must do the same.

Transformative approach to modern digital security with Microsoft Threat Protection

Microsoft’s cutting-edge cybersecurity solution, Microsoft Threat Protection (MTP), is designed to enhance data protection with a smarter, more comprehensive technology strategy. Powered by the cloud and built on Azure and Microsoft 365, MTP uses machine learning and other digital innovation to improve how the system recognizes and prevents phishing attacks. Rather than relying on a singular, siloed security solution, MTP leverages capabilities and insights from a collection of Microsoft solutions. For example, MTP runs on Microsoft 365’s all up security solutions stack to maximize its security offerings and ensure world class protection. The system can also expertly identify and consider comprehensive attack signatures, including location, specific behaviors, and recognizable patterns. As a result, MTP acts as a smart security tool that is versatile and agile enough to successfully combat even the most calculated phishing attacks.

One of the most valuable parts of the Microsoft Threat Protection software is its education and learning component. Because of its machine learning technology, the system has the capacity to evolve as the threat evolves—rather than building a whole new security measure each time a new threat arises. IT leaders and administrators can use the cloud-powered technology to learn how to adjust and develop the MTP solution to best fit the security needs of their specific organization. IT experts can take ownership of the overall tech strategy for their team to gain valuable insights into modern phishing trends. So, in addition to leveraging a cutting-edge digital security solution, education organizations can also empower and grow the skills of their in-house IT team.

Powering a secure organization with a better enabled IT team

Enabling IT teams to focus their energy and efforts on securing the classroom is top-of-mind for school administrators and IT leaders in education. Ensuring valuable personal data and digital interactions are secure and protected across technology platforms is critical. While phishing is estimated to have originated in the mid-1990s, this kind of data breach will likely be around well into the future—and education organizations need to be prepared. With Microsoft Threat Protection, IT decision makers and school administrators can feel more confident their technology infrastructure is being protected. And with the system’s strategic technology, education organizations can also benefit from IT staff that leverages relevant insights to expand their skills, grow their knowledge, and better protect their investments.

To learn more, register for the webcast and download the full infographic with more details.

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How GOJO Industries helps hospitals monitor hand hygiene with secure IoT dispensers

GOJO Industries may be best known as the inventor of PURELL Hand Sanitizer, but the Ohio-based company is also a growing digital innovator in public health. In recent years, the company has deployed about 25,000 connected dispensers that help more than a hundred health care facilities monitor hand hygiene, a simple, effective way to prevent infections.

Traditionally, human observers tracked hygiene compliance in health organizations by watching if you washed your hands when you were supposed to. PURELL SMARTLINK Technology, a set of technology solutions from GOJO, streamlines that process with motion sensors, internet-connected dispensers and a cloud platform that collects and analyzes data.

The system’s infrared sensors detect hand-cleaning “opportunities’’ – every time someone goes in and out of a patient’s room, regardless of whether it’s a health professional or family member. Connected PURELL dispensers detect soap and sanitizer use, a recommended practice before and after seeing a patient. All the data funnels into an easy-to-use analytics portal, a helpful tool powered by the Microsoft Azure IoT platform for health care facilities that monitor thousands of dispensers and millions of “opportunities” a month.

Two health care workers look at a computer screen
Health care professionals look at hand hygiene data with a PURELL SMARTLINK Technology solution.

“Being able to quantify behaviors helps you understand your baseline for implementing interventions. At the end of the day, it comes down to trying to reduce the spread of disease through hands that aren’t clean,” says Jason Slater, technology solutions architect for PURELL SMARTLINK Technology.

One customer, a large health organization, saw an 82 percent increase over baseline in its hand hygiene compliance rate during an 18-month period of working with GOJO. “It’s all been pretty positive results,” Slater says.

Launched in 2012, PURELL SMARTLINK Technology is now undergoing an upgrade with Azure Sphere, a solution that enables highly secured, connected devices powered by a microcontroller unit, a small computer on a chip.

Announced last year, Azure Sphere will deliver end-to-end, internet of things (IoT) security for GOJO’s connected dispensers, which often become network endpoints in hospitals. The company is committed to comprehensive data security for customers and says it has never had a data breach with its devices.

“We work hand-in-hand with hospital IT staff and take a defense-in-depth approach,” says Slater. “We use best practices for security up and down our stack. Azure Sphere will allow us to really button up that last leg of our stack – hardware – to ensure we have the best protection against any potential security risks.”

The re-architecture continues GOJO’s innovative work with Azure IoT Hub, the cloud platform enabling PURELL SMARTLINK products. The platform’s “ready-built, command-and-control capabilities” allow GOJO to focus more on business use cases and less on technical “plumbing,” says Slater. “IoT Hub has been a great thing for us,” he says.

Recent innovations include a new system available this year to monitor hand cleaning of individuals and job roles. Instead of aggregating data of everyone going in and out of patient rooms, the solution will associate hand hygiene with employee badges via Bluetooth communication.

Health care worker in scrubs washes hands at a sink near a soap dispenser
A health care worker cleans her hands with a PURELL SMARTLINK solution.

“You can see how individuals or specific job roles are performing, whether it’s nurses, doctors or physical therapists, to improve coaching and interventions,” Slater says. “It was borne out of us listening to customers and their evolving needs.”

The system highlights GOJO’s continuum of solutions for different customers, including a solution that sends predictive alerts on refill and battery levels. The alerts help hospitals ensure product availability in critical hand hygiene moments.

The individual-monitoring solution also showcases the culture of ongoing innovation at GOJO, founded in 1946 by a couple that invented a waterless hand cleaner for factory workers.

“Technology can be an amazing enabler of all sorts of great services,” Slater says. “Ultimately, we’re always looking for a unique way to drive the GOJO purpose of saving lives and making life better through well-being solutions.”

Top photo: A nurse sanitizes her hands with a PURELL SMARTLINK solution before seeing a patient. (All photos courtesy of GOJO Industries)

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Officially licensed ‘Gears of War’ figures, comic book and art book debut at New York Toy Fair this weekend

Since its 2006 debut, Gears of War has established itself as one of the best-selling and most iconic video game franchises of all time, known for acclaimed gameplay, compelling characters, and visceral action. Now, with three new Gears of War games in development, The Coalition will introduce a new series of officially licensed figures, a comic book featuring a new set of characters and a retrospective art book chronicling the Gears of War franchise at the New York Toy Fair happening February 16 to 19.

Storm Collectibles Action Figures

Developed by Storm Collectibles, the first wave of action figures includes classic Delta Squad members Marcus Fenix (both in his traditional look and a separate Vintage Armor Marcus Fenix variant) and Augustus Cole, with additional figures coming later in 2019.

Our partners at Storm Collectibles paid particular attention to capturing authentic likenesses and sculpting for these action figures. Each figure features interchangeable heads with ”Classic” and “Gears 5” versions of Marcus and Cole along with a full array of accessories (actually, the most accessories ever produced for a Gears of War action figure). Complementing these details and accessories is a figure design with over 30 points of articulated joints – allowing for a broad range of dynamic poses.

Note that the designs pictured below are early prototypes. The figures will release later this June, but fans can pre-order them now at GameStop.

Marcus Fenix

Augustus Cole

Vintage Armor Marcus Fenix (GameStop Exclusive)

Gears of War: Hivebusters Comic Book

Gears of War: Hivebusters shows a new side of the Gears universe in this five-part comic book series. Featuring Scorpio Squad – a fearless team of COG soldiers tasked with infiltrating and busting Swarm Hives – and set after the events of Gears of War 4, this collection will follow Scorpio Squad as they are tasked to go after the Swarm that decimated the home settlement of one of their own.

Written by returning Rise of RAAM author Kurtis Wiebe and featuring the artwork of Alan Quah (Dark Souls, Quake Champions), the first issue of Gears of War: Hivebusters will be on sale beginning March 19. It is available at your local comic book store.

“I’m really happy to be back on this new arc for Gears of War,” says Wiebe. “We’re taking the story back to the human side with three new characters that I’ve played a major role in developing. Even with all the blood and violence, I’m weaving a heartfelt story around our three main heroes: Mac, Lahni and Keegan. I can’t wait for it to hit stores!”

Gears of War: Retrospective

Gears of War: Retrospective provides a detailed look at the entire Gears of War franchise, beginning with first game’s initial development all the way up to the highly anticipated Gears 5. Featuring new interviews with developers including Rod Fergusson, Cliff Bleszinski, Tim Sweeney, this retrospective also shows off never-before-seen visuals, photos, and concept art, along with a sneak peek at some concept art from Gears 5.

Gears of War: Retrospective is written by noted journalist Arthur Gies and will be available for purchase beginning July 16. It is available now for pre-order at Amazon.

For more information on the Gears franchise, stay tuned to Xbox Wire or follow Gears on Twitter @gearsofwar.

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‘Crackdown 3’ now available with Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC

It’s time to step up your boom, Agents! Crackdown 3 is now available with Xbox Game Pass on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC.

In the latest entry in the Crackdown franchise, longtime fans will feel right at home in the quest to take back New Providence from the cruel and corrupt TerraNova Corporation. Crackdown 3 is all about over-the-top fun, tons of explosions, and punching the baddies right in the face. You’ll need to deploy everything in your arsenal, whether it’s collecting those iconic green agility orbs to run faster and jump higher, knocking some heads together to increase strength, or causing an endless amount of mayhem and destruction against your enemies with unique and bombastic weapons at your disposal to build your firearm skill. Did we mention Oblivion? Just a fun little gadget that shoots a black hole at enemies. No big deal.

Crackdown has always been about freedom and this holds especially true in Crackdown 3. Right from the start, you choose how you want to free the city. There are 21 playable Agents to select from – including the man, the myth the legend, the one and only Terry Crews as Commander Isaiah Jaxon. If you feel lucky, you can take on final boss Elizabeth Niemand right from the start or soften up her defenses by eliminating her lieutenants. That sense of freedom applies to choosing your Agent as well. Each Agent has specific attributes that boost skills faster. Want to quickly unlock all of the Agency Vehicle forms? Pick an Agent who specializes in Driving and sideswipe your foes off the road. And with Agent saves separate from world saves, you can switch out your Agent based on the challenge at hand. Agents can take on TerraNova alone or jump in with a friend in two-player co-op via Xbox Live for double the trouble!

If you’re looking for even more mayhem, you’ll want to check out Wrecking Zone. Wrecking Zone is powered by Azure cloud which enables two teams of five to battle it out in fully-destructible environments, with cross play enabled across both Xbox One and Windows 10. Whether you’re knocking bridges to the ground, blasting walls from across the map or simply flying through the skies to meet your opponents in aerial combat, players will find no shortage of mayhem across the game’s two modes, Agent Hunter and Territories.

Crackdown 3 is available today with Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Existing Xbox Game Pass members can download Crackdown 3 on their console or with the Xbox Game Pass mobile app, and new members can sign up today and receive two full months for $2 to join in on the action.

For more information on Crackdown 3, be sure to stay tuned to Xbox Wire.

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Black History Month: A time to lift each other up

As a child of “First to’s” (First African-American to command the U.S. Army Old Guard, First African-American to be selected National Elementary School Principal of the Year by President Bill Clinton), my family is deeply steeped in the history of African-American culture and civil rights in the United States, emanating from northern cities (Philadelphia, Pa. and Gary, Ind.) and the deep south (Hayneville, Ala.). I have been raised with a belief in the verse that “to whom much is given, much is required,” and a commitment to give back to our society, honoring those who paved a path forward for us.

When I look around our country today, I am so pleased to see how diversity and inclusion have moved from a concept to an expectation, embedded in every industry and sector of our society. I see leaders speaking up and actively listening to the feedback on what it takes to create diverse and inclusive environments. Mostly, I see regular citizens showing up, rediscovering their voice, sharing their stories, and demanding inclusion and equality – not just for people of color, but for groups of all kinds.

Every February during Black History Month, a 28-day window provides an opportunity for our nation, our company, and each of us to pause and take stock of the condition and progress of Black people and other minority populations. We can celebrate the achievements and contributions of so many and, at the same time, lament the increase in violence and hate crimes, inflammatory discourse in our political arena and sense of increasing polarization across our country.

At Microsoft, we have made the long-term commitment to build and sustain a culture that fosters an inclusive working environment, which will enable our employees to do their best work and serve the diverse needs of our customers around the world. We also are committed to engaging in and advancing diversity and inclusion conversations in communities where we believe we can help empower people.

Black History Month presents us with an opportunity to engage in diversity and inclusion dialogues across all minority groups.

  • At Microsoft, we kicked off the month with our Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) chapter ringing the Nasdaq bell on Wall Street for the second consecutive year. As a direct result of the impact our team had last year, Nasdaq has created its own employee network called GLOBE – Global Link of Black Employees.
  • Next week, I will share the stage with civil rights activist, Reverend Jesse Jackson, at the Wall Street Project, which strives to ensure equal opportunities for culturally diverse employees, entrepreneurs and consumers.
  • Reshma Saujani, who founded Girls Who Code with the single mission of closing the gender gap in technology, will be speaking with Microsoft employees later this month.
  • We celebrate the passionate young gamers who demonstrated to everyone, that a level playing field is possible with the help of their friends, family and adaptive technology.
  • At the upcoming BAM conference, we will recognize the pioneers who started the affinity group 30 years ago – the first employee group of its kind.

I count myself incredibly fortunate to work at a company that embodies many of the principles my parents instilled in me, which have stood the test of time as we continue to engage in the diversity and inclusion dialogue: set the bar high and exceed it, approach the world with a service mentality and, above all, lift each other up.

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Microsoft for Healthcare Innovation Award Winners at HIMSS 2019

Health innovation award trophies

The winners of the 2019 Microsoft for Healthcare Innovation Awards were announced at HIMSS19 yesterday during the Microsoft Health Forum.  Each year, the awards acknowledge health and life sciences organizations and their technology solution partners that are achieving innovation excellence with a Microsoft-based solution.

We’re always excited to highlight the achievements of our forward-thinking customers and partners as they advance digital transformation in health. Here are the winners in each of the submission categories:

Award Category:  Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and KenSci

To better understand which patients are at the highest risk of COPD, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde worked with KenSci to leverage AI and Machine Learning to predict long-term hospital stays based on clinical history, socio-economic factors and risk to stratify the top 20% high risk patients likely to admit for the first time due to COPD, in order to drive preventive intervention.

Award Category:  Empower Your Care Teams and Employees

Vision Source, LP and Kno2

To meet the needs of populations with diabetes, Vision Source needed to establish a nationwide interoperability network for their 3,350 independent locations. As a result, Vision Source selected Kno2’s Interoperability as a Service, enabling immediate access to over 2 million referring providers through the nation’s major health information networks: Direct, referral networks, care quality, and those connected through Commonwell Health Alliance.

Award Category:  Engage Your Patients & Enable Personalized Care

Premera Blue Cross

Premera Scout™ is an intelligent virtual assistant that helps customers find the information they need to make the most of their health plan. Premera powers this solution using advanced AI from Microsoft Healthcare. Guided by a customer-centered strategy, Premera transforms complicated and confusing experiences to simple and easy ones.

Award Category:  Optimize Clinical Operational Effectiveness & Improve Outcomes

Prediction of Patient Placement (POPP) Team at Boston Children’s Hospital

Boston Children’s Hospital uses Prediction of Patient Placement (POPP), a real time forecasting tool to predict incoming admissions from the Emergency Department. This tool enables proactive coordination of downstream operations in order to reduce transfer wait time. The model uses hospital-specific, historical data and is EHR- and hospital-agnostic.

Award Category:  Outstanding Innovation

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and DNAnexus

A partnership between St. Jude, DNAnexus, and Microsoft developed the St. Jude Cloud, a secure cloud-based data-sharing and collaboration environment, to provide researchers access to an extensive public repository of pediatric cancer genomics data, accelerated data mining, analysis and visualization capabilities.

Award Category:  Transform the Care Continuum & Reimagine Healthcare

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins Medicine developed the Precision Medicine Analytics Platform (PMAP) to empower faculty to make discoveries; improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes; and lower the cost of care. PMAP is comprised of two parts: Discovery – for faculty researchers to fuel the discovery of new insights and algorithms; and Care Delivery – after discovery medical validation, promoted for use by other physicians.

Thank you to our judges

In addition to acknowledging the innovative solutions of the award recipients, we would like to thank each of the distinguished judges who reviewed this year’s entries:

  • Ahmad Hashem, MD, PhD, CEO, Boston Biopharma, Inc.
  • Benjamin Rooks, Managing Director, ST Advisors, Inc.
  • Gienna Shaw, Senior Writer, Amendola Communications
  • Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, MA (Econ), MHSA, Health Economist and Advisor, THINK-Health and Health Populi blog
  • Jay Srini, FHIMSS, Chief Strategist, SCS Ventures; Adjunct Associate Professor, SHRS, University of Pittsburgh
  • Keith Fraidenburg, MBA, EVP & COO, CHIME
  • Melinda Richter, Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS
  • Michael Docktor, MD, Gastroenterologist, Clinical Director of Innovation @ Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School
  • Taren Grom, Founding Partner/Editor, PharmaVOICE
  • Victoria (Vicky) L. Tiase, MSN, RN-BC, Director – Informatics Strategy, New York Presbyterian Hospital

What’s your story?

Congratulations again to our winners. We would love to hear how your health organization is creating better experiences and delivering better care, please share with us through email, Facebook, or Twitter.

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Xbox Game Pass favorites to fall in love with on Valentine’s Day

With Xbox Game Pass there’s no shortage of games for you to fall in love with this Valentine’s Day. From sailing to driving to jumping, even combine harvesting, there’s bound to be room in your heart for a few of these titles. We’ve highlighted some of our Xbox Game Pass favorites that we think you’ll fall in love with, too. We’d love to hear what Xbox Game Pass titles you love most by reaching out to us on Xbox Game Pass Twitter and Instagram.

Gears of War 4

There are countless reasons to love Gears of War 4: amazing characters, non-stop action, and awesome Lancers. But one of the reasons it really makes our heart skip a beat is the couch multiplayer you can experience with a loved one by your side. Whether it’s co-op or competitive multiplayer, you can have each other’s backs or go after each other for bragging rights. It’s also a great time to jump on board as we get ready to deepen our relationship with Gears 5 – which will launch with Xbox Game Pass the same day it’s available on Xbox One and Windows 10 later this year.

Human Fall Flat

Another couch co-op crowd-pleaser that’s best played with a group of friends as you wobble and tumble in physics-based puzzle mayhem. But what really makes us fall (pun intended) for Human: Fall Flat are its incredibly adorable character designs, which when seen tumbling, falling, splatting, flying through the air also cause us to break into gut-busting laugher at their expense. And laughter, they say, is the quickest way to someone’s heart.

Laser League

You know that squiggly feeling you get in your stomach at the sight of a certain special someone? Yeah, well, that’s the feeling you get after being shot by laser. And now you’re out of the match and your team is falling behind. You went ahead and got distracted by that attractive, neon-blue clad opponent and you let your guard down for a fraction of a second. And in a game where split-second decisions are key, you blew it. Where were we… oh, yes. Laser League is great. You should play it.

Portal Knights

There are few things we love more than joining friends to embark on an action RPG adventure full of crafting, epic enemies, and massive new worlds. Which is a big reason for our love for Portal Knights, which offers near endless adventure thanks to its randomly generated 3D sandbox worlds. Best of all, these adventures can be had with some couch co-op or online with up to four players. Perfect for a night out on the medieval town.

Mortal Kombat X

Get over here and warm up that sub-zero heart of yours with the epic Mortal Kombat X. As one of the longest-running fighting game franchises, this series continues to impress and innovate causing us to fall in love with it, time and time again. And with Mortal Kombat 11 on the horizon, now’s the best time to dust off those controllers and renew some of your deepest rivalries, er, we mean vows. Toasty!

Rocket League

If you and your special someone are looking for one of the best pick-up-and-play games available today, you can do little wrong  by booting up some Rocket League and letting those sparks fly. And by sparks we mean the giant soccer balls you’re “kicking” in net, and by flying we mean your sweet rides as they tumble through the air. Seriously, it’s great. Go play it together.

Spintires: Mudrunner

On the surface, this physics-based driving game has all the ingredients for one amazing off-road experience as you wrestle these epic vehicles across some of the harshest terrain. But underneath all of this is a trust exercise, with only your compass and map to help guide you to safety – something that will always have your back and support you if you happen to lose your way. Yeah, we might be overthinking the whole giant trucks in the mud bit, but it’s that simplicity that makes us appreciate the life lessons this game is teaching us.

Forza Horizon 4

One of the many reasons we love Forza Horizon 4 is that it lets us run free across a beautiful historic Britain. Perfect for those romances that let the two of you test your love at a brisk 200mph across winding roads all season(s) long. Or, if you’re still looking for someone special this Valentine’s Day, you never know who you’ll meet in the game’s massive, shared open world.

Sea of Thieves

Perhaps the perfect test of a relationship is a bold ocean voyage into the unknown. So, hop online with your loved one(s) and work in harmony, surviving storms, sharks and skeleton crews to forge your very own pirate legend. Or just take a ship built for two and seek out a secluded island getaway… with a shovel in hand and an unpatched eye trained to catch the gleam of half-buried treasure.

Join Xbox Game Pass Today

With over 100 great games for one low monthly price, including highly-anticipated new Xbox One exclusives the day they’re released, including the highest-rated* Xbox exclusive of this generation Forza Horizon 4, plus more games added all the time, Xbox Game Pass gives you the ultimate freedom to play. If you haven’t tried Xbox Game Pass, join today and get your first month for $2, and discover your next favorite game.

For the latest Xbox Game Pass news, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, download the Xbox Game Pass app for Android and iOS and keep it tuned here to Xbox Wire. And for a limited time only, new members can get two months of membership for $2.

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Microsoft a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI Platforms for 12 consecutive years

We’re very grateful to our customers, our community members, and our partners for making Power BI what it is today.

Thank you.

The Power BI Team

Get the 2019 Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms report* to learn more.

 

*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

 

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Venture Beat: Microsoft, Moovit and TomTom team up for multi-modal transport platform

A triumvirate of tech companies today announced what they’re touting as the “world’s first truly comprehensive multi-modal trip planner.”

Taking the stage at the Move mobility conference in London, executives from Microsoft, TomTom, and Moovit outlined how they’re pooling their various transport, data, and cloud processing smarts so developers can integrate more extensive transport options into their own applications.

“Over the last few years, cities have experienced rising urban sprawl, where residents of metropolitan areas have been pushed out toward suburban areas, often beyond the limits of public transit lines,” noted Azure Maps head Chris Pendleton. “With most jobs still residing in densely populated cities, the typical commute is becoming multi-modal.”

Moovit, for the uninitiated, constitutes two core elements: a consumer-facing app that gives travelers the easiest way to get around a city and a mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform that provides municipalities with data and analytics to improve city transport infrastructure.

A few months back, Moovit and Microsoft announced a partnership that would allow developers who use Azure Maps to hook into Moovit’s transit data. Last week, GPS navigation stalwart TomTom announced an expanded tie-up with Microsoft, one that will bring TomTom’s extensive maps and traffic data into the Azure fold — in effect, TomTom will serve as the primary location data provider for Microsoft’s cloud platform, Bing Maps, and Cortana.

Fast-forward to today, and the three companies are now pooling their respective capabilities for an urban transport offering that any third-party developer can leverage.

“This will lead to commuters having the best option to plan a trip [by] combining legs on public transit, ride-sharing, bike, or scooter and other legs by car, including finding available parking lot spaces in real time,” added Moovit cofounder and CEO Nir Erez.

Through Azure Maps, Microsoft’s developer-focused mapping platform, users will be able to access not only Moovit’s public transit data, but also TomTom’s real-time driving and parking data. So developers will be able to include the full gamut of transport options inside their own apps — including buses, trains, metros, ferries, carpooling, bike-sharing, and now driving and parking.

“Blending TomTom’s specific auto and parking lot data with Moovit’s multi-modal trip planning gives Azure Maps an unprecedented view of every facet of urban mobility,” Pendleton continued. “No one else has provided this comprehensive level of service in one solution.”

Multi-modal

We’ve seen a growing number of integrations between transport service providers, and the term “multi-modal” is springing up more frequently in urban mobility conversations.

Back in 2016, Moovit combined its public transport data with Uber to find the best route in dozens of cities. A year later, Uber revealed that it would make it easier for its ride-hailing customers to keep tabs on other transit options by displaying real-time public transport data alongside private vehicles. Earlier this month, Uber revealed it was doubling down on efforts to show full transit options directly inside the Uber app.

Elsewhere, navigation giant Here recently launched a new social transport app for planning and sharing rides, merging all modes of transport, including public, private, and personal, into a single platform.

Tying these myriad transport options together is maps and data, which is the currency for urban mobility companies. TomTom was pretty much blindsided by the arrival of iOS and Android a decade ago, with smartphones enabling portable navigation in everyone’s pockets. In recently times, TomTom has been striving to refocus its core business to better compete with Google in maps and navigation, and it recently offloaded its telematics unit for $1 billion to help with this push.

Today’s announcement, alongside TomTom’s broader Azure partnership announced last week, should go some way toward helping the company gain more traction.

“Location data has become more relevant and important than ever before, and no one knows this better than TomTom,” added managing director Anders Truelsen.