Tag: Recent News

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Plan to map UK’s network of heart defibrillators using Azure could save thousands every year

Thousands of people who are at risk of dying every year from cardiac arrest could be saved under new plans to make the public aware of their nearest defibrillator.

There are 30,000 cardiac arrests outside of UK hospitals annually but fewer than one-in-10 of those survive, compared with a 25% survival rate in Norway, 21% in North Holland, and 20% in Seattle, in the US.

A new partnership between the British Heart Foundation (BHF), Microsoft, the NHS and New Signature aims to tackle the problem by mapping all the defibrillators in the UK, so 999 call handlers can tell people helping a cardiac arrest patient where the nearest device is.

Ambulance services currently have their own system of mapping where defibrillators are located but this is not comprehensive.

Printout of heart monitor
It is hoped the partnership can evolve to capture heart data from cardiac arrest patients

“There is huge potential ahead in the impact that technology will have in digitally transforming UK healthcare,” said Clare Barclay, Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft. “This innovative partnership will bring the power of Microsoft technology together with the incredible vision and life-saving work of BHF and the NHS. This project, powered by the cloud, will better equip 999 call handlers with information that can make the difference between life and death and shows the potential that innovative partnerships like this could make to the health of the nation.”

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart fails to pump effectively, resulting in a sudden loss of blood flow. Symptoms include a loss of consciousness, abnormal or absent breathing, chest pain, shortness of breath and nausea. If not treated within minutes, it usually leads to death.

Defibrillators can save the life of someone suffering from a cardiac arrest by providing a high-energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall. This allows the body’s natural pacemaker to re-establish the heart’s normal rhythm.

However, defibrillators are used in just 2% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, often because bystanders and ambulance services don’t know where the nearest device is located.



Owners of the tens of thousands of defibrillators in workplaces, train stations, leisure centres and public places across the country will register their device with the partnership. That information will be stored in Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service, where it will be used by ambulance services during emergency situations. The system will also remind owners to check their defibrillators to make sure they are in working order.

It is hoped that the partnership can evolve to enable defibrillators to self-report their condition, as well as capture heart data from cardiac arrest patients that can be sent to doctors.

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the BHF, said: “Every minute without CPR or defibrillation reduces a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest by around 10%. Thousands more lives could be saved if the public were equipped with vital CPR skills, and had access to a defibrillator in the majority of cases.

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“While we’ve made great progress in improving the uptake of CPR training in schools, public defibrillators are rarely used when someone suffers a cardiac arrest, despite their widespread availability. This unique partnership could transform this overnight, meaning thousands more people get life-saving defibrillation before the emergency services arrive.”

Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, added: “This promises to be yet another example of how innovation within the NHS leads to transformative improvements in care for patients.”

The defibrillation network will be piloted by West Midlands Ambulance Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service, before being rolled out across the UK.

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What mixed reality’s amazing new health frontier means for you

In 1992, scientist and technologist Louis Rosenberg created Virtual Fixtures, one of the first augmented reality systems ever developed. By using a full upper-body exoskeleton, the wearer was able to control two physical robots, while innovative optics aligned the robot arms as an overlay of the user’s own arms.

In the nearly 30 years that followed, technology has advanced considerably, enabling fully immersive “virtual-reality” experiences, as well as “mixed reality”—the result of blending the physical world with the digital world.

While mixed reality is still a relatively new technology in health, it has the potential to make a significant impact on patient care. Its unique ability to project visualizations into physical space and its low barrier of entry is spurring health organizations to experiment in ways that are incredibly promising. Here are three examples of providers that are pioneering mixed reality in medical education, the perioperative pathway, and virtual care.

Enhancing medical education by helping students see the human body in three dimensions

While medical students have traditionally learned through textbooks and hands-on training, this approach has its disadvantages, such as a lack of real-world exposure to multiple anatomical variations. For practicing physicians, on-the-job training is often conducted via mannequins and simulators, which are an improvement over textbooks, but even these sophisticated tools have limitations. Each patient is different, and while mannequins are helpful, nothing beats actual patient care for learning.

Mixed reality enhances physician education by combining the anatomical and procedural to create a more robust education platform. Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland is utilizing mixed-reality devices to accelerate their medical students’ grasp of anatomy. With mixed reality, students can visualize the muscles on top of a skeleton and understand the body’s different layers. They can project any piece of anatomy digitally and examine it in three dimensions, move it around, or make it translucent to see through to what lies underneath.

As a result, students have more freedom to experiment and explore the ways anatomical systems work together, helping them build confidence and empowering them with stronger working knowledge of anatomy.

Expanding the opportunity to learn in a new dimension changes the way medical students and physicians see their patients and the world, opening new avenues to approach medicine from a “hands-on” perspective, not just a theoretical one.

Delivering new intelligence to the perioperative pathway by simulating the physical world

When approaching complicated surgeries, each scenario is unique. Some procedures are more complex than others due to the unique characteristics of the patient’s anatomy and the type of surrounding tissue and organs. A growing number of surgeons have already adopted innovative methods like three-dimensional (3D) printing to prepare for the intricacies of each surgery, but this approach is challenging to scale and hinders collaboration among surgical teams.

Mixed reality takes this innovation further, enabling surgeons to interact with an accurate digital representation of a patient’s unique organ structure, as well as collaborate with their teams to orchestrate and rehearse procedures. The University of Oslo is leveraging mixed reality to plan complex procedures, such as liver surgery. By creating a digital 3D model of the patient’s liver from a computed tomography (CT) scan, surgeons can move, scale, rotate and isolate different parts of the organ, as well as switch layers of the model off and on with simple hand gestures. Multiple surgeons can also share the same experience through separate devices.

The new technique enables doctors to navigate around the patient’s other organs and leave more of their healthy liver tissue undisturbed, improving their ability to withstand surgery during treatment. Researchers are looking for ways to apply this technology to patients undergoing other complicated procedures such as cardiac surgery.

Applying mixed reality to perioperative planning enables a customized approach for each patient, offering surgeons enhanced visibility into the patient’s unique anatomy. This approach can improve each individual surgery, helping surgical teams prepare more effectively to create the best possible outcome for each patient.

Bringing doctors and patients together virtually when they can’t be in the same place

Within certain patient populations, connecting patients with providers can be time-consuming and costly. For instance, getting to a provider’s office is a major challenge for elderly patients who lack transportation. Those in remote areas often face similar challenges in making the time to travel and finding transportation.

Through mixed-reality devices, doctors can provide high-quality care to patients in their own homes, saving time, money, and hassle while making them feel more comfortable. Silver Chain Group in Australia is doing this already by using Microsoft’s HoloLens to create an “Enhanced Medical Mixed Reality (EMMR) interface. By having a visiting nurse wear a mixed-reality headset at the patient’s bedside, a doctor can see the patient remotely as if they were in the same room. This extends doctors’ reach beyond the walls of the exam room and enables patients to receive care that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. As the world’s population continues to grow older, demand for community-based care will only increase, and innovative telehealth options will be even more critical.

Augmenting reality eliminates logistical challenges to providing care to remote and elderly populations, putting the patient and the problem in front of doctors’ eyes and removing the friction that can get in the way of patients receiving the right care at the right time.

Enable healthcare innovation with mixed reality

For years, technology adoption in medicine has been driven by doctors seeking ways to improve their techniques as well as by patients demanding high-quality care and convenience. Mixed reality is showing great promise in improving medical education, surgical planning, and even office visits, making healthcare delivery easier, faster, and cheaper while driving better results for patients. To learn more about what Microsoft and its partners are achieving with mixed reality, download our eBook on digital transformation in health.

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Nominate your school for Microsoft’s showcase program

School leaders committed to improving student outcomes benefit when they share best practices with one another. Over my time working in education, I’ve continued to be inspired by school leaders who push the boundaries of innovation and strive to set new benchmarks for what’s possible. It’s clear that the most important part of the journey is about people. The role of the school leader in making positive change to the school, community and for students, is critical to ongoing, sustained success.

Above: Hardenhuish School

The Microsoft Showcase Schools program provides an opportunity for diverse yet like-minded leaders to learn from and support one another’s journey through transformation. It’s designed to support innovative school leaders who commit to bringing their vision to life – through the development of a growth mindset in their educators, students, parents, local community, and in themselves. I’ve had the great opportunity to engage with many of these school leaders and to visit their schools over recent years. I am always impressed by the energy, commitment and undeniable passion they have to make their schools incredible places to learn.

While no two Showcase Schools look the same, many share similar challenges. In the Showcase Schools program, success and best practices are shared and amplified through a global network of school leaders. These innovative leaders work together to solve transformation’s toughest conundrums and celebrate momentum and successes as they reflect, grow and develop along the way.

School Leaders love the opportunity to engage directly with Microsoft through the Showcase Schools program, not to mention how easily the program helps develop deep connections with education thought leaders around the world.

If you are a school leader committed to transforming your school and increasing student outcomes, Microsoft encourages you to nominate your school for consideration in the Showcase Schools program. If accepted into the program, you will join a community of passionate and knowledgeable school leaders, innovate alongside Microsoft product teams and partners, and amplify your school’s success through tours and events. Other school leaders will look to you to provide them with an education transformation vision for tomorrow – today.

“The work we are doing at Renton Prep is disruptive. That means there are challenges, roadblocks along the way, and it’s hard work,” says Michelle Zimmerman, Director Renton Prep in Renton, Washington, USA. “But the reward of being a member of the Showcase Schools community, knowing that other educators are going through the same thing, makes it worth it because we can tackle some of those challenges together and find solutions we wouldn’t have alone.”

Microsoft is looking for schools whose leaders are innovative agents of change and who meet the following criteria:

The school demonstrates: 

  • Thought leadership in at least one area of educational transformation, as outlined in the Microsoft K-12 Education Transformation Framework.
  • Innovative use of technology, using Microsoft solutions, to drive positive impact and student success with 21st century skills.

The school leader demonstrates: 

  • Innovation, as evidenced through the actions and attitudes of a growth mindset and commitment to the K-12 Education Transformation Framework Journey.
  • Empowerment of educators and students to innovate and exercise a growth mindset.
  • Willingness to drive efforts to connect with educators locally practices.
  • If the above criteria describe your school and your leadership style, follow these three easy steps to nominate your school for consideration in Microsoft’s Showcase Schools Program for 2018 and 2019.

1.  Join the Microsoft Educator Community and complete your profile. You will need to submit the URL to your public profile as part of the nomination process. You can find your URL under Edit Profile -> Basic Information.

2. On your nomination form, provide the public URLs for any additional social media profiles you may have (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc).

3. Create a two-minute video or Sway in which you share your story of innovative educational transformation. Remember to use these prompts to guide your story:

  • This is what we thought about educational transformation before we engaged with Microsoft . . .
  • This is what we learned about educational transformation since working with Microsoft . . .
  • This is what we are doing next . . .
  • This is what we are keeping in mind . . .
  • These are our current blockers and challenges . . .

Nominations are open on a rolling basis, although some regions and countries’ nomination dates may vary based on local academic schedules. Your local Microsoft team will provide you with details once your completed nomination form is submitted.

We look forward to reviewing your school’s nomination.

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You’ve got the job, now what?

Building your career is a journey filled with challenges, excitement, and forks in the road. And journeys are easier with maps. In this column, job experts answer your questions and deliver advice to help you take the next step.

Question: I landed an exciting job. Now that I’m settling in, I don’t want to lose my momentum. What should I do to keep my career moving in a positive direction?

Answer: You’re right—your career is a moving target, so it’s a good idea to be open and willing to develop yourself for what lies ahead. Whether you’re new to the workforce or have been with a company for years, one role probably won’t be the end of your journey.

Microsoft recruiter Heidi Landex Grotkopp believes that developing your career can be an illuminating trip into self-discovery, skill development, and building strong relationships. Here are some of her top recommendations for staying sharp and ready for what’s next, whenever it might come.

Give yourself time to settle in

It can take about a year to get fully ramped up in any role, Landex pointed out. Before you begin to set your sights on the next gig, give yourself time to get to know your work. Spend time with your peers and managers to learn more about the business, the expectations, and the customers.

As you build relationships in your role, ask for periodic check-ins—with managers as well as with peers—to ensure that you are on track with agreed-upon expectations or areas of improvement. This tactic helps you build a rapport, while gaining visibility within your team and organization.

Landex said that your ramp-up is the perfect window to gain insight from others—and yourself. In this ongoing process, consider what you’re doing in your work and how you’re doing it. This will help you notice how you are evolving in your role, reflect on challenges you have taken on, and figure out how to keep growing, she said.

“Ask yourself, if I had been a bit bolder, what would I have done differently?” said Landex.

Fill in your skill gaps

As you continue to gauge your strong suits and identify areas of development, focus on your strengths, but don’t be afraid to know and publicly acknowledge your areas of opportunity. Those may be the very areas that could lead you into something new and exciting, something unexpected.

“Let’s say you don’t have a specific skillset or it doesn’t come naturally to you, but you love 90 percent of the rest of your job. You might be in the right role, and you should get mentoring and training to ‘skill you up’ on the 10 percent that you are concerned about,” she said.

Go to your manager and have a conversation about the identified gap. Landex suggested communicating about your growth area but that you know it’s a skill you can improve. Then lay out a plan to execute that: a training, a long-term class, or help from a mentor.

“Your manager should be able to help you identify someone in the organization that would be a great help,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a local mentor. It could be someone in a different job or different location than you. The idea is to find someone who you can shadow a bit, in person or virtually, and ask questions about how you can improve within your specific scenarios.”

And remember, Landex said, “You might not be the strongest in a skill, but never look in a mirror and think you’re not good enough.” Everyone can improve once they set their target.

Build connections beyond your role

Landex also believes employees should seek a sponsor or champion.

“A sponsor is not a mentor but someone who can help you in your next career step,” she explained. “Let’s say you don’t have all the right skills or the right technology, but you have the right effort and capabilities to get there. With the right sponsor, they will help you connect with the right people and opportunities to get you to the next stage of your career.”

Be your best data keeper

Having a record of your career path can be surprisingly insightful. Landex said she does this in two ways: by documenting her accomplishments, and by asking colleagues to share their feedback about her.

The personal document is just for you. “It can be 10 pages or no limit,” she said. “Put in all the different roles you’ve had. Write in your achievements and how you managed. Keep it chronicled and make note of what’s relevant.”

Then revisit it about once a year or as your accomplishments happen. Continue to think about how your direction changes, and adjust your entries to showcase relevant details.

This personal document is a great way for you notice trends in your accomplishments and pinpoint new, in-demand skillsets that you’ve obtained. Also, by calling out how you got there, you’re making note of your way of thinking through a problem or project.

Landex also suggests collecting unsolicited feedback. Whether it’s a kind note from your manager about a project you rocked or an appreciative hallway chat with a peer about your work ethic, save it.

“I actually capture my feedback on LinkedIn,” said Landex who feels the Recommendations section of the platform is an underutilized tool. “When I get good feedback from someone other than my manager, I ask the person if they could share their feedback as a recommendation on LinkedIn.”

Understand that your career is evolutionary

With every great role, you’ll find great lessons and potential successes. By chronicling your experience, expanding your connections, and showcasing your well-earned accolades, you are setting a solid foundation to nurture your career development.

Never treat a new role as the “end all, be all.” It’s simply a milestone of your career evolution.

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Microsoft Movies & TV app for Xbox and Windows 10 now supports Movies Anywhere

Today we are excited to announce that the Microsoft Movies & TV app for Xbox and Windows 10 devices now supports Movies Anywhere, which brings your favorite film libraries together in one place.

When you connect your Microsoft account with your Movies Anywhere account, all of your eligible movies from Microsoft can be enjoyed across your favorite screens at no extra cost. This includes Xbox and Windows, iOS and Android, smart TVs, and streaming devices.

In addition, eligible movies you previously purchased from other participating digital retailers will now be viewable through the Movies & TV app on Xbox and Windows 10.

As part of our launch, we have a limited time offer for anyone who connects his or her Microsoft account to Movies Anywhere for the first time. Once you connect, you will receive X-Men Days of Future Past in your digital collection on us. This offer begins today and only runs for a limited time, so head here to connect your accounts today or visit this page for complete details.

Microsoft Movies & TV allows you to watch the newest movies and TV shows across your favorite devices, before streaming services or disc, and without subscription or membership fees. You can download for offline viewing and take it on the go, or watch the latest episode of a show the day after it airs on TV. There are weekly deals in Sales & Specials to grow your collection, and all of your purchases earn you credits through Microsoft Rewards.

We have been working to bring you the best viewing experience on Xbox and Windows 10 for your favorite movies. Thank you for sharing your feedback and happy movie watching!

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10 new features for going Back to School with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Education gets to do something pretty incredible every day: work with educators across the world to create engaging classroom experiences. At the heart of our products is the brilliance that teachers and students always bring to the table.

So, for Back to School 2018, we’re returning some of that infectious learning energy with some very exciting updates in Microsoft Teams for Education. Thanks in huge part to the tireless work and feedback of teachers and students across the world, #MicrosoftEDU is thrilled to announce 10 fresh new features in Teams for the upcoming school year (and beyond 😉).

And don’t forget, teachers and students can get started with Teams for free as part of Office 365 Education.

1. Rubric grading now available

Introducing an all-new way to increase transparency in assessment:

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Giving educators the tools to provide great feedback means everything to us. So, when it comes to rubric grading, we listened to how important it was to you – and made it happen. Rubric grading is now available to every educator! Built directly into Teams for Education, rubric grading helps increase assignment transparency for students and allows you to give more meaningful feedback.

These feedback mechanisms not only help students learn and improve their work, but they’re also a consistent and transparent way for teachers to grade. Now, inside of Teams, you can customize your grading criteria with your own rubric to enable skills-based grading of your assignments. 

2. Mobile Assignments experience

We know mobile is huge for our students and teachers, so we’ve made a meaningful update to our iOS and Android apps designed to save students and teachers time. You can now access all your assignments directly when you launch the app and see a simplified list of upcoming tasks across all your classes. Students can work on their assignments directly on their phones and turn in.

Teachers can also create new assignments right from our apps, so it doesn’t matter if you’re on the bus or working from home. You can always keep your students up-to-date and on-schedule.

3. Archiving teams

If you’ve been using Teams for a while, you probably have some older teams piling up from the previous school year that you’d like to get out of the way. Instead of deleting the team altogether, you can now archive the team (essentially placing it in a frozen read-only state). This way, you can go back and reference what you covered last year any time you want. Learn how.

4. Reuse assignments – again (and again and again)

We love hearing from teachers that create assignments for their classes every day. And we know teachers using Teams have been creating millions of assignments. In doing this, they are fully building out their learning activities with instructions, attachments, and customization to share with their students.

Well, wouldn’t it be great if you could reuse these assignments over and over (and over and over) again? It would, which is why we’re so excited to introduce the ability to reuse assignments from current or archived Class Teams.

5. All-new Flipgrid app

Microsoft Teams has caught a serious case of #FlipgridFever (and the only prescription is more Flipgrid).

Just a couple days ago our friends took the stage at #FlipgridLIVE and announced the latest and greatest new features to create the perfect space for your students to share their brilliance. Check out the colorful, powerful, and emoji-ful 😎 Grids + Topics! Plus: see how you can unleash creativity with the new Flipgrid Recorder + Player.

We are truly #BetterTogether with the Flipgrid community. All these new features are built directly into your class, staff or PLC teams – you just need to add the Flipgrid app. Since Flipgrid joined Microsoft Education, we’ve made Flipgrid completely free for every educator and student in the world! Try it out today.

6. New Class and Staff Notebook Tab App

To help save teachers more time when using OneNote Class and Staff Notebooks inside Microsoft Teams, we’re releasing a few key updates. Teachers will enjoy the new and improved Class and Staff Notebook settings directly inside Microsoft Teams – just select “Manage Notebooks” in the tab menu. Plus, we’ve improved the Class Notebook toolbar and added a new Staff Notebook toolbar, specifically for staff teams. In addition, page distribution is now fully supported in the Teams desktop app!

7. Cloud recording

From faculty meetings to online office hours, built-in video meetings in Teams make collaboration easy, powered by Microsoft Stream. Ever wanted to record that meeting or online lecture? Now you can provide one-click meeting recordings with automatic transcription and timecoding, which also displays captions and lets team members search within the conversation, and play back all or part of the meeting.

8. Dark Mode

It’s easy on the eyes, and dark to the core. Dark mode is a dramatic new look that helps you focus on your schoolwork. Choose what’s best for you: the familiar light appearance, the new dark mode, or even high-contrast mode.

9. Immersive Reader in Teams messages (coming soon)

Teachers have been blown away by the power Immersive Reader has in helping to build confidence for emerging readers and for those who struggle to read grade-level texts. We’re thrilled to be bringing the Immersive Reader experience to Teams! Once Immersive Reader is added in the next few weeks, you will be able to use it with any message in Teams.

10. Forms in Assignments

Assignments in Teams is about to get a new best friend: Microsoft Forms. Later this month, we’re launching the Assignments + Forms integration, giving you the power to seamlessly distribute assessments through your Assignments app – then use Forms reporting for auto-grading, feedback, and scores.

Extra credit: Email digest for guardians/parents (coming soon)

Soon, guardians will be able to stay up-to-date with their student’s progress. The new guardian email digest provides a quick look of the previous week’s assignment progress (detailing the missing or completed work), plus the upcoming week’s assignments.

Woohoo! The love for Teams continues. We have even more announcements coming this fall, so be sure to follow @MicrosoftTeams, @MicrosoftEDU, or reach out with questions to me directly @justinchando! 🚀

Get started with Teams today, free for students and teachers.

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Microsoft Pay is now available with Masterpass by Mastercard

Microsoft Pay now supports Masterpass by Mastercard, so that consumers can use their Microsoft account for fast and secure checkouts at their favorite retailers that accept Masterpass, without the need to reenter their information. This work further advances Mastercard and Microsoft’s shared goal to help optimize the payment experience for customers and merchants alike.

Microsoft Pay symbol

“We are deeply committed to powering a secure and optimized shopping experience that consumers and merchants deserve. Integrating technologies like Microsoft Pay with Masterpass will help the industry move to standards-based payments. Microsoft is a great partner and we will continue to collaborate with Microsoft to make shopping a better experience on all devices,” says Raj Dhamodharan, senior vice president of Digital Solutions at Mastercard.

Now U.S.-based consumers using the latest Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10 devices can sign in to their Microsoft account and use Microsoft Pay to make secure purchases wherever Masterpass is accepted online. More broadly, Microsoft Pay allows for a seamless and convenient consumer experience within the Microsoft ecosystem, including paying bills in Outlook, and buying goods or services in apps or bots.

“We are always seeking to enhance our users shopping experience in a secure and simple manner and this latest release does that by leveraging the growing Masterpass network,” says Will White, partner group program manager at Microsoft. “We will continue to seek opportunities to enhance the shopping experience by leveraging standards and working with innovative partners like Mastercard.”

Microsoft Pay and the integration with Masterpass is another step forward in the continued effort to provide consumers with a Microsoft account – a fast and easy way to pay at more places than before.

Learn more about Microsoft Pay with Masterpass.

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Save your files to OneDrive for expanded ransomware protection

If you want an additional layer of protection from ransomware, try saving your files in OneDrive. It’s part of the new experiences that arrived with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

Here’s how it works: If a ransomware threat is found on a device, Windows Defender will notify you of the threat, help you remove the ransomware from your device, and give you options to recover your OneDrive files to the state they were in before the attack occurred.

2 open boxes shows dragging one file into OneDrive

Save your files to OneDrive

For Office 365 Home subscribers, Office 365 Personal subscribers, and OneDrive for Business users, that includes OneDrive Files Restore, which can be used to restore your OneDrive to a previous point in time within the last 30 days. The date and time that Windows Defender detected the attack will be pre-selected in Files Restore, making the process simple and easy to use.

Learn more about the protections from online threats available to Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal subscribers.

If you like this, check out more Windows 10 Tips.

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Bing launches intelligent search features that can save you money on hotels, home services and more

The Internet has put thousands of stores and service providers at our fingertips, allowing us to buy goods and services with the click of a button. This convenience comes with a set of challenges, especially when it comes to deciding which product to buy, which provider to hire, and how to get the most value for our money. Consumers cite anxiety and the fear of buyer’s remorse as their major pain points.

Today Bing is happy to announce the launch of new intelligent features designed to allow you to estimate and compare prices across multiple providers, give you insights to make the right trade-offs around price, and get more savings on products through a new deals experience – all built to help you save money.

 




Hotel booking



Typical users go through multiple sites before they make a choice on which hotel to book, and even then they often don’t feel confident they made the best choice. In May we released a hotel booking experience with aggregated pricing from third party booking sites. These features get even more powerful with what we’re announcing today: intelligent tips, a price trends view, and a comparison view.

First, Bing displays booking tips when you’re looking at hotels for which there are competing options you may not have considered. For example, if there are higher-rated hotels near the one you’re looking at with the same rate, or hotels that are closer to the airport and cheaper, we will let you know of the alternatives and tradeoffs for the options you’re looking at.




 


Second, Bing provides historical price trends for the date range you’re exploring to help make price-based trade-offs. Many sites only let you see the rate after you’ve already selected a date, so users end up clicking through many times to check the rates throughout the date range they’re interested in. Our price trend feature allows users to browse price trends over time in a single view.



 


Third, our new comparison view provides a comprehensive overview of pricing by hotel option. No more digging through multiple sites and reviews to find out what amenities are offered and if there are hidden fees! You’ll simply be able to see the detailed breakdowns side-by-side so you can feel assured you’re making the best choice for your needs and budget.



 


Home services pricing and scheduling


 

Hotel-booking unfortunately isn’t the only painful purchase experience for many users. We also heard that users are often frustrated when it comes to choosing a home service provider, as quotes can vary substantially from one service to another, and many people aren’t confident in how much they should expect to pay.

That’s why we built cost ranges to provide transparency for home services like sink installation costs and toilet repairs. These ranges show a visual distribution of prices, specific to your zip code so they’re tied to your location. We want you to feel empowered to plan your budget and even negotiate a quote with a specific provider!

This price data comes via our partnership with Porch, so you can feel confident you’re getting a comprehensive view.




 


After you’ve gotten a view of what to expect for pricing, Bing helps you collect quotes from multiple providers with just a few clicks. For example, if you search for “plumbers Bellevue”, you’ll get a listing of plumbers in that area with a ‘Get Quote’ for supported providers. Click that button and you’re taken to a pre-populated form on Yelp, where you can select up to 10 similar providers and send out a bulk request for quotes instead of having to contact each provider individually.

 




 


Coupons and deals



Finally, we realized that trying to find deals can be a time-consuming. Between the fine print, expiration dates, and confusing language, it’s easy to be unsure if you’re really getting a good deal or not.

Bing now aggregates deals across first- and third-party listings then displays them when you search for retailers or coupons. We surface relevant insights like ‘expiring soon’, whether the offers are online or in-store only, and more.





 

We hope you’re as excited by these money-saving features as we are — you can try them for yourself with our feature tour! All of them are available in the US, and apart from the home services price ranges these features are currently on desktop only. We will continue rolling out these features to mobile platforms and international markets in coming months.

While you’re trying out these new experiences, please also remember to sign in to Microsoft Rewards – you’ll earn points for your Bing searches and can redeem them towards gift cards and save even more!

Thanks,

The Bing Team

 


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Attending Black Hat USA 2018? Here’s what to expect from Microsoft

Black Hat USA 2018 brings together professionals at all career levels, encouraging growth and collaboration among academia, world-class researchers, and leaders in the public and private sectors. This is an exciting time as our Microsoft researchers, partners, and security experts will showcase the latest collaborations in defense strategies for cybersecurity, highlight solutions for security vulnerabilities in applications, and bring together an ecosystem of intelligent security solutions. Our objective is to arm business, government, and consumers with deeply integrated intelligence and threat protection capabilities across platforms and products.

Security researchers play an essential role in Microsoft’s security strategy and are key to community-based defense. To show our appreciation for their hard work and partnership, each year at Black Hat USA, the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) highlights the contributions of these researchers through the list of “Top 100” security researchers reporting to Microsoft (either directly or through a third party) during the previous 12 months. While one criterion for the ranking is volume of fixed reports a researcher has made, the severity and impact of the reports is very important to the ranking also. Given the number of individuals reporting to Microsoft, anyone ranked among the Top 100 is among some of the top talent in the industry.

In addition to unveiling the Top 100 and showcasing Microsoft security solutions at Booth #652, there are a number of featured Microsoft speakers and sessions:

Join us at these sessions during the week of August 4-9, 2018 in Las Vegas and continue the discussion with us in Booth #652, where we will have product demonstrations, theatre presentations, and an opportunity to learn more about our Top 100 and meet with some of Microsoft’s security experts and partners.